The Mary Hodson Francklyn House - 118 East 95th Street

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

image via the NYC Dept of Records and Information Services.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

photographs by the author

The 1922 West Side Meeting House - 550 Cathedral Parkway

photo by the author

After having moved several times since 1886, the Unity Congregational Society of New York purchased the five plots at 244-252 Cathedral Parkway (West 110th Street) between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway in 1921.  The firm of Hoppin & Koen was commissioned to design a church-and-community-house on the site.  Associate architect A. D. R. Sullivant was given the project.  His grand, initial design included a cupola reminiscent of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Sulllivant's 1921 rendering was more than twice the width of the subsequent building.  The Christian Register, June 16, 1921 (copyright expired)

But before ground was broken on June 2, 1921, the plans were grossly reduced.  Completed in 1922, Sullivant's dignified three-story, neo-Georgian-style edifice engulfed only two of the plots.  Above a limestone base, the upper floors were clad in red brick.  A centered, temple-like composition of double-height stone pilasters upholding a triangular pediment distinguished the upper sections.  (Sullivant's subdued Colonial design would reappear in a much more exuberant form in Thompson, Holmes & Converse's 1929 Tammany Hall on Union Square.)

On June 16, 1921, The Christian Register explained that the building would be called the West Side Meeting House for two reasons:

First, the name is in accord with the Pilgrim Congregational tradition of Unitarianism; second, it is planned to keep the building open throughout the week for any activity that tends to improve the personality of man, woman, or child.  Religion embraces not only the worship of God, but also the service of man.

To address the second reason, said the article, "religious, civic, educational, dramatic, literary, musical, recreational, and social gatherings will be held under church auspices and the building will therefore be a meeting-house--a house of meeting--for all who are seeking to build their own characters and to improve the neighborhood and the city."

The West Side Meeting House was completed in 1922.  In the basement was an auditorium-theater.  It was available for civic meetings and would become the home of the church's own theatrical troupe.

from Little Theatres, December 1923 (copyright expired)

Many mainstream Christians viewed Unitarianism sideways.  Its liberal doctrine included the belief in one God while denying the Trinity.  Its focus was on reason and tolerance over restricting creeds.  

Having a theater within the building offended many Christians, who still considered plays sinful.  Rev. Charles Francis Potter had to defend the theater in general.  In his sermon on April 22, 1923, he insisted, "There is more obscenity in the Bible than in any current New York play."

Born in 1885, Potter had degrees from Bucknell University, Brown University and Newton Theological Institution.  By the time the West Side Meeting House opened, science was making discoveries that fundamentalist preachers deemed heretical.  The well-educated and Modernist pastor Charles Potter went on the offensive.

Rev. Charles Francis Potter, Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography

On March 8, 1924, The Universalist Leader said he had initiated a Modernist Bible class, "whose teaching will be broadcast through the United States by radio at 8 p.m. every Sunday."  The article said it, "is intended to offset the attacks of the Fundamentalists, who have succeeded in excluding the teaching of science and evolution in regard to religion."  Potter told the reporter, "A faith that is disturbed by learning the facts of science is no real faith; it is largely prejudice and superstition."

The following year, Rev. Potter traveled to Dayton, Tennessee to advise Clarence Darrow in the famous Scopes Trial.  Potter was open about his disdain of the Fundamentalist Christians who had initiated the suit.  He scoffed that the "Holy Rollers" might introduced "a bill prohibiting the teaching of geography in public schools because the Bible indicates that the earth is flat."

Potter was replaced by the erudite Rev. Arthur Wakefield Slaten.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1916 with a thesis titled, "The Qualitive Use of Nouns in the Pauline Epistles, and Their Translation in the Revised Version."

In reporting on his first sermon, on October 19, 1925 The New York Times said, "Dr. Slaten is an advocate of Humanism, noting, "He was dismissed as professor of Biblical literature and Biblical education by [Rochester Theological Seminary] for heresy, based upon his book, 'What Jesus Taught.'"

Barnard Bulletin, November 13, 1925 (copyright expired)

The year before Rev. Slaten's appointment, the Meeting House Theater troupe was organized.  On October 16, 1926, The Billboard noted that it "has become favorably known for its good work during the last two seasons.  It has won twice successively the cup offered at the little theater tournament of the Metropolitan Federation."  The Meeting house Theater premiered Edna Ferber's $1,200 a Year on October 28 that year.

