The 1926 The Richmond - 147-153 West 79th Street

 

In 1925, the Felco Realty Corp. demolished three high-stooped brownstone houses to make way for a modern apartment building.  Designed by J. M. Felson, The Richmond was completed the following year at a cost of $700,000--just over $12 million in 2025.  A 1920s take on Spanish Renaissance architecture, its somber, dark brown brick facade was enlightened with brilliantly colored terra cotta elements.

The cream-colored details of the entrance sat upon an orange background.  In place of capitals, the Renaissance-inspired pilasters terminated in shields held by nude youths.  Above the doorway was an elaborate heraldic design, and three urns perched upon the cornice.

photograph by Eden, Janine and Jim (cropped)

A faux balcony at the third floor echoed the entrance pilasters.  Intricate filigree screens fronted heraldic shields over each window, above which were terra cotta knights flanked by children's faces.  Rondels of bas relief Renaissance busts floated above the central windows of the fourth floor.  A second faux balcony, this one in the form of an elaborate arcade, appeared at the 13th floor.  A modest terra cotta cornice originally crowned the 15-floor design.

An advertisement boasted that the apartments came with refrigerators rather than ice boxes.  "Unusual apartments in 'The Richmond.'  Large, convertible 4-room apartments and a Special Doctor's Apartment.  Mechanical refrigeration.  Moderate rents."

It appears that several of the early residents were young couples.  On December 17, 1926, for instance The American Hebrew reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Jerome M. Ahrens, upon their return from a Californian wedding trip, will reside at 147 West Seventy-ninth Street, New York.  The bride was the former Ethel Baer."  Another young couple were David and Doris Loeb, who lived on the sixth floor.  

David Loeb was a bond salesman.  When he returned to the apartment early in the morning of May 8, 1931, Doris was not there.  The Brooklyn Eagle reported, "Mrs. Doris Loeb, 30...was killed early this morning when she either fell or jumped from the dining room window...to a rear courtyard."  The Evening Post said, "Detectives said there was no sign of a struggle and Mrs. Loeb probably had been in bed prior to her fall."  (Why Doris plunged from the dining room if she had presumably been in bed was not addressed.)  David Loeb declared, "his wife was in good health, and could ascribe no reason for her death," added The Evening Post.

It may have been the difficulties of the Depression years that prompted a few residents of The Richmond to go astray.  On October 11, 1933, the Yonkers Herald Statesman reported that four men, including 38-year-old John B. Wagner, had pleaded guilty "to charges of bookmaking."  Wagner and his cronies were dealt leniently by Judge Charles W. Boote.  The article said, "They were placed on probation for indefinite periods."

Another resident would be in trouble three years later.  On February 4, 1936, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that 36-year-old Adrien Marcus and a co-conspirator had been charged "with attempting to extort $1,000 from Otto Bresse of 533 West End Ave., Manhattan, by posing as police officers."

An impressive resident was Fanny Holtzmann, who briefly moved into her parents' apartment here in the fall of 1934.  Fanny received her law degree from Fordham University in 1922, and focused on clients involved in the theater, eventually becoming the most influential attorney in the industry.  

On October 3, 1934, the Jewish Daily Bulletin reported, "Fanny Holtzmann is back.  Back from London, scene of one of the greatest and most dramatic legal triumphs--her victory over Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the suit of Princess Youssoupoff for libel in their production of 'Rasputin and the Empress.'"  Holtzmann had won a cash settlement "that has been estimated variously at from a quarter to three-quarters of a million dollars" for the princess, said the article.

Fanny Holtzmann.  from the collection of Fordham Law School

Holtzmann had represented actress Ina Claire in her divorce from stage star John Gilbert in 1931, and had negotiated the contracts of the likes of Noel Coward, Gertrude Lawrence and George Bernard Shaw.  Fanny's father, Henry Holtzman, had been an influential Brooklyn attorney.  The Jewish Daily Bulletin remarked, "Of late years, however, her father has resided in Manhattan at 147 West Seventy-ninth street, which address is also the home of Broadway and Hollywood's favorite Portia."

The "Portia" referred to in the article was assuredly well-acquainted with Fanny Holtzmann.  Actress Marion Cunnar Evensen first played the role of Portia in Julius Caesar in 1917.  In 1934, the year of the article, Evensen met actress and director Eva Le Gallienne.  The couple would remain life partners until Evensen's death in 1971.

Another theatrical resident was writer and producer Reginald Rose.  He and his wife, the former Barbara Langbart, were married in 1943.  While living here, he wrote Twelve Angry Men, which he initially sold as a television drama, in 1955.  It would be adapted for the screen in 1957.  In his 2021 Reginald Rose and the Journal of 12 Angry Men, Phil Rosenzweig mentioned, "In early 1955, Barbara Rose became pregnant with twins.  That spring, the family moved from their small apartment on 147 West Seventy-Ninth Street to a larger one at 151 West Eighty-Sixth Street."

