Gilded age mansion for sale

"Eccentric" is one word to describe a stately Gilded Age mansion for sale on an island in upstate New York, which was once home to well-regarded painter Alson Skinner Clark (1876-1949)...

Best known for his impressionist landscapes, Clark's influence can be found throughout the eight-bedroom house, from Oriental drawings and paintings to the artist's old dark room and photographic plates. Clark, who studied under Whistler, painted murals on many of the walls.

"Although these give a unique flavor to the house, they have made it impossible to repaint anything, so age-darkened walls and peeling plaster are a definite part of its present somewhat seedy charm," Alice Ann Clark Cole writes in a history of the house found on the listing.

Comfort Island is part of a cluster known as the "1000 Islands" on Alexandria Bay, an offshoot of the St. Lawrence River on the U.S.-Canadian border. (And, for the record, Thousand Island salad dressing was reportedly named for the islands, although details vary.)

The house on Comfort Island was built in 1883 at a time when the business barons of the time-including Nathan Straus of Macy's, George Pullman of the Pullman Palace Car Company and George Emery of American Tobacco-were turning the string of islands into "Millionaire's Row." Comfort Island offers views of Boldt Castle, a Rhineland castle built in 1900 by the owner of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.

The 4,680-square-foot Comfort Island house is still owned by descendants of Alson Clark, the original owner and Alson Skinner Clark's father. Priced at £1.2 million, it sits on 1.8 acres, with a boat house and about 800 feet of waterfront.

Source: www.nytimes.com - Raising the Roof