Like his predecessor, Slaten found himself defending the theater.  The following month, on November 28, he declared in his sermon, "a play is morally bad only when it represents life falsely."  Saying that plays were "valuable contributions to the study of human nature," he insisted, "In no one of these plays is vice made attractive, nor are the facts of life falsely presented."

Slaten continued to raise eyebrows among mainstream Christians.  In his sermon on January 2, 1927, he described the book of Genesis, "One of the folk-lore classics of the world's literature."

Rev. Slaten resigned in January 1929 "because of illness," according to his resignation letter.  Guest preachers took the pulpit of the West Side Unitarian Church for an extended period.

Two years later, the congregation merged with the Community Church and moved into its facility on Park Avenue and 34th Street.  In the meantime, the auditorium, known as the Community Church Centre, continued to be the scene of lectures and meetings.  On the evening of February 3, 1933, Dr. Gustav F. Beck addressed an audience of about 100 on the topic "A Philosopher's View of Immortality."  In discussing whether there was an afterlife, Beck said it "was a mystery which could not be proved or disproved."  The New York Times reported, "Several persons in the audience arose to give their views."

One man, who was around 55 years old, "jumped to his feet and, speaking with a foreign accent, started a fervent comparison of Oriental and Western philosophy," said the article.  The impassioned man contended, "When you are dead, you are dead.  If these were my last words, I would still maintain it."  Ironically, a few seconds later he grasped his chest and fell dead, apparently from a heart attack.

Frank Wilson headed the cast Black, which opened here on May 15, 1934.  His career had skyrocketed after starting out in vaudeville.  He was in the 1925 Broadway revival of The Emperor Jones, and was part of the original 1927 cast of Porgy.  Two years prior to his performance here, he made his film debut in The Girl from Chicago.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

The building was leased to Congregation Ramath Orah, a Modern Orthodox congregation.  It was founded in 1942 by Dr. Robert Serebrenick, who had been Grand Rabbi of Luxembourg from 1929 to 1940.  He had assisted approximately 250 Jews in escaping Luxembourg following the Nazi invasion in 1940.

A troubling incident here in 1944 was made even more so given Rabbi Serebrenick's background.  On April 12, The New York Times reported, "A swastika was found crudely painted on a wall outside the Congregation Ramath Orah at 550 West 110th Street yesterday morning."  The hateful graffiti was discovered by two police officers passing by in a patrol car.  The cops not only reported on the vandalism, but "then helped remove the marking with turpentine and a steel brush," said the article.  Rabbi Serebrenik was surprisingly charitable, saying he presumed "that children probably drew the symbol."

The following year, the congregation purchased the building.  The dedication ceremony was held on February 11, 1945.  Among the speakers was Edgar L. Nathan, the Manhattan Borough President.

Rabbi Robert Serebrenik died of a heart attack at the age of 62 on February 11, 1965.  In reporting his death, The New York Times recalled, "After the Nazis occupied [Luxembourg], he stayed on until 1941, when he was seized by the Gestapo and beaten unconscious.  After that attack he escaped by way of Lisbon and came to this country."

photograph by Beyond My Ken

Congregation Ramath Orah continues to occupy the building.  Other than the stained-glass windows added in 1955, it survives essentially unchanged after nearly a century.

The Lost Julius W. Tiemann House - 2648 Broadway

 

When Herman Newell Tiemann (son of Julius) took this photograph in 1901, the end of venerable house was near.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

Sprawling summer estates dotted the upper portion of Manhattan Island in the 18th century.  Others were established following the Revolution, like that of Archibald Gracie on the East Side, begun in 1798.  Around the same time, a dignified, two-story frame country house was erected on the Bloomingdale Road far north of the city.  Its Federal style architecture included a raised basement, columned veranda, and an octagonal cupula atop the slightly hipped roof.

An advertisement in the New York Herald on September 19, 1854 read:

To Let--A large house and four acres of land, on Bloomingdale road, between 100th and 101st streets, and possession given immediately.

The tenant filled the house with elegant furnishings.  When the family moved out in April 1868, an auction was held of "all the magnificent household furniture in the mansion," as worded by the announcement.  Among the items were "rich rosewood and walnut Chamber [i.e. bedroom] and Parlor suits; Velvet and Brussels Carpets, Pier Mirrors, rosewood Piano," and such.