Reginald Rose.  image via IMDb.com

Following the death in December 1964 of famed steamship designer Vladimir Yourkevitch, his widow, the former Olga Krestovsky Petrovsky, moved into The Richmond.  Vladimir Yourkevitch is best remembered today for his masterful Art Deco liner, the S. S. Normandie.  He and Olga had arrived in New York City in 1935 on that vessel's maiden voyage.

This 1935 postcard depicts the S. S. Normandie, which carried Olga and Vladimir Yourkevitch to New York.

Born 1891 to Russian officer and novelist Colonel Vsevolod Krestovsky, Olga was educated at the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.  She earned Serbian and French decorations and the Russian Cross of St. George for her nursing work during World War I in Serbia, Cannes, and Moscow.  She and her first husband, Nicholas Petrovsky, fled to Serbia and then to France after the Russian Revolution.  Following her divorce, she married Yourkevitch in Paris.  Olga Yourkevitch died while living here on December 6, 1976 at the age of 85.

Among Yourkevitch's neighbors in The Richmond had been Dr. Herman Max Sternberg and his wife, the former Emmy Malles.  Born in Austria in 1901, Sternberg was "a member of a notable medical family," according to The New York Times.  "His father, Prof. Maximillian Sternberg, was a professor of medicine at [the University of] Vienna, and his uncle, Prof. Carl Sternberg, was a professor of pathology there," said the newspaper.  Not surprisingly, Herman Sternberg attended the University of Vienna, graduating in 1925.

Arriving in New York City in 1939, the orthopedic surgeon became associated with the Hospital of Joint Diseases, the Long Island College of Medicine, the Prospect Heights Hospital in Brooklyn, and Mount Sinai Hospital.

At some point after mid-century, the terra cotta cornice of The Richmond was removed.  Despite the loss and the unsympathetic treatment of facade repairs, the building's splashy Spanish Renaissance-style terra cotta decorations are show-stoppers.

photographs by the author

The Dorset - 150 West 79th Street

 

Born in Sherman, Connecticut in 1855, Franklin Henry Giddings joined the faculty of Columbia University in 1891.  Three years later he was appointed the chair of sociology there.  By the early years of the 20th century, the recognized sociologist, journalist and economist lived in an upscale, high-stoop rowhouse at 150 West 79th Street.

At the time, developers on the Upper West Side were replacing private homes with multi-family buildings.  It appears that when the Vadrick Realty Co. approached Franklin Henry Giddings with an offer for his rowhouse in 1910, the educator pushed back.  Almost certainly included in the sale, Giddings would be among the initial residents of the projected building.

On August 20, 1910, the Record & Guide reported that Schwartz & Gross had filed plans for a "12-story brick and stone apartment house."  The building would replace five rowhouses, including the Giddings home.  The article projected the cost of construction at $375,000--a significant $12.4 million in 2025 terms.

The Dorset was completed in September 1911.  An advertisement in The New York Times called it "high class" and offered seven, nine or ten-room apartments with "very large rooms and 3 baths."   Rents ranged from $2,600 to $3,000, or about $8,375 per month today for the most expensive.

Schwartz & Gross's neo-Renaissance tripartite design included a three-story base with a stone balcony supported by massive carved brackets at the third floor.  The seven-story midsection was faced in Flemish bond brown brick and terminated with impressive limestone brackets with floral garlands that upheld the intermediate cornice.  They were echoed with the capitals of the two-level piers on the top section, below the copper cornice.

A massive banner advertised the apartments in 1911.  The five brownstones that sat here were identical to whose on either side of the new building.  photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

By the time Franklin Henry Giddings moved into his apartment, he had published several books, including Democracy and Empire, Inductive Sociology, and Descriptive and Historical Sociology.  He is remembered today for the concept of "consciousness of kind," by which persons recognize and associate with like-individuals, establishing "group self-consciousness" as opposed to individual self-consciousness.

Frank Henry Giddings, from the collection of the Library of Union College

While Giddings's name appeared in newspapers for his thoughts about political and social-economic issues, other initial residents regularly appeared in the society columns.  On January 14, 1912, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Edgar A. Levy, 150 West Seventy-ninth Street, will give a dinner party this evening for Miss Marjorie and Walter Klee, who have just announced their engagement."   A month later, the newspaper announced, "Mrs. L. L. Warshauer of 150 West Seventy-ninth Street will give the second of a series of bridge parties on Friday." 

Among the first entertainments in the building was Mrs. Nathaniel Arnold's "bridge party and tea with music at her home," as noted by the New York Herald on December 21, 1911.  Mrs. Arnold's daughter from her first marriage, Madelaine Ethel Sylvester, lived with the couple.  The family's country home was in Woodmere, Long Island.

Madelaine was a subject of social chatter in 1912 when she was wooed by the internationally famed explorer, photographer and inventor, Russell Hastings Millward.  The handsome 35-year-old would later claim the world record for trekking by foot through "unexplored, uncharted portions of Africa, South and Central America and Mexico."

