Dwight James Baum designed many Fieldston homes
REPRINTED FROM 10-14-2010
This contemporary six bedroom single family home is as elegant as all
the homes in the private Bronx community of Fieldston.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J BTR ULY 5-11, 2019 55
I remember the fi rst time
I meandered off 246th Street
into Fieldston to be mesmerized
by the beauty and bemused
by the twists and turns
of its roadways. It’s not like
the rest of Riverdale but is a
world unto itself. It’s diffi cult
to concentrate on the roads
when the beautiful architecture
invades your senses. A
good number of the splendid
designs of the stately homes
encountered in Fieldston
were created by Dwight James
Baum. All the homes, no matter
who the architect, are very
much in demand.
Fieldston is comprised of
140 acres and has 257 homes.
All are quite expensive and
a seven-bedroom house on a
two and a half acre lot, built in
1928, recently sold for just under
fourteen million dollars.
The annual real estate tax of
this 3-story home is $45,000.
Residents also must pay dues,
based principally on frontage,
to the Fieldston Property
Owners Association which
oversees the community and
even provides security patrols.
All the streets are private but
those driving through are not
harassed in any way.
Baum is among the most
well-known of the architects
recalled for their work in Fieldston
and he fi rst heard about
the community in 1914 and
soon began designing homes
there and then he moved there
himself and his former residence
is still standing at 5001
Goodridge Avenue. Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia lived at
5020 Goodridge Avenue and
read the funnies to children
over the radio from his home
there during the newspaper
strike of 1945. Among the better
known celebrities raised in
Fieldston is Carly Simon who
grew up in a house designed
by Baum and went to school
locally at the Riverdale Country
School. She was the recipient
of a Golden Globe Award,
two Grammy Awards, and an
Academy Award. She is also
recalled for her numerous recordings
including “Anticipation”
and “You’re So Vain.”
Her father was Richard Simon,
the co-founder of Simon
and Schuster. Actress Julie
Hayden, wife of George Jean
Nathan, one of the nation’s
leading drama critics and
founder of American Mercury
magazine, owned a beautiful
nine-room home on Waldo
Avenue that was designed by
Baum. Most of Baum’s creations,
by the way, were built
by Ahneman and Yonkheere
who had their headquarters at
3320 Bailey Avenue.
Fieldston was once part
of the Major Joseph Delafi eld
Estate of 310 acres. His three
grandsons developed the property
beginning in 1909 purposely
keeping it rural and
preserving as much of the natural
beauty as possible. Thus
we have the roadways meandering
around knolls and
beautiful old trees. The Fieldston
Property Owners Association
was established in 1923
to maintain those goals within
its 140 acres of that grand old
estate and it looks like they
succeeded.
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