INSIDE

This Old House.“Stock-broker tudor”

architect’s studio featured in the 7th Annual House Tour.

Three’s a charm.A sneak peek intothe third volume of

The Bronxville Journal.

You got the Point.Snaps and memories of a fabulous fall tour of historic

West Point and beyond.

Ramshackle old Bronxville.Our inauspicious beginnings.

PLUS...Open the Gates!

A new exhibit on its way.

Hundred percent effort forBronxville Library Birthday.

Revving up for a vintage addition to

Bronxville’s Memorial Day celebration.

FALL 2005

t one of the busiest intersections in the village, Pondfield and WhitePlains Roads, the implausible sight of what appears to be a centuries-old Cotswoldcottage emerges above high garden walls. The mellow stone gables and rosy redterra cotta roofs provoke many a passerby to attempt a better glimpse through theiron gates. This enchanting anomaly was once the studio, and sometime home, ofarchitect Lewis Bowman. Priscilla Newman and Ron Cappello, the fortunate ownersof charming 330 Pondfield Road, were the gracious hosts of this year’s ConservancyHistoric House Tour on Sunday, the thirteenth of November. More than 160 memberstook the opportunity to tour the inside of this lovely dwelling before heading to theBronxville Field Club for a reception and the Conservancy’s annual meeting.

More inside...

A Publication of

The Bronxville Historical Conservancy

Bronxville, New York

The studio and home of Bronxville architect Lewis BowmanA

The grave marker of MAJOR GENERALGEORGE A. CUSTER, Civil War leader

and Indian fighter, who died at the Battle ofLittle Big Horn, June 25, 1876.

Conservancy members paid honor to thislegendary figure at West Point Cemetery

where he and his wife, Elizabeth, a former Bronxville resident, are buried. A Bowman Beauty

The Chronicle

Bowman,who grew up in

neighboring MountVernon, designed morethan fifty Bronxville

houses, each a testimonyto his avid attention to

historic detail in whatevergenre he was working.

The desires of the afflu-ent homebuyers in the1920s often dictated

grander, more magnificenthouses, but it was the

cozy Cotswold style that captured his affection.

House Tour Organizer Carolyn Martin

Nancy and Don Hubert John Hill and Liz MurphyPatty Dohrenwend & Mayor Mary Marvin

Bill Murphy

Lewis Bowman

Mary Huber

Wendy Riggs and Corky Frost

Carolyn Martin

This (fabulous)Old House.

House owners Ron Capello & Priscilla Newman

Art for the Village: Restoring Bronxville's ArtisticLegacyby Jayne S. Warman As the Bronxville Historical Conservancy builds its collection oflocal artists' works, villagers are reminded of our vibrant turn-of-the-century art colony that brought recognition and renown toBronxville.

When the Lawrences Left: Turbulent and Perplexing Times in Bronxville,1971-1974by Marcia Manning Lee For more than eighty years the Lawrence family had been aleading force in the affairs of Bronxville - influencing its land-scape, institutions, and culture - until an unforeseen, perhapsunavoidable, change in the direction of the Lawrence agendaplaced them at odds with the majority of the community.

Growing Up in Bronxville During World War IIby Eliot N. Vestner, Jr.Some sixty years later a Bronxville native remembers the daily experiences of a small boy, a soldier father,and a valiant mother as their lives were turned up side down, and yet saved, by the advent of the terriblewar that followed the Great Depression.

With Whistler in Venice: Recollections of Bronxville Artist Otto H. Bacherby Meg HausbergA fortunate encounter on the sunlit banks of the canals of Venice brought togetherthe young American art student Otto Bacher and the expatriate James McNeillWhistler, and so began a friendship that enhanced the careers of both men.

The Vietnam Peace Movement in Bronxville:From Student Unrest to Mothers' Marchby Sarah Mollman Underhill Elsewhere the streets were overflowing with strident voices decrying Vietnam, theCambodian invasion, and the deaths at Kent State, but Bronxville residents took adifferent path that ultimately brought together students and their elders in community dialogues, and inspired mothers to march in the street -- in silence.

