The Carriage House

Designed by James Gamble Rogers in 1912, the Carriage House had a first floor that housed the Harkness' motor cars, stables, and dog grooming areas. It accommodated 5 cars, 3 limousines, and a truck that supplied 1,500 pounds of ice to the mansion every other day in the summer months. The main garage featured a huge turntable that allowed chauffeurs to turn the cars by hand and back them against the garage wall, along with an overhead hose and surface drainage for washing the cars before putting them away. A separate wing on the south side, known as the sports complex, contained the Billiard Room, bowling alley, squash court, marble-lined shower rooms, and toilets, with a door leading out to the clay tennis courts. The courtyard had a 3,000 gallon underground storage tank for fuel oil. The second floor contained guest rooms for visiting servants and chauffeurs, while other apartments in the corners of the main block housed Harkness staff, and additional accommodations above each wing were used by seasonal staff who helped preserve food grown on the farm. The third floor was used for storage of guests' trunks, and a large winch still remains to lift trunks from visitors' cars to the third floor. The basement, opening out to the fields in the back, housed the furnace, electrical panels, and storage for overwintering corms for gladiolas and dahlias.

Waterford, Connecticut · United States