Born in Germany in 1823, Henry Elias earned his fortune in beer. The founder and president of the Henry Elias Brewing Company, in 1873 he added to his resume with a membership to the Produce Exchange. By the early 1880s, he and his family lived at 158 East 71st Street, one of seven identical houses built in 1871 by Andrew Barry and Ira G. Lane.
Designed by Irish-born William O'Gorman, the 20-foot-wide house was three stories tall above a high English basement. Faced in brownstone, its Italianate design included an arched entrance under a peaked pediment supported by scrolled, foliate brackets. The parlor windows wore triangular pediments, while the upper floor openings sat within architraves with molded sills and cornices.
Henry Elias arrived in America in 1850 and started his first brewery in 1855. Katharina Elias was Henry's second wife. His previous marriage to Ernestine Schmidt ended in divorce. Moving into the house with Henry and Katharina were their children, William, Elsa, and Katie; and Henry's son, Henry Jr., from his previous marriage.
In 1885, daughter Elsa was sent to Cassel, Germany (today's Kassel) for schooling. The Evening World described the 16-year-old as "not over-bright but rather pretty." Henry and Katharina visited her in the winter of 1887 and Henry died there on February 27, 1888.
His will directed that his stock in the Henry Elias Brewery Company (valued at $300,000, or about $10.5 million in 2026) be held in trust for his children. Obviously embittered even in death, Elias mentioned his former wife, Ernestine, in the will. It directed that his heirs "must never give her anything and that they shall receive nothing from him if they do."
What no one knew at the time of Henry's death was that Elsa had become the lover of Oscar Moeller, a "bald-headed, middle-aged man," as described by The Evening World, who ran an store in Cassel. Following the settlement of her father's will, the two ran off. In a sensational chain of events, the couple was captured and Moeller was arrested for abduction. He escaped and, using a fraudulent passport, fled to England with Elsa, and then to Queensland, Australia. They were recaptured there. On August 7, 1888, The Evening World reported that Moeller "whines that he is not an abductor, but was being abducted by the giddy heiress." The New-York Tribune said the scandal "has created quite a sensation in German society circles in this city."
In 1891, Katharina Elias leased 158 East 71st Street to Solomon and Doris Landsberger. (Frustratingly, their name was often spelled as Landsberg). Landsberger was described by The New York Times as "a wealthy jeweler." The couple had five children: Sadie, Jacob, Monte, Estelle and Madeleine.
Solomon Landsberger died in the house on April 1, 1897. His funeral was held in the house three days later.
The following year, on December 18, 1898, Doris announced Sadie's engagement to Samuel G. Isaacs. The wedding took place on March 12, 1899 and the reception was held in Carnegie Hall. The New York Times noted, "Over 200 invitations have been issued."
The event was, perhaps, somewhat tarnished by Doris's arrest two months earlier. For some time, Anna Coulter, a store detective in a Grand Street establishment, had been suspicious of Doris, going so far as to following her home to ascertain her address. On January 13, 1899, Doris entered the store and Coulter "decided to watch her." According to her, "I disguised myself as an old woman and followed her from counter to counter." When Doris attempted to leave the store, Coulter detained her. She was arrested for shoplifting and at the station house gave name as Mrs. S. Solomon. Coulter, however, had done her homework and gave the detectives her true identity.
Doris's lawyer, Hyman Rosenheim, told The New York Times that his client was "a wealthy widow," saying she "possesses a fortune of over $175,000." He surmised that she was suffering from kleptomania. Happily for Doris, her case was dismissed after she appeared before the Grand Jury "and made a satisfactory explanation."
In May 1903, Katharina Elias sold 158 East 71st Street to Joseph Hodges Choate Jr. It would become the home of him and his bride, Cora Lyman Oliver. The couple were married the following month, on June 7 in Albany. The New-York Tribune called the ceremony, "an assemblage representative of the society of New-York, Albany and other centres."
Choate was the son of Joseph H. Choate, Ambassador to Great Britain, and Cora was the daughter of General Robert Shaw Oliver. On May 30, 1903, Automobile Topics reported, "A ten-day automobile trip will be a feature of the wedding journey and will be supplemented by a trip to England...Upon their return to America, in September, they will reside at 158 east 71st street, New York."
