The Edwin and Carolyn Islee House - 49 West 92nd Street

 

photograph by Anthony Bellov

Sidney C. Genin was among the first of the developers to recognize the potential of what was called the West End--the rural land west of the still uncompleted Central Park.  In 1870, just five years after the end of the Civil War, he began construction of a long row of high-stooped brownstones on the north side of 92nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (renamed Central Park West and Columbus Avenue in 1883 and 1890, respectively).  

Genin's choice of location is somewhat surprising.  The transformation of the Upper West Side from rocky terrain to streets and avenues, on the most part, started at 59th Street and moved northward.  Sidney Genin, however, leap-frogged far north.  It would be at least a decade before sewers and other infrastructures would reach this far.

Construction of the ambitious row would not be completed until 1872.  Builder John Barry most likely used style books to design the identical homes.  Architects working on the Upper West Side during the frenzy of development during the 1880s and '90s would fill the district with fanciful and exotic structures.  But this early on, Barry followed the ubiquitous Italianate style seen throughout the city.  Ironically, the homes, which would be rather commonplace elsewhere, today are surprising and unusual in the Upper West Side.

Like its neighbors, 49 West 92nd Street was faced in brownstone.  Three stories tall above a rusticated English basement, its windows sat within molded architraves.  Above the double-doored, arched entrance, an arched pediment sat upon richly carved foliate brackets.  The residence was crowned with a pressed metal, bracketed and paneled cornice.  

Sidney C. Genin leased 49 West 92nd Street until his death in 1890.  In March, his estate sold the house to Edwin Wright Inslee and his wife, the former Clara Gamble.  The couple was married on October 21, 1875 and had a daughter, Grace Baker, born in 1879.  The Inslees paid $17,000 for the house--about $605,000 in 2025.

The Inslees would make major interior improvements.  The New York Times would later say, "$10,000 has been spent on the house by the present owner."  (The figure would translate to $245,000 today.)  The renovations included a "tiled bath," four toilets, or water closets, and electricity.  It was most likely during the renovations that the striking Aesthetic-style stoop and areaway ironwork were installed.

By the time the Inslees moved in, the Upper West Side was nearly fully developed.  Like her neighbors, Clara had domestic help.  On May 1, 1891, she advertised in the New York Herald, "Wanted--A young girl for general housework; small private family; no fine washing.  49 West Ninety-second st.,"  And on May 11, 1897, she posted, "Wanted--Competent young colored girl to cook, wash and iron; references required."

In 1897, Inslee visited Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau for which the physician deemed, "a trifling illness."  During their conversation, Trudeau described his Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium, a tuberculosis facility at Saranac, New York.  In his autobiography, Trudeau writes that Inslee, "was a successful business man, with a big heart, ready to help all about him."  Edwin Inslee donated the Inslee Cottage at the facility, which housed four patients.  Trudeau said, "the Inslee Cottage was the first cottage to be provided with hot water heat and a bathroom."

The octagonal Inslee Cottage was donated in 1897. from the Historic Saranac Lake Collection.

Once Grace debuted, her name was included in the society pages.  On February 4, 1900, the New York Herald announced, "Mrs. Edward [sic] W. Inslee, of No. 49 West Ninety-second street, will give a reception on Wednesday evening next from seven until ten o'clock.  She will be assisted in receiving by her daughter, Miss Inslee."

The parlor was the scene of Grace's wedding to Leonard Ferris Hepburn on November 25, 1902.  A more somber ceremony was held there the following year.  Clara Gamble Inslee died on October 21, 1903 at the age of 55.  Her funeral was held on the morning of October 24.

Edwin now lived by himself, with two live-in servants.  He placed an advertisement in The New York Times on October 4, 1911 that read:

Cook--An experienced white woman, to do cooking and part of laundry work, (no collars, cuffs, or shirts) for gentleman living alone in private house; second girl kept; wages $25; must have recent references.

His solitary life ended on July 26, 1913 when he married Carolyn Elizabeth McKemie, known as Callie.  Born in 1860, she was a descendant of Bishop Francis McKemie, "said to have been the first Presbyterian minister in the United States," according to The New York Times.   Born in Georgia, Callie was president of the Dixie Club.

