The Seguine House: A Nineteenth-Century Working Estate in Twenty-First-Century New York City

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As if surveying her domain, Diana the Huntress gazes across the terraced gardens of The Seguine grounds.

This sculpture is one of several sculptures that add visual interest to the gardens to add visual interest.

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At one side of the house, a formal garden defined by pergolas and statuary gives onto a vista across the lawns, punctuated in the distance by balustrades.

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The Seguine House seen from across the horse pastures, framed by majestic trees in full Autumnal color. Such marvelous vistas are a hallmark of this property.

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Even in winter, the elegance of the house is evident under its beautiful and tranquil blanket of snow. The terraces and gardens in slumber await the herald of Springtime.

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W e l c o me

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ATURALLY, THE IMPORTANT columned façade of the Seguine House is where guests enter.

The atmosphere of elegance and refinement is

immediately experienced upon entry into the spacious Center Hall. This hall functions as a reception room during large, festive parties. Continuing the Seguine tradition of gracious hospitality to this day, George Burke gives wonderful and lavish parties which truly keep the majestic house alive.

The Center Hall sets a formal tone as it runs from the front to the back of the house, from the grand waterside entry door, essentially unchanged since 1838, to a slightly less formal entry which faces the street behind the house. What is astonishing is that this hall contains just the beginning of the vast collection of objects, antiques, silver, sculpture, and paintings that grace the interior of the Seguine House. Burke is a collector who is open to all things beautiful and has designed his life to enjoy them daily.

Frederick Law Olmsted who was a guest at the Seguine House describes a dinner party: March 9, 1848, Akerly Farm, Southfield Staten Island “I met about a dozen of the neighbors … I liked them pretty well; there was nothing stuck up – indeed no pretensions of fashion or style in manners – or conduct- though it was quite a showy spread and showed taste and luxury.

We had a regular sit down supper at 9 o’clock, ice cream at 11, and broke up at 1. After supper the gentlemen had a smoke and a good free and easy time talking politics, farming, and such things as would not be particularly interesting to the ladies ….

They appeared like respectable wealthy farmer folks. They were all nearly of the name Seguine, descendants of Huguenots and had a slight foreign accent and vulgarism, perhaps, of speech.”

The tradition of hospitality established in 1838 by Joseph H. Seguine continues to this day under the auspices of George Burke.

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T he

U pstairs ha l l

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eached by way of the Center-Hall staircase, is the expansive Upstairs Hall. The walls are covered with 18-th and 19-th Century paintings from Mr. Burkes’ collection. This hall is access to the three bedrooms and an intimate den, also known as the trophy room.

Both the upstairs and downstairs halls are wallpapered in Scalamandre paper. It is a design used in James Madison’s Montpelier, most likely selected by Dolley, the first First Lady.

Scalamandre was reproducing historic wallpapers at that time, particularly for the San Francisco Plantation near New Orleans. Burke had it made in a special salmon hue, just for The Seguine.

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Opposite Page: The American Empire style is done to full effect in the Guest Room. The harmonious color scheme of cornflower blue and antique gold in the fabrics, and classical motifs in the Scalamandre wallpaper, perfectly exemplify the look. The Duncan Phyfe sofa was made in 1810 for the Baddell family of New York and is accented with a pair of Russian Empire style gilt armchairs.

Below: The black marble fireplace is graced with a bronze and crystal suite of candlesticks.

Over this hangs a painting by Karl Meuhler from 1830, titled The Moors on the Arabians, a fine example of 19th-Century Orientalist art.

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Opposite Page: The sleigh bed is from the 1840s. The painting above it is of a 27 year old 19th-Century Annapolis graduate who, on his first trip to sea, fell overboard and drowned.

Top Right: Further details from the American Empire Guest Room.

The Russian Empire gilt chair.

Bottom Right: On top of an American Empire chest of drawers sits a porcelain statuary group showing a recumbent satyr playing panpipes, with a goat.

It is a copy of a large stone statue in the Nymphenburg Palace Gardens and was made by the Nymphenburg Porcelain Company in the late 19th century.

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T he

VERANDAHS

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LONG THE HOUSE’S entire water- side facade are lower and upper porches enclosed by impressive, square columns. The term porch originally came from the ancient Greek, meaning the area shielded by columns in which persons met. It serves that purpose today.

The terms verandah and portico mean the same thing. As the Greek revival style spread across America, the classical porch could be seen every where, from modest country houses to grand government buildings.

The upstairs verandah is a private world of comfort, defined by wicker furnishings and classic blue and white patterns in the cushions and on the porcelains.

The vistas from this porch are the house’s most breathtaking.

It is as if one is living in the trees looking out onto Prince’s Bay.

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T he

anima l s

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HE SEGUINE was, above all, a large working estate. Joseph H. Seguine built stables for his prized horses and the largest barn on Staten Island for the lucrative crop of salt hay from the nearby Lemon Creek wetlands. Salt hay was used to bed cattle but it was most valuable to insulate blocks of ice before the invention of refrigeration. Seguine sold it all over the country. Burke’s deed retains Seguine’s right to cross neighbors’ property to water his cattle at nearby Wolfe’s Pond. Several years ago Burke had a cow and some goats, but he gave them up after they got out and caused a major traffic jam.

The Seguine Equestrian Center is one of the few remaining working stables in New York City, and the only one in an Historic House Trust property. Along with a stable full of twenty beautiful horses, The Seguine’s ostentation of seventeen peacocks can be seen everywhere on the property, along with an assortment of colorful exotic ducks, and old rooster, and a Chinese Silky. Burke loves animals;he is especially proud of his Doberman, Rusty.

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