Arthur Bates Jennings's 1887 133 West 87th Street

 

On June 21, 1884, The Record & Guide reported that developer Charles L. Guilleaume, "will shortly commence the erection of seven three-story high-stoop private dwellings" on the north side of 87th Street just west of Ninth Avenue (later Columbus Avenue).  The article noted that Guilleaume's architect for the project was Arthur Bates Jennings, who had to squeeze the seven rowhouses into a 97-foot wide plot.  The article said that two would be 13.6-feet wide, two 14-feet, and the remaining three houses 15-feet-wide.

Jennings trained in the offices of architects John Correja, Russell Sturgis, and George B. Post, before opening his own office in the mid-1870s.  He would be best remembered for his college buildings and churches. 

The Record & Guide said that each house along the row would be "of different design in Rococo."  The term was misleading, at least by today's terminology.  Jennings designed the residences as either Queen Anne or Romanesque Revival in a balanced A-B-C-D-C-B-A configuration.

No. 133 West 87th Street was one of the B models.  Its highly eccentric design began with a rough-cut brownstone basement.  The Romanesque Revival-style parlor level was faced in planar brownstone, its three arched openings connected by a continuous projecting eyebrow.  For the second and third floors, Jennings turned to Queen Anne.  The incised lines of the end brick piers suggested fluted pilasters and terra cotta tiles suggested capitals.  The piers framed a highly unusual, two-story metal bay.  Rather than projecting outward, it was recessed into the structure, its front flush to the facade.  The spandrel panels were decorated with whimsical, stylized flowers.

The recessed bay is highly unusual.

Guilleaume may have financially stretched himself a bit thin on his project.  When they had not yet sold in May 1888, he lost them in foreclosure.  The New York Herald reported that 133 West 87th Street sold at auction for $16,000--about $544,000 in 2025 terms.  The owner, John J. Hughes, sought a quick turnaround.  An advertisement in the New York Herald in February 1889 offered:

For Sale--No. 133 West 87th St.: A handsome private house, three stories; now being elegantly decorated; trimmed throughout with finest cabinet work.

Hughes realized a satisfying profit on his investment.  The house was purchased on July 17, 1889 by Sanford J. Murray and his wife, the former Mary Eliza Bliss, for $18,500, or about $586,000 today.  Murray was 42 years old at the time, and Mary was 49.  They had no children.

The Murrays left for an extended period in 1894--possibly to Europe.  They advertised the house for rent, describing it as a "very finely and completely furnished three story brown stone house."  The ad was answered by prominent patent attorney George Reddington Blodgett.  

Blodgett and his wife, the former Katharine Buchanan Burr, had two children, George, Jr. and Katharine.  (Two sons had died in infancy.)

New Yorkers were enthralled when Admiral George Dewey visited the city in the fall of 1899, arriving on the Olympia.  On September 29, The Sun reported, "Admiral Dewey had spent nearly all the morning on the quarter deck, and the would-be visitors to the big warship had all had a good look at him and had all had an opportunity to cheer him."  In fact, not all had made it onto the ship.  

With the visitors cleared out, Dewey was on deck "examining his accumulating mail" at around 10:00.  The Sun said, "he saw one small boat turned away from the midship gangway of the flagship."

There was a woman and a little boy in this boat, and as it put back toward the shore the woe-begone expression on the youngster's face caught the Admiral's eye and he called his orderly and directed him to let the occupants of the boat come aboard, rule or no rule.

The article said, "The woman was Mrs. George R. Blodgett of 133 West Eighty-seventh street, and the boy was her son.  They were received with all the honors that had up to that time been accorded to any visitor of the ship."  Dewey gave young George a private tour of the ship.  The Sun said the boy, "was a mighty proud youngster when he returned to his mother's arms.  He was the envy, too, of the hundreds who had tried to get aboard the ship and couldn't."

It does not appear that the Murrays ever returned to West 87th Street.  Builder and contractor John Laimbeer, Jr. had taken possession by 1900.  Born in Brooklyn on September 22, 1860, he graduated from Columbia College in 1893 and married Wilhelmina Dulles Martin two years later.  Laimbeer had a long New York pedigree and was a member of the Sons of the Revolution.  He was, as well, an elder of the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church.

The Laimbeers' residency would be relatively short.  They sold the house in March 1905 to Louise Jordan, the widow of Waldo H. Jordan, who had died in 1891.  Moving into the house with her was her daughter and son-in-law, Florence J. and Myron L. Coburn.

image via NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

On December 4, 1912, Louise transferred title to the house to Florence for $1.  Like their neighbors, the family had servants.  They advertised in the New York Herald in 1918, "Housework--A young, experienced white girl for general housework; no washing; city reference required; three adults."

(The mention of "no washing" implies that the family had at least one other servant.)

Louise Jordan died "suddenly" in the house on May 10, 1920.  (The term often referred to a heart attack or stroke.)  Myron and Florence Coburn remained here until July 1943, when they sold it to Ellan and Roger Kelly.  The sale initiated a string of quick resales.  M. C. Berg purchased 133 West 87th Street on June 3, 1946, then resold it five months later.