Socialites were atwitter when newspapers reported that Millward took out a marriage license on December 10.  But almost immediately, puzzling developments ignited a flurry of rumors.  On December 12, The New York Times reported, "No announcement was made yesterday to clear the secrecy which surrounds the plans for the marriage of Russell Hastings Millward, the young American explorer, and Miss Madelaine Ethel Sylvester...although two days have now elapsed since Mr. Millward took out a marriage license."  According to scuttlebutt, the article said, "he had left for British Honduras."  Another rumor said the couple had already been married.  At the Dorset apartment, a family member declined "to confirm or deny the marriage."

The following day, The Syracuse Herald raised doubts that the marriage would happen.  "Deep-dyed mystery surrounds the hasty exit from this city made on Tuesday evening by Russell Hastings Milward [sic], a young explorer and archaeologist, only a few hours after taking out a license to wed Miss Madeline [sic] E. Sylvester."  The article said Madeleine "declares that her fiance has merely 'run out of town' for a few days to attend to business matters."  Millward's friends, however, "say that Millward is now on his way to Central America for a three years' stay."  

A detail in The Syracuse Herald proved a significant hint.  Millward's mother told a reporter that she was "greatly disturbed and puzzled" regarding the engagement.  She was under the impression her son was engaged to Grace Rucker of Washington D.C.  As it turned, neither of the recent debutantes snagged the intrepid explorer.  Millward married Edna Pearl Boyden of Boston on August 27, 1914.

Madeleine E. Sylvester, New York Herald, June 23, 1911 (copyright expired)

Madeleine beat her former fiancé to the altar, however.  On June 25, 1913, she entered the newsroom of the New York Herald and declared she had eloped with Charles Everett Doll.  She explained that while dining at Delmonico's two weeks earlier, "Charlie" dared her to marry him.  "Away we went in an automobile--it must have been after nine o'clock at night--got some one that looks after the marriage licenses, you know, and he promised to keep it a secret.  We were married that night."

Not surprisingly, other wealthy residents at the time were less colorful than Madeleine Ethel Sylvester.  Among the Arnolds' neighbors were Hermann Runkel and his wife, the former Victoria Lopez.  Born in New Orleans in 1853 (where he and Virginia married), Runkel arrived in New York in 1869.  The following year he and his brother, Louis, founded the candy and chocolate manufacturing firm, Runkel Brothers.  Hermann was highly involved in Jewish charities and was a director of the Hebrew Infant Asylum.

Around the outbreak of World War I, Runkel fell ill.  The 65-year-old died here on March 29, 1918 "after a long illness," according to The Evening Post.   Later, the New York Herald reported that Victoria inherited most of Runkel's estate, "estimated at close to one million dollars."

Residents of the Dorset maintained a small staff, as reflected in a help-wanted ad in the New York Herald on January 23, 1921:

Cook--Good cook wanted, cooking and light housework; French butler kept.  Call Monday or Tuesday, 9 to 10 or 5 to 6, at 150 West 79th st., sixth floor.

The mention of "French butler kept" meant that he lived with the family.

Living here at the time was the Frederick Gerken family.  Gerken was a real estate developer, perhaps best remembered for erecting the Gerken Building in 1895 on Chambers and West Broadway, designed by George Edward Harding & Gooch.  Following his father's death in 1920, Frederick Gerken, Jr. remained here with his mother.  Gerken, Jr. had graduated from the Columbia Law School in 1914.  Despite his law degree, in 1918 he was made president of The Derf Manufacturing Company, Inc.  

Harry A. Cohen and his wife suffered an unspeakable tragedy on March 29, 1923.  The couple had a 20-month-old son, Kenneth.  On that afternoon, Mrs. Cohen left the Dorset with Kenneth's "nurse girl," as described by The New York Times.  The article said Mrs. Cohen, "planned to take the bus across town to visit friends, but she walked south on Amsterdam Avenue as far as Seventy-eighth Street, playing with the child."  

Mrs. Cohen waved to her son as she stepped onto the bus.  At that instant, the horse attached to a Sheffield Farms Company at the curb, "became frightened and, despite the chained wheels, started forward," as reported by The New York Times.  It crashed into the wagon of the New York Pie Baking Company.  As Mrs. Cohen looked on, the second horse, "became unmanageable and started for the sidewalk.  The baby still was waving its good-byes when shrieks of others gave warning of the danger."  The nurse tried to swing the baby carriage out of the way, but it was too late.  The article said, "The carriage was overturned, throwing the baby to the street and an instant later the hoof of the horse crushed his skull."  

Among the Cohens' wealthy residents were Maurice W. Levy and his wife, the former Sarah Kohn.  Levy's biography reads like an adventure novel.  Born on September 16, 1845 in Alsace-Lorraine, he came to America at the age of 11.  The New York Times recalled, "He went to California by sailboat and across the Isthmus in the first year the railroad was opened."  He studied at the University of California, and in 1889 moved to Kansas "where he became a pioneer in the Arkansas Valley at Wichita," said the newspaper.  There he became president of the Wichita National Bank and the first president of the Kansas Bankers' Association."  

