Warner Montagnie Van Norden and Grace Talcott

After 159 years in the Jay family, the Jay estate passed into the hands of another individual with strong Dutch roots: financier Warner Montagnie Van Norden. A graduate of Columbia, well familiar with the history and lineage of the Jays, he and his young wife, Grace Talcott, significantly enhanced the Jay Estate buildings and grounds.

The Van Norden and Talcott Families

Warner Montagnie Van Norden, a descendant of one of the oldest Dutch and oldest Huguenot families in New York, together with his wife Grace Talcott, a descendant of one of the Founders of Hartford, purchased the Jay Mansion and surrounding estate in Rye in 1905. Warner and Grace went to great care and expense to restore and preserve the historic Jay structures and gardens; in 1907, they commissioned architect Frank A. Rooke to build 2 additional Classical Revival structures on the Jay property – a Zebra House and a Carriage House – that borrowed stylistically from the elegant architectural features of the Jay house. Ambitious plans to also build a Dutch style village on Hen Island which the Van Nordens owned were never realized.

Warner Van Norden was drawn to the area for many reasons. A graduate of Columbia with encyclopedic interests and areas of expertise as diverse as ornithology to agriculture, Westchester provided ample space for these pursuits. His wife Grace shared his passion for horses and animals. The choice waterfront location with Dutch history also had great appeal for the young couple but above all Warner had family in Rye – he had come to the waterfront town first as a boy with his father. Later he would visit his aunt and uncle, Henry and Amelia Phillips Bronson who had property on the Post Road as well. His cousins Harriet and Helen were close by.

Adding to the familiarity of the site, Grace’s father James Talcott first leased the Jay Estate in 1897 from the Jays; an album of photos from this period of occupancy shows the extended Van Norden, Talcott and Bronson clans at the property. Grace’s brother Arthur Whiting Talcott also purchased a property in Rye called Hillcrest where he lived with his wife Louise Rowland Talcott – the couple and their children are pictured at the Jay Estate together with Grace’s sister Edith and brothers “Maud” and Fred.

The Van Nordens and Talcotts were active members of area clubs like Apawamis and American Yacht Club and the Rye Presbyterian Church. Like the Jays, the estate was a place for family – architectural plans of renovations to the Jay Mansion show that specific bedrooms were set aside for Grace’s parents James and Henrietta and for Edith.

Carriage House & Zebra Barn

In building a freestanding Carriage House (1907) and Zebra Barn (1907) for the Van Nordens, Rooke drew upon his extensive experience designing stables (The Claremont Stables) and dairy plants (numerous facilities for Sheffield Farms) . The Zebra Barn was particularly unique, designed to accommodate rare animals and suit their every need.

Warner was interested in cross breeding horses and zebras towards producing a superior working breed of farm animal. He was likely influenced by the animal trainer and breeder, Carl Hagenbeck, whom he may have encountered at the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. This is the same era when the King of Abyssinia gifted a zebra to President Theodore Roosevelt. Records show Van Norden imported Grevy’s zebras along with many other unique livestock like Highland cattle from other parts of the world.

For their comfort and health, Rooke created a building fitted with steam heating and temperature controls as well as a drinking fountain.

(Photo of Frank A. Rooke courtesy of Dave and Sandy Robinson)

The gracious estate was the perfect site for the couple’s prizewinning cattle, zebra and deer, and there were also kennels for their French bulldogs and dachsunds. But rather than keep all this largesse to themselves, this outgoing couple shared their home with needy children from NY City, welcoming them to Rye in the summer months for pony rides, sailing and other fresh air pastimes.

The Van Nordens’ sold their ownership of the main house and grounds in 1910, but held on to some waterfront property through 1914.

In 1911, they traveled extensively in China and Warner reported his observations to the New York Times. They eventually helped launch two hospitals in the province of Xingtai (then Shunteh-fu) including one called the Grace Talcott Hospital for Women which helped educate villagers about ways to reduce the spread of cholera. On their return from Asia, Warner formed a tea “concern” (an import business) and in 1918 he published the “Who’s Who of the Chinese in New York” passionately advocating that the US government admit 500,000 Chinese Farmers to America and give these intelligent and industrious people land and permanent citizenship as a means to help with the American war effort. The purpose of his book, published at a time of extreme prejudice and Chinese exclusionary acts, was “to draw attention to the manner in which the Chinese-Americans have developed and attained positions of respect and standing in the Metropolitan City.” With many photos, the book is a resource for those researching the genealogy of some of the earliest businessmen of Chinatown. Warner’s own photos from his trip to China with Grace are also valuable surviving records of Chinese landmarks and culture of the era.

(Photos of Grace Talcott top, architectural plans, Zebra Barn, French bulldog and Grace Talcott Hospital courtesy of Joy Van Norden, Julie Van Norden Wynne and Family and JHC Archives)