In 1891, developer David H. King, Jr. hired McKim, Mead & White to design a block-wide row of houses known as the King Model Houses at 203-269 West 139th Street. He had commissioned the firm six years earlier for a much less ambitious project--four flat buildings at 167 through 173 West 83rd Street.
Designed in an A-B-A-B configuration of mirror-image pairs, the Romanesque Revival structures sat on planar stone bases. The proportions of the arched openings of the ground floor--the windows being slightly wider than the doors--were echoed in the openings directly above. The second- through fourth-floor windows were recessed within shallow arches that terminated in brownstone lintels that sprung from the capitals of the three-story brick piers. Handsome terra cotta rondels with flowers and sunbursts decorated the spandrels.
The apartments, one per floor, were intended for professional, middle-class tenants. They included wooden wainscoting, paneled doors and plaster ceiling decorations. King was a developer, not a landlord, and quickly sold the completed buildings. Two of them were purchased in April 1886 for $48,000 (about $1.6 million in 2024).
Among the original residents of 167 West 83rd Street was Oliver C. Gardiner, an "index clerk of the Sinking Fund Records" within the city's Finance Department. He earned $1,200 per year, or about $41,000 by today's terms. Unfortunately for Gardiner, he lost his job in 1889 when Tammany Hall regained control of City Hall and purged employees.
Marie E. J. S. L. Willard moved into 171 West 83rd Street in 1891 following her divorce from James Willard. The New-York Tribune said, "Her maiden name was Marie Von Wallisch, and she was known as 'Countess' Von Wallisch before she was married." The newspaper described her as "a handsome, stylish and stately woman, under middle age, and of winsome ways."
Marie Willard's rent was paid by wealthy builder and contractor Richard Goodman Platt, described by the New-York Tribune as a "well-known clubman." According to him, he "furnished the rooms luxuriously, spending about $20,000 on her account." The relationship between the two would end in a shockingly scandalous court case two years later. According to Marie Willard, in October 1891, "Platt promised to marry her, and induced her to hold intimate relations with him, but afterward refused to fulfil his promise of marriage."
The National Police Gazette was less than flattering in its depiction of Marie Willard in its September 9, 1893 issue. (copyright expired)
Platt's version was, expectedly, different. He claimed that soon after moving into 171 West 83rd Street, the "Countess" went to Paris and began writing letters asking for money. The New-York Tribune said he claimed that, "in one of these letters she said that, had it not been for a Mr. Alexander, she would have been 'on the streets of Paris, homeless.'" Marie returned to New York in 1893 and sued Platt for $50,000 damages for breach of promise, beginning the case that proved embarrassing to both parties.
Another case of domestic upheaval in the building involved Maria and William Dershem. William ran a shoe store in Staten Island. The couple moved into an apartment at 171 West 83rd Street after their marriage on June 15, 1898. At the time of the wedding, Dershem's adult daughters were away for the summer and it is possible that Maria (who was about their age) did not realize that they would be sharing the apartment. The newlyweds' happy home life would not last long.
A year later, on December 24, 1899, The Sun reported that Maria was suing William "for a separation on allegations of cruel treatment by him and his two daughters." When the daughters returned, according to Maria, they took charge of the household. Annie Dershem, she said, would tell her father that Maria was making faces at him behind his back, although Maria insisted "she had kept her face straight." William responded by striking his wife "on several occasions."
A prominent resident of 173 West 83rd Street was Dr. Willis W. French, "a popular young physician," as described by The New York Times on March 12, 1888. A native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, he graduated from the New-York College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883. Another physician, Dr. Harry Power, lived in the building by 1891.
The family of Clarence Colburn Chapman, an insurance agent, lived at 173 West 83rd Street by 1901, when sons Worthington Frothingham and Isaac Amandre were studying at Yale University and the College of the City of New York, respectively. Worthington would also attend the College of the City of New York, before entering the Yale's Sheffield Scientific School.
Worthington Chapman would have an interesting career. After graduating in 1905, he took a post-graduate course in mining. He spent two years in the West working with The Tonopah Exploration Company. Back in New York, he became affiliated with the Columbus & Hocking Coal and Iron Co. He listed his address here through 1910.
Joseph Nullet was the chief salesman of the Sustenance Division of the Surplus Property Division of the U.S. Army. He lived at 167 West 83rd Street in 1920 when he devised a devious plot to cheat the Government. On January 29, 1921, the Brooklyn Standard Union reported he had been "charged with conspiring to defraud the Government by juggling bids for 50,000 pounds of overseas tea."
Later that year, on September 8, 18-year-old Stanley Dudzig tried to burglarize 171 West 83rd Street. The Daily News said he "was surprised to find Detective Thomas Foley at his elbow when he attempted to enter a second story window of an apartment." The article continued, "Foley was equally surprised when Dudzig poked a pistol in his stomach and pulled the trigger." Fortunately for Foley, the gun did not fire. The would-be burglar faced a judge the following day.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
In 1930, a store was installed on the ground floor of 167 West 83rd Street and in 1966 the apartments were divided, resulting in two per floor. The apartments at 171 West 83rd Street had been divided in half in 1959.
The brownstone bases of all four buildings have been painted white, and the upper floors of 169 and 171 West 83rd Street have also been painted. Overall, the restrained designs of one of America's foremost architectural firms are greatly intact.
Many thanks to Larry Mentz for suggesting this post
photographs by the author
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