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Do You Remember?
"Bartow-Pell Stone Carriage House Is Only One in
Area"
Tom Casey poses in front
of the Bartow-Pell Carriage House located off the Shore
Road opposite the Split Rock Golf Course. The building
has been landmarked. |
(Reprinted
from the
Bronx Times Reporter on June 20, 2002)
This past Christmas
season my wife and I enjoyed the inaugural candlelight tour of
the Bartow-Pell Mansion and Carriage House. It is my
understanding that this event will now be an annual attraction
at this historic site and so it should be. It occurred to me
that I've written about the mansion any number of times but not
about the carriage house which, along with the mansion, was
designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977.
It was built by the Bartow family in the 1840's within view of
the their Greek Revival mansion. The natural stone structure
served the family well while they lived on the estate but it
fell into disrepair after being acquired as parkland in 1888.
The International Garden Club, which was established in 1914,
took over the mansion as their headquarters in 1915 and
immediately began restoring the property. Their immediate
concern was the mansion and grounds but the carriage house was
not forgotten. As with most projects of this nature, it required
a great deal of funding to return it to its original state of
beauty.
After being designated a landmark in 1977, efforts were made to
stem the ruination of the old carriage house. Through the late
1980's and into the 1990's extensive repairs were made and today
it is a showcase historic site. It is, in fact, the only
surviving stone carriage house in the metropolitan area, an
attribute that serves as a drawing card to many architects and
historians.
The building has three floors and the main entrance leads to the
carriage room where a re-constructed period carriage can be
viewed off to the left. The harness room is to the immediate
right of the entrance and the horse stalls are on either side at
the rear of this floor. The various tools and equipment, such as
harnesses and currycombs, in use during the late 19th and early
20th centuries are also on display on this level. Mannequins are
used as props where appropriate recreating a real-life scene of
the heyday of horse and carriages. The hayloft is above and the
lower level has been reserved for educational purposes including
school trips and lectures. Should you be planning a visit to
this National Historic Landmark, be sure to bring along a camera
to captures scenes of a way of life all but forgotten.
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