gentleridevan » historic homes http://andreagrover.com Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:37:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Fixer Upper on Downers http://andreagrover.com/fixer-upper-on-downers/ http://andreagrover.com/fixer-upper-on-downers/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:24:34 +0000 Andrea http://andreagrover.com/?p=322 Carleton Island Villa (Carleton Island, NY) looks so tragically beyond repair, that I can’t imagine who would buy it. Not me. Stop looking at me, you sad, beautiful old house. Built as a summer residence in 1894 for W.O. Wykoff (Remingon Typewriter tycoon), the home was designed by architect William Miller and had over 50 rooms, a crypt-like cellar, grand halls, libraries, and parlors. But with no inhabitants for over 60 years, this fixer upper is a downer. Creepily, Wykoff himself never even inhabited the villa, save one day. He died July 7, 1895, his very first night in his new home, of a heart attack.

Listed at $495,000 and “in need of major restoration.”

It reminds me a bit of another tragic ruin of the Gilded Age, Bannerman Castle.

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