Monday, June 25, 2012

PART 5: YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL FIND AT THE CROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY: JACKIE GLEASON'S CORTLANDT HOME

Welcome to Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.
 
You never know what you’ll find at The Croton-on-Hudson Historical Society. Thanks to the generosity of residents, the archives are not only filled with the history of our village, but with postcards, magazines, books and more on everyday life—the stuff of future Society exhibits.

PART FIVE - Click on the photos below to see interior shots of Jackie Gleason’s locally famous “round” house on Furnace Dock Road—yes THE Jackie Gleason lived in the Town of Cortlandt and often visited nearby Croton haunts to hear the old-timers tell it.  The exotic house, completed in 1959 at a cost of $650,000, became the “most flamboyant house in town”—virtually everything in the three-level house was round—including the bed, and the study boasted a semi-circular desk with a built in record player.  The driveway was an electric, snow-melting driveway, the interior walls were East Indian teak, and the terraces were of Italian marble.

Now this was unexpected!  Again, many thanks to THE CROTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY for giving us a glimpse into a most unusual house owned by THE GREAT ONE.  Read more about Jackie Gleason here: http://www.biography.com/people/jackie-gleason-9542440

12 comments:

  1. Is the home still in existence

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know we never thought to ask. We'll find out and post the answer here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We just heard from our historian; the house is still there--who the owner is currently we do not know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You never know what you'll find at---EVERYTHING CROTON!
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was in his house when he owned it---many years ago. I even sat on his round bed! No, he was not home. My father painted the house and took my sister and I there to see it! We had a blast roaming the house and grounds.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I believe the architect was Silverman & Cika of NYC. Can anyone confirm this?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes, it was Robert Cika.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretty cool to see that my grandfather was the architect for the house....

      Delete
  8. My nana use to hang out with Jackie @ Honey's !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes it still exists but is not visible from the road.

    ReplyDelete
  10. My father helped work on the construction of Mr Gleason's round house.
    Mr Gleason and my father became quite friendly as my father was also a musician(had a local jazz band and played tenor sax)
    The house was quite amazing-especially for the time.

    I'll always admire Mr Gleason for all of his talents.

    ReplyDelete