Maurice fatio PAL M BEACH A R CHI T ECT
KIM MOCKLER FOREWORD BY JEFFERY SMITH
ACANTHUS PRESS
“LIFE AT PALM BEACH IS LIVED LARGELY IN THE OPEN AIR, AND THE LOGGIA IS THE MOST POPULAR PART OF THE HOUSE. DESIGNED TO AFFORD A GRATEFUL SHADE FROM THE SUNLIGHT, THE LOGGIA HAS BECOME THE REAL DAYTIME LIVING ROOM OF THE HOUSE.”
—Countr y Life , NOVEMBER 1934
M A U R I C E F AT I O PA L M B E A C H A R C H I T E C T
KIM I. MOCKLER
Foreword ~ JEFFERY SMITH Tribute ~ ALEXANDRA FATIO Plans ~ DARLINGTON MARTINEZ
ACANTHUS PRESS NEW YORK : 2010
Acanthus Press, LLC 1133 Broadway, Ste. 1229 New York, New York 10010 www.acanthuspress.com 212-414-0108
Copyright Š 2010 Kim I. Mockler Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify the owners of copyright. Errors of omission will be corrected in subsequent printings of this work. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in any part (except by reviewers for the public press) without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mockler, Kim I., 1953Maurice Fatio : Palm Beach architect / by Kim I. Mockler. p. cm. -- (The American architect series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-926494-09-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Fatio, Maurice, 1897-1943. 2. Architecture, Domestic--Florida--Palm Beach--History--20th century. 3. Palm Beach (Fla.)--Buildings, structures, etc. I. Title. NA737.F38M63 2010 720.92--dc22 2010025635
F R O N T I S P I E C E : L I V I N G R O O M L O G G I A , I L P A L M E T T O , P A L M B E A C H , E A R LY 1 9 3 0 s
Printed in China
CON TE N TS
Foreword — Jeffery Smith Tribute — Alexandra Fatio Introduction
9 11 12
VILLA OHEKA
BUENOS RECUERDOS
30
FATIO RESIDENCE
Palm Beach
HENRY & MIRIAM N. BARKHAUSEN RESIDENCE
MAURICE & ELEANOR CHASE FATIO
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
VILLA BELLARIA
38
EASTOVER
EMIL J. & MARGUERITE Z. STEHLI RESIDENCE
HAROLD STIRLING & GERTRUDE C. VANDERBILT
Palm Beach
Manalapan
CASA DELLA PORTA
44
IL PALMETTO
WILLIAM J. & SUSAN P. MCANEENY RESIDENCE
JOSEPH E. & ELEANOR P. WIDENER RESIDENCE
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
CHASE RESIDENCE
54
BLYTHEDUNES
NIA SAWYER CHASE
HARRISON & MONA BUSH WILLIAMS RESIDENCE
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
CASA ELEDA
59
VILLA TODAY
MORTIMER L. & ADELE N. SCHIFF RESIDENCE
CHARLES H. & AUDREY Q. CHADWICK RESIDENCE
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
PALMEIRAL
66
74
OTTO H. & ADDIE W. KAHN RESIDENCE
ALWORTH RESIDENCE
MARGARET DURANT COOPER RESIDENCE
MARSHALL W. & MARGARET ALWORTH
Palm Beach
Miami Beach
82
95
104
114
121
130
7
CASA ALVA
139
MARTIN RESIDENCE
COL. JACQUES & CONSUELO VANDERBILT BALSAN
ERNEST & VERA NIELSON MARTIN
Hypoluxo Island, Manalapan
Sunset Island One, Miami Beach
MAÑANA POINT
150
ALVA BASE
GROVER & MARKA TRUESDALE LOENING RESIDENCE
WILLIAM K. & ROSAMUND W. VANDERBILT JR.
Palm Beach
Fisher Island, Miami Beach
CUERVO NIDO
157
FOUR WINDS
HAROLD & HELEN G. MATZINGER RESIDENCE
EDWARD F. & DOROTHY METZGER HUTTON
Indian Creek Island, Miami Beach
Palm Beach
BLAIR RESIDENCE
164
LAKERIDGE HOUSE
WOLCOTT & ELLEN YUILLE STURGIS BLAIR
ALBERT E. & DELPHINE WORSWICK RESIDENCE
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
ANNANDALE HOUSE
172
WINDSOR RESIDENCE
ROBERT D. & EDITH TAYLOR HUNTINGTON RESIDENCE
HENRY HAVEN & LOUISE HUNTER WINDSOR JR.
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
THE REEF
179
PAYSON RESIDENCE
VADIM & JOSEPHINE HARTFORD MAKAROFF RESIDENCE
CHARLES S. & JOAN WHITNEY PAYSON
Palm Beach
Jupiter Island
LA FOLIE MONVEL BERNARD & DELFINA BOUTET DE MONVEL RESIDENCE Palm Beach
188
Florida Office Commission List of Houses Bibliography Photo Credits
Acknowledgments Index
8 ~
CONTENTS
192
196
206
214
219
225
233 246 249 250 252
C A SA A LVA C O L O N EL J A C Q U E S & C O N S U E L O VA N DE R B ILT B A L S A N Hypoluxo Island, Manalapan, Florida
1934
L O O K I N G A C R O S S L AW N T O R E A R F A C A D E P R I O R T O 1 9 3 7 A D D I T I O N S
139
M A I N E N T R A N C E T O T OW E R ,
C.
