The 1892 Felix Hamberger House - 123 East 95th Street

 

In two phases--completed in 1890 and 1892--developer Francis J. Schnugg erected 17 abutting houses on the northern side of East 95th Street between Park and Madison Avenues.  Nearly filling the blockfront, they were designed by Louis Entzer Jr. in a happy blend of styles.  Among the second phase was 123 East 95th Street, a mirror image of No. 125.  The structures' Rorschach-like design was best exemplified in the shared molding and Renaissance Revival carving that straddled the doorways.

Along with side-by-side stoops, the parlor floor ornaments unified the pair.

Entzer's potpourri of styles included Gothic Revival inspired square-headed moldings at the parlor level, the Renaissance Revival carving above the doors and faceted oriels at the second floor in the same style, Romanesque Revival arched windows and eyebrows at the third floor, and neo-Classical swags and wreaths in the pressed metal cornices.

No. 123 was purchased by Felix Hamberger, an insurance broker.  The family's upper-middle-class status was reflected in their ads looking for domestic help.  In wealthy families, the roles of the staff were highly defined, while in middle-class homes servants took on several responsibilities.  An advertisement on October 2, 1895 read: "General housework and plain cooking for family, adults.  123 East 95th st." and the following year, on June 15, 1896, an ad sought a "Girl to do plain cooking, washing and ironing for small family of adults."

Francis Schnugg reclaimed the house in foreclosure in 1902.  It was sold to Bernard Neuhaus who resold it to Charles Gulden in June 1906.  Gulden purchased the house as an investment and leased it to Dr. George A. Friedman and his wife.  The couple had two small children.

Among the Friedmans' staff was Katie Becker, described by the New York Herald as "a Hungarian girl of 22."  On April 27, 1912, the newspaper said that Katie was "such a model maidservant that [the couple] wouldn't part with her for anything.  Peace and quiet usually follow Katies ministrations to household needs."

That peace and quiet was shattered the the night of April 25.  Dr. Friedman came home late from a meeting at Mount Sinai Hospital.  "He found his wife and Katie in the dining room, where Katie had prepared a late supper," said the New York Herald.  Just as Friedman sat down in the basement level dining room, Katie remarked that she smelled smoke.  The doctor investigated and found the portieres between the living room and his consulting room were on fire.  The fire was put out, but Katie was "greatly excited."

Dr. Friedman assumed that Katie had accidentally set the curtains on fire while lighting the gas fixtures.  He told Katie that "she wouldn't be scolded," but she insisted that she had nothing to do with the fire.  Unconvinced, Friedman and his wife went back to their dinner and Katie went upstairs.

Seconds later, the Friedmans were jolted by Katie's screams.  The doctor bolted out of the basement door to find a policeman.  The street was busy with men and women who were leaving a dance nearby.  By the time Friedman brought back a policeman, he found his parlor floor crowded with passersby who "had run in to find out what the matter was."  He also found Katie, "lying on the floor under a small table."

The curtain incident had been, apparently, a distraction by an intruder.  When Katie came to, she told of entering her room to surprise a "big man."  She told investigators that he "put chloroform to her mouth and then dragged her downstairs, throwing her into the room where she was found," according to the newspaper.  Other than the $2.50 that had been in her purse, the intruder took nothing.

Because of that, police did not believe Katie's story.  The New York Herald said, "The police were somewhat inclined to think that Katie's digestion was out of order."  Her employer, however, trusted her.  Dr. Friedman now accepted that the "queer burglar" had set the curtains on fire and "that it was a real adventure that Katie met with when she climbed the stairs."  The article said, "So Katie won't loose her job on a charge of being too imaginative."

Dr. Friedman placed what many readers must have consider a bizarre ad in the "Lost" columns of The New York Times on July 14, 1913.  "LOST--Six rubber stomach tubes, July 9, on Lexington car, 118th St.; reward.  Physician, 123 East 95th St., 9 to 1 P.M."

The Friedmans continued to rent 123 East 95th Street through 1918.  On January 28, 1919, the New-York Tribune reported that the Charles Gulden Estate had leased it to Mrs. Harry Symonds.  She was still occupying the house when the Charles Gulden Estate offered it for sale in November 1920.