At the time of the ad, Julius William Tiemann was a partner in in D. F. Tiemann & Co., founded by his father Johan Anton (known as Anthony) Tiemann in 1807.  The firm operated the Manhattan Paint & Color Works near the Hudson River around 120th Street.  Born in 1817, Tiemann grew up in the family's town house at 40 East 23rd Street and in their summer home in Manhattanville, which was not far from the plant.

The Illustrated American Biograph, 1852 (copyright expired)

Julius W. Tiemann married Marie Antoinette Megie on March 28, 1860.  The couple would have 12 children.  Tiemann purchased the Bloomingdale Road estate while retaining their town home at 125 West 43rd Street.

Outside of the paint business, Tiemann was highly involved in civic affairs.  He was, for instance, the president of the Twenty-second Ward Council of Political Reform in 1871.  In August 1881, he co-founded The Drug, Paint and Chemical Exchange, described by New Remedies as "a new organization in this city to facilitate the business of these allied industries."

By the mid-1890s, the Tiemann's residence that once sat upon four acres was surrounded by business and residential buildings.  Around 1896, Tiemann sold the property to N. Reynal, who lived in White Plains, New York.  He converted the house to The Arbor, an inn and meeting place. 

The Arbor was the gathering spot for political dinners and meetings.  On October 30, 1899, for instance, the New-York Tribune reported that the Independent Club of the 21st District would hold a dinner that night.  The New York Times noted, "The Rev. Dr. John P. Peters, pastor of St. Michael's Episcopal Church, and Acting President of the Club, presided."  The location was highly convenient to Reverend Peters, since he listed his address here, apparently renting rooms upstairs.  (The same year that that dinner was held, the former Bloomingdale Road was renamed Broadway and The Arbor received the address of 2648 Broadway.)

Decades after the Tiemann house was demolished, filmmaker Stanley Kubrick painted a romanticized conception.  This black-and-white depiction was published in Look magazine's article "Art by Celebrities."  via the Museum of the City of New York.

Other organizations that used The Arbor as their headquarters were The Speakers' Club and The Citizens' Union.  When the latter held its convention on October 1, 1901, The New York Times remarked that it "was held at 'The Arbor,' 2,648 Broadway.  There were about sixty delegates present, and reporters were barred."

The end of the line for the venerable house came in 1907.  On January 9, The New York Times reported that the Franklin Building Company had leased the blockfront on the "east side of Broadway, between 100th and 101st Streets" for 21 years.  The newly formed company "will erect stores and offices on the Broadway front and a garage on the remainder of the plot" on the site, said the article.

Those resultant structures were apparently what were known as "taxpayers"--most often low rise, temporary buildings erected to garner enough rental income to pay the property taxes.  They were demolished in 1925 and replaced with a 15-story and penthouse apartment building.

Julius Boekell's 1877 238 East 6th Street

 

photograph by Anthony Bellov

Although Frederick Pflueger was a partner with his brother Christopher in the real estate development firm C. & F. Pflueger, he and his wife, Annie, often operated on their own.  That was the case in September 1876, when Frederick purchased the one-story store building at the southwest corner of Second Avenue and East 6th Street.

Pflueger hired architect Julius Boekell to design two flat-and-store buildings on the site.  The slightly smaller structure at 238 East 6th Street shared all the decorative elements of the corner building, other than its quoins.  Boekell designed the buildings in the popular neo-Grec style.  But his treatment of the openings was both striking and surprising.

Boekell forewent the paired cornice corbels and stone quoins in the corner building in designing 238 East 6th Street.  image via apartments.com

Typical of the neo-Grec style, the windows at each floor were connected by stone bands.  Their earred lintels were treated differently at each level and, unexpectedly, did not get less striking at each subsequent floor.  Those of the second floor were influenced by ancient Greece, with classical triangular pediments flanked by acroteria.  The third floor lintels were capped by peaked molded cornices with incised decorations.  The third and fourth floor lintels were only slightly less impressive, each having molded cornices and incised designs.

The Greek-inspired treatment of the second floor lintels was highly unusual in the neo-Grec style.  (Note that the original six-over-six wooden sashes survive in the hallway windows.)  photo by Anthony Bellov

Two stores flanked the entrance of 238 East 6th Street.  Although the building sat within Kleindeutschland, or Little Germany, the surnames of the early residents reflected a mix of Irish, German, French and other ethnicities.  Among the first residents were Edward Bucherer, a cabinetmaker; George Clemence, a plumber; Thomas Dougherty, who was a "shoer" in a stable; Mary A. Kiers, Mary Lehner, and Mary Shaw, all widows who made their living by sewing; clerk Christopher Lutchen; publisher John H. Phillipp; and butcher Alexander Zadig and his wife, Minnie.