From the delightful toy boats that sail across the cover tothe memories of a small boy growing up in Bronxville,

this third volume of The Bronxville Journal is filled with charming stories of our village’s past.

“It will arrive in the new year,” says Marilynn Wood Hill, dedicated editor of this Conservancy publication.

Here’s a peek at what you’ll find inside:

The Third Time’s a Charm

BY MARILYNN WOOD HILL

Back cover: Photo by Gregory Shuker,Bronxville Mothers Peace March, 1971

Front cover: Detail from Mary Fairchild Low,Children’s Regatta at Bronxville Lake, 1924

Richard Thaler and Neely Bower

Christine Veit and Dorothy Brennan

Getting Right to the Point.A salute to our nation’s oldest military institution.

Karin Reetz Susan Murphy

Sue and Tom Leslie

t was a muster for former Bronxville resident ElizabethCuster on September 18th as members and guests ofthe Bronxville Historical Conservancy stepped aboardthe fast ferry “Seastreek” and cruised down the historicHudson river to tour mighty West Point. The cemeterywhere General and Mrs. George Custer are buried,

revolutionary war cannons, andlinks of the chain that held backthe British were just a few of thesights seen on the first leg of thispilgrimage north. Then the crewsailed south down the river to themouth of New York Harbor whereLady Liberty dwells. Spectacularsights of the city skyline as the sun

slowly sank intoglittering watersbrought the dayto an end -- andwith it, hopesthat thisConservancy tradition neverdoes.

I

Sally McNally

Bill Hand

A View of West Point Military Academy from the bow of the “Seastreek”

Nancy and Carlo Vittorini

Conservancy Co-Chair Bob Riggs (left) and (right), Co-Chair Marilynn Wood Hill withJayne Warman placing a stone on Elizabeth

Custer’s grave sight, a Jewish tradition of respect.

Phyllis Smith

I ’ll take Manhat t a n . . .“I can’t imagine what you could do to top it.” Gay Reetz

“The New York panorama was sensational and memorable and a contrast to the open spaces of West Point.” Barbara and Michael Murray

“Every year the trips seem to get better and we just hope you continue this tradition.” Bumpty and Bob McGrath

“Thank you for creating our totally memorable days at sea.” Jane Frank

“We will remember it for a long time.” Tom and Sue Leslie

“Anyone who’s inside the boat right now should be shot.” Peter Thorp, on the too-good-to-miss atmosphere on the deck of the Seastreek.

BY ELOISE L. MORGAN

he story ofBronxville’s sub-urban transfor-mation beganwith theLawrence ParkHilltop, an

intimate cluster of homes onnarrow streets windingthrough the rocky elevationsof the original Prescott farm.The saga opens with WilliamVan Duzer Lawrence’s visit tothe tumbledown settlementof Bronxville to pick up his two youngsons, who were visiting relatives sum-mering in the area, and to check outa remnant of the old Prescott placethat was for sale. It closes with asecluded National Historic District onthe hill a stone’s throw from the trainstation, which today anchors a vibrantmetropolitan suburb. In the interim, acommunity of leading artists, writersand businessmen settled into an arrayof homes and studios skillfully tuckedamong ancient trees and rock forma-tions. Throughout, the Hilltop has beendistinguished by its close-knit socialtexture nurtured by the proximity of its

striking homes.

When Lawrence,who was tobecome oneof modernBronxville’sfoundingfathers, firststepped offthe north-bound trainin 1889, the

scene wasinauspicious.

The stationsquare was a

“hospital for oldbroken-down freight

cars that were shunted in and outupon side tracks,” he later recalled.“An old, tumble-down blacksmith shopwith half a hundred abandoned wag-ons and pieces of wagons filled theremainder of the square.” At the time,Bronxville claimed just a handful ofbusinessmen. Postmaster Lancaster

Underhill was descendedfrom another LancasterUnderhill who had boughtseveral hundred acres offarmland in the area acentury and a half before.Frederick Kraft, a German-born leather tanner and cur-rier ran a factory at the junc-tion of Midland Avenue and thetrain tracks, about where MidlandGardens is today. Blacksmith JohnKane, cider-maker G. I. Cudner, rail-road express agent T. Ramson and A.V.T. Smith, who sold“groceries, etc.,” rounded out the half-dozen listings in a county-widebusiness directory.

