"Clifton Berley" was Sir Roderick's 150-acre estate that he purchased in 1861. There, he spent much time and money importing, breeding and raising thoroughbred horses. A listing for a large collection of horse racing documents on Christie's web site included several from Sir Roderick. Apparently, some of Sir Roderick's horses were some of the best of their time.
Clifton Berley Barn - May 4, 1932
Sir Roderick died in 1900 and I don't know how long his family retained ownership of "Clifton Berley". However, by the time of these pictures in the May of 1932, the once beautiful mansion was a decaying hulk. Significant patches of tiles are gone from the roof and I strongly suspect that on the other side of the roof's peak has holes in it. The road around the house is in obvious disrepair. I imagine these pictures are final documents of the house before its demolition.
Today there is almost nothing to indicate the house was ever there. Its rolling grounds and fields are covered with asphalt and dozens of houses. The only vestige of Sir Roderick's forty years of ownership is his name on the small lake to the west of where his home once stood.
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Radcliff Road, northside, between Steuben and Briarcliff
I know posting a mansion so soon after some of my recent comments seems a tad out of place but this was a beautifully serendipitous finding.
Top Map - 1917 - The red circle is the house and the blue the barn
Bottom Map - 2011 - Again, red circle is the barn
7 comments:
The stone foundation for the mansion was removed in the early 1970's to build the Tudor decorated home (pictured on the right of the photo) at 101 Radcliff Rd. The stone foundation of the stable supports the current house at 132 Radcliff and the white clapboard caretaker's cottage with some modifications stands at 124 Radcliff. Sir Roderick died in 1900 leaving the estate to his son Roderick who died in 1914. His daughters Margaret and Anne the widow of Belmont Tiffany remained in the house thereafter. Aerial photos from 1924 show the entire Clifton Berley estate and stud farm in tact. In 1925-26 the extension of Southfield Boulevard (renamed Hylan Boulevard) from Parkinson Avenue to Sand Lane dissected the estate and coincided with the sale of estate to developers. By 1927 Radcliff Road was mapped and the existing stone houses were built by Ernest Flagg.
great info and update. thanks very much
Thank You for this wonderful post and photos. I would like to add to the info and fill in some blanks here on Clifton Berley, which was one of, if not The most beautiful mansions and grounds in all of Staten Island in the 1880s and well through the turn of the century. Sir Roderick was very wealthy and owned much of the land in the area known as Clifton and Rosebank. He owned between 150-300 acres including the farm which was down below the mansion and hill. He also owned what became known as Brady's pond and sold it in the early 1880's to Phillip Brady. Sir Roderick's summer home, Clifton Berley was a beautiful 60 room mansion, that was the site of many dinner parties, balls and events. There were many prominent people of the day who visited and who were entertained there. The gardens and property were designed by the famous landscape architects the Olmstead brothers. there were green houses, parkland, gardens, and assortment of flowers. He was also known for his stud farm as mentioned in the above post. Sir Roderick and his wife Anne Leavenworth had 7 children. 2 boys and 5 girls. Sir Roderick who became a widower (for the second time) in 1879, never remarried, he died in 1900, and the home and grounds were still lived in and beautifully maintained by the children. Daughter Anne, (Mrs. Belmont Tiffany) had her residences in Manhattan and by 1920, the only remaining living children left in the mansion was Duncan, Katherine, and Duncan's daughter Mary. The house, which then consisted of about 20 acres, as much of the land was sold off, was then decided to be rented out. Katherine was already married and Mary was married in 1921. The home was rented for several years and as the developing went on all around it, it maintained its stature and the surrounding buildings were all still intact and were being planned into the newly developed area known as Cameron Park with the extension of Hylan blvd. (Southfeild Blvd) included. The mansion in the early 30's then became abandoned and Sadly, on April 30th, 1931 mysteriously went up in flames, the interior was so badly burned, it could not be saved. It was a shell. What once was the most beautiful mansion on the Island was now gone. The photos above show the great mansion after the fire, basically a shell, thus the damage in the roof area, and the excavation around it, now set for demolition. The fire that took Clifton Berley was no doubt arson. Four other great mansions were also burned down all around the same time period of a month or so. Suspects were Mrs. Harriet W. Beauley and "Count" H. Victor Von Broens Trup who most likely also burned down the Barrett Manor in Arrochar. They were evicted from both mansions after a certain time as they did not pay the rent. No one was ever caught or arrested for the arson that destroyed Clifton Berley. And the police as well as many residents of the island at the time knew the days of these old huge mansions were over, and when they were abandoned, they were difficult to protect. By this time, the only remaining living child of Sir Roderick was Anne, (Mrs. Belmont Tiffany) and his 3 Grandchildren. The green houses were still standing and possibly being used at least till the 1940's. approximately where 77 Radcliff Rd. is today.
Wow, thank you so much for all this information.
THIS MAY SOUND SILLY, BUT WAS THERE A CEMETERY, OR A PET CEMETERY, ON THE PROPERTY? I CAME ACROSS A REFERENCE TO A BACHELOR COUPLE WHO BURIED THEIR DOG ON THE PROPERTY AROUND 1920. PROBABLY RAENTING THE HOUSE OR CARETAKER'S HOUSE AT THE TIME. THANK YOU! ARTWOMAN FROM CT
I don't know. Sadly, I'm not even sure how I could look that up. Do you remember where you came across it?
Hello mate great blogg
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