During the Civil War construction came to a near-halt in
Manhattan. But among builder Joseph
Hewlett’s first projects following the war was his own home at No. 1000 Madison
Avenue, between 77th and 78th Streets. A block away development of Central Park continued, as the blocks spreading east were filling with brownstone
rowhouses.
Hewlett hired prolific architect Robert Mook to design the
house. Construction on the brick-faced
structure was started in 1869 and completed the following year. Hewlett and his wife, Mary Ann would live in
the house for years. He died here on
Saturday morning, May 19, 1888; and Mary Ann A. Hewlett died in the house on
Friday morning, April 17, 1896. Her
funeral was held in the house the following Monday morning.
A year later, on March 27, 1897, auctioneer Peter F. Meyer
announced that “the valuable dwelling parcel” at No, 1000 Madison Avenue would
be sold at auction. By now Madison
Avenue, unlike Fifth Avenue just a block away, was seeing the incursion of
commerce. Many of the old mansions were
being converted for business purposes at ground level. The winning bidders for No. 1000 had the same
idea—but they met unexpected resistance.
In January 1898 the new owners applied to the Department of
Buildings for permits to alter the house “to a building to be used for stores
and offices, and extending the building out to the street line.” Removing the stoop and extending the façade outward
would result in the structure projecting several feet beyond the adjoining buildings. The permit was denied for
structural reasons. The walls and floor
beams were of residential strength and did not meet building codes for an
office building.
The owners tried again.
They amended the permit to provide alterations to “a two-family
residence and stores on the first floor.”
The Commissioner of Buildings denied this application as well. The 8-inch thick walls were too thin for the
proposed use. Within a ten-day period,
their architect busily produced three different plans. Finally the owners went ahead with the
renovations--and were fined.
On February 19, 1898 the Real Estate Record & Builders’
Guide reported “The alteration work was in progress and the usual violation
notice was served on the owners.” The
owners took the Commissioner of Buildings to court “to compel him to issue a
permit.” The judge sided with the
Buildings Department and the dramatic makeover of No. 1000 Madison Avenue came
to a halt; at least for now.
Victor Hugo Mathushek soon moved into the former Hewlett
house. He was a partner in Matheshek
& Son, piano manufacturers, at Broadway and 47th Street. The 44-year old left home for work on Monday
morning, October 29, 1900; but he would never return.
The drug manufacturing firm of Tarrant & Co. was located
in a large building at the northwest corner of Greenwich and Warren
Streets. Just after noon that day a fire
was discovered. As firefighters fought
the blaze, it finally reached a storage area for chemicals.
The following day The New York Times reported “The greater
part of two business blocks was wiped out of existence yesterday, and under the
ruins this morning it is probable lie the bodies of forty or more unfortunate
victims of fire and explosion.” Among
those listed as missing was Victor Mathushek.
By 1911 Henry Hart lived here. He owned and operated commercial properties
throughout the New York area; but was best known for his Lorraine Hotel in
Edgemere, Long Island. The fashionable
resort hotel sat on the beachfront and Hart marketed it as “New, modern,
strictly up-to-date.” Not only did the
rooms have running water; there was a telephone in each in 1909.
New-York Tribuze, June 6, 1909 (copyright expired) |
Henry Hart remained in the house until 1914 when in June Elinor
Comstock leased it for her newly-founded Elinor Comstock School of Music. She had taught music in New York for 15 years and was well-known in musical circles. A Handbook of the Best Private Schools of
the United States and Canada noted “The members of her school have
opportunities for carrying on academic as well as musical study.”
Shortly after she leased the house the New-York Tribune, on
June 28, reported that she would sail on the steamship Bremen for Europe on July 4.
“She will go direct to visit her friend, Ignace Paderewski, and will be
accompanied by some of her pupils, who desire to study with this celebrated
artist.”
Elinor was back in New York by the middle of September to
start the fall session. But the school
would not remain in the house for long.
Elinor Comstock moved her school to another former dwelling at No. 41 East
80th Street at the corner of Madison Avenue, two blocks north.
No. 1000 Madison was purchased by the Ritz Realty Corp.,
owned by Robert M. Catts. Catts
succeeded where the 1898 owners had failed.
His firm contracted the architectural firm of Schwartz & Gross to transform
the old house to a modern, neo-Federal store and apartment building.
The completed alterations, which cost Ritz Realty $10,000
(in the neighborhood of $125,000 in 2016), resulted in a dignified brick-faced façade
above the storefront. The architects
used charred header bricks to give the illusion of age. Carved panels, splayed and paneled stone
lintels, an a wrought iron balconette carried out the Federal motif. A dramatic stone tympanum featured an
unfolded fan fronted by a basket overflowing with flowers and ribbons.
The lovely carvings are demeaned by years of accumulated grime. |
Henry Hart did not totally abandon his former property. The ground floor retail space became home to
the Henry Hart, Inc. Florist shop. Hart
advertised his flower store as being “in the heart of the most exclusive
residential section.” The florist would
remain here at least until 1919.
In the meantime, Ritz Realty Co. marketed their upscale
apartments in “exclusive Lenox Hill.” An
advertisement in The Sun on July 15 1919 offered “2, 3 and 4 large rooms and
bath with very large closets, open fireplaces, etc.; must be seen to be
appreciated.” The least expensive
apartment rented for $1,300 a year; about $1,500 per month today. The most expensive was more than double that
amount.
Ritz Realty Co. offered both “housekeeping” and “non-housekeeping”
apartments. Non-housekeeping apartments
did not have kitchens and that may have played a part in the decision to
renovate the interiors in 1934. Architect
Albert Humble’s redesign resulted in two apartments on each floor.
Among the new residents was Oliver Hazard Perry La Farge who
signed a lease in August 1937. La Farge
led a double-life, of sorts. A respected
anthropologist, he had explored early Mexican sites in 1925 and continued to
study sites in Central American and the American Southwest. A rigorous fighter for Native American
rights, he was President of the Association on American Indian Affairs and
wrote more than 15 scholarly books, mostly on Native Americans.
But La Farge was even more well known as a Pulitzer
Prize-winning author for his 1929 Laughing Boys. His short stories were published in popular
magazines such as Esquire and The New Yorker.
Another noted resident was William Barnes Morgan and his
wife, the former Louise Sureth. For several years Morgan was a foreign
representative of the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. The couple was living here on July 23, 1944
when Morgan died at the age of only 39.
The last half of the 20th century saw upscale art
and antiques galleries moving up Madison Avenue. In 1960 the Bernard Danenberg Galleries moved
into the former Henry Hart florist shop.
During the remainder of the century the building would be home to the
Royal Athena Gallery and the Haime gallery, as well.
In 2003 the ground floor was taken by the Sant Ambroeus
restaurant, which remains there in 2016.
There are still two apartments per floor above. Although a coat of grime disguises its architectural details, the upper façade is essentially unchanged since Schwartz & Gross
transformed Joseph Hewlett’s post-Civil War home in 1916.
photographs by the author
One of the pianos from the Mathushek & Son factory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aT5j-HQapEc
ReplyDeleteSometimes you name an article/building for an original or early prominent resident, at other times (like here) for the architectural firm. I guess each structure is unique concerning what era of its past best suits a label for it.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly correct. The original owner is not always the most important; and sometimes no owner is as notable as the architect and his work.
Delete