London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Larchmontiana

Lucas de Soto triggered a bout of homesickness when he sent me this link with desktop-sized photos of Larchmont. (The first four photos are from the link). Larchmont is sort of two towns over from my dwelling place, and has been home to many good friends including Lucas and Clara de Soto and family, Adam Brenner, ‘the P’ (Retha Petrosino – my legendary high school English teacher) and her husband Fred, and others. Also, my graduation ceremony was in the Larchmont Avenue Church.

I’m generally inclined to say that Larchmont is a much better place than Bronxville. In terms of aesthetics, B-ville is one square mile of entrenched subconcious anglophilia – take my anglophilia and amplify it tenfold – while Larchmont is more comfortably American and respectably diverse. Whilst the preponderance of Bronxville’s best homes are tudor revivals (and very beautiful ones at that), Larchmont has some brilliant, home-grown styles, especially the Victorian homes with wrap-around porches and a some good examples of the shingle-style as well. Though there are a few homes of Mediterranean stylistic extraction, I usually consider this an inappropriate architectural style for New York. Dutch, English, and local vernacular American styles by all means, but please keep the Spanish in Florida, Texas, California, etc. The only thing Bronxville really has on Larchmont is the Slave to the Grind ‘kafehaus’ and the splendid beauty of Betram Grosvenor Goodhue’s Christ Church.

The photo above is Red Bridge, so-called despite being clearly a structure of the white variety. (The structure at left is Trinity, the retreat house of the CFRs – Franciscan Friars of the Renewal). Red Bridge is one of my favourite places in the whole world. At school, we would often get some hot dogs from Walter’s for lunch, consuming them at Red Bridge perched upon one of the supporting piers, with an idyllic vista of Premium Inlet and the Long Island Sound. Whether a clear, sunny day, or covered in snow, or in the deepest rainfall, it’s beautiful, and I have never found a single photograph that does it justice.

Also, there lives nearby a family of swans (or perhaps they just summer there): Mr. Swan, Mrs. Swan, Charles, Agatha, and Charles. I have asked Mr. Swan why two of his cygnets are named Charles, and I regret he constantly evades providing an adequate response. My personal conjecture is that one is named after King Charles I and the other after Charles Eugene, vicomte de Foucauld, but I have no evidence to support this theory. (No, I’m not mad, and they really are a lovely family).

Sunset at the inlet, taken from just next to Red Bridge.

The Long Island Sound at Manor Park.

Horseshoe Harbor Yacht Club.

Palmer Avenue in downtown Larchmont.

Here’s an aerial view. Premium inlet and Red Bridge are immediately in the foreground on the left. To the right along the Long Island Sound are the Larchmont Yacht Club, Manor Beach, Horseshoe Harbor, and further on Mamaroneck Harbor.

Published at 11:32 am on Friday 5 November 2004. Categories: New York.
Comments

Mr. Cusack, thank you for the photos of choice Larchmontiana in your engaging website — which I came upon by chance about a year ago.
I live in nearby Rye, from where De Soto’s photos (sorry!) might also have been taken. The photos reminded me of returning by air one summer evening a few years back from Boston to La Guardia, and of thnking how glorious the Sound coastline of southern Westchester is from high up (as well as from sea level). I have one caveat, however. Is it not a great shame that the water isn’t cleaner, even crystal clear? That’s the one project for which I would accept a tax increase – if (oxym….) I could be sure it would be spent well.
How about some more scenes from the Larchmont-Rye axis? People need to know, you know!

— Andrew Heath 26 Nov 2006 11:41 am

That’s the Larchmont Shore Club followed by manor beach horseshoe harbor
Can’t really see the yacht club in this pic which is bewildering to me and my comrades that are drinking at the bar at the yacht club as I type this

— Mike 8 May 2016 2:28 am
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