Louis Steckler was president of the Labaren Realty Holding Co. in the early years of the 19th century. In 1910, as the Madison Avenue area of Murray Hill was transforming from brownstone mansions to commercial buildings, he negotiated the lease of the three residences at 137 to 141 Madison Avenue, and three others around the corner at 23 to 27 East 31st Street. Wealthy attorney Henry Grafton Chapman and his wife, the former Frances Perkins, who lived in the corner house, however, would not budge.
Defeated, Steckler forged on. On December 24, 1910, the Record and Guide reported that the Labaren Realty Holding Co. was erecting a 12-story, "marble and brick store and loft building" around the corner mansion. The L-shaped structure, was designed by J. B. Snook Sons, would cost the developer $250,000 to construct--just over $8.25 million in 2025 terms.
The architects' overall Arts & Crafts design was blended with Beaux Arts elements, most notably at the two-story top section where dripping festoons and lions' heads appeared below the copper, antefix-lined cornice. J. B. Snook Sons gave horizontality to the otherwise unadorned midsection by grouping the windows into threes, each trio connected by a visible stone lintel. The three-story stone base featured double-height segmental arches that embraced vast show windows.
The building was erected by general contractors Terry and Trench, known for its steel and iron construction of railroad bridges and the New York City elevated railroad structures. The firm translated that structural process to the skeleton construction of this skyscraper. In appreciation, Steckler christened his new building the Terry & Trench Building.
An advertisement titled "Superb New Loft Building" in February 1912 showed the surviving Chapman mansion on the corner. New-York Daily Tribune February 18, 1912 (copyright expired)
As construction progressed, future tenants signed leases. On February 2, 1911, The New York Times reported, "Louis Steckler has leased from the plans for a term of six years to one tenant the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors." At the same time, he had also leased four other floors.
The "handsome store on the ground floor of [the] newly completed modern loft and office building," as described by Dry Goods Guide in October 1911, was leased to the Henry W. Boettger Silk Finishing Co. The article mentioned, "Its location is in the heart of the uptown silk district." Born in Altoma, Germany, Boettger came to America in 1866. Silk magazine called him "the oldest silk finisher in the United States" in its May 1912 issue.
Just months after moving into the Terry & Trench Building, Henry W. Boettger Silk Finishing Co. merged with the Zurich Silk Finishing Co. and Charavay & Bodvin. Silk magazine called them, "three of the most important silk finishing plants in the industry." The merger resulted in The Silk Finishing Company of America with Boettger as president. "The principal office of the company has been established at 137 Madison avenue," said the article.
The upper floors filled, mostly, with apparel and silk firms. One tenant definitely not involved with the industry was the salesroom of Peek & Hills Company, the largest furniture distributor in the country.
American women's fashions had always been based on Paris trends. Each year designers or executives from New York apparel firms traveled to Europe to gage the current vogue. Such was the case with George C. Heimerdinger, head of George C. Heimerdinger & Co., maker of gowns and dresses; and Max Schwartz, whose firm made cloaks and suits.
This "evening gown of metal brocade" was among George C. Heimerdinger & Co.'s fall line in 1914.
The New York Times, June 14, 1914 (copyright expired)
Despite the growing conflict in Europe both men continued to make their annual trips to Paris. On December 6, 1914, The New York Times reported on Heimerdinger's visit. He said, in part, "Everywhere there were seen women in mourning, but, while this naturally gave the French dressmakers little incentive to bring out gay things, most houses that showed models for the trade were offering attractive merchandise."
Despite the German Embassy's warnings in American newspapers not to travel on British liners, on May 1, 1915, Max Schartz boarded the RMS Lusitania for his annual trip. This year he would not return home. He and the other 1,196 passengers and crew members perished when a German U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania off the coast of Ireland.
In the meantime, Henry W. Boettger had died from a heart attack on January 20, 1913. The Silk Finishing Company of America continued in the building at least through 1917.
Three days before Henry W. Boettger's death, Henry Grafton Chapman died of pneumonia in his venerable brownstone mansion at 135 Madison Avenue. In 1918, George Backer Holding Corporation acquired the corner and announced the intention of erecting a "16-story loft and office" structure to cost $1.1 million. Instead, he created an edifice the design of which almost seamlessly blended with the 1910 Terry & Trench Building.
Only the cleaner marble and the corner roof deck in this 1918 photograph by Irving Underhill discloses that the corner building was not built with the surrounding structure. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
Although it was separate from the earlier structure, 135 Madison Avenue was also marketed as the Terry & Trench Building. Any confusion that resulted was rectified in 1928 when the two buildings were connected inside.
The Terry & Trench Building continued to house apparel and silk firms for years. Among the tenants in the 1920s were Louis Mayers Co., maker of petticoats; the Duplan Silk Corporation; The B. W. Company, children's apparel; and the J. Hensey Company, dressmaker.
The New York Times, July 11, 1922 (copyright expired)
Although apparel manufacturers like the Wonder-Bra Company leased space here in the 1940s, the Garment District above 34th Street drew the industry away by mid-century. Tenants like the Stephen Rug Mills, Inc. occupied the building in the 1950s.
In 2010, furniture dealer M2L moved into a 11,500-square-foot space. At some point the Madison Avenue entrance was starkly remodeled, and in 2023 the marble base was regrettably painted black. Otherwise, the Terry & Trench Building is little changed since a matching structure replaced a stubborn brownstone mansion in 1919.
photographs by the author
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