Never invite the builders in and go on vacation. This could only have happened if the family decided not to oversee the project. The architects were clearly incompetent, but a good review of finished plans by the owners would have nipped this mess in the bud.

Lovely none the less. Well furnished, without pretention or clutter.

This was certainly an interesting home with a very odd layout!!! Thanks for sharing another fun video!!! 🎄☃️🤶

The original house was the Alexander Cassatt (head of the Pennsylvania RR and brother of painter Mary Cassatt) "cottage." Excellent video.

@kathleenardrey5094

7 ай бұрын

Oh, wow! Thanks for info!

One has to wonder if Mr. Stotesbury simply accepted this deeply flawed design or if there was a dispute over satisfactory completion and payment.

I really like this house, even with it's labyrinth style. As a matter of fact, I think that is exactly why I like it so much!! It makes me sad that it no longer exists!!

@thomascoffin3273

7 ай бұрын

It's certainly far more interesting than what''s there now!

Thank you!!!

It's hard to believe that this mansion would be summarily plowed under. Was there any rescue of all the furnishings inside? You continue to show us amazing "homes" that we never know about, plus the history. Thank you for the info!

Looks like Wingwood made a lot of architectural salvage for someone. Let’s hope it all didn’t end up in a landfill.

@Leawoody

7 ай бұрын

It is likely any attached items of value were sold with the contents of the house after Eva’s death and the building was eventually dismantled and the materials sold based on ads for the hiring of a building wrecker.

❤ I thought it was beautiful

This is surprising--I never heard of this mansion. I'm familiar with Whitemarsh Hall--visited it as a young adult before demolition, and knew of his mansion in center city Philadelphia near Rittenhouse Square. What a surprise this was.

The rooms are sumptuous indeed. I can well imagine the 18th century coloration, in especially the upstairs hallway wallpaper. The largest room was Adam-esk in its base relief plaster work. The valances, and drapery, the octagonal desk (which is a period piece somewhere out there in someone’s fine home), the paintings, everything was just sumptuously comfortable. Any one of those rooms one could get lost in reading a novel, and be in perfect peace on a sunny late afternoon. As wealthy as the Stotesbury’s were, it boggles the mind that absolutely nothing has been found in someone’s estate that’s taken in color. This was a time when Kodachrome was first achieved and indeed shown off, and of course prohibitive to 99% of the US population due to its exorbitant cost and it’s still experimental obscurity. Nonetheless, Wingwood was a very comfortably pleasant house, and we can well assume there were back stairs and paneled doors for servants to quietly maneuver throughout the house without being too noticed. ….it surely was a golden time for some….

LOL. You're right. It's wonky. The false entrance is almost hilarious. The house doesn't know what it is or who it's for. On the plus side, I still like it very much. You know how old English estates have that "remodeled several times over the decades" look? I actually like that because it does NOT represent a single idea or concept. It makes the building more organic and personal. Domestic. This "structure" has that but I understand why they decided to demolish it. The house was a dork.

@RayJorg

7 ай бұрын

Google Savills W1J 7DF and you will see a floorplan that makes this look like a Richard Meier design.

I kinda like Wingwood, but then I do tend to like warren like spaces. (that study needs work though . . . and the drawing room would need to be restored back to it's Arts and Crafts charm)

The video is interesting for sure, but just one of the rare homes featured on the channel that I did not care for. Which is perfectly fine, not every home appeals to all people. Still, as a history buff, the history that you include is always fascinating 🙂

It certainly wouldn't win any awards for an efficient and functional floorplan, but there were a few nice details here and there. I hope the European treasures gathered within the house were salvaged prior to demolition.

Love Maine, I would live there if the property taxes weren't so high..... Years back we lived in East Millinocket, great town but the paper mill got shut down. Thanks for your time, work and posting.

Are you sure this was called " Wingwood house" ? Sounds like it should have been called "Wing and a Prayer." With the long hallways and convoluted directions, you would need the wings ( or skates) to get from one place to another and then a prayer to make sure you got to the right room you were headed to. 😮😵‍💫🥴

What a bizarre story! Wasn’t anyone overseeing Wingwood’s design and structure?!

A couple of people have made comments comparing Wingwood to the Winchester house in California. I'm thinking of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" in which the Crain mansion was deliberately "off" with the intention of causing confusion and unease.