Not everything was going well within the Zadig apartment.  On August 8, 1879, the New-York Tribune reported that Alexander had committed his wife "to a lunatic asylum yesterday."  Whether Minnie actually had mental problems will never be known, but a common method of discarding a problematic relative or getting control of their money was to have them committed.

A fascinating resident living here as early as 1894 was Dr. C. W. Doehring.  On July 25, that year, the New Haven Morning Journal and Courier reported that the Poppowitsch Electric Company would be moving its factory from Brooklyn to New Haven.  "Dr. Doehring, 238 East Sixth street, New York, is the architect of the new factory," said the article.  And four months later, on November 10, The New York Times reported that he had co-founded the Doehring and Van Fire-proofing Company, "to construct fire-proof work in New-York City."

The General Slocum disaster in June 1904--an excursion steamboat which burned and sank in the East River--wiped out more than 1,000 residents of the neighborhood.  The German community greatly abandoned the Lower East Side.  The neighborhood around 238 East 6th Street increasingly took on an Eastern European flavor.

In the pre-World War I years, a "Russian and Slavish" print shop, as listed in The American Printer, occupied one of the storefronts.  In 1917, the Russian language newspaper Russky Golos (The Russian Voice) was founded.  It was published from the rear of the printing shop.  

Among the newspaper's early editorials warned the world about the new regime in Russia.  Published on November 10, 1917, it said in part, 

The Bolsheviki plotters, harping on the strings of liberty and equality, crying for peace and subjugation to Germany, are not less dangerous than the Black Hundred, "the Bolsheviki from the right," who are attempting to bring Russian back under the yoke of absolutism.

In the early Depression years, the Cosmopolitan Credit Union occupied the other storefront.  Russky Golos moved its operation slightly east to 130 East 6th Street by the mid-1940s.  

The East Village neighborhood had greatly changed by the 1970s.  Baby boomers were now nearing their 30s, but had not totally abandoned their hippie lifestyles of the 1960s.  Living here in 1973 was 27-year-old Vincent Cobb.  On the afternoon of May 13 that year, two Montauk policemen were alerted by "the notes of a flute being played in the nearby woods," reported The East Hampton Star.  They arrested Cobb and three others and "seized packages of marijuana, hashish, LSD, AST and tranquilizers."

In 1977, Leonard Gruen worked "out of a small, unpolished storefront at 238 East Sixth Street," as described by The New York Times.  With assistance from his wife, Gruen used chain links and iron rods to fashion "spidery immobiles" (or window guards) that he custom-made to fit his customers.  The article said, "It's a far cry from New Orleans wrought-iron grillwork, but it seems to do the job for the wrought-up, crime-sensitive resident."  Occupying the other store at the time was the bookstore Howeria.

In the 1980s, O-Zora occupied one of the storefronts.  Run by Japanese-born Jiro Tusji and his wife, it offered Japanese wares and tools, and work clothing.

photograph by Anthony Bellov

The ground floor of Julius Boekell's 1877 structure has been totally altered.  But, happily, the upper floors, with his compelling window treatments, survive intact.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The 1910 Mills & Gibb Buildilng - 300 Park Avenue South

 

photograph by "Eden, Janine and Jim"

On February 22, 1910, two days after its final service was celebrated, demolition began on the 1855 Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church.  The previous month, The American Carpet & Upholstery Journal had reported that, "The well-known importing and jobbing firm of Mills & Gibb" had purchased the church property at the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and 22nd Street "for the erection of a sixteen-story building for their exclusive use."

Philo L. Mills and John Gibb established the firm in 1865.  It dealt in dry goods with a focus on lace and linen.  Saying that the new building "will be in the heart of the new business district," The American Carpet & Upholstery Journal said it "means additional room for the expanding business."

The original concept of a 16-story structure had been scaled back by May when The American Carpet & Upholstery Journal reported, "The new building of Mills & Gibb...will be an imposing fourteen-story affair.  The architects are Godwin, Stearritt & Van Bleck."  The journalist had grossly gotten the firm's name wrong.  The architect was the respected firm of Starrett & Van Vleck.

