Conyers Farm

Last updated
E.C Converse Mansion E.C Converse Mansion.jpg
E.C Converse Mansion

Conyers Farm is a tract of land in Greenwich, Connecticut, near the New York-Connecticut border. Established by Edmund C. Converse of Bankers Trust in 1904, the property represented the consolidation of 20 farms. Much of the land had long been uncultivated, but the farm became an important source of employment and food for Greenwich. The 1,481-acre (599 ha) site was unoccupied for 15 years after Converse's death. Conyers Farm was repurposed for luxury home development in the 1980s and several celebrities have owned property there since that time.

Contents

History

A portion of the facade of Converse's home on Conyers Farm Edmund C Converse home 1908.jpg
A portion of the facade of Converse's home on Conyers Farm

Conyers Farm was established by Bankers Trust President Edmund C. Converse in 1904. It was named after the Old English spelling of Converse's name. To acquire the land for Conyers Farm, Converse purchased and consolidated 20 farms. Initially, he was the sole owner of the property, which consisted of a main house and several other buildings that served as quarters for 200 workers that maintained the farm. [1]

When Conyers Farm was established, the land required a great deal of work. Ditches had to be inserted and loose stones and boulders covered the soil. Much of the land had not been cultivated in a generation. A layer of dry, hard matter sat a few inches below the topsoil, necessitating the installation of subsurface drainage. A 1908 issue of American Homes and Gardens said that while apple orchards on the property initially seemed lost, they had been restored to pristine condition. By that time, Conyers Farm also housed one of Converse's daughters and his brother's widow. [2]

The farm flourished and became a source of food and employment for Greenwich residents. Eggs, butter and milk were produced, and cows, pigs and poultry were raised there. [3] In addition to its manor house, Conyers Farm had a large stone storage barn, a 40-foot clock tower, several greenhouses and one of the grandest music rooms in the United States, which included a pipe organ valued at $50,000. [4] Conyers Lake ran through the property and water flowed into two water towers, which had capacities of 22,500 gallons and 35,000 gallons. [2]

The farm was unoccupied from Converse's death in 1921 to 1936. [5] Converse was the first president of Bankers Trust, and the group took over ownership of the farm for several years. A new owner purchased Conyers Farm in 1927 and planned to renovate it, but the Great Depression set in and the renovations never took place. Lewis Rosenstiel, a liquor magnate, purchased the land in 1936. He attempted to change zoning rules for the property so that 83 acres (34 ha) of it could be divided into 0.25-acre (0.10 ha) parcels. He also wanted to erect office buildings on the land. After a legal battle, Rosenstiel decided to leave the land mostly untouched. [4]

In 1980, businessman Peter M. Brant purchased Conyers Farm for $18 million. At the time, it represented one of the largest plots of undeveloped land near a large city. A devoted polo player, Brant said that he hoped to develop a community of people who were polo enthusiasts. The land at Conyers Farm was sold in lots of at least 10 acres (4.0 ha) each. There were 95 lots for sale. By 1986, about half of the lots were sold and the remaining ones were priced between $800,000 and $1.5 million. [5]

In 2004, an 80-acre (32 ha) property on Conyers Farm sold for $45 million. [6] By 2006, the size of a planned home in Conyers Farm had generated public debate. A hedge fund manager purchased 11 acres (4.5 ha) in the community and planned a home with a 39,000-square-foot (3,600 m2) main house. The home could have become the largest in Greenwich, depending on how it would have been measured. The site's owner requested a permit to build the house, which is required for any home over 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2). The man dropped the request amid public criticism of the projected size of the home. [6]

President Barack Obama attended a dinner in 2010 at a home on Conyers Farm which raised $1 million for the Democratic National Committee. [7] As of May 2014, the Conyers Farm home of film director Ron Howard was one of three houses in Greenwich listed on the market at prices above $25 million. Howard's family came to Greenwich in the 1980s, moving into their 32-acre (13 ha) Conyers Farm home several years later. While the Howard family has spent holidays at Conyers Farm in recent years, they have spent more and more time in California. [8]

