Maurice Fatio: Palm Beach Architect

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