Completed in 1910, the Mills & Gibb Building's tripartite Renaissance Revival design included a three-story rusticated limestone base.  Stores sat behind a double-height arcade along the ground floor.  Each arch was capped with a Renaissance inspired shield--some blind and others carved with intricate designs.  They reappeared in the terra cotta spandrel panels (where they were held by cherubic figures against a background of swirling vines and flowers) and at the corners of the 12th floor.

One of the spandrels of the lower arches.   image via Beyond My Ken

The mid- and top sections were faced in variegated, sandy-colored brick and trimmed in limestone and terra cotta.  The two-story top section featured double-height arcades that echoed those of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence.

Mills & Gibb leased the stores and portions of the upper floors.  Among the early tenants was the publishing firm Funk & Wagnalls Company, here as early as 1913.

On February 2, 1928, The New York Times reported, "The Mills & Gibb Building...has been purchased by William F. Kenny."  With the massive dry goods firm now gone, Kenny filled the essentially vacant building with a variety of tenants.  In December, the headquarters of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor moved in.  And the following year, a swarm of businesses signed leases.

Among those moving into stores during 1929 were Rottenberg Sons Co., Inc. and Yarns Corporation of America.  Upper spaces were taken by the Container Testing Laboratories for its offices and laboratory; Picker X-Ray Corporation, which leased the 11th floor; the National Carbon Company; Standard Radio Corporation of America; Vassar Swiss Underwear Company, the John Martin's House, Inc.; Walcott-Taylor Company, Inc., which took the 10th floor; the E. P. Dutton publishing firm; and Carl Gutmann & Co.

image from the collection of the Library of Congress

E. P. Dutton & Co. would remain for years.  It launched an unusual marketing campaign in February 1932.  The New York Times reported, "In order to tap the vast reservoirs of knowledge of the publishing business possessed by the general public, E. P. Dutton & Co. are offering a number of prizes."  The writer who best stated what books should be included in the firm's catalogue "and why he would have published them" would receive $50.  The Depression era money--equal to more than $1,000 in 2026--was a significant incentive.

The building's tenant list continued to be highly varied.  In 1936 the School for Embalmers was here, and the following year, on April 28, 1937, the headquarters of the National Distillers Products Corporation opened.  Its first item of business, reported The New York Times, was the end of "the price war which disrupted wholesale liquor price schedules."

Also taking space that year was the National Conference of Jews and Christians.  The organization's focus, understandably, was greatly taken up with happenings in Europe.  On November 15, 1938, for instance, its director, Dr. Everett D. Clinchy, "announced plans for a mass meeting...at which implications of the German persecutions would be discussed."

By 1943, the National Conference of Jews and Christians operated a syndicated column, "The Question Box."  On January 18, 1943, The Tacoma Times urged: "Readers of The Times are invited to send in questions regarding the Protestant, Catholic or Jewish faiths.  Questions will be answered as promptly as possible."

In the meantime, the ongoing war kept another tenant, the North Atlantic headquarters of the American National Red Cross, more than busy.  On August 4, 1942, The New York Times reported, "The urgent need for 3,000 nurses a month--2,500 for the Army and 500 for the Navy--and methods of recruiting them were discussed yesterday at a conference of nurses" here.

The Architectural Record, December 1910 (copyright expired)

Domestic emergencies did not pause because of the global  upheaval overseas.  On the night of November 28, 1942, fire broke out in the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston.  It resulted in the deaths of 492 patrons.  Two days later, The New York Times reported, "The North Atlantic area of the Red Cross, with headquarters at 300 Fourth Avenue, went to work in a hurry late Saturday night and continued all days yesterday to do what it could to supply relief to the victims of the night club fire."

Another domestic disaster occurred on January 3, 1944, when explosions sank the Navy's USS Turner near Sandy Hook, New Jersey.  The Red Cross sprung into action, quickly packing 200 cartons of blood plasma.  A helicopter landed in Battery Park to transport two cases to Sandy Hook, while the rest were sent by Coast Guard cutter.

The Picker X-Ray Company was still here at midcentury.  On December 16, 1950, its "new type of X-ray shield that makes it possible for radiologists to treat deep-seated cancers with X-ray dosages" was announced by the Radiological Society of North America.  

Also operating from the building in the 1950s were the Kamlet Laboratories and Allied Impex Corporation.  The former firm announced a surprising development on August 12, 1955.  Explaining that "The tradition that goats thrive on a diet of old newspapers and the labels from tin cans got strong confirmation this week," The New York Times reported that Dr. Jonas Kamlet had received a patent for goat feed that contained substantial amounts of newsprint.