It is unclear whether Mrs. Symonds continued to lease the house from the new owner, or if she, in fact, was the purchaser.  Either way, she continued to live here.  Her vocation was the breeding of pedigree Pekingese dogs and in 1921 a dozen of her dogs were listed in The American Kennel Gazette and Stud Book.

On December 12, 1925, Noble T. Macfarland and Helen Brantingham were married in Rockford, Illinois.  Macfarland was a 1919 graduate of Amherst College and was a partner in Beckhard & Macfarlane, concert promoters.  The February 1926 issue of the Amherst Graduates' Quarterly noted, "They live at 123 East 95th Street."

As early as 1929, Henry Anderson Rapp (known as Harry) and his wife, the former Elizabeth Reilly, occupied the house.  The couple was married in 1927 and on January 7, 1929, The New York Times reported that their daughter had been born the previous day.  Suzanne Elizabeth would get a sister, Elizabeth Pamela, in 1936.  

Sharing the house by then were Henry's older brother, William J., and his wife, the former Martha Florentine Geyer Rapp.  A maritime attorney, Henry was a partner in the law firm Hann & Rapp.  Also living here was the brothers' widowed mother, Anna G. Reilly Rapp.  Anna was born in 1870.  Her husband and William's and Harry's father, Francis Berkely Rapp, died in 1921.

A young Anna G. Reilly Rapp as she appeared around the 1890s.  (original source unknown)

It was almost assuredly the Rapps who altered the parlor opening to French windows with multiple panes sometime before 1940.

The updated parlor window was in place in 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

The Harry Rapp family's trip to the Bronx on July 4, 1940 was doubly unlucky.  They got a flat tire in Pelham Manor and Harry pulled over to change it.  While he worked, Forest L. Appelby, Jr. slammed his car into the rear of Harry's.  The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon, New York reported, "Both cars were considerably damaged."

Anna G. Rapp died at the age of 75 on October 11, 1946.  Her estate of "more than $10,000," according to the New York Star Journal, was divided equally among her six children.

By the time of Susanne Elizabeth's engagement to E. D. Farrell Sullivan in January 1951, her family had moved to 118 East 93rd Street.  William and Martha continued to live in the East 95th Street house.  

William J. Rapp, who was still actively working at the time, died of a heart attack on December 19, 1965 at the age of 73.  It is unclear how long Martha continued to live at 123 East 95th Street.

An original mantelpiece survives on the parlor floor.  image via streeteasy.com

At some point, the house was converted to a two-family home.  Much of the interior detailing survives and from the exterior the house has changed little since the parlor windows were updated in the early 20th century.

photographs by the author

The Al Hirschfeld House - 122 East 95th Street

 

Developers William J. and John P. Walsh often turned to the architectural firm of C. Abbott French & Co. in designing their projects.  On February 19, 1887, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that they had teamed up again for a row of 12 "Queen Anne private residences" on East 95th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.  Completed in 1888, each of the three-story residences would cost about $490,000 in 2026 money to erect.

Among the most eye-catching was 122 East 95th Street, the yellow brick facade of which was contrasted by ruddy terra cotta.  A dog-legged box stoop rose to the entrance.  The upper sashes of the grouped parlor windows contained myriad small panes--typical of the Queen Anne style.  They were reflected in the multiple square panels of the double entrance doors.  C. Abbott French & Co. united the parlor floor openings with a single arched terra cotta lintel filled with crisp, swirling foliate forms.

A projecting metal oriel dominated the second floor and the three windows of the third floor were capped by a triangular pediment filled with elaborate terra cotta ornaments.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Real estate operator Lewis Coon purchased 120 and 122 East 95th Street, painted and wallpapered the interiors, and then put them back on the market in September 1889.  His advertisement described them as "two of the most comfortable and well built new 20 foot, three story and basement private dwellings in restricted block."  Asking $20,000 each for the properties, Coon said buyers would find "no equal for the money on the island."  Calling the houses "strictly first class in every respect," he noted they were "elegantly trimmed in cabinet style; handsomely decorated and papered."

Lewis Coon sold 122 East 95th Street to Elias Einstein in July 1890.  The sale price would translate to about $730,000 today.  Born in 1830, Einstein was the head of a cloak manufacturing firm at 392 Broadway.  He and his wife had two adult daughters, Ida and Hannah, both of whom were married.

