Less than two decades after the first mansion was built on Fifth Avenue just above Washington Square, development reached above 23rd Street. In 1851, Deborah Wood operated an exclusive boarding house in the brownstone fronted mansion at 271 Fifth Avenue between 29th and 30th Streets.
At 26-feet-wide and four stories tall above a high English basement, the house held its own among the stately homes in the neighborhood. Its arched entrance was crowned with a grand, broken-arched pediment filled with carved vines and an ornate cartouche.
Wood's few, select boarders were well-to-do. From 1851 to 1854, for instance, they were all politically connected with Tammany Hall. Abraham M. Valentine (who died here in 1855) was the Grand Marshal at the cornerstone laying for Tammany Hall. His son, William P. Valentine, also held a city government job. William Gage's position as the chairman of the Board of Assessors was a Tammany appointed job.
In 1864, Robert Edward Livingston and his wife, the former Susan Maria Clarkson de Peyster, purchased 271 Fifth Avenue. The couple, who had married a decade earlier on December 19, 1854, had three children when they moved in: Catherine Goodhue, Robert Reginald, and Edward de Peyster. A fourth child, Goodhue, would arrive in 1867.
Robert Livingston descended from one of the oldest and most distinguished families in New York. The Livingstons arrived in the Dutch Republic in the 17th century. Both of his parents, Edward Philip and Elizabeth Stevens, were Livingstons. The New York Times said, "Through his mother, he was a descendant of Robert R. Livingston, who, as Chancellor of the State of New York, swore in George Washington as President of the United States, and who, with Gouverneur Morris and John Jay, drew up the Constitution of the State." Both Robert's grandfathers--Robert R. Livingston and Philip Livingston--signed the Declaration of Independence.
Susan's pedigree was no less impressive. Like the Livingstons, the De Peysters arrived in America in the 17th century. Abraham de Peyster was born in New Amsterdam in 1657. He would become the mayor of New York City in 1691 and serve as Governor in 1700 and 1701. Susan's grandfather was a member of George Washington's staff during the Revolution.
The family's country estate, Clermont, was on the Hudson River between Tivoli-on-the-Hudson and Germantown, New York. The main house was originally a Georgian style mansion, built around 1740. It was burned nearly to the ground by the British and rebuilt as a near copy of the original by Margaret Beekman Livingston with the war still going on.
Robert Edward Livingston was listed in directories as a "gentleman," meaning that he lived on inherited wealth. He died in the mansion on January 20, 1889 at the age of 68. His funeral was not held in the house, as would have been expected, but at Grace Church. The Sun reported, "interment will take place on the same day at Tivoli-on-the-Hudson."
The family was at Clermont for the holidays in 1891 when disaster was averted in the Fifth Avenue house. On December 29, The Sun reported, "Firemen invaded last night the house of Mrs. Robert E. Livingston at 271 Fifth avenue, and ran a hose up to the fifth floor." A servant had discovered a fire in a closet in her room. It was quickly extinguished, causing damages of only about $100 (just under $3,500 in 2024).
Edward de Peyster Livingston graduated from Columbia University in 1882 and Columbia Law School two years later. His brother Goodhue graduated from Columbia in 1888, and received his Ph.B. in architecture in 1892.
Catherine involved herself in charitable works and social endeavors. On March 28, 1892, for instance, the New York Evening Telegram reported, "Whether it is a 'Lenten card party' or simply a card party without any specific reference to the season--will not probably mar the pleasure of the entertainment at the home of Mrs. [sic] C. G. Livingston, of No. 271 Fifth avenue, this evening. The card club that has been in existence two years and has six meetings each Lent, will hold its fifth meeting of the season at the home of Miss Livingston to-night."
In 1894, Goodhue partnered with Stockton B. Colt and Samuel Breck Parkman Trowbridge to form the architectural firm Trowbridge, Livingston & Colt. When Colt left in 1897, the firm became Trowbridge & Livingston. The partners would design some of Manhattan's most recognizable buildings, including the St. Regis Hotel, the B. Altman & Co. building, and the Bankers Trust Company.
