An Historic Riverfront Property Restored

The house today; porches gone, but soon to be restored.

In 1674, Robert Livingston, a clergyman’s son with a knack for business, politics and marrying well, emigrated to the colonies, and within just a few years had founded what would turn out to be America’s premier dynasty, a position the Livingston family would hold for nearly 100 years. Unlike the other colonies, New York in the 17th century held to the Old World feudal system of royal patents—vast tracts granted by the local minions of a far-off king (variously Dutch or English) to a lord of the manor, who then left the heavy lifting to his tenants from whom he exacted rent. Within a generation of Livingston’s arrival, his family had accumulated a fiefdom of nearly one million acres, including the entire Catskill range and virtually everything east of it to the Connecticut and Massachusetts borders.

A million acres is a lot to manage. Subsequent generations of Livingstons supported themselves, in part, by selling off land piece by piece. Still, in the 19th century, Columbia County was rife with Livingstons, four of whom built riverfront houses on contiguous properties in Germantown. Tall, square, with mansard roofs and plenty of porches, the better to take in the spectacular Hudson River and Catskill mountain views, the houses were faint echoes of Clermont, the 18th-century Livingston family seat up the road, which today is an historic site. But, while the resemblance to Clermont is glancing, the resemblance to each other is pronounced, but for one thing: Each is built, three-little-pigs-style, of a different material.

The one that concerns us, happily, is made of brick, and it is presently being restored for a family from New York City. The process will be chronicled on this website by the restoration team, architect Hermes Mallea and interior designer Carey Maloney, principals in the firm M (Group).

Rural Intelligence Home and Garden
The view from the house; all this and much more was once owned by the Livingstons.

The Process and Progress (Including the Inevitable Fits and Starts) of Our Work on Our Next Door Neighbors’ House

I am Carey Maloney, a decorator, and Hermes Mallea, my partner, is an architect. Our firm is called M(Group) and we’ve been doing this for 26 years—inside and out, suburban- ground-up or urban renovations, from California to New York, Acapulco to Paris.

Over the past five years our “country work” has moved north from the obvious centers of cash, Bedford/Greenwich/Rye (a suburban Axis of Evil?) to Dutchess County and even across the river (Rive Gauche) towards New Paltz (go figure) . The uber-rich, it seems, are finding what we worker bees had already found—weekend bliss in the Hudson Valley.

HM and I have a house in southern Columbia County— a 1960’s gangster party house (truly—the builder did a ‘jolt’ in Sing Sing, and he wasn’t just visiting). We love it. It’s not everyone’s taste, but it works for us.

The House this blog is about is not a 1960’s ranch (audible sigh of relief?). It is our next door neighbors’ house (we share the driveway—happily for us, a long grand driveway). It was a lucky day for us ten years ago when we got these neighbor. We became good friends, and a few years ago they became great clients. It happens.

“The House” is an 1870’s Italianate manse with a Second Empire roofline—a very generous and very restrained house. As you can see from the photo, this house has perfect posture. Even the narrow brick with tiny mortar lines is strict. The way it sits on the ground is uncompromising. And it’s tall, no? Like a town house.

Rural Intelligence Home and Garden
Tall, no? Like a town house. But it will seem less vertical once the porches are restored.

The house is on a large piece of property (OK – “estate” is Non U but this is definitely an estate) overlooking the Hudson River. 180 degree views of the river and the Catskills beyond, across rolling fields, set up high on a rise. Trust me, it is a treasure. A very cool house.

I’ll be writing about the project and documenting via snapshots the process and the progress. We’ll be attacking the exterior first—seasonal work to be completed before winter. Then the interior work will kick in. Both indoor and outdoor work will continue on into Spring 2009.

The plans include adding beautiful HM-designed wrap-around porches and three porticos– faithful (but not slavishly so) to the long lost originals. Some major landscaping, to be designed and built by Kelly Varnell Virgona, including a new swimming pool (I cannot wait to demo the old eyesore). Inside, a big new kitchen and breakfast room will open onto a new dining porch.

Rural Intelligence Home and Garden
This drawing of another 1870 Italianate house provides inspiration and information re: the missing details.

Over the past few years we’ve done the Library, Living Room, Dining Room, Front Hall, and most of the 2nd floor. When we have little gaps in our blog dance card—i.e. when work grinds to a halt due to an early snow storm—we’ll look at the rooms already completed. (When the dining room was installed—and it is very successful, we think—I imagined the Livingston ghosts clutching each other and gleefully wailing “OMG, we’re rich again!”)

So – that’s the plan. Wish us luck.

HM and I learn plenty from each project and we hope that maybe this superficial documentation (‘in depth’ being beyond my capabilities—and maybe beyond your attention span?) of the process will instruct or inspire readers. Inspire them to buy a turnkey condo in Boca…

I’ll try to include book suggestions as we go. To start, check out “American Homes : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Domestic Architecture” by Lester Walker (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2002). It is an excellent guide to styles and their evolution with charming renderings of historic houses—all pre CAD. ——Carey Maloney

(1) Comments