In 1913 the architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone, composed of W. L. Rouse and L. A. Goldstone, designed an upscale, 13-story apartment building for the E. A. L. Holding Co. on the southeast corner of Park Avenue and 72nd Street. Anchored by a granite water table, the limestone base was nearly unadorned, other than the entrance on the side street (which, nevertheless, took the more impressive 755 Park Avenue address).
The double-doored entrance and fanlight sat within a frame of rusticated, radiating stone voussoirs. Rouse & Goldstone used intermediate cornices to break the mass of the structure into four parts. Renaissance elements--stone balconies, balustrades and arched pediments, for instance--gave the building the dignified look of a larger-than-life Italian palazzo.
Completed in 1914, 755 Park Avenue was marketed as the "new fireproof apartment house, situated in [a] most exclusive neighborhood." An advertisement in The New York Times on August 16 boasted, "Splendidly finished and appointed. All light rooms--beautiful outlook--a locality restricted to homes of the most distinguished character." Rents for the suites of nine or eleven rooms with three baths ranged from $3,500 to $5,500 (a significant $13,800 per month by 2024 conversion for the most expensive).
The costly rents did not deter prospective tenants. On May 21, 1914, months before the building was completed, The New York Times reported on the leases being signed. One apartment was taken by Robert L. Bacon "of Kissell, Kinnicut & Co., son of Hon. Robert Bacon, ex-Ambassador to France. Also, an apartment of eleven rooms and three baths in the same building to Waldo H. Marshall, President of the American Locomotive Company." Two months later, on July 6, The Evening Post reported that "two large adjoining apartments in the new building under construction at 755 Park Avenue" had been leased "to Watson H. Butler and his mother, Mrs. E. H. Butler, at the total rental of about $25,000." (That figure would translate to $755,000 today.)
Among the other initial residents were Julius P. Meyer, former assistant general director of the Hamburg American Line, and Frederick W. and Harriet Woerz. Woertz was president of the Beadelston & Woerz Empire Brewery, co-founded by his father in 1878. Shortly after the couple moved in, Ernest G. Woerz died on May 10, 1916, leaving the equivalent of $22 million today to Frederick. The couple's country home was in Greenwich, Connecticut.
At least two residents of 755 Park Avenue fought overseas during World War I. On May 28, 1917, the New-York Tribune reported that Charles Barnett Marr, the son of Charles J. Marr and his wife, had been promoted to second lieutenant. He served as infantry and liaison officer with the American forces.
Frederick R. Wulsin was also a second lieutenant. On September 24, 1919, The Evening World reported that he had been awarded the Belgian War Cross. But unlike Marr, he did not return to 755 Park Avenue. Although he had earned a degree in engineering from Harvard in 1915, he set out on a career in exploration. According to the Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History, "After the war, Wulsin participated in several sociological expeditions, traveling to Inner Mongolia, China, and Tibet. After his return, Wulsin traveled by Model T and camel caravan through much of Persia and Africa. Having finally found his calling, Wulsin returned to Harvard and received his Ph. D. in anthropology in 1929."
In the meantime, the names of the well-heeled residents of 755 Park Avenue routinely appeared in the society pages. On January 31, 1919, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Sir Arthur Pearson was the guest last night at a farewell dinner given at the Ritz-Carlton by Dr. Schuyler S. Wheeler of 755 Park Avenue."
Schuyler Skaats Wheeler in 1914 (original source unknown)
Born on May 17, 1860, Schuyler Skaats Wheeler was married to Amy Sutton. He traced his American roots on his mother's side prior to 1650. An electrical engineer and inventor, he invented the electric fan, an electric elevator, an electrical voting device in 1907, and the electric fire engine. Following the war, he focused much of his attention to disabled servicemen. He initiated the hiring of blind veterans at the Crocker-Wheeler Motor Company in New Jersey, and established the Double-Duty Finger Guild in 1917, which both trained and provided work for the blind.
By 1920, banker Edward Roland Noel Harriman and his wife, the former Gladys Fries, had an apartment here. Known to friends as Bunny, E. Roland Harriman was the youngest of five children of Mary Williamson Averell and Edward Henry Harriman. He and Gladys had two daughters, Elizabeth and Phyllis.
Gladys was, "a noted driver of pacing and trotting horses," according to The New York Times. It was a pastime that, no doubt, contributed to her husband's becoming chairman of the U.S. Trotting Association. Both she and her husband were highly involved in the American Red Cross, and E. Roland was president and chairman of the Boys' Club of New York. The couple's philanthropies including the establishment of the Irving Sherwood Wright professorship in geriatrics at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.
photo by Capital Photo Service from the collection of the New York Public Library.
Like Frederick W. Woerz, George Burton's fortune came from the brewing industry. Born George Bernheimer (German-Americans often changed their surnames during the rampant anti-German sentiments of World War I), his father had founded the Bernheimer & Schwartz Brewery. Burton was engaged to marry Charlotte Gardiner Demarest in May 1922.
On May 10, the New York Herald reported that a special car had been hired "to take Burton and his intended bride to his mother's villa at Elberon, N.J." and that "a trip to Europe after a few weeks at Elberon" had been planned. But those plans would have to be cancelled.
A reporter arrived at the 755 Park Avenue apartment to get Burton's reaction to his fiancée's elopement with Count Edward George Zichy. It was the first Burton had heard of the news. The New York Herald reported, "'You don't say!' exclaimed Burton when he heard of it, and after a moment's thought, he added: 'Hell's bells! Yes, indeed, hell's bells!' But beyond that he declined to go."
The article said, "Next to young Burton, the most surprised person was Mrs. Warren G. Demarest." She had just finished consulting with her dressmaker about Charlotte's wedding gown when the doorbell rang. "She opened the door and saw her daughter with Count Zichy," said the article. "'Mother,' said the daughter, 'I may as well tell you. We're married.'"
The New York Herald reported, "Young Burton and his family, who were preparing to welcome Miss Demarest to their home, at 755 Park avenue, prepared to make the best of the situation."
Few of the wealthy residents of 755 Park Avenue were greatly impacted by the Great Depression. Living here at the time were Robert James and Sadie B. Eidlitz. Eidlitz was the president of the building firm of Marc Eidlitz & Son, Inc., founded in 1854 by Marc Eidlitz. When Robert Eidlitz died in his apartment here on May 17, 1935, he left an estate of $2,289.255, or approximately $49 million by today's conversion.
The second half of the 20th century saw State Senator MacNeil Mitchell and his wife Katherine living here. The couple had a son and twin daughters. On October 31, 1964, The New York Times said Mitchell was "generally considered New York City's most powerful member of the Legislature." He was chairman of the Senate's Judiciary committee and the Joint Legislative Committee on Housing and Urban Development.
Also living here was Anne Colby Vanderbilt, the former wife of William Henry Vanderbilt III (the great-great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt I). The couple had married in 1929. The New York Times recalled, "Their home, Oakland Farm in Portsmouth, R.I., near Newport, was the scene of social events in the thirties." She had served as First Lady of Rhode Island during her husband's governorship in 1939-40. Anne Vanderbilt suffered a stroke in her apartment on February 27, 1974 and died shortly thereafter.
Essentially nothing has outwardly changed to 755 Park Avenue since its completion in 1914. Its retains its aloof presence above the traffic of the two busy thoroughfares, while inside well-to-do residents continue to live in sublime surroundings.
photographs by the author
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