The Lonely George and Annie Smith Mansion - 1033 Fifth Avenue

 

In 1870, Harriet Track erected four elegant homes on Fifth Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets in 1870.  Designed by Stephen D. Hatch, the American basement plan homes were four stories tall with an attic.  Among them was No. 1033.  Faced in brownstone, its French Second Empire design was the latest in domestic fashion.  

A portion of No. 1033 can be glimpsed at the side of 1034 Fifth Avenue, which had just been given a new front in 1912.  No. 1033 would follow suit within months of this photo.  photograph by Wurts Brothers from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Jacob Campbell purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue as an investment.  He leased it to Edward Payson Hatch and his wife, the former Elizabeth C. Height.  Born in Norwich, Vermont on July 11, 1832, Hatch started his retail career at the age of 15 earning $4 a month.  By the time he and his family moved into 1033 Fifth Avenue, he had been highly successful.  The New York Herald noted, "After making a fortune in the sewing machine business Mr. Hatch retired from business."

Then, in 1879, he got a call from John Taylor Lord.  The New York Herald later explained, "the firm of Lord & Taylor became involved in financial difficulties and he was asked to take charge of affairs."

Elizabeth Height Hatch was born in New Jersey, where her ancestors first settled in 1721.  She and Edward had one son, Edward Jr., and six daughters.  Their country homes were in  Arlington, New Jersey and Burlington, Vermont.

On April 28, 1889, The New York Sun debunked a common assumption, saying, "There is no Taylor in Lord & Taylor."  The newspaper explained, "The firm is composed of Samuel Lord, Jr., who lives in Orange, and Edward P. Hatch, who lives at 1,033 Fifth avenue."

Samuel Lord Jr. died in 1896.  John Taylor Lord was now Hatch's partner in the firm.  Upon his death in January 1903, Edward Hatch became the sole head of Lord & Taylor.  That same year, Hatch finally purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue.

At the time, the Hatches' butler was 25-year-old William Johnson.  On August 3, 1903, the 25-year-old took a few days off.  His subsequent behavior--going into three pawnshops on Sixth Avenue--made Detective Rochester suspicious.  Rochester went into one of them and "learned that he had pawned several pieces of silk," according to The New York Times.  The detective detained Johnson and "he found a dozen pawn tickets sewed on the negro's underwear representing silverware, jewelry, suits of clothes, and silk to the value of several hundred dollars."  He also had letters addressed to Edward P. Hatch Sr. and private papers.

Hatch was notified and he and his daughter, Cornelia, appeared in court the following day.  Johnson confessed to stealing $40 worth of silk and "several hundred dollars' worth of silverware."

Elizabeth Height Hatch died on February 2, 1906 "after a lingering illness," as reported by The Christian Advocate.  In reporting her death, the newspaper mentioned that she and Edward were "largely instrumental" in establishing the church in Arlington, New Jersey.

Red Rocks, the Hatch country place in Burlington, Vermont, was described by the New-York Tribune in 1909 as "a splendid estate on the shore of Lake Champlain.  The article said Hatch "spent large sums in laying out driveways through the woods, providing lookouts over the lake, building permanent stone highways and installing public drinking fountains," said the newspaper, adding, "He loved his estate and loved to see the people in general visit and admire the work of his hands."

Hatch had seen intense grief by the time of that article.  Only two children, Edward and Cornelia, were still alive.  In September 1909, he was at Red Rocks.  The New York Herald said, "He had been in poor health for weeks, but was able to be out and chat with his friends on Sunday afternoon."  That evening he "had a sinking spell and failed rapidly."  He died of a heart attack the following morning, September 21.

The Hatch estate sold 1033 Fifth Avenue in March 1910 to Charles Sooysmith for $150,000 (about $5.24 million in 2026 terms).   Plans were filed for a replacement house, but for some reason, Sooysmith changed his mind.  Two years later, he resold it George C. and Annie S. Smith.  The Sun reported on March 31, 1912, "It is the intention of the purchaser to practically rebuild the house."

The Smiths commissioned the architectural firm of Hoppin & Koen to bring the outdated mansion into the 20th century.  The brownstone facade was removed to be replaced with limestone.  Hoppin & Koen's dignified Beaux Arts design was reservedly decorated with elegant, French Classic Louis XV motifs, like the panels of double-swags and ribbons below the second-floor windows, and the swags and wreaths below the third-floor openings.  Two segmentally arched dormers peered over the stone balustrade that fronted the mansard.

Born in 1858, George Campbell Smith was a partner Stead & Smith, the publishing firm co-founded by his father.  He married Anne Kammerer Schmertz on January 18, 1888.  The couple had three children, Dorothy Frances, George Jr., and Annie J.  The family's country home, Blythewood, was in East Norwich, Long Island.

Annie's engagement to Leon H. Abbett was announced in September 1919.  It sparked entertainments, like the Smiths' dinner and dance at the Metropolitan Club for the couple on November 14.

Annie J. Smith's engagement photograph.  The New-York Tribune, December 25, 1919 (copyright expired)

At the time of that dinner party, the Smiths had already sold the mansion.  The sale was announced in the New York Herald on October 4, 1919.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported the sale price at $210,000, or just under $4 million today.