A renovation in 1955 resulted in two duplex apartments.  One of them became home to recording artist Wendy Carlos in 1969.  Born Walter Carlos on November 14, 1939, she was transgender and changed her name to Wendy.  She had moved to New York City in 1962 to study music composition at Columbia University.  A year before moving into 133 West 87th Street, she made her first mark within the musical industry with her album Switched-On Bach.  While living here, she composed the scores of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and The Shining, and for Walt Disney Productions' Tron.   

In 1975, she reconverted 133 West 87th Street to a single-family home with a "fine arts studio" in the basement.  She remained here until 1980.

The spectacular stained-glass entrance transom survives.

The house sold in 2021 for $4.35 million.

photographs by the author

The Lost Ottendorfer "Pagoda" - Riverside Park and 136th Street

 

image via jstor.org

Born in Trillick, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1806, Eugene Kelly arrived in New York City at the age of 20 with, according to The Evening World decades later, "only $3 in his pocket."  After garnering a fortune in the California Gold Rush, he returned to New York City and established the banking house of Eugene Kelly & Co.  

The family's 42-foot wide townhouse was on West 51st Street and their summer estate in the rural West Harlem district stretched from the Bloomingdale Road (today's Broadway) to the Hudson River, and approximately from today's 132nd to 137th Streets.  The Kelly family erected a two-story Tuscan-style villa on the estate, its three-story tower topped with an enclosed widow's watch.

The Kelly's summer mansion would become home to the Ottendorfers.  The New York Times April 24, 1904 (copyright expired)

The Kelly family purchased a 17-acre summer estate, Dunning Place, near Scarsdale, New York and sold the Harlem property to the Van Schaick family, which resold it to Oswald and Anna Ottendorfer.  

Born on February 26, 1826, at some point Valentin Oswald Ottendorfer stopped using his first name.  Educated in Vienna and Prague, when he arrived to New York City in 1849, he was fluent in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and some Slavic languages, but knew no English.  He found a job in the accounting department of the German-language newspaper Staats-Zeitung, headed by Jacob Uhl.  Upon Uhl's death in April 1852, his wife, Anna, took over the newspaper's management.  The employer-employee relationship between her and Ottendorfer turned to romance and in 1859 the couple was married.  Oswald Ottendorfer took the reins of editor and publisher of Staats-Zeitung, and Anna remained its business manager.

In 1879, the Ottendorfers began construction of an entertainment pavilion on the summer property, about 50 feet from the mansion.  Although the name of the architect is lost, some hints point to Jacob Wrey Mould, who had just returned to New York City from Lima, Peru where he designed a public park.  In describing "Mr. Oswald Ottendorfer's Pavilion" in its 1882 Artistic Houses, D. Appleton & Company refers to Owen Jones's influence on the Moorish-style structure.  Mould had studied under the influential architect, known for his theories on ornament, color and patterning.  The two spent two years studying the Alhambra in Spain, a period that fostered Mould's appreciation for Moorish style architecture and vivid colors.  It resulted in his co-designing the Turkish Chamber in Buckingham Palace.

Mould was known for using vivid, primary colors, The Crayon calling his interior color scheme for a Fifth Avenue mansion as "bold as a lion."  Artistic Houses said the interior palette of the Ottendorfer Pavilion was limited "to the primary colors, blue, red, and yellow, whenever stucco-work was to be decorated."  The exterior striped effect of red and beige brick was a hallmark of Mould's designs.  So, while there seems to be no way to be certain, Jacob Wrey Mould is a strong candidate for the pavilion's architect.

Artistic Houses described, 

No pleasanter suburban retreat in summer is easily conceivable than Mr. Ottendorfer's Pavilion, with its strictly Moresque mural decoration, and its handsome hangings, divans, and other fixtures, all in consonance with the central artistic idea of the structure.  From the spacious piazza, or through the lofty windows, the eye reaches northward along the glorious Hudson a distance of at least twenty miles, southward as far as the mouth of the river, and westward directly across the shining surface to the Palisades.

The two-story Pavilion (often called the Ottendorfer Pagoda)  was capped with a "gilded cupola."  The New-York Tribune said it, "could be seen, reflected in the sun, for miles up and down the river."  The newspaper said, "the pagoda, built of light and red brick, was terraced on all sides by well kept lawns."

Inside the "costly structure," as described by Artistic Houses, Ottendorf had a German poem inscribed along the ceiling.  Translated it read, 

God is great; beautiful is the world.

He who honors Him and values it will, through the enjoyment of the second, glide into the lap of the first.

He who judges himself only by himself reaches false conclusions; you can as little know yourself as you can kiss yourself.

The pavilion was used as a supplement to the mansion for entertaining.  Reginald Pelham Bolton in his Washington Heights Manhattan, Its Eventful Past writes, "the Ottendorfers entertained their guests in a sumptuous banquet hall and billiard room, while the upper chambers afforded the magnificent view of the Hudson."  Artistic Houses remarked, "Mr. Ottendorfer's European guests invariably tell him that no such glad view as that from his Moorish Pavilion ever greeted their eyes before."