The Bronxville area, like most of lowerWestchester in the second half of the19th century, was filled with ram-shackle farms. One of these failingplaces, an 86-acre plot that includedthe future Hilltop, belonged to theestate of James M. Prescott, who hadsettled in the area in the 1840s. Theland was on the market, andLawrence’s brother-in-law ArthurWellington, who was spending a fewweeks in Bronxville, suggested that thesemi-retired pharmaceutical manufac-turer take a look. The two men “clambered about over the rocks andthrough the blackberry bushes whichhad been allowed to grow at randomfor a generation or two, with only‘cowpaths’ remaining.” Almost theonly spot not covered by an impene-trable tangle of underbrush was a littletrout pond situated about whereGarden Avenue now curves betweenthe Village tennis courts and a munici-pal parking lot. Lawrence had recently

moved his family to New YorkCity from Canada where hehad spent 22 years marketingpatent medicines. Althoughhe remained a director of thebusiness, Lawrence had timeon his hands. With no firmplans for the Prescott place,he decided to venture$43,000 on it.

Across from the station atthe foot of the hill sat acaretaker’s little house(expanded now intoHoulihan Lawrence’s 4Valley Road real estateoffice), where farm man-ager Henry Steibling lived.

As people in the vicinityset out with their tin pails to

get milk for breakfast or din-ner, “they usually stopped at the

gatehouse on their way, in winter toget warm and in summer to rest andtalk a bit with the Steibling family. TheSteiblings stayed in residence forawhile after Lawrence bought thefarm. The only other buildings on theplace were the old Italianate stonefarmhouse (the Manor House at 8Prescott Avenue) and some barns(about where 16-18 Prescott are now).

Village roads were rutted dirt tracksthat swerved from side to side toavoid mudholes. Pondfield Road ransouthward paralleling the tracks aways, then angled east to follow thepath of today’s Locust Lane to WhitePlains Road. The “road to Tuckahoe,”later given the Indian nameSagamore, had been laid out in 1860.But in the early 1890s Pondfield was stillconsidered “the single street whichconstitutes Bronxville – a few stragglinghouses, and a row of aspens thatshake like the patter of the rain.”

TRamshackle Old Bronxville

Roonie and Jack Kennedy’s 1930 Model A Ford

A two-day art exhibition next spring willintroduce villagers to the work of twoearly-20th-century Bronxville artists whosepaintings are probably unknown even tothose familiar with the Lawrence Park artcolony.

On Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30,2006, the Conservancy will host an exhibi-tion of paintings by Frank and RichardGates in the Bronxville Library’s YeagerRoom. Although the Gates brothers arenot recognized members of the LawrencePark Art Colony (indeed, Frank was one ofthe developers of the adjacent, rivalSagamore Park), they lived and painted inthe Bronxville area for many years, begin-ning in the 1910s.

Frank Gates was a partner in the firm ofGates and Morange, one of this country’smost famous scenic artists and stage setdesigners. The firm created sets forZiegfield and many Broadway hits. Oncommission from the U.S. Government,they also painted enormous canvases ofthe Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemiteand other national parks. The exhibitionwill include a reception and talk aboutthese lesser-known Bronxville artists.

BY ELOISE MORGAN

Golden GatesA treasured opportunity

to view a rare art exhibit.

A Conservancy

If you have a classic car or are interestedin the simple appreciation of one, join thecommittee that will add a vintage dimen-sion to Bronxville’s Memorial Day celebra-tion. The Bronxville Historical Conservancyplans to sponsor an Antique Car Rally forthe village’s traditional festitivites andneeds your thoughts, ideas, and antiqueautos! Call Don Gray, 779-2043, or NancyVittorini, 793-2336, if you’d like to help.

