photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York
Born on July 29, 1869 to Alfred Miller Hoyt and his wife, the former Rosina Elizabeth Reese, John Sherman Hoyt was a great-nephew of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. He married 22-year-old Ethel Valentine Phelps Stokes on October 31, 1895. The bride's parents were Anson Phelps Stokes Sr. and Helen Louisa Phelps. The Phelps and the Stokes families were among the wealthiest and most socially prominent in New York City.
Hoyt was a director of the American Car and Foundry Company, maker of railroad cars. He and Ethel had five children (their first, John Jr., died in infancy in 1897). The family's townhouse was on East 65th Street and their country home was on Contentment Island in Darien, Connecticut.
John Sherman Hoyt (original source unknown)
A one-line article in the New-York Tribune on April 24, 1915, read, "John Sherman Hoyt will erect a home costing $100,000 on the site he recently purchased at the northwest corner of Park av. and 79th st." Not surprisingly, the Hoyts commissioned the architectural firm of Howells & Stokes to design the mansion. Partner Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes was Ethel's brother and, although Howells & Stokes was the architect of record, Architecture magazine gave Stokes full credit for the design.
Construction costs rose to $150,000 (about $4.83 million in 2026). The facade was faced in Pennsylvania granite and trimmed in limestone. Stokes drew inspiration from Elizabethan manor houses. The two-story entrance provided a commodious balcony at the third floor, sheltered by a overhanging roof. The 16th century motif included projecting bays "fitted with English casement windows," as described by The New York Times, grouped openings with square-headed drip moldings, clustered chimneys and charming hooded dormers.
from the collection of the New York Public Library
Visitors entered into a "two-story hall with gallery," reported The New York Times. "This with the drawing rooms occupies most of the ground floor," said the article. Unexpectedly, the floors throughout the home were worthy of notice. The floors on the ground level were of teak and oak, and those on the second floor, which included the large library, were of mahogany and oak. The newspaper noted, "On the fourth floor there is a squash court and a large sun parlor."
A very young Ethel Valentine Stokes Hoyt (original source unknown)
Anson Phelps Stokes Hoyt and Sherman Reese Hoyt, were 20 and 17 years old, respectively, in 1918 when America entered World War I. That year both were inducted into the army. The privileged young men had, apparently, a greatly protective mother and grandmother. On April 15, 1918, The Sun reported, "Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes and Mrs. John Sherman Hoyt started for Chillicothe, Ohio, where members of their families are in training for war service."
The Hoyt family received disturbing news a year later, on April 3, 1919, when Anson's name was listed among the soldiers wounded in battle. Happily, both sons returned home safely following the conflict.
John Sherman Hoyt's father had died in 1903 and on February 26, 1922, his mother, Rosina, died in the Hoyt mansion at 934 Fifth Avenue. Half of her massive estate went to John's unmarried sister, Rosina Sherman Hoyt. Each of John's and Ethel's children received $10,000 (about $187,000 today), and John was left one-quarter of the estate. Rosina, who was now 48-years-old, moved into the Park Avenue mansion with the Hoyts.
Sherman Reese Hoyt was married to Hayes Blake on August 19, 1924 in New Haven, Connecticut. Another wedding in the family four months later may have surprised high society. On December 21, The New York Times reported that John and Ethel, "have sent to relatives and a few intimate friends invitations to the marriage of Mr. Hoyt's sister, Miss Rosina Sherman Hoyt, to Gerard Beekman Hoppin." The wedding, which took place in St. Thomas's Church on December 27, was the first for bride and groom, who were 50 and 55 years old, respectively.
Anson was married the following year, on June 30, 1925, to Amy Jessup Moore. He would be the last of the Hoyt children to marry while the family occupied the Park Avenue house.
On June 4, 1926, The Knickerbocker Press reported, "James A. Stillman has purchased for his home 900 Park avenue...a stone mansion designed for John Sherman Hoyt, the seller." The article said that Stillman had paid $600,000 for the property, or about $10.6 million today.
James Alexander Stillman was Chairman of the National City Bank. He married Ann Urquhart Potter (known as Fifi) in Grace Church in 1901. The Evening World called it “a social event” and reported “about 2,000 invitations had been issued, and a fashionable assemblage was present.” The couple moved into a 14-room apartment in the exclusive Hotel Marguery and maintained a "camp" in Grand Anse, Quebec and a country estate in Pleasantville, New York.
James and Ann Stillman, Daily News, May 4, 1921 (copyright expired)
Trouble had come in 1921 when James sued for divorce, suggesting that their youngest child, Guy, who was born in 1918, was the son of "a half-blood Indian guide from Quebec." The lurid trial stretched on, with Ann charging James of fathering two illegitimate children with a chorus girl. Then, in a surprising twist, in 1926 Stillman gave Ann a half-million dollar necklace and the two sailed off to Europe to receive marriage counseling from Carl Jung.