The buyers were Milo Merrick Belding and his wife, the former Annie L. Kirk.  Milo was born in New York City on April 14, 1865, "the day of Lincoln's assassination," as noted by The New York Times.  His deep American roots were reflected in his membership in the Founders and Patriots of America and the Sons of the Revolution.

Milo Merrick Belding (original source unknown)

In 1884, he took a job as a clerk in his father's firm, Belding Bros. & Co., "the largest manufacturers and distributers of silk thread in the United States," according to The New York Times in 1931.  Upon his father's death in 1912, Milo Belding became president.  He was, as well, president of the American Union Life Insurance Company.

Belding commissioned a sea-worthy yacht, the Cocoon, in 1923.  The vessel needed only "finishing touches" in November 1924 and those were to be done in Florida.  Milo invited two guests--his secretary, W. H. Stillhammer, and Dr. George M. Smith--to accompany him on the cruise.  The vessel had a crew of four.  

Around dusk on November 22, "the yacht was heading in toward Government Cut after having made a test trip down the bay, around Cape Florida and into the Atlantic," reported The New York Times.  Belding and his guests heard a loud noise that they initially thought was a door slamming or glass breaking.  Another came two minutes later and this time "they plainly identified it as a gunshot."

The Cocoon was under fire from the Coast Guard, which, despite its being fully lighted, was mistaken for a rum runner.  The yacht was boarded and searched.  "When no liquor was found the Cocoon was permitted to steam to her berth, and the officer expressed his regrets," reported The New York Times.

Understandably, Milo Belding was not ready to accept the apology.  He told reporters that "the affair would be reported to Washington."

That year, the abutting houses to the south were demolished and replaced with an apartment building designed by J. E. R. Carpenter.

The Smith mansion now snuggled up to a behemoth. photograph by Wurts Brothers from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

The following year, the property to the north of 1033 Fifth Avenue was filled with another J. E. R. Carpenter-designed apartment building.  The Smith mansion was now sandwiched between two soaring structures.

Image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Around October 1, 1931, Milo Belding contracted what was described as a "mild cold."  Two weeks later, it developed into bronchitis that "fatally affected his heart," as reported by The New York Times on October 14.  His funeral was held in the mansion two days later.

Belding's massive estate was reflected in an article in The New York Times on January 9, 1934, which began, "The Association for the Aid of Crippled Children will get more than $10,000,000 of the wealth of the late Milo M. Belding.  That figure would translate to $240 million today.

Annie Kirk Belding died in the mansion on September 4, 1944.  In reporting her death, The New York Times remarked that she had been a director of the Association for the Aid of Cripple Children since 1925 and that she helped establish the Milo M. Belding Fund for the aid of crippled children."

Singer Morton Downey purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue.  Born in 1901, he was known as The Irish Nightingale.  He and his wife, actress Barbara Bennett (sister of actresses Constance and Joan Bennett), were divorced in 1941.  They had five children, including Morton Downey Jr., who would go on to become a talk show host and actor.

On October 1, 1945, The New York Times reported that Downey had sold "the five-story house with elevator" to the Herbert J. Freezer Company.  It became home to Herbert J. Freezer and his wife, Michael Stone Freezer.  The couple had a son, Winthrop.  Their residency would be relatively short.  The Freezers separated in 1950 and the mansion was sold to actress Eva Gabor.

According to Sam Staggs in his Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend, "Eva daydreamed of a gilded life in her spacious multi-story, with herself as chatelaine and vassals at her side."  On November 29, 1950, The New York Times announced that she "intends to alter and occupy the property as her town house."

Eva invited her mother, Jolie, to inspect the mansion.  According to Staggs, Eva recalled, "She told me I am not her smartest daughter, since it was evident to anyone with eyes that ten apartments could be made in the building."  The dutiful daughter followed her advice.  Within a year, there were six apartments in the former residence, including a triplex.

The Government of Iran purchased 1033 Fifth Avenue in 1960 as the residence of Iran's United Nations mission chief.  It remained so until the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79 that overthrew the Pahlavi monarchy.

On December 23, 1990, The New York Times reported, "Acquired by Iran in the mid-60s' [sic] and furnished with Persian rugs, antique mirrors and crystal chandeliers, the town house at 1033 Fifth Avenue...has declined in the last decade or so."  The article explained that the Iranian Government intended to spend $250,000 in renovating the building.  Architect George Schwartz was commissioned to "modernize" the building and reconvert it into a single residence.  The work included new electrical, heating and air conditioning systems, and the updating of the kitchen and bathrooms.

The mansion--vised between two 1920s apartment buildings--is home to the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations today.

photographs by the author

The Solomon Adler House - 116 East 60th Street

 

Vines cling to the upper floor facade.

On June 14, 1872, the Adler family placed a notice in the New York Herald that read, "Wanted--A chambermaid; one who is capable of washing and ironing; city references required. Call at 116 East 60th st."  The successful candidate would be working within a newly built, high-stooped house, one of a row of identical homes along the south side of the block between Lexington and Park Avenues.  Twenty-feet wide and clad in brownstone, its openings sat within molded architrave frames.  Its bracketed cornice was typical of the Italianate style.