Elias Einstein (original source unknown)

In 1893, the Einsteins' eldest daughter, Ida, moved in along with her nine-year-old twin children Helen and David.  Ida had married Jacob Rothschild in 1883.  The New York Herald said he held "a post of trust in a large mercantile house and drew a large salary."  But then, he "became dissipated."  (The term most often referred to alcoholism.)   Rothschild lost his job and, finally, Ida "went back to her father, who contributed to Rothschild's support as well as hers," according to the New York Herald.

Initially, Jacob Rothschild visited 122 East 95th Street to see Ida and the twins.  "Of late, however, his family saw little of him," reported the New York Herald in 1895.

At around 7:30 on the morning of May 19, 1895, a servant heard a noise in the vestibule.  He found Jacob Rothschild lying on the floor and called for Elias Einstein.  The New York Herald said that Rothschild was "breathing laboriously and in his hand was a small bottle partly filled with some liquid."  He looked up at Einstein and mumbled, "You won't have any more trouble on my account.  I have taken this poison, and I came here to die."

The 45-year-old was brought into the parlor and Dr. Louis Cohn, who lived nearby at 139 East 95th Street, was summoned.  Rothschild was unconscious when the doctor arrived and he died shortly afterward.

The following year, in June 1896, the Einsteins sold 122 East 95th Street to Solomon Baerlein and his wife, the former Lottie Kohner.  Solomon was a "special partner" with Lyman G. and Joseph B. Bloomingdale in the Bloomingdale department store.  

Although the couple had no children, their new house was well filled.  Moving in with them were Lottie's parents, Marcus and Hildegart Kohner, and Solomon's mother, Elise (known as Elsie).  Their advanced ages resulted in a series of funerals in the parlor starting with Hildegart Kohner's death on February 21, 1907 at the age of 70.  Nine months later, on November 7, Marcus Kohner passed away at the age of 76, and Elise Baerlein died at the age of 81 on June 21, 1908.

The parlor was the scene of a more joyous event in 1913.  On December 7, The New York Times reported that Rena Goldstein would be married to Arthur H. Schweizer "on Wednesday in the home of the bride's uncle, Solomon Baerlein, 122 East Ninety-fifth Street."

Starting in 1914, the Baerleins leased the house.  A series of well-to-do families occupied it until Solomon Baerlein's death in November 1924.  His estate sold 122 East 95th Street to the Empire State Holding Corporation in October the following year.  The house continued to be leased to a series of tenants until December 1947 when it was sold "to Albert Hirschfeld, the artist," according to The New York Times.

Better known to readers of The New York Times Drama Section as Al Hirschfeld, he was born in 1903.  He became the newspaper's caricaturist in 1929.  Dolly Hass Hirschfeld was his second wife.  They were married in 1943 and had a daughter, Nina.  Nina's name was always hidden in capital letters within her father's caricatures and finding them became a Sunday morning quest for readers of The New York Times for decades.

This self portrait contains two NINAs.

On January 31, 1948, The New York Times reported, "Plans for altering the three-story brick dwelling at 122 East Ninety-fifth Street for studio and residence were announced."  The years-long renovation resulted in the stoop being removed and the entrance lowered to below grade.  It was deftly replaced by paired windows that matched the originals on that level.  In order to create Hirschfeld's studio, the three third-floor windows were replaced with a large opening.  Hirschfeld had the yellow brick and terra cotta painted a cheery pink.

In addition to his top-story studio, the renovations resulted in five bedrooms and five baths.

For decades Hirschfeld would sit in theaters with his sketch pad, then return to his third-floor studio to create his final images.  According to The Wall Street Journal later, he would sometimes keep "his notepad in his pocket while drawing to avoid disturbing other theatergoers."

Some of the artworks found their way into the interiors of the house.  According to The Wall Street Journal, he commissioned "hand-painted fireplace tiles in Mr. Hirschfeld's unique caricature style," and at some point he had selected caricatures enlarged and printed on wallpaper panels for the second floor.  They included portraits of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe among other stars.

Al Hirschfeld at the piano on the second floor with his custom wallpaper in the background.  photograph by Jill Krementz, December 4, 1971

Dolly Haas Hirschfeld died in 1994.  Two years later, Al Hirschfeld married theater historian Louise Kerz. 