While in Kansas, Levy was active in politics, partners with Jay Gould in the building of Kansas railroads, and was president of the Wichita School Board.  He relocated to New York City in 1905.  He and Sarah maintained a summer home in West End, New Jersey. 

Kansas was never far from the minds of the Levys.  On March 9, 1923, for instance, The New York Times reported, "A card party for the benefit of the Kansas dormitory in the National Navy Club...will be given by the Kansas Women's Club next Wednesday afternoon at the home of Mrs. M. W. Levy, 150 West Seventy-ninth Street."

The Levys were at the New Jersey residence when Maurice W. Levy died on July 11, 1929.  Living in the Dorset apartment at the time was one of the three sons, Guy W. Levy.  The New York Sun reported that Maurice left Sarah "an estate of $1,022,827."  (The figure would translate to more than $18 million today.)

In the meantime, Herman Plaut was the president of L. Plaut & Co., Inc., which manufactured electric lighting fixtures.  He was a director in numerous other corporations, as well.  His wife was the former Laura Wile.

Laura employed a new maid in the spring of 1924.  The girl arrived on May 31, dropped her suitcase in the maid's room at 8:00, and started to work, not taking time to unpack.  Soon afterward, Herman left for work and the Plaut's daughter went shopping.  Laura walked into the bedroom and immediately noticed that her jewel case was missing from her dressing table.  The New York Times said it contained, "several valuable diamond rings, a lavaliere, bar pins, watches and bracelets."  The article explained, "She had worn some of her jewelry at a dinner the night before and expected to use it again that night." 

Laura rang the bell for the maid, but there was no answer.  "She then called for the cook.  But the cook had not seen the maid either."  After having been in her new position only for an hour, the maid and the jewels "valued at more than $25,000" were missing.  Detectives said, "A black hat, a coat, and a suit case filled with clothes were found in the new maid's room."  The girl, who had no criminal record, had spirited away with jewelry worth $445,000 in today's terms.   Detectives believed that, "the jewels, within easy access, were too great a temptation for the young woman," reported The Times.

In 1937, during the midst of the Great Depression, the esteemed architectural firm Boak & Paris, Inc. was commissioned to remodel the Dorset.  The renovations resulted in six apartments per floor.

One hundred and fifteen years after Franklin Henry Giddings swapped his Victorian brownstone for a luxury apartment, little has changed to the exterior of the Dorset.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for requesting this post.

photographs by the author

The Lost Unity Synagogue - 130-132 West 79th Street

 

photograph by Wurts Bros. from The Architect, November 1928.

The synagogue of Congregation Peni-El, incorporated in 1906, stood at 527 West 147th Street.  Two decades after its formation, as the character of Harlem underwent change, its members were moving to the Upper West Side.  In response, in May 1927, the congregation acquired vintage structures on West 79th Street, including the quirky Bonheur Studio buildings.  The following month, architect Walter S. Schneider filed plans for a new synagogue.  In July, Peni-El merged with Mt. Zion Congregation, which was also located in Harlem.  The combination resulted in Unity Synagogue.  

On August 13, 1927, the New York Evening Post reported that the structure would include "an auditorium seating 2,000 people, with a combination platform and stage, which can be utilized for lectures, cinema productions and theatrical performances."  Walter S. Schneider's design was a medley of styles.  "The temple is to be a combination of Persian, Byzantine and Coptic architectural forms and ornamentation," said the article.

The façade would be clad in buff and brown stone, its design dominated by a massive stained glass window above the entrance.  Schneider originally planned to crown the full-height, tower-like piers on either side with "large ornamental dome[s]...mounted by large copper minarets, to be illuminated at night by flood lights."  That plan was later scaled down.

On May 13, 1928, as construction neared completion, around 1,000 people filed into the auditorium for the consecration of the cornerstone.  Among the speakers was Attorney General Albert Ottinger, who commented on the "striking beauty" of the new temple.  The New York Times reported, "The synagogue, he said, was more than a monument of stone and proved that the Jew was devoted to the highest ideals of mankind."

Construction was completed in September 1928.  On September 7 The New York Times reported, "The edifice cost more than $800,000 and when the parish house is completed it will bring the total cost to about $1,000,000."  The total outlay would equal about 15 times that much today.

The New York Evening Post described the auditorium as being "surmounted by [a] large ornamental dome, pierced with decorative grilles in ornamental plaster."  The platform of the altar and ark were "of marble and mosaic."  The journalist said, "Practically the entire illumination of the auditorium will be from concealed sources."  The building included a small memorial chapel for smaller services, a "spacious study for the ministers," a meeting room and the superintendent's living quarters.  In the basement was a Sunday school for up to 400 children and the kitchen.

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Among the speakers at the opening on September 7, 1928 was Mayor James Walker.  He said in part, "Some people are trampling on each other in an effort to get to Heaven.  they act as if they thought there were not enough seats there for everybody."  But, he insisted, "Religion will be preached here, and understanding, not strife and hate.  No word of bigotry will come from this pulpit and no sensationalism and scandal will be heard here."