Solomon Adler was born in Bohemia in 1816 and immigrated to New York in 1843.  Five years later, the stalwart newcomer traveled to Milwaukee, a settlement with a population of a few thousand--mostly German immigrants--and established a men's store.  In 1852 he partnered with his brother David to form A. & D. Adler Co., which would become one of the largest wholesale clothing firms in the country (the Adler Clothing Company).  While in Milwaukee, Adler was secretary of the town's first Jewish congregation and secretary of its first Jewish cemetery organization.

After retiring, Solomon Adler brought his family back to New York.  He and his wife, Charlotte, had five children--Caroline, I. Richard, Millard, William F., and Leon Nathan.  The youngest, Leon Nathan, entered Columbia College in 1875 to study chemistry.

In the meantime, his brothers quickly established themselves in New York activities.  On June 30, 1874, The Evening Telegram reported, "Quite a number of the most intelligent and influential young men in the Nineteenth ward congregated at the residence, No. 116 East Sixtieth street, for the purposes of organizing an association for the advancement of literature and learning."  The Cicero Literary Association was established that evening and Millard F. Adler was selected its treasurer.

William F. Adler was listed as a "merchant" when he endorsed Civil Justice John B. McKean's reelection in November 1890; and I. Richard Adler was president of Cassidy & Adler, a plumbing supply firm.  The New York Times described I. Richard Adler as being "fairly well known among racing men, having owned a stable of horses."

Solomon Adler died on March 14, 1890 at the age of 74 after what The Weekly Wisconsin described as "a lingering illness."  His funeral was held in the 60th Street house on March 17.  

Solomon Adler left, according to The New York Times, "a large property."  His will left bequests to several Jewish causes, including the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, the Mt. Sinai Hospital, the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids, the Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews and the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society of the New York Asylum.  It also provided a trust estate for Charlotte, "and also remembered his children and other relatives."

I. Richard Adler was appointed executor, with Leon and Caroline (now married to Samuel M. Schwab, Jr.) as co-executors.  Problems quickly developed and on May 25, 1895 I. Richard Adler was removed as executor by the courts.  His siblings charged that "he had misappropriated and lost a large portion of the estate of their father" and that he "spent most of his time in poolrooms and at the race track."  Charlotte accused her son of failing "to account to her for moneys which she was entitled to."  The judge agreed, saying, " I am convinced [of] his unfitness to continue as trusted agent of the testator."

The Adler estate sold 116 East 60th Street in March 1901.  By then, commerce had infiltrated the formerly refined residential district.  The dwelling became a rooming house, home to respectable tenants like S. Meyenberg, who offered "expert individual instruction" in shorthand in 1901.

The high-stooped brownstone eventually relented to the changes to the neighborhood.  On August 13, 1927, The New York Times reported that James F. Meehan had leased the house, saying, "The lessee will alter the building for stores and small apartments."

Meehan hired architect Arthur Weiser to design the renovations.  He removed the stoop and installed a two-story, Art Deco storefront.  The upper three floors were converted to "non-housekeeping apartments," meaning that they had no kitchens."

The house to the right, albeit sans stoop, was a match to the Adler house.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The ground floor space was leased by automobile dealer A. J. Miranda, Jr., Inc. as its showroom.  On September 2, 1928, the Dupont Motors, Inc. announced "a new eight-cylinder car."  It was available as a "convertible sedan, five-passenger sport phaeton, seven-passenger limousine, five-passenger club sedan, seven-passenger touring, sport roadster, convertible coupe, [and] five-passenger victoria."  The prices ranged from $4,500 to $5,900 (the most expensive equal to about $108,000 in 2025).  The New York Times reported, "The cars will go on display next Wednesday at the show rooms of A. J. Miranda, Jr., Inc., 116 East Sixtieth Street."

The New Yorker, January 5, 1929

In 1929, E. A. Van Trump, Jr., Inc. took over the showroom.  They continued to represent Dupont Motors, Inc.

In the meantime, the small apartments above were home to middle-class tenants.  Among them in 1931 was 29-year-old Florence Brown.  The actress was obviously deeply troubled, and when she visited her sister at the Hotel San Jacinto on October 22 that year, she decided to end her life.  Mrs. William Trask-Clark told police that she struggled with Florence "to prevent her from jumping" from her rooms on the sixth floor.  She was unsuccessful and Florence fell to her death.

In January 1932, Arthur H. Gauss leased the second floor of 116 East 60th Street.  He converted it to a "physical culture studio"--essentially what today would be called a gym.

Around 1960, Robert H. Zessman opened Lloyds, a high-end antiques and accessories shop here.  The New York Times described him as "an authority on 18th and 19th century antiques," and said he "sold unusual estate furniture, antiques and well-done copies."  The shop would remain here into the 1970s.

Richard C. Kester was described by The New York Times as "the son of a Florida millionaire."  His father was chairman of the board of the Pompano Beach Bank and Trust Company.  The 28-year-old, who worked at the National Association of Broadcasters, occupied an apartment here in 1969 when he was the victim of a gruesome crime.  On March 4, according to the newspaper, his body "was found bound and gagged and wrapped in a rug in his walkup apartment at 116 East 60th Street.  He had apparently been dead for several days."  It would not be until May 25, 1973 that two men were arrested and charged for the murder.