Goodhue married Louisa Robb on April 8, 1896 and the couple established their home elsewhere. But following Robert's marriage to Mary Tailer, the couple initially moved into 271 Fifth Avenue.
In 1897, Susan and Catherine spent the summer in Seabright, New Jersey rather than Clermont. On July 7, the New York Journal and Advertiser reported, "Mrs. Robert E. Livingston and her daughter, Miss C. G. Livingston, of No. 271 Fifth avenue, New York, are sojourning here at the Octagon." It is unclear where Robert and Mary spent that summer, but their return was annoyingly delayed. On October 24, 1897, The World remarked, "Mr. and Mrs. Robert Livingston have not yet opened their home, No. 271 Fifth avenue, on account of the shocking condition of the street, which is impassable and unsightly."
Robert and Mary soon moved to 9 East 9th Street. They spent part of the winter season of 1898-99 in Hot Springs, Virginia, and had just returned home when Robert fell ill on April 9. He died a week later on April 16.
In the meantime, Susan and her unmarried children, Edward and Catherine, lived on in the Fifth Avenue house long after fashion had moved northward. Society journalists tracked their movements and on December 12, 1901, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mrs. Robert E. Livingston and Miss Catherine Livingston have returned to town from Tivoli, and are at their home, in Fifth-ave."
Lower Fifth Avenue was no longer the quiet residential thoroughfare it had been in 1864 when the Livingstons moved into 271 Fifth Avenue. In preparation for the widening of the avenue in 1909, Susan was ordered to remove the stoop. Not surprisingly, she hired her son's firm to do the work. On May 19, the New-York Tribune reported,
Trowbridge & Livingston, architects have filed plans for remodelling [sic] the old four story high stoop brownstone dwelling house No. 271 Fifth avenue into an American basement house...The old main entrance will be converted into a French casement window. Over the entrance will be an ornamental grille railing, forming a small balcony.
.png)
In 1941, the magnificent pediment over the former doorway and the window enframements survived, as did Trowbridge & Livingston's "ornamental grille railing" above the entrance. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Nine months after that notice, on February 10, 1910, Susan de Peyster Livingston died in the Fifth Avenue house at the age of 87. In reporting her death, The New York Times recalled that she had been born in the house that her grandfather, General Matthew Clarkson, had erected at the corner of Whitehall and Pearl Streets, and that her present home "is now one of the last private houses in that part of Fifth Avenue."
Neither Catherine nor Edward would marry. They stubbornly remained in the house in which they had grown up, while all around them the mansions of their former neighbors were either converted for business or razed for commercial buildings.
In the years preceding World War I, Catherine's mobility was gradually impaired. By the onset of the Depression, according to The New York Times, she was "restricted to a regiment of increased invalidism, consisting of short drives in a motor and her Summer sojourn at Southampton." On December 18, 1931, the newspaper reported, "Miss Catherine Goodhue Livingston, member of one of New York State's most distinguished families, died yesterday at her home, 271 Fifth Avenue, where she had lived all her live." The article noted, "The Livingston property of Clermont, on the Hudson, has been in the possession of the family since the original grant from Queen Anne."
A month later almost to the day, on January 20, 1932, The New York Times reported, "Edward De Peyster Livingston...died last night at the age of 70 in his home at 271 Fifth Avenue." His funeral was held in the Church of the Transfiguration the next morning.
Not surprising, the last private mansion in the neighborhood was quickly converted. A renovation completed in 1934 resulted in a store on the first and second floors, with two apartments per floor above. Despite the significant changes, it is not difficult to imagine a time when one of the wealthiest and most socially prominent families in New York occupied the venerable structure.
photographs by the author
LaptrinhX.com has no authorization to reuse the content of this blog
No comments:
Post a Comment