On January 21, 2003, the Fredericksburg, Virginia newspaper The Free Lance-Star reported, "Al Hischfeld, whose graceful fluid caricatures captured the essence of performers from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Seinfeld, died yesterday.  He was 99."  Newspapers nationwide mourned him as a national treasure.

Eight years later, in February 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported, "The townhouse where the artist Al Hirschfeld drew his theatrical caricatures for more than half a century was sold for more than the $5.3 million asking price, after a bidding war."  (Louise Kerz Hirschfeld had married Lewis B. Cullman two months earlier.)

Anne Snee, the broker from the Corcoran Group, told the journal that the buyers, Paul and Denise Lachman, "plan to completely renovate and restore the house, but will protect and preserve large panels of Hirschfeld wallpaper by covering them with plastic panels."

The Lachmans sold the house in 2015 to Phyllis E. Battista.  The Real Deal commented on May 3, 2026 that she "is the ex-wife of Ben Odierno, the landlord who made headlines back in 2005 when he killed his second wife."

No. 122 East 95th Street still sports the pink paint chosen by one of America's most beloved caricaturists, and it continues to be a standout among C. Abbott French & Co.'s picturesque row.

photographs by the author

The 1892 John Stich House - 117 East 95th Street

 

In 1891, developer Francis J. Schnugg hired Louis Entzer, Jr. to design nine abutting houses on the northern side East 95th Street between Park and Madison Avenues.  Along with the eight homes the pair created a year earlier, they would nearly fill the blockfront.

Completed in 1892, Entzer's row would compliment the earlier houses.  The four designs were configured in an A-B-C-C-D-D-B-A pattern.  Among the B models was 117 East 95th Street and, like its architectural siblings, was three stories high above a basement.  The undressed stone blocks and the heavy voussoirs over the arched parlor windows were Romanesque Revival in style.  Above the double-doored entrance, a stained-glass transom incorporated the address.

Entzer gave the planar sandstone of the upper two floors interest by striating it with bands of rough cut stone.  A sheet metal oriel dominated the second floor--its whimsical bosses along its base and the artistic panes of the upper sashes were Queen Anne in design.  The architect continued to blend styles by placing Gothic Revival, square-headed drip moldings above the top floor windows.  An elaborate and highly unusual pressed metal cornice completed the design.

The house became home to the John Stich family.  Born in 1856, Stich was the head of the John Stich Building Company.  He and his wife, the former Rose Herrmann, had two daughters: Mildred, born in 1882, and Nellie, born in 1886.

John Stich (original source unknown)

The 1899-1900 winter social season saw 18-year-old Mildred's debut.  Debutante entertainments often stretched for weeks, and on January 7, 1900, the New York Herald reported, "Mr. and Mrs. John Stich, of 117 East Ninety-fifth street, gave a musical and dance on New Year's night in honor of their daughter Mildred."

Two years later, on October 1, 1902, the New York Herald reported that John and Rose had announced Mildred's engagement to Saul Manovitch.  It may have been that article that provided Mary Smith the alternative identity she needed.

Shortly afterward, Mary Smith, described by The New York Times as "stylish and twenty-five years old," went on a shopping spree in the Stern Brothers' dry goods store on West 23rd Street.  She was arrested on October 25, 1902 "charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses."  The article said she confessed "to having obtained a large quantity of goods by representing herself to be the daughter of Mrs. John Stitch [sic] of 117 East Ninety-fifth Street."

John Stich sold the 18-foot-wide residence in April 1903 to Hyman (who often angelized his name to Herman) Adelstein.  He was born in Russia (in an area that would later become part of Poland) on December 7, 1868 and came to America in 1887.  He was a partner with Herman Avrutine in an iron foundry.

Hyman and his wife, the former Rosa Solvey, had six children--the eldest, Michael, was 13 years old when the family moved into 117 East 95th Street and the youngest, Sidney, was three.  Also living with the family was Ida Ksofsky, a niece.  Ida's time here was relatively short.  On February 4, 1906, Hyman and Rosa announced her engagement to Ezekiel Yachnowitz.