The New-York Tribune decades later would recall that the pavilion... 

was used by Mr. Ottendorfer as a billiard and banquet hall, and many a night in the last generation the banks of the North River [i.e., Hudson River] re-echoed the sounds of the entertainment that was being held in the pagoda...After dinner, Mr. Ottendorfer usually led his guests to the garden seats in the front of the pagoda, facing the river, where they would watch the sunset on the Palisades, across the river, and the changing colors of the river below.

The Ottendorf Pavilion was a point of interest for tour boats on the river.  The 1880 Hudson River by Daylight noted, "Mr. Ottendorfer's Pavilion, on the bluff, just built, in the moorish [sic] style of architecture, [is] one of the notable landmarks on the eastern bank."

But glittering dinners in the banquet hall and entertainments in the garden came to a crashing end when Anna Sartorius Ottendorfer died on April 1, 1884.  (Her estate was valued by The Sun at $3 million, just under $100 million in 2025 terms.)  The New-York Tribune reported, "the mansion was closed, and the pagoda locked and barred.  Mr. Ottendorfer was seen no more about the place."

Four years later, on August 13, 1888, the Convent of the Sacred Heart, the grounds of which extended from West 125th to West 137th Street and between St. Nicholas and Tenth Avenues (today's Amsterdam Avenue), burned to the ground.  The New-York Tribune said that 250 pupils and an equal number of nuns lived there.

The New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. Ottendorfer threw open his old home and every building, including the pagoda, was placed at the service of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart."   The following year, on September 29, 1889, the newspaper reported that the new Convent of the Sacred Heart "is so nearly completed that it will be dedicated this morning."  With the convent in its new home, the Ottendorfer estate was again shuttered.

Oswald Ottendorfer died on December 15, 1900, never having returned to his beloved summer estate since his wife's death nearly two decades earlier.  Padlocked and neglected, on December 14, 1902, The New York Times described the "Moorish pagoda" as "now all but despoiled."  

Two months later, the New-York Tribune reported that the pagoda had fallen "rapidly into decay, and became the haunt of tramps."  The squatters who lit fires for warmth nearly destroyed it.  On February 5, 1903, The New York Times reported, "In the old Ottendorfer Pagoda, on the bluff overlooking the North River, at One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Street, fire was discovered at about 3:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon...The building may have to be razed on account of the damage."  In reporting the fire, the New-York Tribune remarked that it "was one of the landmarks on the Manhattan shore" and said, "The pagoda became known in the neighborhood as the 'Million Dollar House.'"

When Randall Comfort photographed the pavilion in 1902, it was boarded up, "despoiled," and crumbling.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

At the time of the fire, Riverside Park and Riverside Drive were being extended northward.  The city had taken possession of the Ottendorf estate by eminent domain.  The end of the line for the Ottendorfer mansion and the once magnificent pavilion came the following year.  On April 24, 1904, The New York Times said, "The old Ottendorfer house will probably be one of the first to go," wistfully recalling, "the ruined Moorish pagoda on the bluff in front of the house is a reminder of the old-time elegance."

The 1844 Cornelius G. Vanriper House - 28 Jones Street

 

In 1843, construction of a row of Greek Revival-style homes along Jones Street near Bleecker Street was commenced.  Although essentially identical, each of the brick-faced homes, completed in 1844, was erected by different owners.  Among them was 28 Jones Street.  Dorothy Peterson spent $3,700 for the project, including the land, or about $156,000 in 2025.

Like its neighbors, it was three stories tall above a brownstone English basement.  The upper floors were faced in red brick and trimmed in brownstone.  The single-doored entrance featured paneled pilasters, sidelights, and an ample transom above a denticulated cornice.

Peterson leased the residence to Cornelius Gerrrit Vanriper (sometimes spelled Van Riper).  His wife, the former Caterina B. Demerest, was active in charity work and was a manager of the newly formed Ladies Benevolent Society, which was organized in the winter of 1843, just before the family moved into 28 Jones Street.  Cornelius and Caterina had four children.  As late as 1850, at least one of them, Anthony, still lived with his parents.  He made his living as a carpenter.

The following year, the Vanripers moved nearby to 12 Jones Street and 28 Jones became home to John A. Berdan, a "casemaker," or furniture builder.  As was common, in the rear yard was a small house.  Along with the Berdans, three tenants were listed here.  Benjamin C. Knapp ran a fancygoods store on Bleecker Street, Joseph B. Harriot was in the flour business on Charles Street, and the Mills family likely occupied the rear house.

Little George Mills attended the Ninth Ward School on Greenwich Street.  On the morning of November 22, 1851, the primary department teacher, Miss Harrison, "was suddenly seized with a paralysis of the tongue," reported The Evening Post.  (Today we would recognize the symptoms as that of a stroke.)  Thinking that she needed a glass of water, one of the students ran into the hallway calling, "Water!"  Pupils in other classrooms assumed a fire had broken out, and panic ensued.  Screaming "Fire! Fire!" the students stampeded into the halls and onto the stairway.

The staircase, unable to handle the weight of the throng of children, collapsed.  The New York Times reported that scores of children plummeted to the stone floor.  "In this way, the area was instantly filled, and there they lay, one upon another, to the depth of ten or twelve feet."  The Evening Post reported that 49 children were killed and many more severely injured.  Among the dead was George Mills.

