Teatime At Tiffany’s

Posted on October 23, 2012 by mayfairblog

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Back in Newport, Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty visits a house with special provenance.

It was about teatime when I went to Ayrault House in Newport, Rhode Island. And although it’s not Tiffany’s the architects are the same.

I like the work of these architects and so too did New York society in the early 1900s when the house was built. Cross and Cross weren’t just responsible for Tiffany’s but for many other notable Manhattan buildings.  They were the design darlings of old New York.  They gilded that architectural age.  But for me the firm also showed an early and very commendable interest in architectural salvage.

The elements they re-cycled for Ayrault House came from the dismantled New York City home of Peter Stuyvesant.  He was the fifth generation descendant of his namesake who served as the last Dutch Director General of New Netherland – renamed New York after the colony was provisionally ceded to the English in 1664.

This neo-Georgian style house in the comfortable Newport community of Kay Catherine bristles with Cross and Cross’s foresighted reclamation.   This includes important doors, mantelpieces, the splendid front door portico, ornamental panels and the outstanding circular staircase that sits under an ingeniously constructed and beautiful skylight.

Amazing people built New York. Amazing people built Newport.  And amazing people built this house.  Under this roof some of them become irrevocably linked.

But even without all the history and the architectural detailing from another age, Ayrault House is still a remarkable, charming and elegant home in one of the most iconic cities in America.  If you are buying in Newport this definitely is one for the short list.

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Grey Craig Revisited

Posted on August 22, 2012 by mayfairblog

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Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty recalls a very special and secluded house on Rhode Island’s shore near Newport.

Over the years I have been in the doghouse on more occasions than I care to remember.  But recently I was very happy to be in a very special doghouse indeed. The Kennel Cottage was once the home of eighteen pampered Pekinese pets – owned by a late lamented Newport grand dame. Fortunately someone with great foresight recognised that it would make an even better home for pampered persons.

For a start this delightful house never fails to deliver.  Inside the colour palate is sophisticated, subtle, natural and calming.  It is furnished with restraint and seemingly effortless good taste to show off the superb architecture and detail with great élan.

But if the house and its interior enthral then the grounds will enchant.  What is extra special about The Kennel Cottage is its secrecy.  It is tucked away on the private 77 acre Grey Craig estate that it shares with only five other homes. Hardly a soul knows that the house is there.  It is a hidden garden kingdom.  Beyond the terrace and pool are almost nine acres of very special landscaping.

Apparently the gardens were designed to emulate those of an English country estate.  Perhaps.  But in some ways these are even better.  No English garden has views to Martha’s Vineyard! But in true English garden tradition the space is divided into distinct areas.  These include a formal rose garden, an amphitheatre garden with lake, walled fruit orchard with pillared Italianate tea house and a shade garden.  Beyond, the land falls gently to a rocky strand and the ocean.

If you want to live in Newport and make a bold – and even brash – statement to passers-by then The Kennel Cottage is not really for you.  There are no passers-by and it is by no means brash.  But if you want total privacy in your own coastal realm and a fabulous and tasteful building that you would be proud to call home then it is hard to see how this can be beaten.  I loved my walkies around The Kennel Cottage.  It gives new meaning to being in the doghouse.

By Nick Churton

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High Ambition

Posted on July 25, 2012 by mayfairblog

Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty scales the heights of sophistication and style in Manhattan.

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26 East 80th Street, Manhattan is close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park.  It is one of the smartest areas in the city in which to live.  And of course a Brownstone is one of the smartest houses in the neighbourhood.

In the US Brownstone is the name given to townhouses clad in Triassic or Jurassic sandstone extracted from several specialist quarries down the East Coast.  A number of US cities are well known for Brownstones including Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.  But it is the New York Brownstone of the Upper East and Upper West sides that are the real real estate icons and very much sought after.

The Brownstone I visited recently was everything I had expected and more.  First, it just went on forever – six storeys of high ceiling elegance, sophistication and clever but conservative use of nineteenth century architecture for contemporary living.