The Adelsteins were supplanted by the Jacob Lunitz family as early as 1912.  Lunitz was president of the Laclun Realty Company.  Like Hyman Adelstein, he was born in the Russian Empire around 1865.  He arrived in the United States in 1878.  Jacob and his wife, the former Betsie Horwitz, had six surviving children.  Two others, Feige and Salie, had died in 1894 and 1900, respectively.  The family maintained a summer home in Tannersville, New York.

Jacob and Betsie announced daughter Pansy's engagement to Louis Propp on March 1, 1920.  The Lunitzes were already planning a move and on July 10, the Record & Guide reported that they had sold 117 East 95th Street to Ernest and Oscar Sondheim.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Brothers Ernest and Oscar Sondheim were partners in The Imperial Metal Manufacturing Corporation, the factory of which was located in Long Island City, and in the Perfumers & Jewelers Box Company on West 14th Street.

The bachelor brothers purchased 117 East 95th Street as a family home.  Living with them here were their widowed mother and their unmarried sisters.

Ernest Sondheim was the last of the family to occupy the house.  He died in 1954, 34 years after moving in, and his estate sold the house to George Axelrod.  He resold it eight years later, in August 1962, to designer Stephen Kyle and his wife, entertainer, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter Betty Comden. 

The couple, who were married in 1942, had created their own names.  Stephen Kyle was born Siegfried Schutzman and Betty Comden was born in Brooklyn in 1917 as Basya Cohen.  They had two children, Susanna and Alan.  

Betty Comden, from the collection of the New York Public Library

Betty Comden formed a troupe, the Revuers, in 1938 that included Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein.  Comden and Adolph Green partnered to write musical plays.  Their first Broadway production was the 1944 musical On the Town.  They relocated to California and, working for MGM, wrote screenplays.  Among their output were The Barkleys of Broadway, Singin' in the Rain, and The Band Wagon.

Now, back in New York City, Betty and Stephen became close friends with Leonard Bernstein.  When his wife, Felicia Montealegre, died in 1978, Betty wrote a moving letter that ended,

You are so much, Lenny--so many qualities and gifts and inner voices not given to many human beings.  You will find your strength somehow in them--and in the beautiful elements added to them by the co-mingling of your life and Felicia's.

        Much love, always, from Steve and from me.  Betty

A year after that letter, Stephen Kyle died of pancreatitis.  

Betty Comden and Adolph Green received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.  She died in the New York Presbyterian Hospital on November 23, 2006 at the age of 89.

The following year, an apartment was installed in the basement level.  When the house was offered for sale in 2011, The New York Times described the main portion as having five bedrooms and three baths.  Outwardly, little has changed to the 134-year-old residence.

photographs by the author

The Mary Hodson Francklyn House - 118 East 95th Street

 

By the late 1880's, development on the Upper East Side had reached as far north as Goat Hill--presumably named because its steep slope made it unworkable for planting, but quite satisfactory for grazing goats.  It was also satisfactory with developers William J. and John P. C. Walsh, who nearly filled the southern blockfront of East 95th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues in 1888.  

Designed in 1887 by Charles Abbott French & Co., the 12 rowhouses drew mostly from the rabidly popular Queen Anne style.  The architects gave each home its own personality--giving some fronts red brick and ruddy terra cotta, and others cream colored brick and sandstone.  

Among the former was 118 East 95th Street.  Its undressed brownstone basement supported three floors of red brick.  The three fully arched openings of the parlor floor wore brick-like terra cotta voussoirs, each with three keystones; the center of which were grotesque masks.  The tympana were filled with colorful stained-glass--the street address incorporated into the design of that above the doorway.

Vibrant stained-glass filled the parlor floor transoms.  The address was worked into the doorway tympanum.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

A pressed metal oriel dominated the second floor.  C. Abbott French & Co. gave visual interest with bands of dog toothed patterned brickwork.  The multi-paned upper sashes of the third floor openings were typical of the Queen Anne style.  The center window was crowned with a terra cotta voussoir and elaborate foliate tympana with a mask.  Rather than a cornice, the architects completed the design with a curvilinear gable atop a stepped brick corbel table.

On December 21, 1889, the Record & Guide reported that William Methven Leslie had purchased three of the houses, including 118 East 95th Street.  The millionaire importer rented the house into the first years of the 20th century, describing it as a "three-story and basement private house; 11 rooms, two baths."  Renters paid $1,200 per year, or an affordable $3,200 per month in 2026 terms.

