Among the early developers who began transforming the mostly rural land east of Central Park at the end of the Civil War was Nicholas McCool. Around 1871 he erected a row of three-story, brownstone-fronted homes on the north side of East 78th Street between Lexington and Fourth Avenues (renamed Park Avenue in 1888). The three-bay-wide homes were identical--their brownstone stoops protected by substantial cast iron railings and newels. On either side of the fully arched entrances were foliate carved corbels that supported Renaissance-inspired triangular pediments. Smaller versions sat upon the parlor floor windows.
McCool sold 125 East 78th Street to real estate operator Dennis Loomie, who, in turn, rented it to the family of Samuel Trishets. Trishet and his wife had at least one small daughter. An advertisement in the New York Herald on May 28, 1872 read: "Dressmaker wanted who understands making children's dresses, at 128 East 78th st, near 4th av., steady work."
McCool sold 125 East 78th Street to real estate operator Dennis Loomie, who, in turn, rented it to the family of Samuel Trishets. Trishet and his wife had at least one small daughter. An advertisement in the New York Herald on May 28, 1872 read: "Dressmaker wanted who understands making children's dresses, at 128 East 78th st, near 4th av., steady work."
On April 27, 1874, Loomie sold 125 East 78th Street to Jacob J. Lissner for $17,000. The price would translate to about $496,000 in 2026. The obscure Lissner did not list a profession in city directories. Six years after purchasing the house, he and his family moved to Madison Avenue and 99th Street.
The family of John Byrnes next moved into 125 East 78th Street. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Byrnes was the principal of the National Surety Company and was well-connected with Tammany Hall. He and his wife, Rose, had at least three children: Matthew, Mary Cecelia, and Thomas F. The family's country home was in Babylon, Long Island.
Despite the family's affluence, John Brynes had a stain on his reputation, one not forgotten by The New York Times. Three years earlier, in 1877, he was appointed the city's Chief of the Supply Bureau and the following year he was Tammany Hall's nomination for Alderman. The newspaper sneered at his nomination, saying that Byrnes, "is a fair sample of the class of men Tammany Hall seeks to place in power in this city." The article then dragged out a shocking incident that occurred in 1869. On July 31 that year, he had "exposed his person" to a young woman "in a most indecent manner," reported The New York Times. He told her he "would like to have some pleasure with her," according to the victim. She broke free and had Byrne arrested.
The children were young adults in 1897 and on October 20 that year Cecilia was married to Joseph W. Lawrence in the Church of Jean Baptiste on East 74th Street near Lexington Avenue. John Brynes's earlier indiscretion seems to have been forgotten. The social status of the two families was reflected in the reception held in the East 78th Street house. Among the guests, as recorded by the New-York Tribune were "Miss Chambers, Miss Fish and the Misses Bayne," along with other recognizable society surnames like Kennelly, Sniffen, Trainor and Schuyler.
John Brynes's ties to Tammany had been advantageous to his son, Thomas, who was appointed Police Commissioner in 1880, the year the family moved into 125 East 78th Street. But in 1895, the new president of the New York City Police Commission, Theodore Roosevelt, forced Thomas to resign as part of Roosevelt's purge of corruption within the department. Thomas Byrnes would later become an insurance investigator.
Thomas F. Byrnes, Professional Criminals of America, 1886 (copyright expired)
Thomas Byrnes attempted to re-enter Tammany politics in 1903 as a nominee for mayor. On September 12, The New York Times said that Byrnes's name was "stricken off" the list of candidates, saying that he was "one of the best known Tammany men in the city and a man who for thirteen years [sic] has lived at 125 East Seventy-eighth Street."
On January 27, 1912, The New York Times reported, "John Byrnes has sold...his residence at 125 East Seventy-eighth Street." The purchaser was Marie C. M. Winter, whose country home was in Woodbury, Long Island.
As early as 1914, Marie Winter leased the house to Reverend James Nevett Steele and his wife, Helen Hudson Aldrich. Born in 1850 and 1851, respectively, the couple maintained a country home in East Hampton. Steele was vicar of Trinity Church and a prolific hymnist.
Rev. James Nevett Steele, The Churchman, May 8, 1897 (copyright expired)
Several of the hymns Steele wrote are still highly popular in American churches. Among them are "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts," "Just as I Am, Without One Plea," and "Nearer My God, to Thee."
Marie C. M. Winter had moved back to 125 East 78th Street before 1917, when she was looking for a new cook. Her advertisement on October 7 read, "Cook--Good plain cook; young. English, Scotch or Swedish preferred; must have good reference and want a permanent position."
Marie Winter sold 125 East 78th Street in February 1921 to George and Grace Middleton Roberts. George Roberts was a partner in the law firm Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts. Grace was the daughter of Clifford L. and Grace B. Middleton and an alumna of Smith College. The couple had two daughters, Constance and Rosamond Graham. Their country home was on Great Peconic Bay in Long Island.
The Robertses updated the house. The stoop was removed and the entrance, along with its original brackets and entablature, was relocated to below grade. Guests approached the doorway under a handsome lantern hung from a wrought iron arch supported by iron posts. The architect deftly transformed the former doorway into a precise copy of the windows at that level.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
The Roberts sisters were educated in the private Brearley School. Constance was studying at Smith College when she was introduced to society at the Colony Club in December 1936 at a "reception and tea dance," as reported by The East Hampton Star. She married Robert Louis Hoguet Jr. in August 1940 in East Hampton.
Rosamond's time in the limelight came four years later. On December 26, 1944, The New York Sun reported that her debut took place "at the roof of the St. Regis."
The Robertses announced Rosamond's engagement to Donald Arthur Jr. on August 21, 1946. The East Hampton Star noted that after graduating from Smith in 1944, "She did postgraduate work with the National institute of Public Affairs in Washington and has since been with the Tenant Relocation Bureau in New York."
Nine months later, The East Hampton Star reported, "Mr. and Mrs. George Roberts, who were in East Hampton last week, are moving in May from their house at 125 East 78th St. to 139 East 79th St." The couple sold the house to photographer Hans Henry Namuth.
Born in Essen, Germany in 1915, Namuth focused on portraiture, often choosing artists as his subject. Among the painters he photographed were Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Rauschenberg. He also made portraits of architects like Philip Johnson, Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Kahn.
Namuth captured Jackson Pollock at work in his studio. from the collection of the Hans Namuth Estate
In 1967, 125 East 78th Street was remodeled. There were now a dress shop in the ground floor and one apartment each on the upper stories. A one-year renovation initiated in 2019 returned the structure to a single family home.
photographs by the author
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