The Dumas Patisserie opened in the ground floor space in 1973.  Operated by pastry chef Michel Dumas, it offered delicacies like French cheese cake with a bottom of raspberry puree and "something called fraisia (strawberry shortcake with a hint of kirsch)," according to New York Magazine on October 15 that year.  The shop remained at least through 1979.

A renovation completed in 1986 converted the lower floors to a restaurant.  In 2015, Blu on the Park occupied the space, followed by Jade Sixty in 2017, and Maison Vivienne the following year.  Eateries continued to come and go.  In 2019 Ivy Lane opened, replaced by T-Bar Steak & Lounge in 2022.

The Adler house is the last 19th century survivor on the block

In 2021, in anticipation of T-Bar's occupancy, Arthur Weiser's Art Deco storefront was replaced by flush panels and sleek, grouped windows.  The upper floors, however, are virtually unchanged since the Adler family moved in around 1871.  It is completely obscured in the summer months by years-old vines that cling to the facade.

photographs by the author

An Unlikely Holdout - 770 West End Avenue

 

In 1890, developer Edward Kilpatrick filled the eastern blockfront of West End Avenue between West 97th and 98th Street with eleven upscale rowhouses.  Designed by Boring & Tilton, they were three stories tall above English basements.

The house at the middle of the row, 770 West End Avenue, became home to George Eugene Poole and his wife, the former Florence Britton Ballou.  Eugene was born in January 1848 and Florence in November 1856.  Both came from colonial Connecticut families.  Eugene was the great-grandson of John Poole, a corporal in the Connecticut militia; and three of Florence's ancestors played prominent roles in the Revolution.

The affluence of the Pooles was evidenced in 1895 when they commissioned George F. Pelham to design a six-story brick stable on West 87th Street.  The cost of the commodious carriage house was $40,000, or about $1.5 million in 2024.

On February 24, 1898, as "the Spanish crisis" intensified, reporters from The World were sent throughout the city to interview women "as to whether or not they regarded war with Spain as probable and if, should hostilities occur, they would or would not be willing to let their male relatives and friends go to the front."  Florence Poole rendered a split decision:

Should war come I would be willing myself to make any sacrifice, to nurse the wounded and work as I could for my country's good, but to yield my husband--No!  He is all I have in the world.

In June 1900, Frank Lugar and his wife Harriet purchased the Poole house for $17,400 (about $641,000 today).  He leased it to Rev. Henry Van Arsdale Parsell, Jr. and his wife, the former Maud Collins.  The couple was married on January 31, 1893. 

In addition to his clerical work, Reverend Parsell was an electrical genius.  In 1899, he partnered with Arthur J. Weed to form Parsell & Weed, which manufactured inventors' and experimenters' models.  The firm designed and built the Franklyn Model Dynamo, which received a diploma at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition.  Parsell was, additionally, president of the Baldwin Calculating Machine Co., treasurer of the New Amsterdam Eye and Ear Hospital, and a director in the Taylor House Association and the photolithographic firm Norris-Peters Co.  

Reverend Parsell had grown up in his parent's "old-fashioned brownstone house at 31 East Twenty-first street," as described by The Sun.  His father, Henry Sr., had been adopted as a boy by his uncle, John Van Arsdale, a shipping magnate.  Upon Van Arsdale's death, Henry Sr. received his fortune.  Henry Sr. never worked, instead he "spent most of his lifetime looking after his property holdings," said the newspaper, and giving away money to assist young men in achieving success.  Henry Van Arsdale Parsell Sr. died in 1901.

Henry's mother, Hannah Parsell, raised eyebrows across the city on June 21, 1905, when the 70-year-old married John M. Hardy.  She had met her 35-year-old groom in Plainfield, New Jersey, where her summer home was located.  The Sun reported, "At first the gossips thought Hardy was a relative, but it was not long before they agreed that he was courting the elderly woman."  Reverend Parsell did not comment on his mother's unexpected marriage.

Parsell would be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican University Church on September 19, 1920.  But by then, he and Maud had been gone from West End Avenue for a decade.  In 1910, the Lugars leased 770 West End Avenue to Dr. Henry E. Hale, Jr. and his wife.  He had graduated from the Columbia School of Medicine in 1896.  Like the previous occupants of the house, the couple was listed in Dau's Bluebook of New York Society.

The Lugar estate sold 770 West End Avenue in July 1920.  It was briefly operated as a rooming house.  The tenants, ironically, worked for families like those who had previously lived here.  In 1920 and '21, three occupants sought work as a chauffeur, a butler, and a masseur.

In 1923, Solomon and Elizabeth Riley purchased 770 West End Avenue for $35,000 (about $625,000 today).  Controversy  soon ensued.  The couple hired architect Rudolf Ludwig to renovate the interiors for a club--an idea that did not sit well with their well-to-do neighbors.  On June 12, 1926, The New York Age reported:

Solomon Riley, said to be one of the wealthiest Negroes in New York City, has stirred the white people of the exclusive West End avenue section...by announcing that he plans to form a cultural club for Negro youth, devoted to Negro music and dances for philanthropic and religious purposes, using his three-story and basement brownstone residence at 770 West End avenue as the club house.

Neighbors were tipped off when the Rileys put up a large sign on the front of the house.  They filed "a protest against the proposed club house" with the Board of Estimate.  The New York Age reported that the Board, "has declared that a Zoning law will prevent Riley from turning his private home into a dancing school, club or any other enterprise."