William and Marion Digby Leslie's only daughter, Mary Digby, was married to Dr. Halstead Pell Hodson in the drawing room of their mansion at 106 West 57th Street in November 1894.  Afterward, said The New York World, there was a large reception and a supper by Mazzetti."  (Louis F. Mazzetti was a favorite caterer of the upper class, and the sole caterer for the exclusive Seventh Regiment.)  Dr. Hodson died in 1904.  

Shortly after William M. Leslie's death in March 1910, Marion Leslie and Mary Leslie Hodson moved into 118 East 95th Street.  The widowed socialites appeared routinely in society pages.  Like other wealthy women, they involved themselves in philanthropic and charitable causes.  On January 25, 1916, for instance, the New York Herald reported that Mary had contributed $50 to the Aide Immediate, a charity that provided aid to "soldiers crippled in the war."  The following year, she donated money to provide a Christmas party at the State Hospital for the Care of Crippled and Deformed Children.

Mary was an athlete, of sorts; at least so far as well-mannered Edwardian women could be.  On June 29, 1913, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Halstead Pell Hodson, who is at Heaton Hall, Stockbridge, with her mother, Mrs. William Leslie, is playing the best golf of her sex in the hills."

Marion Leslie died in the East 95th Street house on June 8, 1920.  Somewhat surprisingly, six months later (only half-way through her daughter's expected mourning period), the drawing room that had been the scene of Marion's funeral saw the marriage of Mary Digby Leslie Hodson to Cyril Alfred Percy Francklyn.  Mary's aristocratic groom was 72 years old.

The couple now spent their time in the Manhattan house, in resorts like Stockbridge and Newport, and at Cyril's ancestral estate in Devon, England.  The couple was there for the Christmas holidays in 1922 when Cyril died on December 28.

Now twice widowed, Mary Digby Leslie Hodson Francklyn returned to 118 East 95th Street.

Mary had one sibling, William M. Leslie, Jr.  He and his wife, the former Maud Prendergast, had one daughter, Barbara Digby.  She and her first husband, Philip Van Rensselaer Schuyler, Jr. were divorced.  On October 1, 1936, the East Hampton Star reported on her marriage to Richard Hanford Jordan.  The article said, "The ceremony was followed by a small reception at the home of the bride's aunt, Mrs. Cyril Francklyn, at 118 East 95th street."

Shortly afterward, William and Maud moved into 118 East 95th Street with Mary.  Born on March 3, 1863, William was an artist and his work was annually exhibited in the Guild Hall Artists' shows.  He also exhibited his landscapes and seascapes at the Parrish Museum in Southampton and had a one-man show at Clinton Academy.  The couple's country home, which they acquired around 1901, was in Southampton.

Maud Leslie died on September 23, 1946 and William died in the Southampton Hospital on June 16, 1947.  Mary Leslie Hodson Francklyn died on February 12, 1950 at the age of 89.  She left a net estate equal to about $3.4 million today, almost all of which (including 118 East 95th Street) was bequeathed to Barbara Leslie Jordon, described by The County Review at the time as the "socially prominent East Hampton matron."

image via the NYC Dept of Records and Information Services.

Barbara sold 118 East 95th Street to Theodore S. and Anne Nelson Cutler Amussen.  Born in Salt Lake City in 1915, Theodore was an editor, starting out his career with Rinehart & Company.  When the couple moved in, he was vice president and director of Rinehart & Co., Inc., book publishers.

Anne Amussen suffered a fatal heart attack in the house on November 18, 1958 at the age of 41.  Two years later, Theodore sold 118 East 95th Street to Joseph L. Ennis & Co.  He moved to Washington D.C. where he became editor in chief for the National Gallery of Art.

Joseph L. Ennis & Co. had intentionally clouded the actual owner.  Artist Mark Rothko and his second wife, Mary Alice Beistel (known as Mell), quietly moved in.  Born in today's Latvia in 1903, Rothko's parents brought the family to America in 1913.  By the time the couple purchased 118 East 95th Street, he was recognized as one of the most influential and important abstract expressionist painters of the time.

Mark Rothko, from the collection of the National Gallery of Art

The year after purchasing the house, Rothko's first important retrospective was staged by the Museum of Modern Art.  The couple's second child was born that same year.  

