Sunday afternoon with the Roosevelts

A perfect fall afternoon - blue skies, a slight chill in the air and the trees just beginning to turn red and orange - was a great time to visit the summer home of President Teddy Roosevelt, Sagamore Hill. The house is always undergoing some form of maintenance and is well worth a visit (see someone else paint columns and replace a rotted verandah) but we chose just to walk through the grounds and kick up a few autumn leaves.

Levittown, Long Island

It's 60 years since Levitt & Sons announced plans to build a community on Long Island to provide housing for returning WWII GIs. The New York Times has an very interesting slideshow depicting the original Cape Cod style houses and some of the remodeled and much enlarged versions you can see today.
Detailed information about America's first suburban community can be found at The Levittown Historical Society.

Early morning flowers

hibiscus
Originally uploaded by modernemama

A violent rainstorm woke us at 4 AM but it didn't knock the flowers off the hibiscus on the kitchen porch.

The Vanderbilt Mansion, Centerport, NY

Screen porch
Originally uploaded by modernemama

Steven contemplating how much the maintenance is on the Vanderbilt's Long Island residence. And imagining his yacht, The Alva, docked out on the Sound.

Modernist Road Trip

Mother's Day, so I'm putting my feet up and perusing my favourite inspirational magazine dwell and making a list of all the things I want to get after I win the lottery, when I glance at the special advertising section for the Saturn Sky Roadster.
This takes the form of a suggested road trip around Long Island, NY to see the modern and post-modern architecture. And the proposed itinerary takes in the works of the celebrated architect Andrew Geller who worked on the Leisurama prefab homes for Macy's and designed the Pearlroth House and, coincidentally, who designed our house in 1968.
It's a long way to drive from Shelter Island to Manhattan without stopping to see some mid-century architecture. So I suggest, should you ever follow the indicated route, that you make a detour off Rte 25A and see another Andrew Geller masterpiece. I'm so lucky to live in this unique house and I want to share it with everyone.