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Underhill (second
from right) on
the dais at Plaza
del Mar with
the admirals of
the Great White
Fleet in 1908
and fellow local
dignitaries (photo
courtesy of Santa
Barbara Historical
Museum)
Born in New York in 1863, Francis Townsend Underhill was a ninth-
generation descendent of Captain John Underhill, who helped finance
the
Mayflower
expedition to the New World and established the Underhill
family in Boston in 1628. Francis’ banker father died when he was four,
and his mother followed when he was eleven. Raised by two maiden aunts
in Oyster Bay, New York, he was primarily educated by tutors and spent
the last four years of his education traveling.
Underhill’s early years in the East were punctuated by luxurious
pursuits available only to the wealthy class. When he established himself
in the West, however, he took up work that benefitted a more general
population.
A Wealthy Easterner
While still living in the East, the young Underhill developed an interest
in polo, horse racing, travel, driving, yachting and architecture. In 1883,
he became one of the founders of the first indoor horse show in America,
the National Horse Show, founded at Madison Square Gardens. For over
25 years, he served as a judge at the National and other prominent shows
throughout the nation.
Underhill was a member of at least five Eastern yacht clubs. In 1888,
he emulated his esteemed ancestor and bought the
Mayflower
. This ship,
however, bore no pilgrims yearning for religious freedom. Instead, the
sloop
Mayflower
had successfully defended the America’s Cup against the
British challenger in 1886. For a time he also owned
Mischief
, the 1881
America’s Cup champion
.
Though he had no formal training in architecture, Underhill’s education
included studies of the great buildings of Europe, and he didn’t hesitate
to build his own estate on Long Island designing the house, gardens and
furnishings himself. At age 20, Underhill married Henrietta Graham
Meyer, and they raised three daughters at the Oyster Bay estate.
Underhill was famous for his driving prowess and was known as an
expert whip. The story goes that fellow members of the Coaching Club
made a bet that it was not possible to make figure eights with a coach-and-
four in the narrow streets of New York. Underhill accepted the challenge
At George Owen Knapp’s
Arcady
estate in Montecito, Underhill designed a Roman
pool house with sliding roof and a series of pools and waterways that ended in
front of a little teahouse (photo courtesy of Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
winter
|
spr ing
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