There is certainly a nostalgic quality about the house.  But while the resonance may be more “The Age of Innocence” than “Bonfire of the Vanities” this is very much a house for today.  It even has a gym.  The well-heeled denizens of Manhattan in the 19th century may not have had a private gym.  For exercise and society they would have joined the New York Athletic Club on Central Park West.  Their 21st century counterparts may still do.  But one’s own gym today seems so de rigueur.  Yet it is hardly necessary in this home because through the day the six long flights of stairs should give a very good workout indeed.  After all, this is New York: stairs here are the norm and well-developed calves and quads go with the territory.

It is certainly a long way from the bottom to the top of the house.  But the stairs are well worth climbing.  Atop is a dreamy roof garden.  This is a much more private Manhattan than on street level.  From here there is a different perspective.  There are all the familiar sounds of the city but they are somehow removed and remind one how apart and privileged it is to belong to this roof top world.

This remarkable property is currently available to rent.  It has lots going for it.  But perhaps best of all in our health-conscious times is that the occupants can keep fit in such supreme style.

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Post Script

Posted on July 25, 2012 by mayfairblog

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Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty listens to the resonance of history in a delightful cottage in a pretty Cotswolds village.

If the walls of the Old Post Office in Bledington, in the English Cotswolds, could talk, or – better still sing – they might sing a song of the Battle of Waterloo.  They might talk of their years as a corner shop, a tailor’s shop and a post office.  More recently they could tell of life as a family home.

A cutting from a local newspaper dated 16th February 1907 reveals a young occupant, Charles Phipps, born in 1813, living in the property as a child when his father was a tailor.  Later, as a young man, Phipps travelled to America – in those days by sailing ship – where he became a surveyor under the US Surveyor-General. The cutting mentions him in latter years, having returned to the village, singing the 1815 Waterloo song that he must have learnt fairly soon after the great battle.

Goodness knows how many families have lived in the Old Post Office over the past three hundred years – nor how many times it has changed hands. But one thing is known.  It will soon change hands again and provide a wonderful home for its new occupants.

Estate agents and Mayfair International Realty member, Hayman-Joyce, is handling the sale of the Old Post Office and will be happy to talk of it.  They may not be able to tell the story of the property as well as the walls could but they will do their best.

The Old Post Office has four bedrooms, sitting room, dining room, study, kitchen, shower room and bathroom. The asking price is £625,000.

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Don’t wrap it, I’ll take it

Posted on July 18, 2012 by mayfairblog

Nick Churton of Mayfair International Realty does some real window shopping at a magnificent Upper East Side apartment now on the market through Halstead Property.

If an Upper East Side condominium is what you hanker for but you would rather not bump into the neighbours in the hall then this magnificent 6265 sq ft apartment is for you.  The thing is it occupies an entire enormous floor of this large building and is in fact really two apartments in one – ideal if you would like your extended family or staff next door but in self-contained accommodation.

Consequently the views are wrap around with scenes of Central Park and the reservoir, the East River, Lexington Avenue heading Downtown, and the Manhattan skyline, giving this sumptuous palace of an apartment a world class backdrop.

But despite the jaw-dropping views the interior really holds its own with its 14 ft ceilings and fabulous finish.

This building was originally a Gimbels department store.  Once Gimbels was the largest department store chain in the United States with 36 branches.  But it competed with Macy’s – and eventually lost!  The company shut down in 1986.  But there is no doubt that this Gimbels building wins out against Macy’s as a condominium.  The location sees to that – situated just off Fifth Avenue and near Central Park and smart Madison Avenue shops.

Top building amenities here include 24-hour doorman, concierge, full service gym, indoor swimming pool, yoga studio, playroom, garage and porters.  But let’s get back to the apartment – or rather outside the apartment – for there is a superb private terrace overlooking Central Park.  Another terrace was glassed-in to create a billiard room with what must be the best view anywhere – from a billiard room!

With wrap around views, wrap around service and wrap around privacy this fabulous Manhattan apartment should be a wrap.

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