French Farm facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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French Farm
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | Lake and Round Hill Rds., Greenwich, Connecticut |
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| Area | 35 acres (14 ha) |
| Built | 1906 |
| Architect | Magonigle, Henry van Buren |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001918 |
| Added to NRHP | April 3, 1975 |
The French Farm is a special old summer home located in Greenwich, Connecticut. It was built a long time ago, in the early 1900s. This estate is important because it's one of the few places left from that time that still has its original large size and beautiful gardens.
The main buildings, like the big house and farm buildings, were designed by a famous architect named Henry Van Buren Magonigle. He learned from another great architect, Calvert Vaux. French Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, which means it's a very important historical site.
What is French Farm?
French Farm is found in a quiet, leafy part of Greenwich, Connecticut. It's a big piece of land with roads on two sides, Lake Avenue and Round Hill Road.
- When it was first built, the property was about 35 acres (which is like 26 football fields!).
- Even though some parts of the land have been used for other things over time, the main house still has its beautiful old gardens around it.
A Look at the Main House
The main house is very large and grand. It has two and a half stories.
- In the middle of the house, there's a special entrance that looks like an old Greek temple, with tall columns.
- The house has wings on both sides, making it very wide, about 160 feet across.
- Even though there are lots of trees around the edges of the property, there's a big open grassy area in front of the house. This gives a great view of the house from the east side.
Who Designed and Owned It?
The French Farm estate was designed by Henry Van Buren Magonigle. He was a student of Calvert Vaux, who helped design famous places like Central Park in New York City. Magonigle also worked for other well-known architecture firms.
- The main house was built in 1906 for a person named H.W. Lanier.
- Just one year later, in 1907, Lanier sold the property to John French.
- John French liked Magonigle's work so much that he hired him again in 1911 to design the other buildings on the farm.
This estate is a great example of how country homes and their landscapes were designed back then. It shows ideas from famous landscape designers like Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. Places like French Farm, with their large size and beautiful designs, used to be common but are now quite rare in this part of Connecticut.
