House fall 15
by Beth S.Buxbaum
Since 2002 Larry Levy has escaped the frenetic pace and crowded streets of Manhattan to spend his weekends and holidays at his getaway home in Bucks County. Almost every weekend during those years, Larry has dedicated to restoring, upgrading and redefining his historic property. He has been a resident of Manhattan for decades. Divorced for almost 20 years, Larry is part of a fourth-generation family business in clothing manufacturing industry. The Levy Group, in Manhattan, manufactures for labels including Betsy Johnson, Perry Ellis and Nordica. After decades in the New York, Larry decided it was time to find a weekend getaway out of the city. A single dad, he also wanted a place suitable for his three children–something a little more country. “Being a city-dweller all my life, I wanted an old stone house in the country,” says Larry. He felt there were too many distractions in the Hamptons and Connecticut is too suburban.
Larry visited Bucks County several times over the years and remembered its beauty and pastoral quality, not to mention its proximity to Manhattan. With the help of a local realtor, Larry started looking for a country home in Bucks County, but nothing struck his fancy. One day his broker said that he had to see this house for ideas. “She took me here to inspire me and give me a feel for what I could have in the neighborhood,” Larry adds. Larry was so taken by this house that, even though it was not on the market, he offered to buy it. But the owners were not interested in selling. Larry continued his arduous search for another year, but couldn’t find anything he liked. Frustrated and disappointed, Larry contacted the owners again and this time made an offer they couldn’t refuse.“I looked at many properties and this one had a hominess about it,” Larry explains. “The house felt majestic, peaceful and graceful, he adds, “and nothing else I saw struck me like this home.”
He appreciated the significance of the architectural features that capture two periods of American history. “The original early colonial stone farm house and the later grand Italianate style of the main house, exemplified by tall ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows, just captured my imagination in so many ways,” he adds. Larry loved the high ceilings, the variety of rooms that made up the first floor living space and the multiple fireplaces. “The house had nice bones and it seemed to work for me,” he continues, “it was manageable and the yard was great for playing ball with my kids.”
The property consists of the 1780s-90s original 2-story dwelling, with the keeping room and a parlor on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second floor. An addition was constructed, believed to have been done in the 1860s adding a sprawling living space with a living room, 2 family rooms, kitchen, and dining room on the first floor, the master suite and another bedroom on the second floor and three bedrooms on the third floor. In addition, there is a library on the second floor, which is a long, narrow space with a wall of built-in bookcases that function as a connector from the original house to the addition.
The original structure of the house dates back to the late 1780s or 1790s. Unfortunately the history is a bit sketchy. Historical documents record the line of ownership beginning with 500 acres that William Penn sold to a Tobias and Sarah Dymock in 1701. From that time going forward the land was divided up and sold in smaller parcels for the next few decades. In 1793 there is a record that 247 acres was sold by John Blackfan III to his son Thomas. A historian’s notes show that it was probably around this time that this house was built as a tenant house on the Blackfan farm, but no deed is apparent on this parcel until 1966. The records reveal that over a span of many decades the acreage was divided and sold several times through the 1800s. This parcel remained in the Blackfan family until 1899 when William Blackfan sold it to Bucks County Trust Company. In 1953 a parcel, just shy of 200 acres, was sold to Echo Falls Farm, owned by Lowell Birrell. Then, in 1956, it was parceled off to a little more than 14 acres and sold for $1 to Bucks County Farms, Inc., also owned by Birrell. The same acreage was sold to Solebury Farms, Inc. in 1961 after Birrell went bankrupt. In 1966 Solebury Farm Inc. was owned by Lawrence and Selma Katz who sold 4.5 acres to Brant and Anne Gleba Adams, which is noted as the first mention of a separate deed for this property. In 1981 the parcel was sold again. In 1996 it was purchased by James Wescott and Robert Evans, who sold the 4.5- acre property to Larry Levy in 2002.Taking ownership of this property was a departure for Larry, who was totally out of his element as a city dweller. Every weekend he had a different project and worked inside and out to make this house his home, with his own signature style.
