W.R. Coe deeded Planting Fields to the people of the State of New York in 1949 and after his passing in 1955, Caroline Coe, his third wife, needed a new home at Planting Fields. She engaged Eric Gugler of Gugler, Kimbell and Husted, Architects to design her manor house.
Eric Gugler (1889-1974) was a classicist architect who is best known for redesigning the West Wing for Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Most importantly, he moved the Oval Office to its current location on the southeast corner of the White House. He also added two new ramps to accommodate Roosevelt’s wheelchair.[i] For Caroline, he also designed a house with accessibility in mind as she often used a wheelchair. Her bedroom opened to a screened porch with a slate ramp for easy access to her rose garden. Aside from guest rooms on the second level, the floorplan of the house is focused on the ground level, with wide passageways for greater accessibility.
Model of the Manor House, showing the back terrace.
Gugler (along with his frequent collaborator sculptor Paul Manship) was drawn to motifs depicting the zodiac. In a letter to Caroline, Gugler wrote that, “through grapevines and shenanigans I have, I believe, properly ascertained that your sign of the Zodiac is Sagittarius. It is a very interesting and attractive symbol to use in decoration, and I wonder whether you might permit me to put it in the pediment on the front of your house.” Gugler must have persuaded Caroline, because it made its way onto the pediment. The interiors were designed by Thedlow, Inc., Decorators with several works of art and furniture from the Main House incorporated into the rooms.
Manor House reception hall featuring Portrait of an Elizabethan Lady from and a settee and chair from the Reception Room from the Main House.
Rail and grill designs, Eric Gugler papers, 1889-1977. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Manor House under construction, circa 1956, although it evokes grand Neoclassical buildings made of stone or marble, the frame of the house was made of wood.
The Manor House, c. 1957
From Marie Penny, Michael D. Coe Archivist
[i] Fling, S. (2023, September 23). A Resolute Myth: Debunking the Resolute Desk Panel. White House Historical Association.
Header image caption: Caroline Coe and her roses, circa 1955.