Following the fire that destroyed the Byrne mansion, the Coes immediately
asked the architectural firm of Walker and Gillette to build a new house
for them at Planting Fields. The firm had designed farm buildings at
Planting Fields and a house called Irma Lake Lodge at their Wyoming
ranch in Cody. Walker and Gillette also designed at least eleven other
country homes on Long Island, including a house in Southampton for Mai's
brother, Colonel H.H. Rogers. W.R. Coe considered Stewart Walker a friend,
and trusted his firm to design a grand new home for them at Planting
Fields.
| Coe Hall was built between 1918 and 1921. The exterior
walls of the house were completed in 1919, as the cornerstone on
the north wall reflects. Scottish stone masons and construction
workers lived at Planting Fields |

Building Coe Hall
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while they built Coe Hall. The workers toiled six and a half days a week,
having half a day off on Sunday to attend church. During the construction,
the Coes stayed at an old farmhouse on the property known as the White
Cottage (razed circa 1972 by the State of New York due to its severely
deteriorated condition).
Finishing the new house's interior took an additional two years, with
much of the stone carving and woodwork done on-site by the Boston firm
of Irving, Casson and Davenport. Handrails, firescreens and hardware
custom designed by renowned iron worker Samuel Yellin were installed
in the house, while society artist Robert Chanler completed decorative
murals in Mai Coe's bedroom and the family's breakfast room. Finally,
antiques dealer and decorator Charles of London (Charles Duveen) was
called in to fit out the interior in the "Olde English" style.
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