Aesthetically, Larry liked the interior elements of the room appointments, including the original floors and the wall colors. One room where he focused most of his renovation was the kitchen. The walls were covered in sheet rock and stucco. Larry tore it out to expose the original Bucks County fieldstone. Additionally, he replaced the butcher block, on the center island counter top and sink, with white marble. He also removed the stucco from the library walls, exposing the original stone walls. Once these renovations were complete, Larry focused on what he enjoys most, filling the house with everything that he loves … all of his flea market and auction pieces.Larry enjoys all the antique shops and flea markets close by, as well as the artsy quality of the area. An avid flea marketer, he has filled his country home with an eclectic and unique array of flea market finds. Oils, watercolors, metal statues, iron candelabras are just a few of the items that enhance the walls and ceilings. Some of his favorite places to shop are in Lambertville, especially Rago auctions, and Artifacts. “If it hits me and I like it, I buy it,” he explains. Larry goes to Paris several times a year for business and scours the flea markets. He has shipped home some amazing pieces, large and small. “I have an organized clutter,” adds Larry, “so there is not necessarily a rhyme or reason to how I fill my home.” Like the curator of his newest art exhibit, Larry contemplates the perfect display area for his newest pieces. “I get great satisfaction finding a place for everything, whether it's back by the pond or in my bedroom,” he explains. Everything has its place and looks okay to me until my next trip to the flea market or Ragos auction house or the many antique shops in Lambertville,” he confesses. In addition, Larry bought several of the pieces from the prior owners, who were antique dealers. With so many possibilities for placement in his sprawling residence, sometimes the process may take hours to find just the right spot, moving pieces from one wall or room to another. Anywhere you turn there is a point of interest, a unique piece of art, furniture or artifact.
Even the landscape has some of his unique and quirky design elements. When he first saw the place, Larry loved the pond, the stone walls surrounding the pool, the barn and the original silo. At some point the barn was partially burned down, leaving only the bottom half of the stone foundation. Larry has accented this area with a sculpture made of tree vines done by his friend, Peter Rosenthal. “I treated the grounds like an easel, placing pops of color here and there,” he adds. To enhance the landscape Larry planted lots of trees around the property, added flowering perennials around the big pond, built a stone terrace, created a tiny pond off the larger pond, which was just a mud hole that was five-foot deep and is now 18 feet deep. He embellished the small pond with lily pads, ornamental grasses, daylilies, Japanese maples and roses. As with his interior living space, Larry has immersed himself in accenting the landscape with curious, unique and whimsical art and artifacts. A metal elk statue emerges out of the big pond, a blue heron sculpture sits on the edge of the small pond, and huge wire ball sculptures are perched on the grassy slope of the grounds. “It just evolved,” he adds. “I just kept adding plants, trees and flowers as my budget allowed.” He claims that he is almost finished.As a culmination to his many years of landscape creation, Larry hosted his daughter Samantha’s wedding on the property in October of 2013. What a wonderful venue, enveloped by the ponds, sloping landscape, mature trees and flowering plants. Larry invited friends and family to his weekend getaway for this spectacular outdoor wedding conceived and orchestrated by Rusty Thomas, of Rusty Thomas Designs. The event was conceptualized and orchestrated to work with the landscape, with some minor changes. Larry had the opportunity to share his weekend home and take pride in all he has done to make this a unique and fascinating place.
“This has just been a wonderful country escape that felt right from the very beginning,” Larry exclaims, “it is a wonderful source of peace and creativity that I stumbled upon in Bucks County.” Larry still pops over to Lambertville on his weekends to see what he can find and visits the Parisian flea markets on his yearly jaunts. “Twelve years later, after raising a family, throwing a wedding, and putting my heart and soul into every nook and cranny and doing it on my own, just gives me great pleasure.”
(bio)
Beth S. Buxbaum is a freelance writer from the Philadelphia area.