Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Family Ties


Hi everyone, Millie Rockerfella here. I thought I'd share a few pics of my distant relatives old house. They come from the American side of the family, & as you can see, they changed the spelling of their name to end with an 'er'. We could never quite figure out why, but you know those American possums, they do strange things with the English language sometimes!!

Anyways, this house in Greenwich Connecticut was built for my 8th cousin, 200 times removed, James Stillman Rockefeller. He & his wife, Nancy Carnegie Rockefeller (yes, of THE Carnegie's) built this house just after they got hitched in 1929. A classic brick Georgian home, it's got 11 bedrooms and 16 marble bathrooms on four levels. There's also 12 fireplaces, an elevator, an outdoor pool and English gardens - pretty nice eh. Cousin James lived there until 2004 when he went to God at the mighty old age of 102. (Nancy had pre-deceased him in 1994 after 68 years of marriage). It was then sold for US$13.4m.

The new Owners found it in it's original and unaltered 1930's condition (we'd heard whispers across the Pacific that old James was a bit of a penny-pincher). They thought the layout of the home was geared toward an obsolete lifestyle - a pretty harsh statement I reckon, as in my books, a combined family wealth of over $110 billion never loses its relevance! So they hired the boys from Vicente-Burin Architects to fix the joint up. The heart of the project was relocating the kitchen from an isolated servant's wing to the center of the main house. I'm so glad old James didn't live to see this, he would have had a total spin-out, as he'd never actually set foot in a kitchen! The former servants wing was repurposed into a billiard room with guest quarters above. The 20,000sq.ft. home was renovated in it's entirety & then resold again in 2009 for US$23.9m. Us Aussie Rockerfella's were sure sad to see the old place go!!

I thought I'd put these pics in first, as I know my fellow Bloggers just love a good Laundry!

I reckon if old James was still in an above ground position, he'd have made sure those machines had coin slots in them!

22 comments:

  1. I love the laundry and the bathroom, wow I think my whole house could fit in those two rooms! xx

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  2. the laundry is amazing. And the kitchen. No complaints about storage space there.

    But check out that driftwood coffee table!! I am sorry I just can't countenance that. In fact my husband and I used to joke we would buy one in Tasmania and put it in our newly renovated house and invite the architect over for a drink just to see his face.

    xoxo

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  3. Jane - I'm hearing on the driftwood coffee table thing. My family know if ever they want to bump me off suddenly, all they need do is gift me one of these. The shock of having to find a place for it @ The Hedge would cause my instant demise!
    M ^_^

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  4. Oh my......I cannot imagine having the money to do that sort of renovation....but I will do my best!
    How many staff still required to keep it looking like that I wonder?

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  5. Really love all of the white, the kitchen I could stay in all day... not cooking mind you just having coffee and sighing... :)

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  6. Wow. What an amazing house. That laundry is unbelievable. Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Hi Millie, Ditto for me on the coffee table :o So what does one do with all that space? I can't even begin to imagine such a luxury. I think it would be fun to play hide and seek! xoTrina

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  8. That laundry is TO.DIE.FOR! Obviously it looks just like mine...
    Kerri x

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  9. I love that laundry room - the color and style speaks to clean and fresh, the perfect feel for a room like that!

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  10. I would no longer regard the task of laundry as the worst household chore. That kitchen... faboulous when you want to whip up a little something for two... or 200!

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  11. What a beautiful house, Mill's. .....on the outside. I'm not sure if I like all of the renovations. It beats me as to why, with 11 bedrooms, there would be 16 bathrooms. I think that, people are obsessed with cleanliness.....and more over the top cleaning with that massive laundry room....but, I wouldn't say no. I just think that it should have been given a more original look. Maybe, when it's bequeathed to you in the will, you can give it the Millie touch !! XXXX

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  12. Oh Millie - just give me a bottle of something cold and lovely, put me in that laundry and I would be a happy little bunny...you wouldn't hear a peep out of me for days...! x

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  13. i am tripping out over that marble tub!!
    I LOVE IT
    i wouldn't even mind cleaning it!!!

    xx

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  14. Such grand inspiration, glad to see it runs in the family-
    along with a good sense of humor.
    pve

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  15. wow I am without words.
    I am ready to move in.
    Annika

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  16. wow -the combination of whites and taupes with the wood tones and floors is wonderful, the rooms appear magical!

    Karen
    ho to cousins...

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  17. Thanks Millie, I may just have to unpost my "New Laundry" post! Feeling inadequate.. Wow, what an incredible house, stunning. And the whole distant relative thing - apparently one of ours was the wealthiest lord in Scotland! But, of course, his daughter (whom I am descended from) was disowned for marrying beneath her. Nice one..Rachaelx

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  18. Holy cow, check the laundry out! What a house.
    xxx

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  19. Hi Millie,

    What an amazing house, and I would be a happy girl doing the laundry there.
    The storage space is wonderful.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  20. Great post Millie, what an incredible house!! I am not sure that I like all the renovations, bit too much white for me, but the size of the rooms is wonderful!

    Thanks for the comment on my new blog design....I loved being called "swisho"...thank you!! :)

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  21. What The Laundry
    What The Bathroom.

    Oh Love it.
    X
    V

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And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

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