The Rothkos' happiness here would be short-lived, however.  In 1964, the couple separated and Rothko moved into his East 69th Street studio.  Mell and the children remained at 118 East 95th Street surrounded by Rothko canvases.

On April 10, 1967, Norman Reid, director of the London Tate Gallery, told the press that Rothko "is considering donating about 20 of his pictures."  He explained, "Mr. Rothko expressed a desire to have a representative group of his works displayed in a public gallery," adding, "he wants his work to be shown in London."  The donation would come much earlier than anyone imagined.

On February 26, 1970, The New York Times reported, "Mark Rothko, a pioneer of abstract expressionism who was widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of his generation, was found dead yesterday, his wrists slashed, in his studio at 157 East 69th Street."  In responding to the 66-year-old artist's death, William S. Rubin, chief curator of painting and sculpture of the Museum of Modern Art, said, "The loss to modern art is incalculable."

Rotkho's two-page will left "five paintings of their choice" from those created for the Seagram Building in 1959 to the Tate Gallery.  It devised to Mary Alice, "the real estate owned by me at 118 East 95th Street, New York, together with all the contents thereof."

The nebulous wording of "all the contents thereof" would spark a long-lasting court battle.  Mary Alice Rothko died six months after her husband.  The children, Kate and Christopher, would face off with their father's foundation for years.

Rothko bequeathed his 800 paintings to The Rothko Foundation.  It now sued the Rothko siblings for any paintings that hung in the house.  Additionally, the executors had contracted with the Marlborough Gallery to sell 700 paintings.  The foundation moved to "cancel the contract" with the Marlborough.  The suit lasted for years.

The house was offered for sale in April 2021 for $7.5 million.  The exterior is greatly intact, although, unfortunately, the striking stained-glass of the parlor floor has been removed.  Most likely at the same time, the Queen Anne sashes of the upper floors were replaced with plate glass.

photographs by the author

The 1888 Matthew C. Henry House - 138 East 95th Street

 

In 1960, before being protected within the Carnegie Hill Historic District, the house was given an unsightly rooftop addition, visible from the street.

Developers and builders William J. and John P. C. Walsh embarked on an ambitious project in 1887, breaking ground for 12 rowhouses that would nearly engulf the entire southern blockfront of East 95th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.  Designed by C. Abbott French & Co., each Queen Anne-style home was different yet harmonious.  They created a charming streetscape of colors and materials, oriels and gables, and other decorations.

The $10,000 worth of stone used in erecting the homes was purchased from M. C. Henry & Co., according to the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide on October 8, 1887.  The "old reliable and successful firm of stone cutters," as described by the journal, was headed by Matthew C. Henry and John Gaynor.

Construction on the row was completed in 1888.  Interestingly, when the Walshes placed the two easternmost houses, 136 and 138 East 95th Street, at auction in October 1889, Matthew C. Henry purchased them for $14,000 each (about $492,000 in 2026 terms).

Henry and his wife, Maria, briefly occupied No. 138.  The couple had a country home in New Rochelle.  Like the others, 138 East 95th Street was three stories tall above an English basement fronted by a dog-legged box stoop.  The upper floors were faced in beige brick and trimmed in terra cotta and sandstone.  The parlor floor openings with their curved corners sat below substantial, blocky lintels--the color of the stone so similar to the brick that they nearly disappear.  Between the door and window was a large terra cotta plaque containing a shield, and charming terra cotta tiles of sunflowers filled the gap below the window.

The late New York Times journalist Christopher Gray would call 138 East 95th Street a "potpourri," pointing out "its great oriel bay designed with 12-pane transoms and curved sides, and flanked by a checkerboard brick wall."  Originally, another terra cotta panel or rondel decorated the gable under the cornice.

Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, September 23, 1876 (copyright expired)

Interestingly, in 1890 Henry excavated the basement floor, lowering it to accommodate "dining rooms."  The exact purpose of those rooms is unclear.  

The Henrys sold 138 East 95th Street to Ivan and Hilda Frank in June 1891 for $16,500 (about $587,000 today).  Frank was the principal in Ivan Frank & Co., makers of children's clothing.  The couple had one daughter, Minna Vera, and a son, Lawrence.

