Friends of Florham – Winter 2011
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Homecoming Twombly Chairs Donated to Friends of Florham Board of Trustees Fifty-five years ago, on June 15 and 16, 1955, the The next day Friends President Linda Meister went to Kathleen Atencio Parke-Bernet Galleries conducted on the premises meet Sally and Layne Weggeland to accept this won- Carol Bere a two-day auction derful gift on behalf of the Friends. Then the Denise Bridgens of the contents of detective work began, examining with mag- Linda Carrington Florham. Brendan nifying glass every vintage photograph of the Samuel M. Convissor Gill, The New York- Great Hall and every lot from the Great Hall Phyllis Conway er’s famed writer, was listed in the 1955 Parke-Bernet Galleries auc- Emma Joy Dana there and captured tion. A process of elimination led to lot 575, Dawn Dupak what the 13,000 visi- described in the catalog as follows: Elaine Earlywine tors saw: “Florham,” “Two carved Walnut and Oak Side Chairs: Carol C. Knauff he wrote, “is every- English XVII Century; Carolean carved wal- Allan S. Kushen thing one thinks an nut tall back side chair, carved with foliated Linda Meister English country seat ornament; and a Derbyshire side chair hav- Suzy Moran should be, with the ing a scrolled back carved with stylized leaf Audrey Parker greenest of green ornament.” Carol M. Ponder lawns running on into Ann Wellbrock groves of oak and This lot was sold near the end of the second beech, and, rising day of the auction for $80, which was typical Honorary Trustees against the sky at the for what pairs of chairs from the Great Hall Susan Adams end of a long grav- Layne and Sally Weggeland with the were bringing that day. Kim Dougherty eled drive, a hundred- donated chairs. Linda Meister proceeded to John H. Fritz room house of rosy brick, its roof have the chairs appraised, Ruth Hennessy bristling with chimneys, its many doors then brought the Carolean Arthur T. Vanderbilt, II open to the summer air.” chair to an expert restorer University Liaisons The auction was held on the piazza out- for repair of a missing J. Michael Adams side the Drawing Room, with 599 lots stretcher, and carefully Carol Black brought to the auctioneer one by one, peeled back fabric on this Eleanor Friedl from the famous Barberini tapestries that chair to reveal underneath Susan McConville had graced the Great Hall to draperies to the faded and fragile red Marilyn Rye a wicker terrace table. Members of the silk damask that covered Friends of Florham have often speculated all the chairs in Florham’s The chairs restored. about what happened to the contents of Great Hall. These chairs Florham, where pieces now are located, and whether were restored as a project funded by the Friends of any would someday return home. Florham, and used in the small office we are dedi- cating to Walter Savage. Early in August, Friends Trustee Linda Carrington, who oversees the Friends of Florham website, found Sally and Layne Weggeland also donated two lovely an e-mail from Mr. and Mrs. R. Layne Weggeland of large Chinese porcelain lamps with silk shades and a Summit, N.J, expressing their interest in donating to formal gold-framed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher, the Friends two chairs Mr. Weggeland’s parents pur- the prominent 19th-century Congregationalist cler- chased at the Florham auction. The chairs were from gyman, social reformer and abolitionist whose sister, the Great Hall. (continued on page 2) Fairleigh Dickinson University Winter 2011 President’s Letter I find myself amazed at everything we have was to put to rest the many apocryphal ver- have arrived, hopefully containing the much- accomplished since my last letter. I am sions of Florham’s landscape history and to needed information. pleased to announce that the digitization of ascertain who really designed the acres sur- Our May Gala was easily the most beautiful the Twombly household ledgers was com- rounding the mansion. The project was to ever. This event is certainly the most ele- pleted under the direction of Brigid Burke, create design references for the University gant fundraiser in the state of New Jersey, FDU’s technical services and digital pro- and for researchers. The Granbery-Sulpy and the committee works hard to keep the jects librarian, and board member Carol team quickly compiled a list of excellent price affordable. Thank you all for your Knauff. Students as well as researchers can sources. Access proved another problem al- support and attendance at our Gala. To offer now access these valuable ledgers through together. The Olmsted archives in Brain- a seasonal change, the Gala will next be our website. Both of these technical tri- tree, Mass., were under renovation, offering held on October 15, 2011. umphs place Florham history in the