Notable residents

In addition to Howard's family, several notable people have lived on or owned property on Conyers Farm. In the 1980s, tennis players Ivan Lendl and Wojciech Fibak each purchased land there. [4] Other celebrities who have owned property on Conyers Farm include pro-wrestling mogul Vince McMahon, former Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda McMahon, [9] actress Jessica Biel, actor Tom Cruise, basketball player Allan Houston, politician David Stockman and newscaster Paula Zahn. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Captain Island</span> Island in the United States of America

Great Captain Island, also known more familiarly as "Great Captain's Island," is an island off the coast of Greenwich, Connecticut. The 17.2-acre (7.0 ha) island is the largest of a three-island group that also includes Little Captain and Wee Captain. The island is a remnant of a glacial moraine and has a large glacial erratic on the southern side, the island's east and west sides are connected by a tombolo. The island has had several owners, but has been owned in whole by the Town of Greenwich since 1973. The island is home to the Great Captain Island Light, a 19th-century lighthouse that was restored in 2009 and relit as a non-navigational aid in 2012. The actual navigation aid is a skeletal tower erected in 1970. Great Captain Island is one of the state's 26 "important bird areas" according to the Connecticut Audubon Society. The town operates a ferry service to and from the island from about the second week in June through the second week of September. Trails have been laid out for visitors, and the western part of the island has picnic tables, grills, restrooms, and posted swimming areas. The island is open year round, with a ferry running during the summer. No public tours of the lighthouse or island are available.

Live Oak Plantation was originally a small cotton plantation of 1,560 acres (630 ha) located in central Leon County, Florida, United States established by John Branch who arrived in Florida in 1832 and served as Florida Territorial Governor while living at Live Oak for 15 years.

Henryk Richard de Kwiatkowski was a Polish-born member of the Royal Air Force who became an aeronautical engineer, made a fortune in business in North America, and who owned Calumet Farm, one of the most prestigious thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farms in the United States, which throughout its history of over 87 years, has produced some of the greatest Thoroughbred horses of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Farm</span>

River Farm, permanent home to the American Horticultural Society (AHS) headquarters, is a landscape located at 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia. The estate takes its name from a larger plot of land which formed an outlying part of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorsey's Search, Columbia, Maryland</span> Village in Maryland, United States

Dorsey's Search is a parcel of land patented by John Dorsey of Hockley-in-the-hole (1645–1714) in Baltimore County. The 479-acre (194 ha) property adjacent to the north branch of the Patuxent river was surveyed by Richard Beard in December 1684, and granted to Dorsey in March 1696. The property lying between "Long Reach" and "Elk Ridge" was resurveyed in March 1723 to include 750 acres (300 ha). After several generations of inheritance, a series of legal disputes were held over the land by Rezin Hammond and Richard Ridgley in 1820. In 1827 the property exchanged hands to Robert Oliver, builder of Oakland Mill, who combined it with multiple properties totaling 2,300 acres (930 ha). George Gaither acquired the property in 1838. John Dorsey's grandson, "Patuxent" John Dorsey of "Dorsey's Search" built Dorsey Hall at the site.

Banksville is a hamlet in the town of North Castle, Westchester County, New York, United States and an area including Stamford and Greenwich, Connecticut. Estimated to have been founded in the late 1600s, it is an area which had importance for local cottage industries, a boarding school, and local merchants to support its residents in its early days. Banksville was the home of many patriots including veterans who fought in the American Revolution, Civil War and World Wars I and II. Today it remains a vibrant area of neighborhoods that include ancestors from its earliest times.

Christie's International Real Estate is an international network of independently owned luxury real estate firms with more than 400 offices and approximately 10,000 real estate agents in nearly 50 countries and territories around the world. The brand is separately owned but strategically partnered with Christie’s, the fine art auction house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troy (Dorsey, Maryland)</span> Historic house in Maryland, United States

Troy, also known as Troy Hill Farm, is a historic slave plantation home located at Elkridge, Howard County, Maryland, United States. It is associated with the prominent Dorsey family of Howard County, who also built Dorsey Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Unit</span> Former prison in Sugar Land, Texas, US

The Central Unit was a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) men's prison in Sugar Land, Texas. The approximately 325.8-acre (131.8 ha) facility is 2 miles (3.2 km) from the central part of the city of Sugar Land on U.S. Highway 90A.