In 1855, Dorothy Peterson sold 28 Jones Street to Richard J. Yereance, a builder-carpenter.  He married Charity E. Mabie on July 20, 1834 and the couple had one daughter, Catharine Louisa Edsall, born in 1838.  By 1860, Catharine was teaching at the Ninth Street Church School on West 4th Street.

Catharine's days of teaching ended in 1863, when she married Everardus Warner on November 4.  The newlyweds remained in the Jones Street house.  Warner was a partner with Abraham Warner, presumably a brother, in a stationery business.  

On September 5, 1865, Charity E. Yereance died at the age of 59.  Her funeral was held in the parlor on the 7th.  Richard moved to Charlton Street, where he died two years later.

Catherine's parents had transferred the title of the Jones Street property to her in 1862.  At the time of Richard's death, the Warners had a one-year-old baby girl, Ida Louisa.  In 1867, Abraham Warner moved in with the family (possibly into the rear house).   The following year, another baby, Everadrus B., was born, and in 1871 Edgar E. arrived.

By the time of Edgar's birth, his father had changed course, now listing his profession as "gas."  On December 21, 1875, Everardus added to his resume by enlisting in the 71st Regiment of Infantry.  (He would change his job again in the 1880s, becoming an undertaker.)

A disturbing incident occurred on November 12, 1877.  Mrs. Alfred Van Buren, described by the New York Herald as "a very attractive looking lady," visited the Warners.  She and her husband lived on East 126th Street in Harlem.  She left that evening and, said the newspaper two days later, "since then has not been heard from.  She was of sane mind and lived happily with her husband, who is anxious for her safety."  

Three weeks later, on December 6, The Morning Democrat reported, "Mrs. Alfred Van Buren...started on Jones street on the 12th of November, to take a Third avenue car for her home.  She was suffering from neuralgia and the Lord only knows what [has] become of her."  The story was circulated as far away as Iowa, but the missing woman was never found.

The Warners sold 28 Jones Street in 1887 to Edward and Annie Bachmann.  Edward was a piano manufacturer.  The couple rented the second floor to George Gross and his wife.  Living with them were their two unmarried daughters.  The New-York Tribune described Gross as "a German truckman," and The Evening World said he did, "a good business as a carman, owning half a dozen horses and as many trucks."  

Unfortunately, the 54-year-old suffered a stroke in 1888.  The New-York Tribune said it, "ruined his health, and his business did not pay."  One-by-one, Gross liquidated his assets, selling his last horse in January 1889.  The following month, on February 3, Gross suffered another stroke.  One of the daughters, Lizzie, who was visiting friends in Irvington, New Jersey, was sent for.  She arrived home on the evening of February 6.  The Evening World said, "the father appeared very glad to see her.  He talked a great deal about his ruined business, but was finally persuaded to retire."

The following morning, Gross arose at 6:00 and had breakfast, "but acted as if he was out of his mind," reported The Evening World.  He rested on the sofa for an hour, then went to his room.  Shortly after 8:00, while the women were in the kitchen, Lizzie heard a gunshot.  They women ran to the bedroom to find Gross dead.  The Evening World remarked frankly, "Mr. Gross was undoubtedly insane."

The Bachmanns continued to rent space in their home.  An advertisement in The Sun on January 29, 1893, read, "Third floor, 3 rooms, with improvements; private house.  28 Jones st."  

In 1905, the couple sold 28 Jones Street to the Cooperative Social Settlement Society of the City of New York.  The group was founded in the house next door at 26 Jones Street by Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch and opened on Thanksgiving Day 1902 as Greenwich House.

The rear yard of 28 Jones Street was called "The Farm."  The Commons, March 1905 (copyright expired)

Dr. William H. Tolman, in his 1903 The Better New York, explained that the Greenwich House works, "on a different basis from that ordinarily adopted by social settlements.  It believes that the neighborhood about a settlement should be represented on the board of managers, and also believes in the co-responsibility of residents, workers and non-residents."

In October 1906, the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund authorized the city to lease the parlor floor of 28 Jones Street for school purposes.  The rent was $450 per year.  Run by Greenwich House staff, Greenwich Handicraft School had 80 pupils by 1908.  The American Art Directory explained that year, "Its object is to train women and girls in lace-making, weaving, and allied crafts, and to foster in its neighborhood an appreciation of the beautiful."

In 1917, Greenwich House moved into its new building at 27 Barrow Street.  The Cooperative Settlement Society leased apartments in the house, among the earliest tenants being Charles Bates Sticker, an electrical engineer with Wright-Martin Aircraft Corp. on Long Island.  In 1919, Anna Cook lived here.  That year the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly reported that she "has a position at Hickson's in New York, finishing garments, as a stepping-stone to designing."

Essentially nothing has changed to 28 Jones Street since this photograph was taken in 1941.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1921, 26 and 28 Jones Street were incorporated as Greenwich House Co-operative Apartments, Inc.  Living at 28 Jones Street in 1922 were Katharine Fowler Pettit, an alumna of Bryn Mawr College, and her husband, Walter William Pettit.  Around that time, Arthur Piper and his wife, the former Augusta Louise Coleman moved in.  He was the managing editor of The Survey, a semi-monthly periodical, and treasurer of Survey Graphic, a monthly.

