DESCRIPTION
80 acres in the heart of the Berkshires with a mile of Housatonic River frontage, situated between the Norman Rockwell Museum & the Stockbridge Golf Club, this 1870 Gilded Age estate has been completely rebuilt and restored in every detail. Carriage house, greenhouse and formal gardens, pool, guest house, studio/garage, and horse barn complex.
SOUTHMAYD FARM, STOCKBRIDGE
80 acres in the heart of the Berkshires with a mile of Housatonic River frontage, flanked by Linwood, now the Norman Rockwell Museum, Naumkeag and the Stockbridge Golf Club, this Gilded Age estate has been impeccably rebuilt and restored in every last detail.
The Second Empire home was built in 1870 by Charles Southmayd on land once owned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The mansion is of a scale and style that make it ultimately comfortable yet capable of entertaining on a very grand scale. The main residence offers eight bedrooms, and 8,500± square feet of gracious living. Superlative public rooms are perfectly counter-balanced by modern and more casual contemporary spaces. On the front porch, strolling across the grounds, it is easy to lose one's self entirely and forget that the center of Stockbridge is within walking distance, and Tanglewood and downtown Great Barrington are all just a few minutes drive away.
Brilliantly sited on the acreage is a carriage house, conservatory and formal gardens, pool with cabanas, 3 bedroom guest cottage, carriage barn with 3 oversized heated bays and a studio residence with kitchen and bath, the original carriage barn, and a horse barn complex with ten horse stalls, equipment barn, paddocks and more. Acres of lawn meld seamlessly into fenced horse pastures. The Housatonic River drifts peacefully along the boundaries of the estate.
The details of the residence, now fully restored in an exacting manner, are no less than wondrous. This is a 21st century house in an 19th century skin. Both the exterior and interior of the home was taken down to the wood frame, and the home is now fully insulated, with wiring and technology for virtually every 21st century convenience, yet so brilliantly executed that one does not even know it is there.
To give one an idea of the sheer scope of the renovation, all the original woodwork, all the original flooring (where it still existed), and all the original doors and windows were fully restored. The few original decorative moldings were used to recreate and restore the decorative moldings throughout the interior of the home. Each floor has its own theme from a hardware standpoint: in the original part of the home every doorknob, keyhole, window latch and more were carefully removed, re-plated and rebuilt. The first floor hardware is silver plate, the second floor is tooled bronze and the third floor is black iron.
The stone pathway is from an historic Philadelphia square and leads you to the stately entry of the home. Entering the residence, the front vestibule has the original black and white stone floor and black walnut paneling. The inlaid floor of the capacious entry hall is walnut and oak, and the grand staircase is also of black walnut.
The music room, the formal parlor of the home, boasts Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper, and the first of the 4 fireplaces on the main floor is the focal point of the room. The massive 144 year-old mirror above the mantle is original. As in every room the recreated moldings were hand-finished by a master craftsman in a way consistent with period and style of each room. Three sets of exterior French doors lead one to the deep front porch or a balcony.
Through to the library, French doors lead one into the most restive and contemplative room in the home. The window seat may be closed off by built-in interior oak and walnut shutters, true of all windows and doors on the first and second floors. Extensive cabinetry was hand-crafted, or completely rebuilt down to the most minute detail. Sound was installed in every room throughout the home, yet the speakers are so intelligently placed either in the bookcases or the walls that none are apparent. The finish on the plaster molding in the library is simply astonishing, meticulously painted to closely resemble the burled wood of the original library mantle.
Across the entry hall one enters the formal dining room. The period chandelier features 5 muses and Greek key lampshades. The plaster molding is finished with a deep red paint overlaid with gold leaf. The ceiling is the palest shade of blue, and its medallion was re-cast as close to the original as possible. The walls are Farrow & Ball's Drawing Room Blue - a deep indigo that perfectly compliments the gold-leafed crimson of the moldings, the black walnut and mahogany doors, and the oak and walnut inlaid floors. Another balcony is accessed through French doors to the east.
The octagonal sunroom has of course been renovated as well. The walls are a lovely Parma Grey and Cooking Apple Green, also by Farrow & Ball. Views extend from the formal fenced garden to the yew and arbor vitae hedge maze, and across the horse pastures toward Stockbridge.
The kitchen-family wing was rebuilt entirely and expanded. Essentially the west side of the home is seamlessly brand new. The interior configuration was significantly improved and light now pours into this open-plan area from the north, south and west. The casual rooms are where the family lives, and the flow and open-plan living is perfect for the 21st century.
The kitchen and dining room adjoins the entry hall, wraparound front porch and formal dining room, with both west and north facing granite floor mudrooms. The north mudroom is furnished with a soapstone dog shower that has Waterworks brand polished nickel fixtures. Throughout the home all fixtures are either by Waterworks or Lefroy Brooks. The floors are 'tobacco oak' and of the same era as the manor, post-Civil War 1870's vintage wood, reclaimed from tobacco barns. The family room's focal point is a wood-burning fireplace with an original stone hearth and mantle. Bay windows overlook decades old lilac trees and hydrangea bushes.
The kitchen is a work of art and truly a high-performance work place thoughtfully designed and executed. Everything comes off the central 'horseshoe', the center of which is a 48-inch Viking range-top with 6 burners and a grill. The counters are soapstone, the double convection ovens are also by Viking, and the twin refrigerator-freezer towers are by Sub-Zero. The design performs perfectly with ample counter-space, and the chef never feels isolated from family and guests. Between the kitchen and the formal dining room is a spectacular, completely redesigned butler's pantry. The cabinets are a gleaming white wood complimented by white marble counters. The pantry has nearly the capacity of the kitchen with a sink, Miele and Fisher-Paykel dishwashers, wine refrigerator, and a library ladder to access the upper cabinets.