In 1917, the Inslees leased the house to George W. and Alice M. Hanley.  Theirs was a rocky relationship.  On August 26 that year, The Sun reported that Alice had filed for separation, charging that George "abused her at 49 West Ninety-second street...both verbally and physically."  She further alleged, "On May 26, in the presence of a large number of persons" in a restaurant, "he said to her: 'You are nothing but a rat.'"  Alice said he also called her a "tattletale," and tried to choke her.

Edwin transferred title to 49 West 92nd Street to Callie as "a gift," according to The New York Times on November 20, 1918.  The couple, who now lived at 40 East 54th Street, continued to lease the house.  In March 1919, Callie leased it to John H. Bensen.  Finally, in September 1922, she sold 49 West 92nd Street to Samuel and Mary A. Sargeant.

(Interestingly, the Inslees would both live to the age of 92.  Edwin would die on January 21, 1942 and Carolyn Elizabeth McKemie Inslee on November 23, 1952.)

The Sargeants were guardians of their orphaned grandson, George S. Earle.  Their daughter, and the boy's mother, died two months before they purchased the house, and his father had died in July 1915.  Only a month after the family moved in, trouble ensued.

On November 23, 1922, The Evening World reported, "Stories of hilarious parties at the home of Mrs. Mary A. Sargeant of No. 49 West 92d Street, maternal grandmother of George S. Earle 2d, eight years old, at which beer, wines, gin, absinthe and whiskey were consumed, were told to-day in the Bronx County Supreme Court."  The accusations were filed by George's paternal grandfather, George S. Earle, Sr.

Justice Tierney interrupted the testimony of a witness, Edna V. Conroy, saying, "You must be telling of parties that occurred prior to the adoption of the Prohibition Amendment."

"Oh, no, your Honor," she replied.  "One of these parties of which I speak occurred this year."

It may have been the humiliating press that prompted the Sargeants to sell 49 West 92nd Street two months after they purchased it.  On December 21, 1922, The New York Times reported that Samuel and Mary A. Sargeant had sold the house to a purchaser who "will occupy."

The Devine family lived here in 1927.  On June 18 that year, 15-year-old James Devine became a hero of sorts.  That afternoon he and two friends were standing in front of a jewelry store at the corner of Columbus Avenue and 92nd Street when suddenly two robbers ran out, heading in separate directions.  

The three teens pursued one of them, James Wilson.  He ran to Central Park and vaulted the stone wall with the boys right behind.  Unable to outrun them, Wilson jumped the wall again and boarded a southbound Eighth Avenue street car.  The New York Times reported, "Devine jumped on the car after the man and the other boys ran to a near-by patrolman who commandeered a passing taxi and, accompanied by the boys, chased the street car to Ninetieth Street."  James Devine had managed to hold the crook, who was then arrested.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Photographers Phyllis and Robert Massar owned the house as early as 1949.  Phyllis Dearborn Massar was born in 1917 and graduated from the University of Washington.  Included in her studies of photography was a series of courses at the Museum of Modern Art taught by Ansel Adams.  She focused on architectural photography.

Like Phyllis, Robert Massar graduated from the University of Washington.  He earned his degree in architecture in 1940.  The couple's photographic business was named Dearborn-Massar.

The Massars rented rooms to, mostly, artistic figures.  In 1949, dancer Janet Collins arrived in New York City and moved into the Massars' house.  According to Yaël Tamar Lewin in her 2011 Night's Dancer, the Life of Janet Collins, "their paths had first crossed years before when the troupe performed in Seattle, Phyllis's hometown."  She writes, "living above the kitchen were a composer and his wife, on the [parlor] floor."  The Massars occupied the second floor, and Collins moved into the top floor.

This portrait of Janet Collins was taken in 1951, while she lived at 49 West 92nd Street.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

Janet Collins, who remained here at least through 1951, was a pioneer in black ballet and would perform on Broadway, in films and on television.

The Massars owned and lived here through the 1960s.  A renovation begun in 2019 returned 49 West 92nd Street to a single family residence.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post