At mid-century, attorney James H. Black and his wife lived here.  And as early as 1982, playwright and author Tony Buttitta was a resident.  Born in 1907 in Louisiana, Buttitta first published plays in the 1920s.  He co-founded the literary magazine Contempo in 1931.  Through that position, he became acquainted with writers like George Bernard Shaw, William Faulkner, Ezra Pound and Sherwood Anderson.  Among the works he published while living here, are the 1982 Uncle Sam Presents: A Memoir of the Federal Theatre, 1935-39; and The Lost Summer: A Memoir of F. Scott Fitzgerald, in 1987.

Little has changed externally to the house after more than 180 years.  Today there are four units in the building.

photographs by the author

The Twice Remodeled Henry P. Clausen House - 10 East 78th Street

 

Real estate developers Charles Graham & Son sold the newly built 10 East 78th Street to Henry Clausen, Jr. in October 1886.  Describing the house as a "four-story brick and stone dwelling," the Real Estate Record & Guide reported the selling price at $70,000--just over $2 million in 2025 terms.  

The 26-foot wide mansion was faced in rusticated brownstone at the basement and parlor levels, and red brick at the upper three.  A two-bay wide oriel at the second floor was supported by sturdy scrolled brackets elaborately carved with leaves.  Doric pilasters flanked the oriel windows.  Between them was a panel carved with Renaissance designs.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Born in New York City on August 11, 1838, Henry was the son of German-born Henry C. Clausen and his wife Caroline.  The president of the Clausen Brewing Company, he and his wife, Mary, had four children, Charles S., George Ulmer, Marie Schmidt, and Henry P. A.  

In 1891, Marie graduated from Miss Brown's School for Young Ladies.  On February 25 that year, the New-York Tribune reported that her mother, "will give a luncheon at her home, No. 10 East Seventy-eighth-st., Saturday afternoon at 1:30 to the members of the class of '91."  There were 16 young women in the class.  

At the time, her youngest brother, Henry, was enrolled at Princeton as a "special student," meaning he had no major.  Presumably, he would be entering his father's brewery.

Henry Clausen was described by The World as, "one of the most energetic brewers in the country," but he was also politically active.  He was elected to the city's assembly in 1868 and was later appointed Alderman-at-Large by Mayor William Frederick Havemeyer in 1873.  For years, he was the president of the United States Brewers' Congress, and was also president of the Local Brewers' Association.

In October 1893, Clausen began suffering from "liver trouble," as described by The World.  At the time, operations and births were conducted in the homes of well-to-do patients.  On December 27, 1893, the family physician, Dr. Lanier, conducted an operation.  Henry Clausen died during the surgery.  

The funeral was held in the house on December 30.  The New-York Tribune reported that it "was largely attended," adding, "Many members of the Leiderkranz and Arion societies and of the Manhattan Club were present, besides other well-known men."

The house was the scene of a much more joyful event six years later.  On May 21, 1899, the New-York Tribune reported, "The coming  wedding on Wednesday next of Miss Marie Clausen, daughter of the late Henry Clausen, jr., to William H. Schmidt, of Chicago, promises to be a pretty affair."  The article said the ceremony in the drawing room would include "the couple standing in a bower of roses and lilies."

Caroline Clausen sold 10 East 78th Street in June 1900 to Jane Remsen Thompson, the widow of Joseph Todhunter Thompson.  She had two daughters, Jane Remsen (known as Jennie) and Elizabeth Remsen, 13 and 6 years old respectively, and a 15-year-old son, Jonathan.

Jane Thompson was visible in society.  On January 30, 1903, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. J. Todhunter Thompson (Miss Jane Remsen) had a large card party yesterday in her residence at 10 East Seventy-eighth Street."

Jane's focus turned to her daughters starting with the winter social season of 1906.  On December 13, the New-York Tribune reported that she hosted a "debutante reception" for Jennie.  The New York Times noted that Jennie, "has returned from Europe, where she spent three years in completing her education."  The surnames of the nine debutantes who assisted Jennie in the receiving line reflected the highest level of society--Roosevelt, Townsend, Kennedy, Ogden, and Steward among them.  The article said, "A dance followed in the evening."

Debutante entertainments often lasted for weeks or months, and on January 10, 1907, Jane hosted a dance at Sherry's for her daughter.

The process was repeated in 1911.  On December 29, The Sun reported that Jane, "gave a dance last night for her second debutante daughter, Miss Elizabeth Remsen Thompson, at Sherry's.  There were about 300 guests."

In August 1915, the Record & Guide reported that Jane Thompson had hired architect I. R. Green to design a summer home in Bayshore, Long Island.  Two years later, on July 28, 1917, The Evening Post remarked, "Mrs. Joseph Todhunter Thompson has closed her town house at 10 East 78th Street, and with her daughters, the Misses Jane R. and Elizabeth R. Thompson, is passing the summer season in Babylon, L. I."  (Jonathan had his own country home, Sleepy Hollow Farm, in Hauppauge, Long Island, which he inherited from his grandfather.)