The basement of any home tells the true story of the structure and that is no less true at Southmayd. Spectacular brick archways span the ceiling and supporting the home's original structure. Massive stones make up the basement walls. There is now radiant heat throughout the basement. The entire circumference of the home was excavated for proper draining and grading. The property has a brand new water main, now below the frost line the installation of which required blasting. As above stairs, all systems were completely replaced. Here are all controls for state-of-the-art security, cameras, and smart technology for control of the property from anywhere in the world via one's smartphone, Lutron lighting controls, high-speed network, sound throughout the home, central vacuum, air filtration and more. The home now has a state of the art HVAC system with full air conditioning and hydronic warm air heat complimented by radiant floor heating. A generator is capable of providing full power to the entire property in the event of any outages. The next resident of Southmayd may now easily use the lowest level of the home as an incredible space... a billiards room, plus wine cellar, plus safe room are just a few of the multiple possibilities.
The property has a heritage and history befitting its stature. As Berkshire historian and writer Carole Owens wrote in the Berkshire Eagle on May 8, 2010 "In his journal on August 2, 1848, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "We drove to Stockbridge ... Passed an hour at the Oxbow. What a lovely place! On three sides shut in by willow and alder hedges and the flowering wall of the river under the soil, marble enough to build a palace. I build many castles in the air... one of these is on the upland of the Oxbow looking eastward down the valley across this silver bow of the Housatonic." Longfellow purchased the land which became Oxbow Farm in 1850 and described it as "along the Housatonic River at a place where the river bends and forms an oxbow". Prominent authors Oliver Wendell Holmes, Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Sedgwick, and William Cullen Bryant brought a force of literature to the banks of the Housatonic prior to the Civil War. Longfellow sold his 'oxbow' to Charles Southmayd in 1867 who built "a castle of sorts, on the upland of the oxbow in 1870... a large and gracious wood house...almost exactly where Longfellow dreamt his castle would be", as Carole Owens wrote. 144 years later Southmayd's home is as gracious, elegant and as new as it was in 1870, in every detail.
The formal gardens include a magnificent 200 year old Camperdown (or Weeping) Elm, a hedge maze reminiscent of the knot gardens of Renaissance Europe, and a picket-fenced kitchen and perennial garden. The glass-ceilinged Conservatory also redolent, like the labyrinth, of an English country estate, is now rebuilt and boasts a pair of 100-year old Lemon trees that convey with the property.
Yet, we have just begun to tell the story of Southmayd Farm. This the story of long-lost elegance recaptured for the 21st century. This is the story of land that will captivate your heart, as it did Longfellow's in 1850. This is the story of Southmayd Farm, and you can make the story your own.
Visit www.southmaydfarm.com for a full tour and more details!
MANDALAY - UNRIVALLED WHITSUNDAY LUXURY AU$ 19,900,000
DETAILS
LOCATION: Mackay Regional
Australia
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LIVING AREA:
N/A
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ADDRESS: Mandalay, QLD
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LAND AREA: 4000 m2
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PROPERTYTYPE:
House
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FLOORS:
N/A
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BEDROOMS:
6
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AMENITIES:
N/A
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BATHROOMS: 9
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DESCRIPTION
6 king-sized en-suited bedrooms
Fully self-contained staff quarters
Private 24m berth marina & personal helipad
10 mins from Hamilton Island jet airport
Humidity controlled cellar & dining hall
State-of-the-art theatre & games room
Immaculately landscaped grounds
Stunning pool & outdoor terracing
Spectacular Coral Sea water frontage
Enjoy the very best of the Great Barrier Reef
Situated perfectly in this coastal paradise is arguably one of Australias premier waterfront properties with spectacular turquoise Coral Sea waters on one side and untouched national park on the other. Mandalay House enjoys the very best of the Whitsundays.
Classic architecture complements perfect views on a scale that will simply amaze. Nowhere does the attention to detail lapse as this home has been built as a labour of love, a dream realised.
New to the market, Mandalay House presents an unrivalled real estate and lifestyle investment opportunity.
Features include:
- 4,200 sqm north-west facing block adjoining National Park with uninterrupted ocean & island views
- Coordinates 201518.24 S 1484401.03 E
- The house boasts a total of 2,649 sq metres
- 6 spacious king size bedrooms with marble ensuites
- 9 bathrooms including ensuites
- Palatial master bedroom covers 144 sqm with lounge room & separate 52 sqm walk in dressing room
- Formal dining and lounge rooms
- Ocean front pavilion with dining for 14, marble bar & wood-fired pizza oven
- Large wood panelled office with separate secretarial space & its own bathroom, media & library rooms
- Large kitchen with adjoining casual dining room
- Maids room, butlers pantry & separate caretakers cottage
- Large laundry and sewing room
- Studio with court yard
- Climate controlled cellar with dining for 12
- Cinema, gymnasium and pool rooms
- Lift with timber panel and auto doors for all floors.
- 6 car garaging
- 240 volt Generator for emergency power back up
- Desalination water maker
- Underground rain water storage for 451,000 lts
- Large plant and storage rooms plus work shop area
- Multi zoned commercial air conditioning throughout
- C-Bus smart home automation system
- Monitored security with CC TV and 24 hr recording
- All-weather rock wall marina with 24 meter berth, 2 jet ski docks & boat shed
- Private heli-pad 10 minutes to Hamilton Island Jet airport
Whitsunday Islands, nearby attractions and facilities:
- Dent Island 18 hole golf course overlooks the entire Whitsunday island group
- Hayman Island contains a great selection of fine dining, duty free shopping, private bars & spas
- Hamilton Island hosts 6 star hotels, fine dining restaurants, shops, bars, marina, golf course, spas, night clubs and a school.
Information:
James Edition