The Rileys were involved in another battle at the time.  The same year they purchased 770 West End Avenue, the couple bought seven acres of land on the east shore of Hart's Island as the site of a resort.  The New York Evening Post reported they, "erected ten buildings and a dance hall.  They acquired three motorboats to give access to the mainland and intended to establish a bungalow colony and summer resort for negroes."

It would never open.  The city seized the land "by condemnation" on April 1, 1926.  The New York Evening Post explained, "the authorities feared that the project might facilitate the escape of prisoners" from the nearby New York City Reformatory.  (The Rileys, no doubt, suspected other, more discriminatory reasons.)  The couple sued and on November 25, 1927, were awarded $144,015 for the lost property.

Five months later, Solomon and Elizabeth Riley sold 770 West End Avenue to Dr. Max Soletsky.  On March 14, 1928, The New York Times reported that he intended to replace the vintage house with "a twelve story building containing bachelor apartments."  He had already hired architects Goldner & Goldner to prepare the plans, "which call for an unusual building owing to the fact that [the] plot is only 18 feet wide," said the article.  "The two lower floors will be used by Dr. Soletsky for his offices."

The doctor soon scaled back his plans.  Instead of a new, 12-story building, he had the architects remodel the existing building.  The stoop and brownstone facade were removed, and another floor added.  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The renovations resulted in a 1920s take on Italian Renaissance architecture.  Faced in brown-red brick, its details--like the square-headed drip molding above the grouped windows of the second floor--were executed in brick.  A brick parapet rose above a trio of fully arched windows at the fourth floor.

By now, the ten other brownstone houses of the 1890 row had been replaced with tall apartment buildings, the 15-story structure to the south completed in 1925, and the 12-story building on the other side completed in 1912.

There are still two apartments per floor through the fourth, and one on the fifth floor.

photographs by the author

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The Beleaguered Holdout at 471 West End Avenue

Hints of the original appearance--the striped brickwork and shells over the top floor windows--suggest the former upscale nature of the house.

In 1885 builder George W. Rogers commissioned the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to design six houses that would wrap the southwest corner of West End Avenue and 83rd Street.  West End Avenue was developing as an exclusive residential thoroughfare lined with grand mansions.  Completed in 1886, four of the homes faced 83rd Street and two, including the showstopper at the corner, faced West End Avenue.  That house was separated from what seems to have been the step-sister of the group by a walled garden.  Without the Flemish gables, turrets and balconies that distinguished the others, 471 West End Avenue was, at best, the least showiest.

 

Unlike its Flemish Renaissance influenced step-sisters, 471 West End Avenue (left) was almost purely inspired by the Florentine Renaissance.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1887 Rogers sold the houses to real estate operator Edmund Dodge, who resold 471 West End Avenue to Cora A. Slocomb for $32,000, or about $898,000 by today's conversion.  Slocomb, who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, purchased the house as an investment property.

Perhaps her first tenants were author and historian John Clark Ridpath and his wife, who lived here by the mid-1890's.  Born in 1840, he had taught at De Pauw University until resigning to devote himself entirely to writing.  His 1882 History of the World, which filled four octavo volumes, sold more than 150,000 copies.  While living here he was editor of The Arena magazine, and completed his Life and Times of Gladstone and a supplement to the History of All Nations.

John Clark Ridpath, The Ridpath Library of Universal Literation (1900) copyright expired

Ridpath was taken to the Presbyterian Hospital on April 26, 1900 with typhoid fever.  His condition worsened when he contracted pneumonia, and he died on September 30 at the age of 60.  

By now Cora Slocomb had married Count Detalmo di Brazza Savorgnan.   While Ridpath was still in the hospital, on September 1, 1900, The Sun reported that "Countess di Brazza-Savorgnan of Friuli, Italy," had sold the 23-foot-wide house to Charles E. Willcox.

The house saw a quick succession of owners until 1906 when it was purchased by wealthy real estate operator Henry Hellman and his wife, Marguerite Dacy.  The Hellmans owned the Junction Realty Co.  They leased the house to Walter C. Adams in August 1906 for three years.   It was the start of a very colorful chapter in the history of 471 West End Avenue.

Walter Adams was the youngest son of "Policy King" Albert J. Adams.  Known nationwide as "Al" Adams, the New York Herald called him "the millionaire policy sharp, the released convict [and] more recently backer of bucket shops."  (Policy games were illegal lotteries, later known as the numbers game; and bucket shops were establishments operating under the pretense of a brokerage firms; but which in reality took “bets, or wagers…on the rise or fall of the prices of stocks,” as defined by the Supreme Court.)

Adams's wife, Isabella V. Adams moved into the West End Avenue house with Walter, another son, Louis B., daughter Ida, and Isabella's half-sister, Celia M. Thatcher.  (Two other sons, Albert Jr. and Lawrence P. were both married and lived elsewhere.)  

A very troubled Al Adams had chosen to live apart from his family, and moved onto the 15th Floor of the Ansonia Hotel.  The New York Herald explained, "Adams had convinced himself that the future which he had dedicated to his family would be best conserved if he dropped out of it."

