E.T. Bedford is one of the most famous names in Westport.
“06880” has looked back at the director of Standard Oil — and philanthropist of (among others) Bedford Junior High, Bedford Elementary School and the Westport YMCA — often.
We’ve written about his Beachside Avenue mansion and outbuildings, on property that stretched to Nyala Farm and beyond; the horse race track on his property, and much more.
The Bedford estate, and gardens.
But we’ve never seen the interior of his Green’s Farms estate.
Until now.
This morning, Adam Stolpen sent along a YouTube video, from the “This House” series.
Titled “From Vaseline to Vast Estates” — referencing the product that helped give him his industrial entrepreneurship start — it’s a fascinating look at the man, his life, and his 2 magnificent mansions. (The other was in Brooklyn.)
Click below for a tour of both.
The interior is a bit overdone, for my taste.
But I sure would have loved to seen it, in real life.
In 1975 I with two other Staple grads in our very early 20’s became ‘caretakers’ of the HS Richardson Beachside Avenue estate while it was on the market.
There was nothing better than meeting new friends at The Players or The Dial Tone Lounge and inviting them back to ‘our spread’.
Living in the home built with Vicks Vaseline money was always a hoot. Great days, lasted a year and then it sold and we needed to become adults and join the real world.
Corrections:
Staples
HSRichardson was Vicks BapoRub not Vaseline.
Richardson had three homes on Beachside Ave. In the 1940s, my grandfather rented about forty acres from him to farm. All he needed to do was deliver the best vegetables to him every week. I’m kind of guessing that it was forty acres, but it was all of the conservation property he donated before you cross over the bridge to go to Southport Beach, as well as all the property to the right once you crossed over the bridge next to that old house that I remember as a six year old. There was also an entrance to that rented farmland from Beachside Ave. It could have been more than 40 acres altogether, or less. The farm ended in 1953 when I was 6 years old.
Since I grew up in Westport Connecticut of course I like his Greens Farms mansion. I went to Bedford Elementary school, Bedford, Jr. High School and took Ball room dancing lessons from Miss Comer at the Bedford YMCA and lifesaving courses there. I also know of the many wonderful charitable works of Lucy Bedford Cunningham. She was an active volunteer participant at Norwalk Hospital and did not consider herself to be more important or above working with and talking to all the volunteers. She also had a large influence in the creation of what is not Greens Farms Academy. ( I believe that she was married to a Mr. Warren later in life. I am a bit uncertain of the last name but I can find out!)
Lucy was married to Briggs Cunningham then to
Lynne Warren
As previously mentioned on 06880 I worked on the FT Bedford Estate in the summers and Staples and college holidays and from 1959-1965! I was in and out of the house during those years usually when the Bedfords were in Europe or their home in Palm Beach. I got to know Ruth Bedford best as she was on the property the most. I cut the grass , trimmed the trees, untangled Ivy from the side of the house on high step ladders and worked in the green house. The estate had a huge garden across the street behind the JC Penny estate. In spring we planted and in summer brought in fresh vegetables to the house daily. Louis Gordon was the caretaker and I worked for him. When Dutch Elm disease endangered trees we took them down. Also trees damaged by storms we spent sometimes several weeks with cross cut saws cutting up trees so they could be hauled away. My starting salary was $1.10 an hour for an eight hour day! I learned the value of hard work there. Thank you Ruth, Mr Gordon and Mr. Bedford!
Former Congressman Stewart McKinney was also related to the Bedfords. It would be nice if some of the McMansion owners would giveback to the town the way Bedford did.
What stands out for me is why the Beachside mansion was torn down. Didn’t it have historic value? I can imagine the finest materials were used to build it in 1910 which is really not that old. In Europe, that’s relatively young. Heaven knows the family could have made it into a museum. Look at what the Vanderbilts have done with the Biltmore House in Asheville.
his daughter Grace Bedford tore it down and build yhe house that stands there today
I noticed in the article that E. T. Bedford’s father raised onions. Does anyone know if onions were a “major crop” in 1800’s Westport? The reason I ask is that my great grandfather, Horace Coley, raised onions on his farm on North Avenue during the mid-1800’s and then shipped most of them to New York City.
They were a huge crop in Westport. During the Civil War, they were a major part of soldiers’ diets (to help prevent scurvy).
We raised onions on the Post Road on the property that was the Westport Golf Range. As a matter of fact, on damp hot summer evenings , while picking golf balls with the jeep, you would get a faint smell of onions 15 years after we stopped growing them.
My father and grandfather worked for the Bedfords. My grandfather, Howard Avery worked in the fields and with the horses. Mr father, Joseph Avery rode in the horse shows and drove the trotting horses for Mr. Bedfords. My grandfather lived on West Parish Road where the racetrack was and the stables were located.
Helen, Are you related to Joe Avery who worked at the Hunt Club in the 1950s and lived on Center Street?
i have fond memories of your dad
Westport’s onion farmers were the principle producers of the onions that fed the Union troops during the Civil War. Farmers in the 1800’s had names familiar even today in Westport and Greens Farms. In addition to Bedford — names like Burr, Meeker, Cole, Coley, Taylor and Jennings farmed the land while other locals named Sherwood, Parsell, Nash, Meeker & Allan ran sea-going vessels from Southport Harbor carrying onions to points east and south.
Onion breath is a cherished legacy of Westport’s glory days.
Helen Karmanosky, our neighbor at one time, was the coordinator for all the Bedford’s in house working staff. She loved them.
AS a young striped bass fisherman, Bedford’s Point was a favorite spot. There was no parking on Beachside Avenue of course, so die-hard anglers had to park on New Creek Road, wear or carry waders plus rod and tackle and take the long walk out to the point. One lucky day, I hit into a sizeable striper weighing close to 30 pounds, a personal best at the time. As I exited the gate to the seawall and started the long walk back, lugging the fish and tackle, it was quite a chore. Next thing I knew, a Cadillac Limo pulled up and the rear window rolled down. The man inside admired my catch and then offered me a ride back to my car. I thanked him and refused, telling him the fish would get his car all messy. He laughed, remarked about the bass again and told his driver to take him home. It wasn’t until later that I realized it was Mr. Bedford. It was a very nice gesture.
The narrator’s tone is so vile, so condescending that it makes the whole thing tour simply awful.