1935
Of Fat i o’s t e n co m m i s s i o n s for the year 1934,
road stock from the bride’s father, which yielded him
the one that brought him the most recognition was the
$100,000 a year, a sizable income at the time.
house for Colonel and Mrs. Jacques Balsan. In a letter
The Marlboroughs separated in 1906 and eventu-
to Maurice’s parents Eleanor Fatio wrote, “That one job
ally divorced in May 1921. During that time Consuelo
has brought him more publicity than all the other nine
had gained some fame for her philanthropic work. In
together. Everyone speaks to him about it, and even
July of 1921 she married again, this time for love; her
people who have just arrived in Palm Beach and are
new husband was Colonel Jacques Balsan, an aviator in
introduced to him, say ‘Oh you are the Mr. Fatio who is
the French air force in World War I and heir to a great
doing the Balsan house.’ ”
textile factory in Châteauroux in central France.
The project received such attention because the client,
In France the Balsans owned three houses. In Paris,
Mrs. Balsan, a celebrated beauty, was born Consuelo
they lived in the Hôtel Marlborough, a Paris mansion
Vanderbilt to Alva and William K. Vanderbilt in 1877. In
designed by the great French architect, René Sargent,
1895, when Consuelo was 18, her mother forced her into
and given to Consuelo by her father prior to her divorce
a loveless marriage to the ninth Duke of Marlborough, heir
from the duke in 1921. Northwest of Paris, near Dreux
to one of the greatest dukedoms in England but short on
in the Eure Valley, they resided in the French
cash. His grace received a dowry of $2.5 million in rail-
Renaissance Château at Saint Georges-Motel. The
140 ~
C A S A A L VA
V I E W O F H O U S E F R O M S O U T H E A S T, 1 9 3 5
Balsans built a third house, Lou Sueil (meaning “the
their house and outbuildings, giving him carte blanche.
hearth” in Provençal), on the French Riviera soon after
Completed for the 1935 season, the Spanish-style, H-
their marriage; it was designed by Achille Duchêne and
layout house has stucco walls and a red Cuban tile roof.
modeled after the Convent of Le Thoronet in Provence.
The two patios are paved in quarry key stone.
Soon after her mother’s death in 1933, Mrs. Balsan
Once complete, the Balsans undertook to embellish
built a fourth home, in Florida, near her brother Harold
and expand upon the house, to give it their own stamp, as
Vanderbilt’s new estate, Eastover. The Balsans purchased
they were so enamored with it. On a return trip to Paris,
an existing 50-acre estate called La Linda on Hypoluxo
they purchased antique furniture and interiors, including
Island (the Seminole word hypoluxo translating roughly
a French staircase of oak, an 18th-century Portuguese tile
to “water all around—no get out”) in Manalapan,
mural for the loggia, and 18th- and 19th-century bois-
Florida, for $75,000. The property was across Lake
eries. The couple bought most of these items from the
Worth from Eastover on the ocean and was easily
renowned Paris antique dealer, Robert de Gallea, and
reached by boat. The house was named Alva in memory
shipped them back to the United States. In 1937, the
of Consuelo’s mother.
Balsans commissioned Fatio to make alterations to the
Because the Balsans admired Fatio’s design for
house, that included a new dining room wing and a
Harold’s new estate, they hired the architect to design
second-floor addition. Fatio converted the old dining
C A S A A L VA
~ 141
A E R I A L V I E W O F A P O R T I O N O F T H E 5 0 A C R E E S TAT E
M A I N S TA I R C A S E I M P O R T E D F R O M F R A N C E , L AT E 1 9 3 0 s
144 ~
C A S A A L VA
t o p : D E TA I L O F L I V I N G R O O M b o t t o m : D I N I N G R O O M . B O T H R O O M S W E R E O U T F I T T E D W I T H A N T I Q U E F R E N C H B O I S E R I E S . L AT E 1 9 3 0 s
C A S A A L VA
~ 145
146 ~
C A S A A L VA
S I T T I N G R O O M , L AT E 1 9 3 0 s
room into a petit salon. He installed the antique French
couple escaped Europe in 1940, with the help of her
staircase in place of the original of his design and added a
brothers. They settled in the United States permanently,
new stair hall in the west wing, building for it a replica of
spending their time between Oldfields, a Treanor &
the antique French stairs. Fatio integrated the recent
Fatio–designed home on Long Island (now the Pine
acquisitions flawlessly, making it appear as if they were
Hollow Country Club), an apartment in New York City
original to the house.
(first at 825 Fifth Avenue, then at 1 Sutton Place South),
Because Mrs. Balsan’s name appeared on a list of people the Nazis proposed to kidnap for ransom, the
and Casa Alva. In 1957, soon after her husband’s death, Consuelo sold her estate to William Benjamin, who turned the house into the exclusive Point Manalapan Club. Since the early 1980s, the Benjamins have made this lovely
o p p o s i t e , t o p : O R I G I N A L L O U N G E , N OW A D I N I N G R O O M ; b o t t o m : M A D A M E B A L S A N ’ S B E D RO O M ; 2 0 0 8
estate their home and cared for it devotedly as the proud stewards of a historical house.
C A S A A L VA
~ 147
t o p : P O O L P AV I L I O N b o t t o m : G A R D E N WA L K , c . 1 9 3 5
148 ~
C A S A A L VA
F I R S T A N D S E C O N D F L O O R P L A N S , A F T E R 1 9 3 7 A D D I T I O N S ; T OW E R P L A N , B O T T O M L E F T
C A S A A L VA
~ 149