Joseph Choate as he appeared in 1897 and in 1922. Harvard College Class of 1897, 1922 (copyright expired)
Born in 1876, Choate worked as a private secretary in the London Embassy until 1900 when he returned to law school. When he and Cora married, he was a member of the law firm Evarts, Choate & Sherman.
While the couple was on their honeymoon, architect George B. de Gersdorff made interior updates to the house. (The renovations cost the Choates the equivalent of $113,000 today.)
The population of 158 East 71st Street gradually increased. Marion was born on February 1, 1905, and Helen arrived on November 21, 1906. Two years later, on December 22, 1908, Priscilla would be born, and Joseph 3d on February 22, 1912.
Cora survived a terrifying incident on November 7, 1906. She and Mrs. Samuel A. Tucker and her children went on a ride in Central Park. Suddenly the horse bolted and the driver lost all control. A mounted officer saw the runaway and galloped after it. "At Ninety-sixth Street the policeman overtook the runaway and, leaning over from his saddle, caught the bridle of the frightened horse," reported The New York Times. Officer Daly was "dragged to Ninety-seventh Street before he brought the runaway to a standstill." The article said the women and children were "frightened, but were no injured."
The Choates brought back George B. de Gersdorff in 1908. On July 23, The Evening Post reported that plans had been filed to enlarge the Choate house by adding a mansard level. The article said it would "be used for sleeping quarters for servants, and will have two guests' chambers with baths and toilets."
158 East 71st Street was now one-story taller than its neighbors. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The addition would not be the last time that George B. de Gersdorff and the Choates would work together. In 1918, the couple purchased 10 and 12 East 94th Street and hired Gersdorff to convert the vintage brownstones to a single mansion. As construction of 10 East 94th Street was nearing completion, on January 12, 1919 the New-York Tribune reported that the Choates had sold 158 East 71st Street. The article said, "It will be occupied by the purchaser after slight alterations have been made."
The buyers were Lansing Parmalee Reed and his wife, the former Ruth Lawrence. Born on April 2, 1882, Lansing Reed was a corporate attorney and a partner in the law firm of Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardiner & Reed. Ruth was born in Boston in 1886, the daughter of Episcopal Bishop William Lawrence. (Her brothers were Bishop Frederic Lawrence Lawrence and Bishop William Appleton Lawrence.)
When the Reeds moved in, they had four daughters, Ruth Lawrence, Julia Cunningham, Hester Lansing, and Mary Parmalee. A fifth, Joan, would be born on December 11, 1927. The family's country home, Windy Hill, was at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island.
As the daughters grew, their names gradually made their way into the society pages. On September 7, 1935, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Miss Hester Lansing Reed...made her début tonight at a supper dance given by her parents at Windy Hill, their Summer home...The party was similar to those given for her sisters, Miss Julia Reed, last season, and the former Miss Ruth Reed, now Mrs. Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr., during a previous Autumn." The article noted, "The guests included about 250 members of the younger set."
Two years later, on February 23, 1937, The New York Evening Post reported, "Miss Hester Reed, the attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lansing Parmalee Reed...has been chosen by George Haines Weed of Savannah, Ga., to lead the Junior Promenade at Yale, this Friday night."
Around Thanksgiving that year, Lansing Parmalee Reed became ill. His condition worsened to pneumonia and he died in the 71st Street house on December 2, 1937 at the age of 55.
Just five months later, in May 1938, Ruth Reed sold the house to editor Robert Littell and his wife, the former Anita Blaine Damrosch. Born in Milwaukee on May 25, 1896, Robert was the grandson Eliakim Littell, founder of The Living Age, and the son of Philip Littell, an editor on The Milwaukee Sentinel. Robert started his career in 1922 as a staff member of The New Republic. The same year that he and Anita purchased 158 East 71st Street, he joined The Reader's Digest. He was the author of a novel, Candles in the Storm, and a play (with Sidney Howard), Gather Ye Rosebuds.
Anita was the granddaughter of Dr. Leopold Damrosch, founder of the Oratorio Society and introducer of German opera at the Metropolitan Opera, and daughter of Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra.
The couple would have four children: Alisa, Walter, Philip and Blaine. Their country home was in Tyringham, Massachusetts.
The family remained here until August 1952, when they sold the house to Janice Lowenstein. Unlike most of its contemporaries on the block, 158 East 71st Street was never converted to apartments nor modernized on the exterior.
Other than replacement windows and stoop railings, the house looks little changed since the Choates added a stylish fourth floor.
photographs by the author
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