During World War I, Jonathan served in the U.S. Navy and the Army Air Corps.  Elizabeth worked in the office of the legal committee of the Red Cross.

The year 1919 was a socially frenzied one for the Thompson family.  On April 25, the Columbia Alumni News reported, "Announcement has been made of the engagement of Lieutenant, the Rev. Gilbert S. B. Darlington, U. S. Navy, and Miss Elizabeth Remsen Thompson."  The prospective groom had served as Chaplain in the Naval Air Force during the war.

The wedding took place in the newly built St. Bartholomew's Church on April 30.  The New York Herald noted that this wedding, "was the first to be celebrated in the church proper."  Jonathan gave Elizabeth away and Jennie was her maid of honor.  The reception was held in the East 78th Street house.  Following their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved in with Jane.

Two months later, on June 9, Jennie was married to Carl H. Schultz.  Her ceremony was much less elaborate and took place in the drawing room of 10 East 78th Street.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Only members of the two families were present" and there were no attendants.

On April 30, 1921, Jonathan married Lillian Adel McLeod in Babylon, Long Island.  The New York Herald reported that the newlyweds would be living at Sleepy Hollow Farm.

Jane Remsen Thompson died in 1931.  Fifteen years later, 10 East 78th Street was remodeled for a doctor's apartment and office on the first floor and three apartments each on the upper floors.  Any hint of the Victorian architecture was removed and a brick facade was installed.  The Art Moderne design included casement windows and, unexpectedly, nods to historic precedents--a neo-Colonial doorway and square-headed Gothic brick lintels.

via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Among the residents over the subsequent years were Dr. Walter Elliott Taylor, a dentist whose apartment and office were here when he was married to Esther Margaret Ralston on February 11, 1950; and economist Howard A. Law, Jr. and his wife, the former Charlotte G. Law.  Law served as an intelligence officer with the Third Army during World War II.

In April 2018, a three-year project headed by studioMDA returned 10 East 78th Street to a single-family residence in what the architects describe as a "top to bottom gut renovation."  The brick facade was stripped off and replaced with a neo-Beaux Arts-style limestone front.  The extraordinary result was a mansion that slips comfortably into the 19th century landscape of the block.

photographs by the author

The 1841 John Valentine House - 45 East Third Street

 

Around 1840, something, possibly a devastating fire, happened to the 20-foot wide house at 45 Third Street (it would be about a decade before the "East" was added to the address).  Shortly afterward, John Valentine erected a brick faced, Greek Revival-style house on the site.  Two-and-a-half stories tall, its brownstone stoop led to a handsome single-doored entrance with sidelights and an ample transom.  Originally, the attic windows would have been noticeably shorter than those of the first two floors.

Valentine and his wife, Eliza, leased the property.  Among their first tenants was the family of James Appleton, a hardware merchant on Pearl Street.  They were the victims of a sneak thief on the night of January 14, 1845.  The Evening Post reported that they were "robbed of sundry articles of clothing, some silver spoons, and papers, containing certificates of stock of dividends, issued by the state of Pennsylvania."

The Appletons were followed in the house by Jared P. Adee and his wife, the former Mary Elizabeth Purdy.  Born in 1811 and 1812 respectively, Jared and Mary Elizabeth were married on April 8, 1839.  A merchant, Adee also volunteered with the American Fire Engine Company No. 4.  The Adees' residency would be short-lived.  Jared died at the age of 37 on December 25, 1848.  His coffin sat in the parlor until his funeral there on December 27.

The house was briefly occupied by Quincy C. Degrove, a retired boatbuilder, and then, by 1851, by Anna Hardy, the widow of William H. Hardy.  Horatio N. Hardy, a builder, lived with his mother, as did boarders Stephen F. Williams, another builder, and jeweler Benjamin H. Cowell.

Despite what must have been tight conditions, by 1853 Anna Hardy was running a full-scale boarding house.  Living with her and Horatio that year were the Wadsworth family (Charles D. Wadsworth was a clerk and George M. Wadsworth listed his profession as "painreliever"), along with a broker, a bookkeeper, a clerk, and a widow, Hester Towers.

Upon John Valentine's death, Eliza inherited his several properties.  In 1856, she moved into 45 East 3rd Street, remaining until about 1859 when she moved to another Valentine property at 54 Second Avenue.  She resumed renting the East 3rd Street house.

Eliza Valentine's tenants, who normally remained only for one or two years, were mostly middle-class professionals.  A book dealer, John Pyne, was here in 1859 and 1860; and the Seiler family followed him (George listed his profession as a jeweler and Joseph as "watches").  Teacher of music Theodore Eisfeld occupied the house in 1862 and '63.  

Mary Heaney rented 45 East 3rd Street around 1867 and took in boarders.  Among them was Ann Sanders, the widow of Thomas Sanders.  She listed her profession in 1869 as "intelligence," the 19th century term for the operating of a female employment agency.

On October 19, 1870 the estate of John Valentine auctioned six houses.  Investor William Pfleuger purchased two, including 45 East 3rd Street.  He paid $9,650 for the property, or about $239,000 in 2025.  Mary Heaney continued to rent the house from him.  Among her boarders in 1871 was "Mrs. Eugene M. Farrell, teacher of pianoforte."