On August 29, 1906, one week after Isabella and her two children moved into 471 West End Avenue, Al Adams shot himself in his Ansonia suite.  The New York Herald estimated his personal fortune at $8 million--closer to $227 million in today's money.  His funeral was held in "the fine residence at 471 West End Avenue," as described by the New York Herald.  The article noted, "A burglar proof case was provided for the interment of the body in Woodlawn cemetery."  It was a precaution against the stealing of corpses of the wealthy and holding them for ransom.

Other than small bequests to friends and family, like Celia Thatcher, Isabella received one-third of the massive estate, the rest being divided among her children.  It seemed like a routine probate of the will.  But an astonishing twist arose two years later.

In May 1908, Thomas Bertiero sued Isabella for his help in convincing Al Adams to treat her so liberally in his will.  Saying that Bertiero "is on terms of intimacy with the inhabitants of the spirit world," The Evening World explained that he "sets up the extraordinary claim that he set a trained troupe of spirits upon Adams and that the said troupe of spirits influenced the policy king to leave his wife $2,000,000."

According to him, Isabella was concerned that she would be cut out of her husband's will.  Bertiero's lawyer explained that "some time before Al Adams committed suicide...Mrs. Adams summoned Bertiero to her home."  There, he continued, "she asked Bertiero to place Al Adams under spirit influence and soften his heart toward her."  His client now sought payment for "psychological and special services."

The attorney was having problems serving a summons on Isabella.  The Evening World she "left the city with her son and unmarried daughter just before Easter and has not communicated with her servants."  In the end, it made little difference, as Bertiero lost his case.

Trouble of a much different sort occurred on January 27, 1909.  Isabella was ill, and her lady's maid, Sylvia Thorne, called down the dumbwaiter and asked the cook, Eliza Devereaux, to send up a pot of tea.  A few minutes after the tea arrived, Sylvia called for "some toast--three slices."  The Evening World reported, "In a minute the toast came down again and Sylvia Thorne ordered that it be buttered."

Cooks were the most highly-paid servants in a household and they maintained an air of self-importance.  The newspaper said, "Doubtless it is an insult to ask a cook to butter toast.  Mrs. Devereaux said she had been cooking for the best families for twenty-five years and had never been so ordered before.  She refused to butter the toast."

Quite annoyed, Sylvia Thorne descended to the kitchen and buttered the toast herself.  "While so doing she expressed her opinion of Mrs. Devereaux quite freely, whereupon Mrs. Devereaux picked up a panful of spinach and spilled it over her head."  It triggered a heated food fight between cook and maid.

Sylvia picked up a pound of butter, "frozen hard from the ice box."  She hurled it at Eliza Devereaux (described by the article as "aged forty-five, well equipped as to flesh and rubicund of countenance as a cook should be), hitting her in the throat.  Eliza picked up "that favorite weapon of cooks--a rolling pin.  With this she drove Sylvia Thorne from the lower regions of the mansion."

Having vanquished her foe, Eliza Devereaux "gave her notice and left."  She went directly to the police station and filed a complaint of assault.  In court, Magistrate Breen dismissed the charges, deciding that Sylvia Thorne "had been sufficiently aggrieved by a shampoo of spinach to warrant her in propelling the butter at Mrs. Deveraux."

The Adamses' lease on the house expired that year and the family left.  In December 1909, the Hellmans upgraded the house by having electricity installed by the Power Engineering & Contracting Co.  Rather than continue to rent it, they moved in.  The couple improved the house again in 1912 by hiring architects Comyns & Todaro to add a one-story addition to the rear.

The Hellmans were at their country house in the summer of 1913, but Marguerite came home for a few days to check on "some renovating," as worded by The Sun.  She was out on the afternoon of July 23, 1913 when a workman appeared at the door.  The Syracuse Herald reported, "The negro butler admitted a man who said he had been sent to finish some plastering and painting in the bathroom.  The stranger spent a little time puttering about with some tools in the bathroom and then left the house, saying that he had to get more material for his work."  He never returned.

When Marguerite came home, she found her trunks had been opened and jewelry and cash stolen.  Police reported the burglar had gotten away with $5,000 in valuables and money, but had "missed $40,000 worth of jewelry in a pasteboard box in the tray of the trunk."

Around 1916, the Hellmans sold the house to Elizabeth S. Rothschild, the widow of Martin Rothschild.  She made significant renovations by adding a fourth floor in the form of a slate-shingled mansard with a large, centered dormer; and removing the stoop and lowering the entrance to below sidewalk level.  The New York Herald reported, "the two top floors have been converted into a large studio," adding, "the house contains an electric elevator."

The changes are evident in this photo, taken not longer after the renovations.  photo by Wurts Bros., from the collection of the Museum of the city of New York.

Rothschild sold the house to vocal instructor Dudley Buck in 1922 for $75,000--around $1.16 million today.  In its October issue that year, The Musical Observer wrote, "Dudley Buck, the well-known New York singing teacher, has moved into new quarters, principally owing to the fact that his former studios proved inadequate to the growing demands of his classes."  The article explained that now "his assistants could have studios under the same roof with him and...he could provide the necessary personal touch to every student whether studying with him directly or not."

The Musical Observer, October 1922 (copyright expired)

Buck offered rooms not only to his associates.  An advertisement in the New York Herald in September 1922 offered, "Luxurious bachelor quarters in private house equipped with automatic elevator; one or two rooms, private bath, handsomely furnished." 