The formal dedication of the structure would not come for another seven months, in April 1929.  Later that year the congregation received an impressive gift.  On November 1 the New York Evening Post reported, "At a special good-will service to be held this evening in Unity Synagogue...America's Good-Will Union will present an American flag donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.  Mayor Walker will deliver the principal address."

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The enormous cost of Unity Synagogue's opulent temple was its undoing.  Six months after the official dedication, the Stock Market crashed, initiating the Great Depression.  Unity Synagogue was forced to place sell building at auction in September 1930.  It was purchased by Mount Neboh Congregation, which re-dedicated it in October.  Founded in 1907, like Peni-El and Mt. Zion, it had worshiped in Harlem, on West 150 Street.

On May 17, 1935 Mount Neboh Congregation installed its new rabbi, Abraham L. Feinberg.  The new leader had a colorful past.  Feinberg had been assistant rabbi at Temple Israel until 1930, when he resigned to pursue an operatic career.  He received a scholarship to the Julliard School of Music, and then studied at the American Conservatory in Paris.  Upon returning to America, he performed under the name of Anthony Frome, making his radio debut in 1932.  He gave his last radio performance on April 7, 1935, one month before returning to religious life with Mount Neboh Congregation.

Feinberg, as Anthony Frome, posed for a publicity shot.  original source unknown

Rabbi Feinberg was fiery and opinionated, The New York Times decades later saying, "He was always ready to march, lend his name or send a telegram if there was a protest for disarmament or for a treaty on a nuclear test ban, or against racism in South Africa, radical injustice in America and United States policy in Vietnam."  But Vietnam and nuclear tests were far in the future.  A more imminent threat was rising in Europe.

On May 20, 1938, he warned his congregation "if Japan absorbs China, the entire political and economic balance of the world will tip toward tyranny."  He recommended that the United States should help China both financially and with the sale of arms.  "If china wins," he said, "a bulwark will be established against the 'holy alliance' of Japan, Germany and Italy, the onward course of dictatorship will be checked, and new hope will be inspired."

Later that year, in November, he made a tour on the Pacific Coast to raise funds for the aid of German Jews.  He telegraphed his sermons to Mount Neboh Congregation where they were read from the pulpit.  His words, read on November 18, 1938, were clear concerning the urgency of the situation.  He said in part:

The Christian outcry against Nazi brutality strengthens more than ever the ages-old Jewish faith in the final triumph of the best in man over the beast in man...While Hitler makes hatred the basic policy of a powerful Government and inflames one race against another, the world of religion has been reconciled and closes its ranks together for the preservation of human decency.

The 36-year-old rabbi left Mount Neboh Congregation in December that year, after accepting an offer from Temple Emanuel in Denver, Colorado.  His resignation ended a short but distinctive period in the congregation's history.

Rabbi Feinberg had initiated a tradition, however, that continued under his successor, Rabbi Samuel M. Segal.  That was the annual memorial service for fallen policemen.  Each year a procession of 300 policemen marched from the 68th Street Police Station to Mount Neboh Congregation.  Rabbi Segal shared Feinberg's passionate feelings about Nazism, and took advantage of the memorial service on November 24, 1940 to decry Hitler.

"This is not a Jewish war," he told the assembled policemen.  "The Jewish people do not seek war."  The New York Times reported, "Dr. Segal declared that the tragedy of Hitler's rise to world power was that the West did not realize his war was not only against the Jews, but against democracy itself."

Rabbi Samuel M. Segal stepped down in 1961.  Over the next decade the membership waned and the once-prosperous congregation developed financial problems.  In 1979 the building was sold to The Corporation of Seventh Day Adventists.  The group resold it just two years later, to developer Alexander Edelman.

On January 12, 1982 the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building an individual landmark, calling it "one of the important synagogue buildings on Manhattan's Upper West Side" and praising Schneider's design as "distinctive."

But exactly one year to the day later, the LPC voted to allow Edelman to demolish the landmarked structure.  The New York Times explained the designation "had caused the owner a financial hardship that could be relieved only by allowing the demolition of the building."  Ironically, a spokesperson for the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Dorothy Marie Miner, stressed that the landmark status had not been rescinded.  "It will be, until the end, a designated landmark."  The commission's chairman, Kent L. Barwick, added, "It is unfortunate, but ultimately only fair, that we now issue this notice to proceed."

In place of Walter S. Schneider's "distinctive" and "important" synagogue structure Edelman erected a 19-story apartment building, The Austin.

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The Lost Bonheur Studios - 132 and 132-A West 79th Street

 

The Architectural Record captioned this photograph "An Amusing Street Front."  Note the free-standing porch newels with no apparent purpose.  January, 1903 (copyright expired)

Real estate developers Leon Marie and Richard G. Platt purchased the vacant parcel at 132 West 79th Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, from the William B. Trowbridge estate on June 28, 1894.  They paid $5,000, or around $155,000 in today's money, for the plot.  Its 25-foot-width was perfect for an upscale dwelling--the type that was filling the streets of the Upper West Side at the time.

