Events & Programs
Historic House Tours
Each year, members are invited to tour one of Bronxville's many historic homes. Houses have included the oldest home in Bronxville, a 1920s Tudor-style home, an 1870 stone mansion,a 1910s Italian Renaissance style home, and other gracious Bronxville estates.
2009 - A Masterpiece!
For nearly 175 years, the stately home of Alexander Masterton stood as a welcoming destination for family and friends on the New York – White Plains post road. It continued that treasured tradition on Sunday, November 9th, as more than 150 members of the Bronxville Historical Conservancy visited the registered historic landmark built in 1835 by one of Bronxville’s earliest residents, Alexander Masterton.
Masterton, stonecutter and New York City businessman, discovered the land upon which he built his estate while on a search at the Tuckahoe quarries for the perfect white marble to repair the war-damaged dome of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Originally built as a summer home, the Masterton family became so enamored of the house and surrounding land, they made it their permanent residence and working farm. During the next 150 years, the house remained in the hands of Masterton family heirs, who greatly contributed to the development of the area that would eventually become incorporated as the Village of Bronxville.
Known as “Ridgecroft,” the classic Greek revival home is believed to have been designed by Masterton himself. The wood-framed, clapboard structure that sits on a foundation of Tuckahoe marble once had two parlors, five bedrooms, staff quarters on the third floor and an original kitchen in the basement. Dale Hanson Walker, the Conservancy’s House Tour Chair (whose family once lived in “Ridgecroft”) noted that the home has been enhanced in each century for modern living, yet has maintained its historical integrity. “The home’s current owners have done a magical job inside. Beautiful artwork and subtle colors allow the architecture to shine through.”
Of special interest in the tour was an exhibit of Masterton family memorabilia shared by village residents who were able to purchase items at an auction of the home’s contents when it was sold in 1986. An original 1838 painting of Mary M. Masterton by Bronxville artist William Hamilton was on display, along with a copy of a Masterton family portrait, a silver tea service, coin purse, calling card case, christening cups, candlesticks, and an especially interesting collection of the Masterton family diaries.
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2008 - A Ballroom Beauty on the Hilltop
A warm October sun and cool autumn breeze provided a perfect complement to the Conservancy’s 10th annual house tour held on Sunday, October 26th. This year’s unique tour offered a double treat -- a visit to the home of Marianne and Steven Mills on 16 Prescott Avenue and a self-guided tour of the Bronxville Women’s Club, celebrating the 80th anniversary of its clubhouse on Midland Avenue where the reception and BHC Annual Meeting were also held.
More than 135 members signed up to tour the Mills’ Bates and How designed house. Built in 1912 on a steeply sloping hillside, this magnificent house was the first dual-house built in the historic Lawrence Park district, and the first Hilltop house to be showcased by the Conservancy in its fall tours. The unique layout of the six-story home and beautiful gardens was surpassed only by the wonderful paintings in the home which included works by Bronxville artists Bruce Crane, Will Low and Milne Ramsey and the magnificent library suite hand-crafted and installed by Mr. Mills.
A special jitney carried members to and from the house and the Bronxville Women’s Club during the afternoon. The clubhouse was designed by Penrose Stout, a nephew-by-marriage to Anna Lawrence Bisland, daughter of William Van Duzer Lawrence. She also owned 16 Prescott and donated the land at Midland and Tanglewylde for the Women’s Club. Completed in 1928, the clubhouse was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is in almost original condition.
2007 - A Romantic Mediterranean
A romantic Mediterranean designed by Lewis Bowman in 1926, the house was purchased by the owners, the Cox family in 2001. Previous owners included William J. Morden (explorer, naturalist and big-game hunter) for whom the house was built, Russell McCandless, and Dr. George Lasky.
The Cox's transformed the house and grounds during an extensive renovation that included updating the original design to meet the needs of a twenty-first century family as well as the creation of a multiple level terrace system that allows direct access from each of the formal rooms of the house: living room, dining room, library and solarium. As earth was moved from the rear of the home to the steeply sloping front hillside, wonderful level garden areas were also created around the new terraces. new para A Treasure from the 20s.