100th Anniversary for Bronxville Libray

ONE FOR THE BOOKSNext June the Bronxville library will celebrate its 100th anniversary. To help

commemorate the occasion, the Bronxville Historical Conservancy hasgiven a $20,000 grant to help underwrite a new, richly illustrated hardboundbook on the library’s history, architecture, and art collection.

Historical Conservancy Board member and art historian Jayne Warmanwill author the book along with Peter Gisolfi, architect of the recent libraryexpansion. Tentatively titled “Bronxville’s Public Home: An UnusualCommunity Library,” their work will feature several photographs from thelibrary’s archives along with 80 full-color images of the library and its art collection in a 176-page volume. Publication date is set for October 2006.

“The story of the library is fascinating and needs to be written,” saidJayne. “Going back to the first little lending library at the public school inthe 1870s, its history reflects the vision of the village’s early community leaders and artists. Today’s library continues to be a haven for readers andthe cultural center it was designed to be.”

Watercolor of library by local artist Bill Dowling

Momcilo Petrovich, who with his wife, Rada, pur-chased the oldest house in the village from theConservancy, died on July 1, 2005, after a stoke sus-tained while at LaGuardia Airport. Momo and Radamade major refurbishments to the Abijah Morgan

house following its purchase in June 2001, includingrebuilding foundations, installing new electrical and heat-

ing systems and replacing the shingled roof, all while livingin the house with their children. One could rarely drive by the

house without seeing work in progress that should enable the house to sur-vive for another two centuries.

The Conservancy is indebted to Momo and Rada for their role in preserv-ing a historic site in the village and extends its deepest condolences toRada and her two daughters.

BY ROBERT RIGGS

...OldNews...

The ChroniclePublished by the

Bronxville Historical Conservancy© Fall 2005

Designed & Edited by Nancy VittoriniSubmissions welcome!

The Bronxville Historical Conservancy was founded in 1998 to further the understanding andappreciation of the history and current life of the

Village of Bronxville, New York. The Conservancy furthers its mission through the

presentation of programs, publications, lectures andspecial events that foster an awareness of the

village’s architectural, artistic and cultural heritageand lends its support for projects designed to

strengthen and preserve those legacies.

The BronxvilleHistorical Conservancy

P. O. Box 989Bronxville, NY 10708

Mark Your Calendars!April 29-30, 2006

Gates Art ExhibitionYeager Room, Bronxville Library

TUNED INTO BRONXVILLE?Just maybe, former villager and famous songwriter Jerome Kern had

Lawrence Park Hilltop in mind when he and Oscar Hammerstein composed“The Folks Who Live on the Hill”...

Help save a historic treasure by going to the movies! The PELHAM PICTUREHOUSE has recently been bought by the community to preserve the 1920's singlescreen theatre -- one of the oldest operating movie theaters in Westchester County.Plans following a renovation include historical events, workshops, photographic exhibits, children's programs, and documentaries. Learn more about the grass-roots effort by clicking on to www.thepicturehouse.org.

Bronxville Justice Court Clerk Michele Pintoshares A SHARP FIND from herdeparted aunt’s home with a gracious dona -tion to the Local History Room. This silverknife was part of Julie Natalie’s memories ofworking at the grand Hotel Gramatan for 15years -- a fashionable vacation spot for NewYorkers and travelers from all over theworld. Before it was torn down in 1972, thisBronxville beauty had been one of the mostexclusive suburban hotels in America.

Oscar Hammerstein & Jerome Kern

The Folks Who Live onthe Hill

Someday, We'll build a home on a hilltop high, you and I,Shiny and new, a cottage that two can fill;And we'll be pleased to be calledThe folks who live on the hill.

Someday, we may add a wing or two, a thing or two;We will make changes, as any family will.But we will always be calledThe folks who live on the hill.

Our veranda will command a view of meadows green,The sort of view that seems to want to be seen.And when the kids grow up and leave us,We'll sit and look at that same old view, just we two --Baby and Joe, who used to be Jack and Jill,

The folks who like to be called What they have always been called:The folks who live on the hill.