But Marine & Platt had a startling plan in mind--two skinny, 12.5-foot-wide studio buildings.  In splitting the lot, they would give one the address of 132-A.  And if erecting such narrow structures was startling, their architecture would be even more so.

It is unclear who designed the buildings.  The Architectural Record said that viewers "are apt to agree...in finding it 'Philadelphia.'"  The article added, "Without doubt the name of Mr. [Wilson] Eyre or Mr. [Frank Miles] Day will occur to the experienced New York observer of this New York street front more readily than that of any local architect."  (The architects were well known for their rather eccentric domestic designs in Philadelphia.)  And in 1897, two years after construction was completed, the New-York Tribune attributed the work to Eyre & Day.

Decades later, writing in The New York Times on August 26, 2011, Christopher Gray disagreed, saying "The building permit and published architectural literature offer no evidence that the project was anything other than the work of [Clarence] True."  But the bizarre mish-mash of styles--diplomatically called "eccentric"--have no similarities to Clarence True's sophisticated designs.

Whoever designed them, they drew attention.  The New York Times described the style as "Turko-Venetian-Renaissance" and hinted that the mysterious architect was "an American who had spent many years among the Turks."  Critic Montgomery Schuler said, "Nobody can pass it without looking at it.  Nobody can look at it without promptly making up some sort of notion about its merit."

The mirror-image buildings were five stories tall, their side-by-side entrances capped by a stone panel and with a mosaic arch in red, green, blue and gold tiles.  On either side were storybook oriels with pointed-arch, stained glass transoms.  The architect laid the six-over-six double hung panes of the second floor on their sides--for no apparent reason other than effect.  The top floor was designed in the emerging Arts & Crafts style under a deeply-overhanging tiled cornice atop projecting wooden beams.

Montgomery Schuyler, writing in The Architectural Record in January 1903, said, "But it is evident that a skilled and practised designer has been having a great deal of fun," adding, "It is really the 'refined vaudeville' of architecture."  The New-York Tribune approved, saying, "The artistic medievalism" of the structures "present a striking contrast to the sombre modern conventionalism of the brownstone dwellings by which they are flanked." 

Mrs. Olive Allen Dexter leased both buildings, operating 132-A as an upscale boarding house, and establishing the Bonheur Studio next door.  Five artists lived in the Bonheur Studio (along with her), and art classes were taught by day.  She explained to a reporter from the New-York Tribune in April 1897, "Here we have lessons in the history of art and in French and Italian."  There was also a "studio life class," one in illustration and another in landscape painting.  The journalist wrote, "The main studio is a charming room at the top of the house, off which opens a little Italian loge, the like of which is not often seen in New-York."

Mrs. Dexter hosted a sale of artworks for the benefit of The Daisy Fields Home for Crippled Children on April 2, 1897.  The New-York Tribune said, "One has a right to expect that something unusual will come out of a house like that.  The expectants yesterday were not disappointed."

The article noted, "The walls of the little parlor and dining-room were hung with the sketches that are offered for sale.  There were several small landscapes in oil by William Merritt Post, done with the artist's characteristic touch."  Among the other artists represented were Bruce Crane, Frank Russell Green, Walter Satterlee and Carroll Beckwith.

Patrons browse among the artworks in a charity sale in the Bonheur Studios in April 1, 1897.  The New-York World, April 2, 1897 (copyright expired)

Although the name remained, the days of artists and art classes were over at the turn of the century.  An advertisement in The New York Times on March, 8, 1901 offered, "Rare Opportunity.  Physician or Dentist--First-floor bachelor apartment house, high class; elaborately furnished; private street entrance; other suites.  Bonheur Studios. 132 West 79th St."

The week after that advertisement appeared, on March 17, the "handsome apartment house," at 132-A was raided.  The New York Times reported that along with the five men arrested, "A large quantity of chips and a faro layout were seized in the place."  In court, Justice Jerome charged, "These men were playing with forty-dollar and fifty-dollar chips as if they were millionaires."

Olive Allen Dexter was quick to react.  On April 3, 1901, she sued the newspapers who ran the story for publishing "false and defamatory matter."  Her defense insisted that her boarding houses "were of unquestioned repute and standing as a first-class establishment, and her said premises were known as the 'Bonheur Studio.'"

Despite the scandalous publicity, the two buildings continued to attract respectable residents.  On November 13, 1911, for instance, the New York Herald reported, "Mmes. Betty Brooks and H. Webster-Marshall gave the first of a series of at homes on Wednesday evening, at No. 132 West Seventy-ninth street.  Both women were residents of New Zealand, and are about to organize a club of those who have lived in New Zealand and Australia."

