When John McNerney commissioned architect Thomas S. Godwin to design eight rowhouses on the north side of East 77th Street between Madison and Park Avenues, their resulting brownstone faced, high-stooped design was all the rage. Nathan and Sophia Meyer occupied 59 East 77th Street in the 1890s. The couple held "one of the large entertainments of the week," as described by the New York Herald, to celebrate their anniversary on December 30, 1899.
In 1907 Nathan Meyer sold 59 East 77th Street to Edward T. and Viola B. Cockcroft. Before the new owners moved in, the Meyers arranged an auction of the home's "rich household furnishings." Among the items were a "gold drawing room suit in Belleville tapestry, gold Vernis-Martin and mahogany specimen cabinets," and a "rosewood and bronze mounted Chickering upright piano."
The English basement--or high-stooped--design had fallen from fashion by now. The Cockcrofts hired the architectural firm of Albro & Lindeberg (which had designed their country home on Long Island, "Little Burlees," in 1905) to bring their townhouse into the Edwardian era. Plans were filed on May 25 and the following day the New-York Tribune reported, "It will be made over into a five story building with a facade of the early English style of the Tudor period, with a tall ornamental bay with a balcony."
The Cockcrofts moved temporarily into the Hotel Leonari while the $20,000 project progressed. (The figure would translate to about $689,000 in 2025.) The transformation was staggering. Albro & Lindeberg removed the stoop and replaced the brownstone with variegated Flemish bond brick. The tripartite design included a stone-framed centered entrance, above which was a dramatic two-story metal infill of multi-paned windows fronted by a faux balcony with a filigree railing. A touch of Arts & Crafts was introduced at the fourth floor with inset diamond patterns and a projecting cornice with elongated brackets. The architects recessed the fifth floor behind a brick parapet, thereby providing a terrace.
The American Architect, October 16, 1908 (copyright expired)
Architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler, writing in The American Architect, addressed Albro & Lindeberg's motive in melding the second and third floors "into a single feature."
This composition assumes that the two selected stories are of equal importance and equally worthy of signalization, which is often true in case, for example, one contains the drawing-room and the other the library.
The second, or piano nobile, of the Cockcroft house was considered the first floor at the time. It held the drawing room and dining room, separated by a generous stair hall. On the third floor were the main bedroom and library, while the fourth contained bedrooms.
The American Architect, October 16, 1908 (copyright expired)
Edward T. Cockcroft was an antiques dealer and decorator. If he and Viola intended to live in their remodeled home, they changed their minds. On October 25, 1908, The New York Times reported that they had leased the house to newlyweds Michael Dreicer and his wife, the former Maisie Saville Shainwald. The article noted that the couple had just "returned from Europe, where they have been motoring for several months." (The trip was, in fact, their honeymoon.)
Born in Russia in 1867, Dreicer was a partner in the jewelry firm founded by his father, Jacob Dreicer. During the couple's one-year residency, their names repeatedly appeared in the society columns. On November 15, 1908, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Michael Dreicer will give an at home on Saturday at 59 East Seventy-seventh Street." And on February 14, 1909, the newspaper announced, "Mr. and Mrs. Michael Dreicer...sailed a short time ago for a trip which will include London, Paris, Monte Carlo, and the Riviera."
Upon their return, the Dreicers purchased the mansion at 1046 Fifth Avenue. On July 17, 1909, the Record & Guide reported that the Cockcrofts had sold 59 East 77th Street. It was purchased by Samuel Owen Edmonds and his wife, the former Lillian Coles. Born in 1869 and 1872 respectively, they had a daughter, Helene Ormonde. Edmonds was a patent attorney and the counsel for the General Electric Company.
The Edmonds' family was increased in 1913 by a horrific tragedy. Lillian's sister, Gertrude Schermerhorn Coles, was married to architect Robert A. Raetze. The couple had two sons, one-year-old Stuart Coles, and two-year-old Griswold. The family's country home was in Stamford, Connecticut.
