Phipps Family History: Winter’s Work is Never Done

All was not restful relaxation in balmy Florida for John (Jay) and Margarita (Dita) Phipps while they spent the winter months at Casa Bendita, their residence in Palm Beach. Both Jay and Dita supervised the operations at their estate in Old Westbury. Jay’s focus was on the maintenance of the polo complex and the farm located on the northern parcels of the estate. Dita oversaw the maintenance of Westbury House and its gardens.

Prior to, or immediately after, their departure from Westbury House in December, both Jay and Dita would provide the Westbury staff with a list of major projects to be completed prior to their return in the spring. Such lists would typically include the cleaning and painting of rooms in Westbury House—with color samples, repair of furniture, as well as other major projects such as remodeling spaces in the Service Wing for staff accommodations.

The John S. Phipps Archive collection, housed at Old Westbury Gardens, contains numerous folders of correspondence between staff who accompanied the Phipps to Florida and those who remained in New York. This correspondence and supplementary reports demonstrate that both Jay and Margarita maintained detailed, hands-on management of their residences. Handwritten notes on monthly reports on the quantity of milk, cream, and butter produced at dairy from the Westbury estate, indicated who should, and should not, receive regular deliveries. (Frozen butter was sent weekly, sometimes by air freight, from Westbury to Palm Beach.)

An illustration of Jay and Dita’s active management are the over 40 letters and reports from January through March 1947, which record the ongoing work of the Westbury estate. The bulk of these documents are typed correspondence sent two to four times per week between Dita’s personal secretary, Anne Sanderson, who would accompany Dita to Palm Beach, and George Wittlinger, Sr., the superintendent for the Westbury estate.

Documents include George’s typed list of suggested projects with recommendations, with a reply from Anne with Jay’s or Dita’s decisions and further instructions. The archives also contain George’s monthly report on the daily activities for each of the 12 employees who worked during the winter months at Westbury House, the farm, and polo fields:

February 17, 1947

C.J. Lindstom     residence furniture, 2nd Floor

…

J. Wilker, J. Berneski, F. Suloski Wood Pile Cleaing up (Decayed logs, etc.) Kelsey Lot

P. Yamzak Apple Orchard Burning Brush

For February 19, 1947, George reported which workers packed the saw sharpening machine for transport to the Virginia estate, burned grass, repaired swimming pool valves, chopped wood, and cleaned up the courtyard for the polo barn. For February 21, 1947, George reported that most of the crew spent the day plowing due to a “very severe snowstorm 10 ½".”

The correspondence included instructions from Dita to George about how many seeds to plant to cultivate, and how many plants to acquire for the 1947 season (right).

The archives also contain correspondence of the reverse. When the Phipps returned to Westbury House, they would regularly communicate their instructions to the staff that remained at Casa Bendita about the work that needed to be done at the Palm Beach residence during its “off-season” and the tasks needed to prepare for the Phipps’s return for the winter.

~Paul Hunchak, Director of Public Programs and Visitor Services