main- limited access to the collection. A gas leak stream of Gilded Age scholarship. closed the valuable Morristown Library Continuing with our mission to educate our archives. To top it off, the Library of Con- members and the community on historic Speaking of scholarship, the Landscape gress (LOC) appears to have misfiled preservation, Friends of Florham chose the Preservation Project undertaken in the every piece of correspondence referring to topic of Hurstmont, one of Stanford White’s spring by Ann Granbery, ALS, and her as- Florham. But the persistence of able FDU masterpieces, now sadly on New Jersey sociate, FDU alumnus John Sulpy, met se- Research Librarian Eleanor Friedl finally Preservation’s list of Endangered Historic vere challenges. The purpose of the study paid off. At this writing, new LOC reels Sites, for its fall lecture. Save the Date — Friends of Florham Spring Lecture Finally, it is with great anticipation that the Friends of Florham looks forward to dis- “Art, Architecture, Scandal, and Class in America’s Gilded Age” playing donated furniture from the Wegge- Author and Speaker Hartman Lounge, Copies of Broderick’s land family and from the estate of Walter Mosette Broderick Hennessy Hall, College at Triumvirate will be Savage. Without the generosity of so many Florham, Fairleigh available for purchase interested patrons, we could not continue Sunday, March 6, Dickinson University and signing by the author. our care for this splendid Gilded Age estate. 2011, 3 p.m. $15 at the Door, Reception Included — Linda Meister A New Look Twombly Chairs Donated, continued from page 1 Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Those pieces Welcome to our newly formatted newsletter, the result of a were not part of the Twomblys’ estate, but will make beautiful ad- comment by one of our newer board members, Sam Convissor, ditions to the mansion. who asked, “Why is there a lily on our masthead?” He then re- The Weggelands’ generous gift may well mark the start of other minded us, “We are not a garden club.” Granted the Friends ap- pieces from Florham being located and perhaps some returning preciate the gardens and grounds and especially identified with home. Mr. Weggeland’s father also purchased two Italian marriage the Florham lily that was developed for Mrs. Twombly by her chests which are very visible in all the vintage photographs of the gardener, Arthur Herrington, in 1899; however, our mission in- Great Hall; members of his family in California and England now cludes preservation of the mansion and a celebration of its ar- have these pieces. A photograph accompanying the recent The New chitectural heritage. And, after all these years, it is time for a York Times article featuring Wendy Burden’s book Dead End Gene new look. Pool showed the massive stone lions which once guarded Florham’s The image we chose is the carving above the front door now at her home in Portland, Ore. fireplace in the Great Hall featuring the That magnificent setting which Brendan Gill so well described in goddess, Flora. One characteristic of his essay on the auction remains today — the sweep of lawns, the McKim, Mead and White houses was perfect trees, the “dainty palace of an orangerie, all arched win- that Stanford White personally com- dows and glints of glass,” the “charming crisscross of gardens and missioned for classical embellish- paved walks, of pavilions, pergolas, urns on pedestals and grave ments. The goddess Flora is the Greek statues.” It is a hope and goal of the Friends of Florham that Roman goddess of flowering plants, with the return of some more pieces auctioned at the 1955 Parke- especially fruit-bearing plants, so it Bernet sale, a feel for the interior of the Twomblys’ home may seems appropriate to bring her image soon be recreated. to the estate house of the Twombly farm. It is likely that many of the lots sold at the auction on those beauti- We’ve used an image of a courtyard lantern as part of the return ful June days in 1955 are within a 25-mile radius of Florham. If address. The restoration of the lanterns was our major project anyone has details on the location of any pieces from the estate, in 2007, and the Friends are particularly proud of the lanterns’ please share your information by e-mailing the website of the visual impact and how they greatly enhance the exterior view of Friends at http://fdu.edu/fof. Florham at night. — Arthur T. Vanderbilt, II 2 Fairleigh Dickinson University Gala 2010 The rear portico of Lenfell Hall, Hennessy Hall, elegantly draped and filled Friends of Florham Board Members Emma Joy Dana, left, and Phyllis with guests. Conway, center, with guest Kay Lyall. Christopher and Irene Sciales posed with “Mark 2” Jaguar. Guests enjoyed refreshments in the “Great Hall.” Friends of Florham Board President Linda Meister addressed the audience.