Mary Heaney had to find a new home in 1872.  On January 4 that year, William Pfleuger sold 45 East 3rd Street to Charles J. F. and Helen H. Sohst for $11,000. (Pfleuger made a tidy profit--the price would translate to about $291,000 today.)

An expert cornetist and composer, Charles J. F. Sohst was a member of the famous Theodore Thomas Orchestra and would become an instructor at the National Conservatory of Music.  Among his students there was Edwin Franko Goldman, who would found the famous Goldman Band, which included John Philip Sousa.

Charles instructed private students in the house.  An advertisement in the New York Herald on September 15, 1872 read:  "Carl Sohst, teacher on the cornet-a-piston--for particulars inquire at his residence, 45 Third street, near Second avenue."

Starting around 1876, the Sohsts shared the house with Edward and Minna Boehm.  The two musicians were assuredly well acquainted with one another prior to the arrangement.  A clarinetist, Edward Boehm was a soloist with the Dodworth Band, a member of the New York Philharmonic Society and of the Aschenbrödel Verein.  (Founded in 1860, the Aschenbrödel Verein, or Cinderella Club, was a social and philanthropic group of professional orchestral musicians.)

In 1881, Charles J. F. Sohst hired architect A. Schappel to enlarge the house.  He added a two-story brick extension to the rear and raised the attic to a full floor.  Shappel added pressed copper cornices over the multi-paned openings, and finished the design with an exuberant Queen Anne-style terminal cornice with swags within the frieze and a triangular pediment containing a sunburst.

The telltale Federal-style areaway ironwork, which survived as late as 1941, testifies of an earlier house on the site.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Edward Boehm died on October 14, 1885.  His funeral in the parlor on the 17th was crowded with musicians.  The notice of his death in the New York Herald noted, "the New York Philharmonic Society, the Mutual Protective Union and the members of the Aschenbrödel Verein, are respectfully invited to attend."

Charles and Helen Sohst sold 45 East 3rd Street in March 1901 to real estate operator Morris P. Joachim for $13,750 (about $523,000 today).  The new owner rented the house until 1903, selling it in January to Theresa Dorfmann.

By 1918, the family of Morris Meyerson shared the house with her.  Morris and his wife, Ida, had five children, Esther, Ray, Anna, Max and George.  At least one of them, George, lived here.  Morris and Ida (who was known as Fannie) were born in Russia in 1863 and 1862 respectively.  

The Meyersons received unwelcome news in 1918.  On November 26, the New-York Tribune reported that George I. Meyerson had been injured in combat, the degree of his injuries "undetermined."  Happily, George survived his injuries and returned to New York following the war.

Ida Meyerson died on April 14, 1924 at the age of 62.  Her funeral was held in the house the following day.  Theresa Dorfmann sold 45 East Third Street in 1930 to Dr. O. L. Friedman.  He installed a janitor's apartment in the basement and converted the first floor to his office and "private hospital."  He and his family lived in the top two floors.

At some point, 45 East 3rd Street was converted to a two-family home.  Other than loss of the Queen Anne-style door and windows, it appears much as it did in 1881 when a well-known cornetist did significant updating.

photographs by the author

Fort Washington Presbyterian Church - 21 Wadsworth Avenue

photo by Beyond My Ken

In 1883, two years after Reverend Thomas Samuel Hastings stepped down as its pastor, the West Presbyterian Church moved from 42nd Street to West End Avenue and 84th Street.  Now known as West-Park Presbyterian, in April 1912 the trustees purchased the vacant lot at the northeast corner of 174th Street and Wadsworth Avenue as the site of a "daughter church."

Given that his father had been the congregation's pastor for nearly a quarter of a century, it was perhaps not surprising that on August 24, 1912 the Record & Guide announced that Thomas S. Hastings had been selected to design the church.  It would be one of Hastings's first solo commissions.  His partner in Carrère & Hastings, John Merven Carrère, had died in a car crash the previous year.

Interestingly, while the trustees had the process of constructing a church building well in hand, they had no congregation to fill it.  On November 4, 1912, the New-York Tribune reported, "Many signatures were obtained at the services yesterday to a petition to be sent to the New York Presbytery asking that a congregation be organized for the new church."  The article said the projected building "will cost $200,000, the money being furnished by the West-Park Presbyterian Church...which is one of the richest in the city."

Just over a year later, construction was completed.  On December 15, 1913, the New-York Tribune reported, "The new Fort Washington Presbyterian Church, at 174th street and Wadsworth avenue, was formally opened yesterday morning with a congregation that filled every available seat in the edifice."

The cost had surpassed the initial budget.  "The edifice cost $321,000," said the article.  (The figure would translate to about $10.5 million in 2025.)  The journalist added, "The architecture is a combination of the English Georgian Renaissance and the American Colonial periods.  White and gray is the interior color scheme."

Hasting's plans vividly reflect the Georgian detailing he lavished on the design.  The American Architect, June 13, 1917 (copyright expired)

Hastings harkened to 18th century prototypes, particularly the churches designed by British architect James Gibbs.  Four monumental Doric columns upheld a classic entrance portico.  Rising above was a striking bell tower, the center section of which included free-standing Corinthian columns and matching pilasters that flanked Georgian-style arches. 