Minna's wedding to Sigmund Lang Newman took place in Sherry's on January 26, 1910.

Frank, who was still living with his parents, went into real estate development.  On June 15, 1912, for instance, The New York Times reported that he had purchased 104 through 110 West 29th Street.  "Mr Frank is in Europe at present, but it is understood that...a twelve story modern fireproof loft building is to be erected."

In 1913, the Franks moved to 176 West 87th Street and leased 138 East 95th Street to Morris (sometimes spelled Morice) and Bella Bernhard Schwartzkopf.  Born in New York City in 1857 and 1861 respectively, Morris and Bella had two children, Clara S., born in 1895, and Irving Morris, born in 1898.  Morris was a partner in the cigar box manufacturing firm, Schwarzkopf & Ruckert.

Irving Schwartzkopf entered the U.S. Army in 1916, the same year that his sister's engagement to Harry M. Benjamin was announced.  Clara's wedding took place on June 1, and it is unclear whether Irving was able to attend.

Ivan Frank died on April 9, 1918.  The East 95th Street residence became a rooming house.  While the tenants were respectable, they were not merchant class like the earlier residents.

Living here in 1920 was John Ryan, who worked as a motorman on a trolley.  He was involved in a serious accident on September 15 that year.  The New-York Tribune reported that 13 passengers "were hurt last night when the car crashed into a Broadway trolley in front of the car barns at 129th Street and Amsterdam Avenue."  All of the passengers required medical attention, but only one was hospitalized.

Ryan told authorities that his brakes "were not working right."  When another trolley pulled out of the car barn, Ryan crashed into it.  According to the New-York Tribune, he said "the collision occurred before he could stop his car."

Sara S. Steele, who lived here in 1922, was typical of the other residents.  She worked as a nurse for the City of New York.  Another roomer, named Peterson, was looking for employment that year.  His ad read, "Butler, valet, bachelor apartment or small family; good references." 

At some point around this time, the terra cotta ornament in the gable was removed.  Why it was remains a mystery.

The terra cotta ornament had been pried off the gable as early as 1941.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

No. 138 returned to a single family house when it was sold in October 1951.  It became home to siblings Gilbert and Doris Francklyn, born in 1870 and 1887, respectively.  The Francklyns, who never married, came from high society.  Their father, Charles Gilbert Francklyn, was born on Washington Square.  He was the grandson of Samuel Cunard, the shipping magnate and founder of the Cunard Line.  Their mother was Susan Sprague Hoyt, who was born in the Hoyt mansion at 94 Fifth Avenue.

Charles Gilbert Francklyn died in 1929 and Susan in 1932.  Included in Gilbert's and Doris's inheritance was the family's country home, Redcroft, in Southampton, erected by their father in 1897.  

Gilbert was a retired executive with the Consolidated Gas Company (of which his father had been a director).  A poet, Doris had been a teacher.  

Moving into 138 East 95th Street with the Francklyns was Jean Cammann, a close friend of Doris, who had begun living with the siblings as a teenager in 1940.  At the time, she was attending the Barmore School.

Jean also had a sterling social pedigree.  She made her debut in 1949 "at the Junior Assemblies in New York and the Tuxedo Autumn Ball in Tuxedo Park," said The New York Times.  It is unclear why Jean lived with the Francklyns rather than her mother, Mrs. Philip G. Cammann.  But the situation ended on July 11, 1953 when Jean was married to Arnold Guyot Dana in a notable society wedding in Southampton.

Gilbert Francklyn died in the house at the age of 87 on June 15, 1957.  In reporting his death, The New York Times remarked: "Educated at Eton and at Christ College, Cambridge, England, he had been a famous Cambridge rowing star in the Eighteen Eighties."

Two years later, on August 6, 1959, Doris died at the age of 72 at the Southampton estate.  The Daily Item reported on August 17 that she divided her estate equally to Jean Cammann Dana and "another friend, Alice L. Schrieber."

The new owners of 138 East 95th Street added a studio addition to the roof.  Because the Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District would not be established until December 1993, there was no restriction against visible, intrusive structures at the time.  The house continues to be a one-family home.

photographs by the author

The 1892 Max D. Neuberger House - 115 East 95th Street

 

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 the 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 waited 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 remained 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