Farley family

Recently I had read about someone in the local paper, that I had gone to school with here on the island, and that must have been some 55 years ago.  Back then, it was a graduating class of eight.

Alice Farley had returned from NYC for a short visit, to help sell the family property - and to give a brief talk about her family and their unique home. Her father Walter, was a well known writer of children's books and her mother, a former high model of the New York fashion world.  There was nothing then about the family, that I could remember, that may have appeared grand or particularly exceptional. But really, there was.

So, Sandy and I went down to see Alice, to hear her speak, and to visit their noted home, now aging, and listed on the high-end real estate market.  Architecturally, little seemed to have changed.

Rear view of the house, designed and built by Ralph Twitchell and architect, Jack West (1953)

Screen lanai and footpath out towards the beach

The living room, where a few chairs were set-up for Alice's talk.

Walter Farley, Alice's father, had written the children's classic, 'The Black Stallion' (1941). After publication, the New York Times referred to it's character as, "the most famous horse in fiction".

 

From the Black Stallion series, there were twenty books of written sequels - from which a TV series and a motion picture were eventually made.

In Walter's library, reference books on children's literature, from Aesop's Fables, to tales from Edgar Allan Poe.

Rosemary and Walter, out on the beach (1946).

Alice's mother, Rosemary from her early years modeling in New York

A simple kitchen in a modest, simply designed home - and Farley family owned for over sixty years.

A few collectibles remain of Walter's personal horse memorabilia - a helmet, scarf and a horse-hair crop, left hanging.

Upon leaving, with a few moments left in the kitchen, Alice and I had a good laugh over one of our most difficult teachers during that time spent while attending the Out-Of-Door School. That person was a miserable, difficult and unforgiving woman - our moody art teacher.  Luckily, we had her way before we both began our professional careers in the visual arts.