Rev. Henry Frank and his wife, Roberta, purchased 132-A around 1909.  Frank was the rector of the Metropolitan Independent Church, which met in the Berkeley Theatre on Fifth Avenue at 44th Street.  He was better known, however, as an author and lecturer.

Twentieth Century Magazine, September 1910 (copyright expired)

When the United States entered World War I, Jane Bolard Sutherland, who lived in 132 West 79th Street, tendered unusual support.  On June 29, 1917 the New York Tribune reported, "The navy yesterday began to hunt for the young men who have passed their examinations for the service but have failed to return and sign up.  A car was volunteered for this purpose by Miss Jane Boland Sutherland...She and Lieutenant Commander Taylor, in charge of navy recruiting headquarters at 34 East Twenty-third Street, and two blue jackets comprised the search party."

That was not the extent of her support.  The Sun reported that on June 12 she "donated her two touring cars for ambulance work in France and volunteered her services...at the same time offering to recruit a regiment of American women to go to France and drive their own cars."

Mrs. Gladdens Goddard lived at 132 West 79th Street until April 15, 1919, when she moved to 104 East 81st Street.  She carried her jewelry box to the new address, not trusting it with the movers.  That was understandable, considering that it held items given to her by operatic tenor Enrico Caruso, said to be worth $1,000--about 15 times that much today.

Just as she walked in the door of her new apartment, the telephone rang.  The New York Herald reported, "dropping the jewel box on the stairs, Mrs. Goodard hastened to answer it.  When she had finished her conversation the jewels were gone."  Her distrust of the movers was well founded.  When police found the jewelry in the possession of Julius Berg, he explained he had bought them from George Grossman--the man in charge of the moving van.  Grossman insisted he had found the box and did not know who it belonged to.  Mrs. Goddard, now once again in possession of her valuables, did not press charges.

The twin buildings survived until 1927, when they were demolished to be replaced with Unity Synagogue, designed by Walter S. Schneider.  

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

That structure was replaced in 1988 by a 19-story apartment building, The Austin.

image via cityrealty.com

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The Dr. Wm. Holmes Stewart House - 222 West 79th Street

Brothers William W. and Thomas H. Hall were prolific developers on the Upper West Side in the late 19th century.  In 1894 they completed an ambitious project--a row of eleven houses on the south side of West 79th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.  Designed by the firm of Thom & Wilson, the Renaissance Revival style residences were 18-feet wide.  Although slightly narrower than most upscale homes they were intended for moneyed owners.

Sadly abused today, the houses still hint at the row's original appearance.

Among them was No. 222 West 79th Street.  Both the basement and parlor levels were faced in limestone, while the two upper floors were clad in buff-colored Roman brick.  A stone balustrade crowned the rounded bay at the parlor level and the entrance was ornamented with elaborate foliate carving.  The windows of the second floor wore carved stone architrave surrounds, and the center opening of the third floor mimicked a Venetian balcony with engaged columns and an expertly-carved fan within the tympanum.  Celtic-style stone carving outlined blind panels below the metal cornice.  A half-story fourth floor was unseen from the street.

On November 16, 1894 The Evening Post reported "Wm. H. and M. T. Hall have sold the 3-1/2 story 18-foot dwelling, No. 222 West 79th st., for about $36,000."  The price would amount to about $1.1 million today.

The buyers, George L. and Isabella M. Avery, did not intend to live in the new house.  Real estate operators, they bought and sold properties, some of which, like this one, they leased.  Their well-heeled tenant in 1900 found himself on the wrong side of the law after a night of imbibing.

On March 29 the New York Herald reported that Daniel T. Gerrie had been drinking the night before with two companions in a downtown restaurant.  The article said Gerrie "was well dressed and gave his business as 'a gentleman.'"  By the time they decided to have dinner, the men were noticeably intoxicated.  "Their condition apparently made them undesirable patrons, and the proprietor refused to serve them dinner."

The three gentlemen then "upset the table, broke the crockery and otherwise disturbed the equilibrium of the other diners."  All three men were arrested but the proprietor pressed charges only against Gerrie.

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Soon afterward the house was leased to Samuel S. Shubert.  His was a remarkable rags-to-riches success story.  Born in Poland in 1878, his family settled in Syracuse, New York in 1881 where other Polish Jewish families were living.  Because of his father's alcoholism, the family struggled financially and while very young Sam was working on the street as a shoeshine boy.

The course of his life took a decisive turn when he landed a job as an usher in a theater.  By the time he was 18 he managed a road company, and not long afterward leased a theater and then another.  He brought his brothers, Lee and Jacob into the business and by the time he leased No. 222 he owned or controlled approximately two dozen playhouses in America and two in England.  

Shubert moved his mother into the 79th Street house, a striking change for the women who had struggled amidst dingy surroundings and with little money for so many years.

On June 17, 1905 the Chicago Eagle reported tragic news--among the 22 persons killed in "the terrible railroad disaster near Harrisburg, Pa." was 23-year-old Sam S. Shubert.  The young man's rise from near poverty to a nationally-known theatrical manager smacked of a Horatio Algier story.  "Sixteen years ago he was selling papers on the streets of Syracuse, N. Y. and at the time there was nothing to distinguish him from the hundreds of other newsboys in that city," said the newspaper.  His amazing, 15-year career generated an estate of $500,000--about $14.7 million today.