The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA) is a 1,021-acre (4.13 km2) wildlife area in Clarksville, Maryland and operated by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. It is located next to the River Hill village in the town of Columbia, Maryland, in the United States. The MPEA was created in 1996 for educational, research, and recreational purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Polo Club</span>

Greenwich Polo Club is a polo club and event venue in Greenwich, Connecticut that was established in 1981. It is one of only three polo venues in the United States offering high-goal polo. The club hosts high goal polo matches throughout the summer, tournaments typically beginning in June and concluding in September.

Lewis Solon Rosenstiel was the founder of Schenley Industries, an American liquor company, and a philanthropist. The Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award is named after him and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami is named after him and his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund C. Converse</span>

Edmund Cogswell Converse was an American businessman, banker and baseball executive. He was a steel industry executive and participated in mergers that unified much of the American steel industry. Later, continuing an association with J. P. Morgan, he was the first president of Bankers Trust. Late in his life, he consolidated 20 farms to create the 1,481-acre (599 ha) tract known as Conyers Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. Conyers Farm remained unoccupied for 15 years after Converse's death.

Converse Lake is a 100 acres (40 ha) lake located on the border of Connecticut and New York in the United States. It is located in Conyers Farm, a gated community in Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from the Greenwich Polo Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Residences of Donald Trump</span> Overview of Donald Trumps residences

Former U.S. president, businessman, and television personality Donald Trump currently has six residences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenwich Point</span>

Greenwich Point is one of four beaches located in Greenwich, Connecticut. The beach sits on a peninsula jutting into Long Island Sound. It is a popular spot for Greenwich families to spend the day. Visitors to Greenwich Point typically jog, walk, or cycle around the Point, fish, boat, or swim in the Long Island Sound, study nature, or sunbathe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park Tower Stamford</span> Skyscraper in Connecticut

Park Tower Stamford is a 36-story condominium property located at 1 Broad Street in Stamford, Connecticut. Real estate developers Thomas Rich and Louis R. Cappelli began planning the project as Park Tower in February 2006; it was renamed as Trump Parc Stamford later that year, after Donald Trump joined the project, and again renamed Park Tower Stamford.

The William H. Taft Mansion is a historical site located at 111 Whitney Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It was built in 1870. It is known as the Taft Mansion because U.S. President William Howard Taft owned it for a period around the time of World War I, although he may never have lived in it. In 1920 it was famously burgled by Carl Panzram, in revenge for Taft sentencing him to three years in prison at Fort Leavenworth. After selling what he had stolen, he went on a further crime spree which often included shooting his victims with a gun he stole from the house. Taft owned the house until 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauder Greenway Estate</span> Mansion in Connecticut, United States

The Lauder Greenway Estate is a 50-acre (20 ha) private property with a French Renaissance mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. For a time, it was the most expensive home in the history of the United States.

References

  1. ↑ Gordon, Maggie (December 13, 2013). "A trip down memory lane at Conyers Farm". CTNews.com. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Ferree, Barr (1908). "Notable American homes: Conyers Manor". American Homes and Gardens. pp. 419–430. Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ Dumas, Timothy (1998). Greentown: Murder and Mystery in Greenwich, America's Wealthiest Community . Arcade Publishing. p.  187. ISBN   978-1-55970-441-0 . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Tomasson, Robert (June 5, 1983). "A new beginning for an old estate". The New York Times . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Tomasson, Robert (September 14, 1986). "End of the era for lavish estates". The New York Times . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Cowan, Alison Leigh (March 13, 2006). "Land of the big puts 'too big' to the test". The New York Times . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  7. ↑ Vigdor, Neil (September 17, 2010). "Obama's visit to Conyers Farm rakes in big bucks for Dems". The Advocate . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ Gordon, Maggie (May 3, 2014). "Director Howard's Conyers Farm house on the market". Connecticut Post . Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ "LINDA McMAHON". Connecticut Post. 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  10. ↑ "Going once, going twice... Conyers Farm property to be sold at auction". Greenwich Time . July 31, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2015.

41°08′10″N73°38′46″W / 41.136°N 73.646°W / 41.136; -73.646

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.