The Farm House

Duck Pond Road, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York

Built in 1910, for Clarkson Runyon Jr., (1876-1945) and his wife, Jane Peterson Allen (1882-1962). Situated in Meadow Spring, it was designed by Mott B. Schmidt and the gardens (completed in 1920) were laid out by Olmsted Brothers. The Runyons were longstanding members of the Nassau Country Club but by 1939 they had sold up at Glen Cove in favor of their new summer home, Camp Medamin, on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks. The new owners were Carl Fleischmann Holmes (whose mother built The Chimneys at Sands Point) and his third wife, former actress Nancy Ryan....

This house is best associated with...

Clarkson Runyon Jr.

Stockbroker, of New York City, Glen Cove & Upper Regis Lake

1876-1945

Jane Peterson (Allen) Runyon

Mrs Jane Peterson (Allen) Runyon

1882-1962

Carl Fleischmann Holmes

Carl F. Holmes, of "The Farm House" Glen Cove, New York & Nassau, Bahamas

1893-1984

Nancy (Ryan) Holmes

Mrs "Bubbles" Nancy Roberta (Kroenig-Ryan) Haynes, Holmes

1904-1983

Carl Holmes was a co-heir to the Fleischmann Yeast Company and for many years served as the President of the Holmes Foundation in Manhattan, a charitable organization established by his mother in memory of his father. In 1938, he married the English-born former Broadway actress Nancy Ryan (who only hours before had divorced Daniel Hagood Haynes) but also found himself in court wrangling over a $300,000 trust fund with his exotic ex-wife, Lemma, who he claimed was still married to her second of four husbands.

Carl and Nancy wintered in the Bahamas and summered at Glen Cove where they built a smaller house on the property to put up their staff of ten that they ferried to-and-fro. Carl inherited his mother's passion for floriculture and all of the garden to the right of the swimming pool was dedicated to growing flowers to be displayed in the house. They were also said to have transplanted the twelve-odd Weeping Hemlocks still seen in the gardens from a previous home - most likely Holmes' recently sold property in England.

Carl's third marriage to Nancy was a blissful success. She died here in May, 1983, and just over a year later Carl also died here too. Neither of them had any children and the house was presumably sold soon thereafter, and while its unclear who has lived here since, subsequent owners have continued to care for it and the house remains in excellent condition. If you can help fill in the gaps in its ownership, please leave a comment below.

You May Also Like...

Categories

Images in the Public Domain; The Farm House, oldlongisland.com; Social Register; New York Archives; Olmsted Firm: The Master List of Design Projects of the Olmsted Firm, 1857-1979; 

Connections

Be the first to connect to this house. Connect to record your link to this house. or just to show you love it! Connect to The Farm House →