Shubert's funeral was held in the 79th Street house on May 14.  The New York Press reported on the quiet service, noting "It was the family's earnest desire that there was no out-turning of a great number of mourners, for it is seldom there has been such a genuine and widespread sorrow among theatre folk as that caused by the killing of the young manager."  The article said that "Besides the members of the family...only the men--about twenty of them--most closely associated with him in theatrical affairs, attended the funeral service...in his mother's home at No. 222 West Seventy-ninth street."

Samuel S. Shubert from the collection of the New York Public Library

The Morning Telegraph mentioned the hundreds of letters and telegrams that arrived at the residence, "from managers and chorus girls, from stars and stage hands."  Among those who sent respects were renowned managers like Fred and David Belasco, Charles B. Dillingham and Daniel Frohman; and stage stars like John Drew, Ethel Barrymore and Julia Marlow.

On March 6, 1906 the Averys sold No. 222 to Dr. Alexis M. Leon.  Born in New York City in 1857 he had graduated from Manhattan College in 1875 and from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1878.  By now he was an attending physician at St. Francis' Hospital.  But like the Averys, Leon purchased the property for investment rather than for his own residence.  

He leased the house to George C. Foster and his wife, the former Lucrecia M. Wood, who was known as Lulu.  Like Shubert, Foster had a considerable fortune and registered his yacht at this address for years.  Sadly, the house was the scene of a second funeral on September 5, 1911, three days after Lulu's death.

George continued to lease the house until the fall of 1912 when Alexis Leon sold it to another physician, Dr. William Holmes Stewart.  Stewart was born in Syracuse, New York in 1868 and received his degree from New York University in 1891.  He and his wife, the former Florence Maud Morris had a son, Leslie Morris, a daughter, Dorothy Holmes Stewart.  With the outbreak of World War I Stewart joined the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army, earning the rank of major.  

Although the war would not end for another month, in October 1918 Stewart was back home for the marriage of his daughter.   Dorothy's wedding to Lt. Henry Cunningham, Jr. took place in the Church of the Holy Trinity on Lenox Avenue on October 14.  The location and date of the wedding was important.  Not only had her parents been married in the church on that date 22-years earlier, but it was also the 44th wedding anniversary of Barbara's maternal grandparents.

Barbara Stewart on her wedding day. The Sun, October 20, 1918 (copyright expired) 

The New York Herald remarked "Lace handed down from both grandmother and mother of the bride adorned her gown and formed part of the veiling."  The guests traveled downtown to the 79th Street house for the reception.

Dr. Stewart was a roetgenologist, meaning in laymen's terms that he was a pioneer in the use of x-rays to diagnose and treat diseases.  On October 23, 1919 the New-York Tribune reported "Dr. William H. Stewart and Dr. Arthur Stern demonstrated at Lenox Hill Hospital a new method of the use of the X-ray in diagnosing diseases of the gall bladder and the abdomen.  The method of these surgeons consisted of injecting oxygen into the abdominal cavity."

Stewart wrote many articles on roentgen diagnosis and became a director of x-ray laboratories in at least six New York City hospitals.  His careful experimentation was exemplified in his using sausage skin rather than living patients when exploring improved x-ray treatments of the esophagus.

By 1936 the West 79th Street was becoming increasingly commercialized.  That year Dr. Stewart commissioned architects Max Hirsch and Henry Z. Harrison to alter the basement level to a store.   Three years later the Stewarts apparently totally surrendered and converted their home of two decades to commercial space in the former basement and parlor levels, and a single apartment each on the second and third floors, and one in the half-story.

The Stewarts retained ownership until 1946 when they sold the property to Joseph S. Ward.  The configuration of stores and apartments continued for decades.  In 1973 Clay Crafts opened, described by New York Magazine as "a new crafts shop" selling items hanging planters, vases and bowls.  The shop offered pottery classes as well.

That all changed in 1986 when the space above the store was converted to a single family triplex.  In 1992 the ground floor became a restaurant.  On December 11 The New York Times reported that Frank Valenza "who had the ultra-expensive Palace in the late 1970's, later Giogio, on Park Avenue South," had opened Restaurant Two Two Two.  Restaurant critic Bryan Miller commented "The town-house setting is warm and dignified, with oak-paneled walls, oil paintings, a polished wood floor with a marble inset, and adequately spaced tables."

Restaurant Two Two Two was a fixture for more than a decade.  Then in 2004 it made way for the Greek restaurant, Onera.  That was followed in 2007 by Kefi, another Greek eatery, owned by chef Michael Psilakis.

Of the eleven houses on Thom & Wilson's 1894 row, No. 222 is the most intact, giving us a good idea of what the block was like when well-to-do families populated the neighborhood.

photographs by the author