In reporting on their purchasing 900 Park Avenue, The New York Times explained that the Stillmans "were recently reconciled and went on what they termed a 'second honeymoon.'"
The couples' children were Ann, James Jr. (known as Bud), Alexander and Guy. When the family moved into 900 Park Avenue, Bud was a senior at Princeton. On October 7, 1926, he told reporters in his dorm room that he intended to marry Lena Wilson. The 23-year-old had fallen in love with the girl from "the farm adjoining his mother's estate at Grand Anse." Lena, who was 18, had worked in the Stillman estate as "mother's personal maid and housekeeper," explained Stillman. She also, "acted as interpreter for mother when she wanted to give orders to the gardener or other servants who spoke only French-Canadian."
Bud Stillman inventoried his sweetheart's attributes, calling her "a girl of the outdoors who loves hunting and tramping." Saying she was "different from ordinary girls," he said she "doesn't smoke and she doesn't Charleston...She prefers the old-fashioned steps, the waltzes and the square dance." (She had taught Bud to square dance the previous summer.) He continued, "she plays the accordion and the mouth organ. Hunting, fishing and canoeing are the things at which Miss Wilson excels." He told the reporters that her "first experience with pretty clothes will be when she comes to New York."
Perhaps surprisingly, Bud's parents were happy with his choice. His mother, he said, "knows that social standing isn't so all important." James not only said, "We are thoroughly happy about our son's coming marriage," but he and Ann picked out the engagement ring. He quickly said it was "of moderate price" and that "Bud paid for it out of his own funds."
Ann Stillman accompanied Lena Wilson on the train from Quebec to Manhattan, arriving on December 1. The New York Times reported that Lena would be the Stillmans' house guest until spring. "While here she will gather together her trousseau."
Lena arrived just in time for a joyous moment within the Stillman family. Daughter Ann had married Henry P. Davison two years earlier. As was common among the upper class, in the final days of Ann's pregnancy, she and Henry moved temporarily into her parents' home in anticipation of the birth. Their son was born in the mansion on December 14, 1926.
Bud and Lena were married on July 26, 1927 in the Wilson home in Quebec. The New York Times reported, "there will be a fete to which the country folk will be invited."
Problems between James and Ann were first hinted in March 1929 when Fred Beauvais, the "Indian guide" who had played a prominent role in Stillman's 1921 divorce case, sued the banker for $500,000 damages, claiming "his good name ahs been held up to ridicule." The Standard Union said, "Mrs. Stillman is now at camp, in Grande Anse, Quebec, while Mr. Stillman divides his time between his town residence, No. 900 Park avenue, and his country home in Pleasantville."
Ann obtained a divorce in Poughkeepsie in June 1931 and "a few hours after" it was granted she married Fowler McCormick, grandson of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. Ann received the Pleasantville and Quebec properties in the divorce. James purchased a winter home in Havana, Cuba.
Architecture magazine, June 1917 (copyright expired)
Stillman's legal battles continued in April 1932 when William Uhe, the engineer of his yacht, the Wenonah II, sued him for $50,000 damages. An explosion occurred on the yacht on July 16, 1929 and Uhe "declared that his left leg was made crooked for life, his right leg broken and his body and face burned."
The embattled banker continued to live alone with his domestic staff until falling ill in January 1944. He was taken to New York Hospital where he died on January 13 at the age of 70.
Perhaps surprisingly, Ann and Fowler McCormick moved into the Park Avenue mansion. Alexander Stillman was now a pilot with the U.S. Navy. On August 8, 1945, The New York Times reported on his being "credited with destroying four Japanese cargo ships, a large whaling ship, a heavily armed patrol boat and two large fishing vessels." The article said, "His mother, Mrs. Fowler McCormick, lives at 900 Park Avenue."
By 1949, the mansion was occupied by the Latin-American Institute. On January 7, 1952, the Tarrytown, New York Daily News explained that among the courses offered by the school was "legal stenography, which includes court reporting."
The mansion next became the Egyptian Consulate. It was several times the setting of controversy. On April 14, 1956, for instance, The New York Times reported that the consulate "was the unexpected setting yesterday for Jewish memorial services for Israelis killed recently by Egyptian raiders. Twenty-two young Jews forced their way into the building at 900 Park Avenue...at 10:30 A.M., and remained praying for more than an hour."
Now the United Arab Republic's United Nations Mission, in September 1960 it was the setting for the U.A.R.'s President Gamal Abdel Nasser's meetings with India's Prime Minister Jawaharial Nehru and Yugoslav President Tito.
On February 5, 1972, The New York Times reported, "A 132-unit cooperative apartment house will be built at 900 Park Avenue...the former site of the Egyptian Embassy. The 25-story building, called The Park 900 and designed by Philip Bimbaum, was completed in 1973.
image via cityrealty.com