Buck was almost assuredly approached in 1923 by the developers who demolished the rest of the McKim, Mead & White grouping.  But for some reason, he held out.  Because of the garden between 471 West End Avenue and the corner house, the razing of the house next door had no structural effects.

In 1941 the lower floors were either painted or stuccoed.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Among his Dudley's tenants in 1923 was rare book collector and dealer Gabriel Wells.  He had come to America from his native Hungary in 1894, "penniless and ignorant of English," according to the Watertown Daily Standard.  By the time he moved into 471 West End Avenue he had come a long way.  He was in Paris in the summer of 1925 when he heard of the impending demolition of the house in which Balzac had lived and worked from 1842 to 1848.  It had been maintained as a house museum, the Muse Balzac, by the Societe Honore de Balzac.  But the society had run out of funds.  The Watertown Daily Standard reported that Wells "learned of the danger to the house and subscribed 50,000 francs to buy the building, at the same time informing the society that it could draw upon him for a larger sum if necessary."

Dudley Buck sold the house in November 1929 to Harold A. Foster, who resold it seven years later to the Esjol Realty Corporation.  The New York Times reported, "changes planned by the new owner include the construction of a physician's apartment with private street entrance.  The house will have one and two room apartments with kitchenettes, new baths and a three-room suite with roof terrace."

Tenants throughout the succeeding decades continued to be middle- and upper-middle class, like David E. Glasser, a graduate of Columbia University's School of Architecture, who lived here in 1961.

A few years later, 471 West End Avenue was home to the Agudas Israel World Organization.  On January 8, 1967 it held an open house of its newly renovated apartments.  The notice for the event was entitled "Apartments for Victims of Nazi Persecution."  Applicants could sign up for 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 room spaces.

In 1999 the house was purchased by real estate investor Rod Hickey, who initiated façade repair in 2003.  On November 9, The New York Times columnist Christopher Gray remarked, "Now the building excites little curiosity from the street, and looks like any old raggle-taggle converted row house with rental apartments."  A fire in 2013 tore through the interior of the vintage residence, greatly damaging the gable.  It was placed on the market in 2016 for just under $10 million.

The original, ornately-grilled service door survives.

Squeezed in between two apartment houses, the once-proud relic looks rather forlorn and out of place, today.

photograph by the author

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From Grocery to "Dive Saloon" to Pita Shop -- 441 Third Avenue

 

The horsewalk, or passage between buildings to the rear yard, survives to the right of the building.

Nicholas Betjeman lived above his grocery store at 505 Third Avenue until 1855, when he moved his business to the new building at 441 Third Avenue.  The four-story structure was faced in brownstone above the store level, and featured expected elements of the Italianate style--elliptically arched windows with molded eyebrows and a handsome cast metal bracketed cornice.  A small house sat in the rear yard, accessed by a narrow horsewalk at the southern side.

Working in Betjeman's grocery store was John C. Betjeman and Henry Hachman.  Nicholas Betjeman was about 38-years old in 1855, and so John was most likely his brother.

The upper floors were operated as a middle-class boarding house.  Living here in 1860 were the families of piano dealer Frederick W. Beans; engineer Edward Toon; Joseph Luster, who ran a liquor business (possibly a saloon); and Andrew McMullien, a smith.

In 1863 the boarding house was being run by Susan Nichols, a widow.  That year John W. Addicks took over the grocery store, now sharing the space (most likely front and back) with Phyfe & Co., tin merchants, run by Alfred W. Phillips and Albert Phyfe.   Among Susan Nichols's boarders were Edward and Jane Granger, whose 14-month old daughter, Margaret Wineferd died on August 3, 1863.  The little girl's funeral was held in the parlor.

The building was purchased by Herman and Lewis Davis around 1872.  Herman, and his wife, Bertha, moved in.  He ran two clothing stores, one on Church Street and the other on the Bowery.  Also now residing in the building were Abraham and Jacob Levy.  They were possibly relatives, since they were both involved in Davis's business.  The other boarders were Leopold Abraham, who operated a china store, and August Langbein, an upholsterer.  Living in the rear house that year was John Smith, a clerk.  The grocery store had been run by Robert P. B. Shear since 1868.

Bertha Davis died on October 16, 1873 at the age of 44.  Her funeral was held in the parlor three days later.

The Davises leased the property to Alexander B. Barnard in June 1876.  He not only operated the boarding house, but moved his pawn shop into the former grocery store as well.  In 1877 he hired a servant, Kate Close, who disappeared along with "gentlemen's clothing, jewelry, trinkets [and] books belonging to A. B. Barnard," according to The Evening Post on May 8.  

Kate had a formula.  She took jobs as a chambermaid, worked a few days, then made off with valuables.  Her downfall came when she was caught in the act in the home of Mrs. Magdalen Reichtman on East 22nd Street.  A search of her room found a box of pawn tickets, which led to the recovery of silverware, jewelry, bedding, watches, and other various stolen articles, including Barnard's.

That summer Barnard received permission from the Board of Aldermen to "erect a pole and place sign thereon" in front of the building.  It was apparently a substantial improvement, costing him the equivalent of $13,600 today.