On the afternoon of January 5, the Raetzes were entertaining Professor John Darnall. The family's Christmas tree was still up, and, according to The Sun, "It was aglow with candles." While the three were at tea, the nurse, Mary Gould, prepared the boys' bath. Suddenly, Raetze ran upstairs, yelling to the nurse to get the children out, "The Christmas tree has set fire to the house!" He was followed closely by his frantic wife.
Mary went to a rear window and screamed for help. A maid from next door, Kate Kenny, ran out onto the roof of the extension of that house. "She held out her hands and the Raetzes' nurse handed little [Stuart] to her," said The Sun. "Then Miss Gould swung herself across and was safe." In the meantime, Professor Darnall had found Griswold and carried him to the street. Tragically, the bodies of Robert and Gertrude Raetze were found together on the third floor of the ruins.
The article said, "The two children went to the home of their aunt, Mrs. Samuel Owen Edmunds [sic]." Stuart and Griswold would remain with the Edmonds and were soon adopted by the couple.
Eleven years later came Helene's debut. During Christmas week 1924, the Edmonds hosted a dance at Sherry's. It was followed on New Year's Day by a reception, "where they will introduce to the older friends of the family, their daughter, Miss Helene Ormonde Edmonds," according to The New York Times on January 1, 1925.
Now introduced, Helene's name would be included in the society columns. On May 1, 1925, The New York Times announced, "Mrs. Samuel Owen Edmonds and her daughter, Miss Helene Ormonde Edmonds, of 59 East Seventy-seventh Street have gone to their country place at Stamford, Conn."
That year, however, Stuart Coles Edmonds would steal Helene's social spotlight. On February 14, 1925, his engagement to Audrey Barclay Ulman was announced. The New York Times remarked, "The engagement is of wide interest in New York, with which city the ancestors of both young people have been identified for generations." Stuart was by now associated with Standard Oil Company. The article noted, "Mr. Edmonds is a grandnephew of the late Mrs. Elizabeth Coles, whose mansion was at 677 Fifth Avenue and among whose legacies was the gift of a set of tapestries now hanging in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine."
Stuart gave "his bachelor dinner" in the East 77th Street house four days before his wedding on April 21, 1925 in St. Bartholomew's Church. The newlyweds moved into 65 East 96th Street where their first child, Audrey, was born on March 27, 1926. The christening was held in the East 77th Street drawing room on New Year's Day 1927.
It was the last happy gathering that the Edmonds would host in the house. Nineteen days later, on January 20, 1927, Samuel Owen Edmonds died at the age of 57. His funeral was held in the drawing room two days later.
Soon afterward, Lillian sold the house to Walter Palmer Anderton and his wife, the former Ethel W. Kingsland. The couple had two daughters, Audrey Kingsland and Helen Elizabeth, eleven and one year old respectively. Anderton had been an Assistant Visiting Physician for the Presbyterian Hospital since 1918. Ethel was a cousin of millionaire Newbold Morris and the granddaughter of Ambrose C. Kingsland, Mayor of New York from 1851 to 1853. A year after moving into the 77th Street house, Walter Anderton was appointed chief of Vanderbilt Clinic.
Shortly before noon on November 8, 1940, Audrey, who was now 24, went to 340 East 57th Street to visit her cousin, Countess Seherr-Thoss. (The countess before her marriage was Marian Kingsland.) The women planned to have luncheon at 1:15. According to the countess, Audrey "was in good spirits and spoke with pleasure of the Bundles for Britain Ball that she had attended the night before at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria," as reported in The New York Times. At one point the countess and her maid walked to a different part of the apartment. When they returned a few minutes later, Audrey was gone.
The women looked out the open window and saw Audrey's body on the pavement. The New York Times reported, "As she fell to the courtyard, which was below street level, she screamed, attracting the attention of neighbors and passers-by." Audrey was under the care of a nerve specialist and the police listed her death as "fell or jumped."
The Andertons sold 59 East 77th Street to W. Boulton Newbold & Associates in April 1956. The New York Times reported they "plan to convert the structure into a five-unit cooperative apartment building." The configuration lasted until a renovation completed in 2001 returned it to a single family home.
The mansion was offered for sale in May 2011 at $18.7 million. It was finally sold in April 2012 for the reduced price of $11 million.
photographs by the author
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