Between 1890 and 1892, developer Francis Joseph Schnugg nearly filled the northern blockfront of East 95th Street from Lexington to Park Avenues. His 17 rowhouses were constructed in two phases and designed by two architects. The second phase, which included No. 115, was designed by Louis Entzer, Jr. His hybrid Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival residences harmoniously complimented the earlier homes, designed by Frank Wennemer.
Faced in brownstone, the three-story-and-basement house was just 16-feet-wide. Simple, square-headed stone drip moldings sat above the parlor floor openings, while continuous arched eyebrows crowned the top floor windows. Entzer's design was dominated by a sheet metal oriel at the second floor. It was decorated with fluted pilasters, neo-Classical swags, and a triangular pediment.
The house was initially home to commission merchant Max Seligmann, a partner in Seligmann Brothers. The family's residency would be short-lived and by the turn of the century, the Max Neuberger family owned and lived in 115 East 95th Street. Neuberger was the head of the importing firm Neuberger & Co.
Max Neuberger's father, David, died at Stuggart, Germany on April 3, 1900. A memorial service was held in the parlor here on April 5.
On December 5, 1907, The Warrensburgh News, of Warrensburgh, New York, reported that the Neubergers had announced "the engagement of their daughter, Miss Henrietta, to Walter K. P. Baumann, of Warrensburgh." The article noted that a "reception will take place at the Neuberger residence, 115 East 95th street, on Sunday, December 22." The wedding took place in Delmonico's on October 12, 1908.
On September 24, 1913, The New York Times reported, "The Rev. Dr. Moses Hyamson, for years one of the best-known rabbis in England, who was called to New York to take the place of rabbi of the Congregation Orach Chaim...arrived from England on the North German Lloyd liner Kronpriz Wilhelm yesterday morning. He was accompanied by Mrs. Hyamson."
Born in Suvalk, Russia (today part of Poland), Rabbi Hyamson had been serving as acting Chief Rabbi of the British Empire when he left London. He and Sarah Gordon were married at the Great Synagogue in London in 1892. His contract as Rabbi of Congregation Orach Chaim was for life.
Within four months, the couple had a long-term home. The Neubergers moved out of the East 95th Street home for the Hyamsons' use. On January 25, 1914, The New York Times reported, "The Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hyamson are now occupying their house at 115 East Ninety-fifth Street, and will be glad to receive their friends."
Rabbi Moses Hyamson, from the collection of the Library of Congress
Rabbi Hyamson's busy schedule, it would appear, did not allow time for relaxation. The entry about Hyamson in Who's Who 1915 noted: "Recreations: none." Sarah Hyamson filled her time with religious and civic service. She was president of the Sisterhood Path of Life, a women's group that offered spiritual study and support.
Dr. Solomon Schechter, a life-long friend of Hyamson, died in November 1915. Moses Hyamson visited Schechter's bier in the drawing room of his Riverside Drive home on the evening of November 20. Upon leaving, Hyamson walked down Riverside Drive to 116th Street to catch a crosstown bus home. He saw a bus approaching and stepped into the street to hail it. The New York Times reported, "Seeing that it was the wrong one he stepped back, and directly into the path of a taxicab."
Rabbi Hyamson was knocked to the pavement. The cabbie, Martin Joseph, stopped the automobile and his passengers fled. Joseph and a policeman carried Hyamson to a park bench and awaited for an ambulance. At Knickerbocker Hospital, the rabbi was treated for a fractured left ankle. He refused to make a complaint against Joseph and was later taken to 115 East 95th Street.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The Hyamsons left the house in 1921 and on June 14 The New York Times reported that Max D. Neuberger had sold the property to William Poshik, who resold it in March 1922.
It became home to newlyweds Louis Butler McCagg, Jr. and his bride, the former Katherine G. Winslow. The couple was married on June 27 that year. Born in 1897, McCagg was a graduate of Harvard College where he was captain of the rowing crew. He had just graduated, his college education interrupted by World War I, during which he served as a naval officer.
McCagg had a sterling pedigree. His father, attorney Louis Butler McCagg, Sr., was, as described by The New York Times, "connected with several of the most prominent and older Newport families." His mother was the former Edith Edgar King, the daughter of Edward and Mary Augusta LeRoy King, prominent in Newport and Manhattan high society.
When the McCaggs (who would have five children) moved in, Louis was working in the banking firm of Lee, Higginson & Co. His career would take a decisive turn, however, becoming an architect with the firm of Rogers & Butler.
In October 1953, The New York Times reported that Fred H. Hill, president of the Melfra Realty Corporation, intended to buy 115 East 95th Street. The article said he "plans to convert the structure to seven apartments of one and one-half and two and one-half rooms."
Instead, actress June Havoc stepped in. Decades later, The New York Times would describe her as "the actress who buys and refurbishes houses in the city and in the country as a hobby." She purchased the house and converted to three apartments--a duplex in the basement and parlor level (for herself and husband, William Spier), and one unit each on the upper floors.
June Havoc was born Ellen Evangeline Hovick in British Columbia, Canada on November 8, 1912. She began her theatrical career as a child, "Baby June." Her sister, Rose Louise Hovick, would also become famous as Gypsy Rose Lee. Their mother, in order to circumvent child labor laws, forged birth certificates for both girls.
June Havoc and Van Johnson in the 1940 Broadway production of Pal Joey (publicity photograph)
Havoc had starred in the 1944 Broadway play Mexican Hayride, and left that show to take on the title role of Sadie Thompson (written for Ethel Merman, who withdrew from the production before its opening). Throughout the 1940s and '50s, she appeared in musical films with stars like Alice Faye, Betty Grable, and George Raft. Now back in New York City, she returned to the stage.
Producer, director and writer William Spier was Havoc's third husband. The couple was married in 1948 and remain together until Spier's death in 1973. He was born in New York City on October 16, 1906. Starting his career at the age of 19 with Musical America magazine, he would eventually become its chief critic. In 1929 he began producing and directing radio shows for Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn.
William Spier, from the collection of the New York Public Library
Spier hired Orson Welles in 1936 for The March of Time program, Welles's first radio job. In 1952, shortly after he and Havoc moved into 115 East 95th Street, he launched the 90-minute television show, Omnibus. In 1954, he produced, directed and wrote the CBS situation comedy Willy, starring June Havoc. That year he co-directed the film Lady Possessed, starring June and James Mason.
In January 1967, Havoc sold 115 East 95th Street to Robert Piccus and his wife. Piccus was manager of telecommunications-market planning for the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation. It is unclear how long the Piccus family remained here. The house was reconverted to a single family home in 2000.
photographs by the author
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