The Knapp House: The Ford Period

In 1906, Simeon Ford, co-owner of the Grand Union Hotel in Manhattan and a real estate developer, purchased the Knapp House as a wedding present for his son Ellsworth. Simeon and his wife owned a large estate on Forest Avenue at the time. Ford built greenhouses behind the house on what are now playing fields and supplied produce or flowers to his hotel. A greenhouse and aviary were also added to the side of the house and an artist's studio was added to the rear, shown on the right in Lauren Ford's painting.

Ellsworth lived in the Knapp House until the 1920s, at which time his sister Lauren moved into the house. Lauren Ford was a successful artist whose work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was widely published in the form of greeting cards and prints. After World War II, Lauren was instrumental in the founding of the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut. The story of her work with the Abbey was the basis for the film "Come to the Stable", written by Clare Boothe Luce and starring Celeste Holm, Loretta Young and Elsa Lanchester.