Sounds like a story I heard recently from a friend in the San Francisco area. Contractors run amuck with no repercussions.

Yikes! Too bad no one got the right memo..i wonder how the family felt about it

Whitemarsh Hall certainly made up for what this was lacking. It was so stunning.

I do love a long gallery, but... The close up shot early in this video shows mismatched different sized windows. It would seem it went from having the appearance of having been built from builders salvage materials, to being builders salvaged materials, hopefully. An oddity for sure, but - almost - charming for it.

....and now we know where the phrase "hot-mess" originated!

@pnwrocker1965

7 ай бұрын

Hahaha yes indeed it is a hot mess 😂 but I like it

Winchester Mystery House anyone?

When Stotebury died, his widow looked into their finances and found that there were practically no liquid assets (cash, stocks, treasury notes, etc...). Stotesbury had told one of his relatives that he was planning on "squandering" his fortune so that the relatives won't get it upon his death. He reportedly did just that, although his "squandering" could also be considered de-rigeur for the moneyed elite at the time. He bought horses, enhanced his estates, purchased antiques and paintings, and lived a life of luxury. If I remember correctly, his wife sold the Maine estate, which paid for the upkeep on Whitemarsh Hall for about 10 years before that found a buyer, and for the upkeep of the Florida estate, which was sold upon Mrs Stotesbury's death 8 years after her husband's death. Of the three mansions, none still stand today.

I know the mansion was a strange mix of styles and had a crazy lay out, but I still feel bad that it was demolished. Silly I guess.

I would have torn down the newer part of the house, fired the architects with bad reference, and made their firm pay for the demolition. Then, I would hire Stanford, Mead & White to design a house worthy of my great stature and wealth. It's a hideous house!

@marvinhaines9297

7 ай бұрын

McKim, Mead, and White, you mean. If you can't even name your famous architects correctly, you shouldn't be making such decisions.

Was the mansion already demolished by great fire of 1947? Great video!

considered new money

Wow! That is so much inconvenient convenience in one place. I loved the original dark wood craftsman cottage room. Newer and bigger isn't always better. Yeesh!

New carpet , paint , miniblinds , could have been an easy flip .

What is a rudimentary surround sound system?

It could be said that all of the Stotesbury residences were unsustainable, but Whitemarsh was the epitome of a colossal white elephant.

@Paulftate

7 ай бұрын

it is what it is

What a shame. Whitemarsh was really something

A fake front door? That’s a new one!

Good place for hide n seek, no one would ever find you, you would all get lost in the confusing layout, a shame to tear it down though.

I believe Your facts and bias are completely wrong. There were two renovations to this house by the Stotesbury’s. The first was criticized by their friends as looking like a giant marshmallow. Upon hearing of others disfavor, they immediately hired a different architect to remake it into what you reviewed and were assumed to be pleased with the results. I doubt that the architect had full control without the Stotesbury’s watchful eye. Eva did not sell it after Ned’s death as you state but instead continued to summer at the house until her death a decade later. It was after her death that it’s contents were sold and it passed through several owners. I do agree that the plan and entry sequence is very forced and unconventional, but that can also result in a very cool and unexpected experience. Think of the anticipation that built for a first time visitor walking down that gallery to the Entrance Hall and through a second sequence to get to the Grand hall. There are letters from Eva to Duveen stating her favoritism for the interiors of this house over others he had completed for them up to that point. Perhaps your narrative is your own bias. And technically, all three of their houses were white elephants, amazing as they were, and were destroyed after their occupancy. Whitemarsh Hall died a slower death than the other two starting with Penn Salts lab conversion.

horrible mansionLOL, I would still live there haha

Mouse maze.

Hope that architect was fired. Why didn’t they monitor what he was doing??!!

Well, that was certainly different. It looks like each architect just did his own thing. I wonder if ol' Stotesbury was pleased.

Very interesting but too disjointed. Big/large in one thing but walking until your feet explode…too much 😉

A slightly better rendition of the Winchester mystery house.

Mish-mash monstrosity.

Thats what they get for copying other peoples houses. The architects were definitely offended and janked it up on purpose.

The layout was horrid…that first stairway off the main gallery?!….the architectural firm should have been sued….

quite and odd house to be honest. A colonial house stretched to excessive size

This place is hot mess.