The following decade would see significant changes along the stretch of Third Avenue.  The building was purchased by Margaret Bewing, who installed a saloon in the ground floor.  She described the premises in 1888, saying "The saloon was well fitted up [with] a handsome bar, fixtures, etc."  Upstairs were accommodations for sixteen residents.

She became the victim of a slick scam artist that summer.  H. B. Bender, described by The Evening Post as a "German, forty-one years old," offered her ten lots of ground on Staten Island in trade for the Third Avenue property.  The newspaper said, "On June 14 she went to see the land.  She was satisfied with it, and a deed was executed, she says, by Bender and his wife, which she agreed to accept for the saloon."

After transferring the title, Margaret Bewing discovered that the land she now owned was not the property she had been shown.   Those lots belonged to George Alter and her deed "represented ten very inferior lots, worth not more than $10 each, which Bender had purchased...at a tax sale for $2.92."

By the time Bewer took Bender to court, he had already sold 441 Third Avenue, valued at $4,000, to "a Mr. Ziller for $2,650,"--about $75,000 today.

The days of a respectable boarding house were in the past.  The building was now known as the Columbia Hotel, run by John Camlin, while the ground floor saloon was operated by James Irving, described by The Sun as "the notorious dive keeper."  Irving had been a Tammany Hall alderman and assemblyman.  He was now known for his infamous saloon, populated by gamblers, rowdies, and "degraded women."  The Press noted in 1891 that he had been "a central figure in many a disreputable incident."

On March 12, 1891, trouble ensued outside the tavern when Annie Tucker began tossing rocks through the plate glass window.  The Sun entitled an article, "Jimmy Irving Again," and reported he had the woman arrested.  In the Yorkville Police Court she claimed she had married Irving in 1867, they had lived together 31 years, and had two grown children.  According to her, when she attempted to retrieve some furniture that belonged to her, "he had attacked her and ejected her forcibly."

Irving's story was far different.  He said she had been employed as a servant and he had fired her three weeks earlier.  (The Sun was skeptical, saying, "For a servant she was very well dressed, having on a black silk dress and a well-fitting sealskin sack.")  Fine clothes or not, Annie's lack of refinement went beyond rock tossing.  The Sun reported, "as the discussion went on, ugly language was used so freely that the court officers were aghast."  The judge cautioned the two, "Be a little more chaste in your language, if possible."  In the end, Justice Murray dismissed the case, warning Annie "not to annoy Irving any more."

In March 1894, James Camlin was arrested on the complaint of "two fashionably dressed women," for running a brothel.  In the Yorkville Court on he insisted the hotel was "entirely respectable."  There to substantiate his story was Police Captain Martens, who said he "has often visited" the place and found it "free from objectionable persons."

But a month later, it was Martens who was being investigated.  In April, Police Commissioner MacLean charged Captain Martens with "neglect of duty" for "failing to suppress disorderly houses" within his district.  Specifically listed was was the Columbia Hotel.  During his hearing before the Police Commissioners, Martens produced witnesses who vouched for the respectability of the places and, with a vote of 3 to 1, his charges were dismissed.  Ironically, the name of the Columbia Hotel was changed the following year to the Hotel Martens.

The appointment of Theodore Roosevelt as Police Commissioner in 1894 changed things within the corrupt department.  He walked the streets late at night to ensure that officers were on duty, and reformed the system, including the closing down of "corrupt police hostelries."  At the turn of the century an ice cream shop occupied the store where Jim Irving's "dive saloon" had been.

By 1920, Ernest de Cuti's upholstery store was in the ground floor, while working-class citizens rented rooms in the upper portion of the building.  For several years the Italian-American extortion group La Mano Nera, or the Black Hand, had menaced New York City businessman, using bombs and beatings.  De Cuti was terrified when he received threats on his life.

In the spring of 1920, he purchased a handgun for protection.  He then took it to the East 35th Street police station asking how he could get a permit to carry it.  Instead, he was cited for violating the Sullivan Act, a law against carrying an unlicensed gun.  His fears became even more evident when he appeared in court on April 15.  The New-York Tribune reported that an attendant noticed a "bulge in De Cuti's clothing."  Underneath, it was found he was wearing "a coat of mail made of two layers of wood with a tin surface to protect himself from the Black Handers," said the newspaper.  Now, instead of deciding on his revolver-carrying case, the justices sent him to Bellevue Hospital for observation.

Living in the building in 1922 was Stamatis Gallis, who was involved in a bootlegging operation on East 58th Street.  The plant, in a former stable, distributed about 400 quarts of denatured alcohol daily.  Prohibition agents who raided it on February 21 seized alcohol worth $100,000 in street value--about $1.54 million today.  Officials deemed it "one of the biggest sources of dangerous liquor in the city," and a government chemist said the alcohol was "probably not fit for consumption."

In 1950, the building was converted to a total of five apartments above the store.  It was most likely at this time that the Victorian details were shaved off.  The rear building was renovated to a single family dwelling.  Living in the main building throughout the 1950's were several employees of the Consulate of Norway.

The stubborn 19th century holdout is a bit beleaguered today, but its pre-Civil War appearance is still evident.  And the ancient horsewalk still provides access to the area to the rear.

photographs by Ted Leather (who suggested this post)

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