Ancrum House was a Georgian-style manor house constructed from 1925 to 1928 in Delhi, Delaware County, New York. The house was constructed for Angelica Livingstone Gerry (1871–1960) by the firm Cram & Ferguson (managed by Ralph Adams Cram and Frank W. Ferguson). Antrum House (demolished in 1963) is historically noteworthy for its formal gardens, designed by the famous landscape architect Fletcher Steele.[1][2]
Angelica Livingston Gerry was a great-granddaughter of Elbridge Gerry, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence[3] and the 5th Vice President of the United States. Angelica Gerry's parents were Elbridge T. and Louisa Gerry. In 1867, Elbridge Thomas Gerry (1837–1927) married Louisa Matilda Livingston (1836–1920), who was immensely wealthy. Angelica Gerry was also a great-granddaughter of Morgan Lewis — Morgan Lewis was the governor of New York state from 1804 to 1807 and the 2nd son of Francis Lewis, a signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Through family inheritance originating from Robert Livingston the Elder and his son Robert Livingston the Younger and eventually (in 1867) handed down to the Gerry family, Morgan Lewis and his wife Gertrude (née Livingston) received almost 20,000 acres and in 1820 had their mansion built in the Catskills next to a mountain lake. They named their newly built estate "Lake Delaware". From the marriage of Elbridge T. and Louisa Gerry, there were two sons, Robert Livingston Gerry Sr. and Peter Goelet Gerry, and four daughters — Angelica, Mabel (1872–1930), and two who died young. As part of her share of the Gerry inheritance, Angelica Gerry received a 200-acre parcel of land.[4]
Angelica Gerry named her inherited land "Ancrum" in honor of the Scottish village Ancrum, where her ancestor Robert Livingston the Elder was born.[4] In 1925 she hired Fletcher Steele to design the formal gardens for Ancrum House. The project became the largest of his career. His work on the project extended, with many interruptions, over twenty-three years. He produced over 500 plans and drawings for the project. She was a client and a patron, but not really a friend or a partner in the design work. The extensive correspondence between them contains issues of finance and rarely of aesthetics. Steele designed a huge garden, divided into several areas, with long shady walks, interrupted by a few open sunny areas, with flowers surrounded by simple borders. There were splendid outdoor rooms and garden walks with spectacular views. He called the garden's main diagonal axis the "Overland Walk". He designated some of the other areas as the "West Garden", the "Flower Garden", and the "Lilac Garden". The Flower Garden had geometric patterns and converging walks inspired by 17th century garden design, but the rest of Antrum House's gardens were more in the Georgian style. The garden landscape had a pergola and a nut orchard. Steele directed the creation of borders with mountain ashes (rowans), hemlock trees (Tsuga), and lilacs (Syringa vulgaris). Angelica Gerry selected, independently of Steele, many of the architectural and statuary elements of the formal gardens.[1] She never married. Until her death in 1960, Angelica Gerry enjoyed furnishing Ancium House, tending to the gardens, and growing her prized delphiniums.[4]
In the 1961, an auction sold much of Ancrum House's art and furniture. In 1963, after a dispute over property taxes, the house was razed.[2]
^ abKarson, Robin (2003). "Ancrum House; Angelica Gerry; Lake Delaware, Delhi, New York; 1925–1948". Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect: An Account of the Gardenmaker's Life, 1885-1971 (revised 2nd ed.). Amherst, Massachusetts: Library of American Landscape History, Amherst: Distributed by University of Massachusetts Press. pp. 83–97. ISBN 1-55849-413-8.
^ ab"Ancrum House - HouseHistree".
^"ANGELICA L GERRY DIES; 2 Ancestors Were Signers of Declaration of Independence". The New York Times. 5 November 1960.
^ abcWos, Andy. "GILDED AGE IN ANDES: HISTORY OF THE GERRY ESTATE — January 2014". Andes Gazette: The Community Newspaper for the Town of Andes, New York.
AncrumHouse was a Georgian-style manor house constructed from 1925 to 1928 in Delhi, Delaware County, New York. The house was constructed for Angelica...
Ancrum (Scottish Gaelic: Alan Crom) is a village in the Borders area of Scotland, 5 km (3.1 mi) northwest of Jedburgh. The village — which currently[when...
The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English incursions in the...
William Ancrum (c. 1722—February 24, 1808) was a wealthy American merchant, slave trader and indigo planter from Charleston, South Carolina who served...
including Naumkeag, Peters Reservation, AncrumHouse, Whitney Allen House, Standish Backus House, Turner House, Lisburne Grange. His most famous work by...
children: Angelica Livingston Gerry (1871–1960), died unmarried. (See AncrumHouse.) Mabel Gerry (1872–1930), who married Francis Saxham Elwes Drury (1859–1937)...
scientific principles, commercial success eluded them. Ashcroft retired to AncrumHouse, Roxburghshire, Scotland, and died in nearby Polton, survived by his...
1830, when it passed to her daughter Jane, wife of James H. Ancrum. Since 1916, the house has remained in the family of Julian Mitchell. Othersen, Helen...
town include Queen Mary's House, Jedburgh Castle Jail, now a museum, and the Jedburgh Library. Other places nearby are Ancrum, Bairnkine, Bonjedward, Camptown...
Kingdom, previous marquesses sat in the House of Lords before 1963, when Scottish peers first sat in the House of Lords in their own right. The holder...
Scotorum, ed. M. Livingstone and others (Edinburgh, 1908— ), V, no.2124 Ancrum Red Friars — Geographical Collections relating to Scotland made by Walter...
Refugees. She married in London on 17 June 1945 to 2nd Lieutenant Calhoun Ancrum from South Carolina (b. Philippines 28 April 1915 – 21 February 1990). The...
one in London: Princess Xenia Andreevna (1919–2000) m. 1 1945 to Calhoun Ancrum (1915–1990); they divorced in 1954. m. 2 1958 Geoffrey Tooth (1908–1998)...
Committee. Dundee House, the new headquarters for the city council on North Lindsay Street, opened in August 2011. This has replaced Tayside House which was demolished...
burning houses and buying the loyalty of Scots who became "assured men". Against these English invasions, the Scots won a victory at the Battle of Ancrum Moor...
Borders of Scotland. Other places nearby include Ancrum, Ashkirk, Belses, Hassendean, Midlem, Minto House, Old Belses, St Boswells, and Woll. Lilliesleaf...
age 18, Owens worked as a bobcat driver for Ancrum's father's excavation business. Owens bought a house at age 19. He played Australian rules football...
on nearby Mulberry Street, met the group at the Henry Street Settlement House. "The three background singers had originally formed the group themselves...
nations, their commitment to the work was always in doubt. At battles such as Ancrum Moor in Scotland in 1545, borderers changed sides in mid-combat to curry...
born in London: Princess Xenia Andreevna (1919–2000) m. 1 1945 to Calhoun Ancrum (1915–1990); they divorced in 1954. m. 2 1958 Geoffrey Tooth (1908–1998)...
Grove Terrace and Ancrum Street, the Belle Grove was a public house dating from 1857 until its closure in 2008. The adjacent house at No. 19, now part...
Lord Darnley. In 1545, Angus led his forces to victory at the Battle of Ancrum Moor where they defeated the English army during the Rough Wooing, and he...
Ankrum (Jackie Joseph), quiet young woman from the family that owns the Ancrum Charcoal Company and love interest of Ernest T. Bass Arnold Bailey (Sheldon...
and three singles for the Parkway label in 1966.[citation needed] James Ancrum then took over the lead, recording "Guilty" in January 1962 and charting...
Global Information