When this photo was taken, the clock had not yet been installed in the belfry.  The Brickbuilder, December 1913 (copyright expired)

Hastings carried the Georgian motif inside.  The barrel-vaulted ceiling was decorated with large coffers and plaster rosettes.  The dignified details included Corinthian pilasters and a half-domed sanctuary.

 The Brickbuilder, December 1913, (copyright expired)

Dr. Daniel Hoffman Martin took the pulpit.  Born in 1859, he was a graduate of the College of the City of New York and the Union Theological Seminary.  Outspoken and opinionated, he quickly increased the congregation.  In reporting on his second anniversary as pastor here, on October 9, 1915, The Evening Post reported, "It has been a continuous revival at the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church...Starting with sixty-nine members, the roll now numbers six hundred."

Martin strongly espoused his views from the pulpit.  And there seems to have been no lack of issues upon which he did not have an opinion.  In his sermon on August 4, 1914, he called liquor "the most sinister influence in American politics;" and on March 26, 1916, he railed against prize fights.  Referring to the recent Willard-Moran bout, he said, "It was not an exhibition of manhood at its best, but it was a good exhibition of doghood, because to fight is the best a dog can do."  And when Europe became embroiled in World War I, on February 18, 1917, Martin declared, "if it was necessary for the United States to make a sacrifice, it should make a sacrifice of its pride by avoiding war, and not lives in a war in which nothing would be gained."

When America did join the conflict two months later, the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church declared its patriotism and helped in relief.  On May 13, 1917, a large American flag, donated by Dr. Charles V. Paterno, was unfurled on the 35-foot flag pole in front of the church.  The New York Times reported that about 1,200 persons were there to see the ceremony.

On September 30, 1918, The New York Times announced that contributions of clothing "for the destitute French and Belgians" were being accepted on behalf of the American Red Cross at the church.

photograph by Beyond My Ken

On October 2, 1919, Rev. Daniel H. Martin was crossing 168th Street and Broadway when he was struck by an automobile.  The Evening Post reported, "His hip was dislocated and he received lacerations of the jaw."  Martin's injuries were much more serious than the initial reports.  The 61-year-old was taken to St. Lawrence Hospital, then to the Radium Sanitarium.  He remained there until mid-December when he was sent home.  Martin died three weeks later from internal injuries.  

The funeral was held in the church on January 4, 1920 with seven clergymen officiating.  Later that year, on December 19, a bronze and marble memorial tablet was unveiled in Martin's honor.

Martin was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. John McNeill, "known as the 'Scottish Spurgeon," according to The New York Times. (The term referred to English Particular Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon.)  Born in Scotland in 1854, the newspaper said he "has preached in practically every part of the world" and was "best known as an evangelist."  Martin's salary had been $6,000, but some trustees, said the article, "wish to raise it to $7,000."  (The increased figure would equal about $110,000 today.)

McNeill's pastorage was short.  He was replaced in 1925 by Rev. Dr. Wesley MeGaw, a native of Belfast, Ireland.  "Dr. MeGaw will receive a salary of $7,500," reported The Times.  "He has a wife and two children," said the article, adding, "He is between 40 and 45 years old."

By 1941, MeGaw's sons, Ellison and Robert, were of college age.  Ellison was studying divinity at Princeton University and Robert Neill E. MeGaw (who was called by the family as Neill), was at Duke University.  On November 2, 1941, the 20-year-old Robert walked out of his dorm room and disappeared.  Rev. MeGaw received a letter from his son that said he was going to end his life because he "had an incurable form of cancer."  Similar letters were left for Robert's roommate, a girl at the university, and for Ellison.

The family's desperation climaxed with Rev. MeGaw's appearing on the Columbia Broadcasting System's nationwide weekly radio show, We the People.  He gave a "dramatic appeal" for Robert to come home.  During the broadcast, MeGaw said, "The most terrible part of it all is, I know Neill hasn't cancer."  He said that an earlier physical required by the university had showed no sign of cancer.

After a nation-wide search, on December 28 FBI agents found Robert working as a book salesman in Jacksonville, Florida.  The next day Rev. MeGaw and his wife flew to Florida and brought the wayward young man back to New York.  On January 3, The New York Times reported that he "is confined to his bed at home."

With his son found, MeGaw turned to global issues.  In his sermon on August 30, 1942, he declared that all Christians throughout the world want the "utter destruction of Hitlerism."  He stressed that if Hitler wins, Christianity "will be wiped from the face of the earth."

Forty years after taking the pulpit of Fort Washington Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Dr. Wesley MeGaw retired.

In 1982, the congregation of the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church transferred the property to the Primera Iglesia Espaňola de Washington Heights.  The Hispanic congregation was formed in 1948.  The name of the church was changed to Iglesia Presbitereriana Fort Washington Heights (Fort Washington Heights Presbyterian Church).

photograph by Beyond My Ken

The church continues in Hasting's dignified neo-Georgian-style structure today, ministering to its Spanish-speaking congregation.

many thanks to reader Doug Wheeler for prompting this post