2006 - A Treasure from the 20s
The Conservancy's eighth annual House Tour was a roaring success! It took place on Sunday, November 12 at 42 Masterton Road, the stone Norman revival that the owners, Joseph and Louise Parzick, graciously made available for our member tour. The robust design of the house, built by architect George H. Pohle in 1927, incorporates a turret, exposed beams, high ceilings and leaded glass windows and provides a fitting background for the Parzick's fine collection of French Art Déco furnishings and 20th-century art.
The tour proved to be a mini-education in the distinguishing hallmarks that constitute Art Déco, the style that dominated the 1920s and '30s in both Europe and the United States. The French interpretation of Art Déco is more luxurious and less streamlined, than American examples, such as the familiar Radio City Music Hall. At 42 Masterton, designs by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Paule Leleu and Jacques Adnet, among others, are carefully placed in an environment of rich colors -- chocolate brown, claret red, inky blue -- and innovative wall treatments -- suede, Venetian plaster, accents of gold leaf. The result is an atmosphere of both elegance and comfort.
2005 - A Bowman Beauty
At one of the busiest intersections in the village, Pondfield and White Plains Roads, the implausible sight of what appears to be a centuries-old Cotswold cottage emerges above high garden walls. The mellow stone gables and rosy red terra cotta roofs provoke many a passerby to attempt a better glimpse through the iron gates. This enchanting anomaly was once the studio, and sometime home, of architect Lewis Bowman. Priscilla Newman and Ron Cappello, the fortunate owners of charming 330 Pondfield Road, were the gracious hosts of this year’s Conservancy Historic House Tour on Sunday, the thirteenth of November.
2004 - Estate Homes of Sarah Lawrence College
Not just one but two grand houses and two of Bronxville’s most noted architects were highlighted in the fall house tour of 2004. The splendid stone neo-Tudor house at 935 Kimball Road built by Lewis Bowman in 1924 – better known today as the home of the president of Sarah Lawrence College – was first on the tour. Members then crossed the street to visit “Westlands,” the former home of William Van Duzer and Sarah Lawrence. The brick and timber home designed by William Bates and Kenneth How in 1917 today serves as the administrative building of the college.
2003 - An Italianate Villa
Equally splendid in a far different way is the home of Roland and Karen Morris on Ridge Road in Bronxville, whose home was the site of the Bronxville house tour in 2004. In 1912 the local newspaper boasted of its beauty: “The Ridge property on Sagamore is rapidly filling up with well-built houses, perhaps the handsomest of which is the residence of Mr. L. D. Garrett on Ridge Road, a long structure of Italian Renaissance type which crowns the high ridge overlooking the valley to the east.
2002 - Edgewater on the Historic Hudson
The fall of 2002 brought a unique opportunity for Conservancy members who were invited to board the sleek cruiser “Seastreak” and head up the Hudson River for an afternoon at enchanting “Edgewater,” the historic home of passionate preservationist, Dick Jenrette, who loves, adores, buys and restores old houses! “Edgewater” is one of his six remarkable homes featured in Jenrette’s book, Adventures with Old Houses, a splendid volume that tells the story of the restoration of his many homes and the acquisition of their period furnishings.
2001 - The Oakledge Mansion
Behind 18” thick walls draped in ivy lies another exquisite Bronxville home whose recent renovation restored the grandeur of its golden age. Members of the Conservancy strolled through its chambers in awe of the commitment that owners Laura and Brooks Klimley have made to this magnficent mansion, a home that has had a colorful history in Bronxville, including serving as the Red Cross headquarters during World War II.
2000 - The Ernest Quantrell House
In the fall of 2000, members were invited to Richard and Mary Thaler’s early 20th century home, the “Ernest Quantrell” house. Some said the log cabin room was their favorite. Others lingered in the secret prohibition cellar. But all who attended were delighted to visit this historic Sagamore Park home.
1999 - Abijah Morgan House
In the organization’s inaugural year, more than 100 villagers strolled through the historic Abijah Morgan House, the oldest in Bronxville. Now owned by the Petrovich family, the Abijah Morgan house is undergoing a thorough restoration in “old world” style, keeping its historical integrity in tact.
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