The Allied Impex Corporation, which dealt in photographic supplies and devices, also created innovations.  It announced its Ultrablitz Monojet electronic flash gun on October 4, 1959, for instance.

In 1959, Fourth Avenue was renamed Park Avenue South.  Having a new address did not change the disparate tenant list.  The United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 leased a floor in September 1962; East House Enterprises, makers of paper products took a floor in 1964; and the National Citizens Committee to Defend Academic Freedom at St. John's [University].

The 1970s saw Planned Parenthood, the American Council of Voluntary Agencies for Foreign Service and Cabrini Health Care Center in the building.

Change came in 2010 when Rockrose Development Corporation purchased and vacated the Mills & Gibb Building in order to reimagine it.  In a 2012 interview, Rockrose president Justin Elghanayan explained that the firm had transformed it "into a creative arts building."  He told Vivian Marino of The New York Times, "We have the Smithsonian, Leo Burnett, the Whitney, Wilhelmina Models and various other high-profile tenants."

photograph by Beyond My Ken

What Rockrose Development did not remodel was Starrett & Van Vleck's 1909 design (other than the main entrance).  The commercial palazzo retains its stately presence after more than a century.

many thanks to reader Peter Alsen for prompting this post

The 1910 Fischer Lewine Mansion - 116 East 78th Street

Around 1866 a row of high-stooped, brownstone-fronted houses was erected on the southern side of East 78th Street between Lexington and Park Avenues.  At the turn of the century, they were decidedly outdated.  On May 29, 1909, The New York Times reported that Anna De Blois had sold 116 East 78th Street, noting, "The new owner will erect a modern residence on the site for his own occupancy."

The buyer was the Saltz Company and among its executives was Fischer Lewine, who had been in the real estate business since 1885.  The architectural firm of Rouse & Goldstone filed plans for the replacement building in August.  They called for a four-story dwelling to cost $30,000 to construct (just over $1 million in 2026).   On August 20, The New York Times mentioned, "The house is to be of Colonial design."

Completed in 1910, the Lewine house was faced in beige Flemish bond brick above a rusticated limestone base.   The centered entrance sat within a modified Gibbs surround.  The three sets of French windows at the second floor, or piano nobile, were framed in stone, the central pair crowned with a majestic broken pediment embelished with a cartouche, carved garlands and ribbons.  The upper floor windows were framed in molded architraves, and a dignified stone balustrade sat upon the cornice.

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Only seven years after moving into the mansion, on February 4, 1917 The New York Times reported that Fisher Lewine had leased "his residence at 116 East Seventy-eighth Street to Louis Joseph Grumbach."  

Born in Montbéliard, France in 1874, Grumbach studied banking in Switzerland and Germany, and came to New York City in 1900.  He and Edna Reckendarfer were married in 1914 and had two children when they moved in, five-year-old Louise Jeanne and two-year-old George Jacques.  The following year, on March 20, 1918, Elizabeth Werner Grumbach was born in the house.

In 1919, Grumbach was made a partner in Speyer & Co., investment bankers.  The 1923 issue of Herringshaw's American Blue Book of Biography noted, "He is a director of the Speyer Building; and a director of other corporations."  The family summered in Elberon, New Jersey.

When not hosting polite entertainments in her drawing room, Edna had an athletic bent.  On June 13, 1924, for instance, The American Hebrew reported:

Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Grumbach of 116 East Seventy-eighth Street, who have been traveling abroad, will return this month and go to the Hollywood Golf Club, where Mrs. Grumbach will golf.  She will again compete in the Woman's Golf Championship in the Fall.

Louise Jeanne was the first of the siblings to marry.  On March 31, 1931, the New York Evening Post reported on her wedding to Serge Weill-Goudchaux in the Ambassador Hotel.  The article said, "After a short wedding trip...Mr. and Mrs. Weill-Goudchaux will sail for Paris, where they will make their home."

George was married to Helen P. Leidesdorf in February 1940.  Six months later, on August 14, Louis and Edna announced Elizabeth's engagement to Henry Werner.  The New York Times noted that on her mother's side, Elizabeth "is a descendant of Gershom Mendex Seixas, revolutionary patriot and one of the founders of King's College, now Columbia."

Something went awry with Louise Jeanne's marriage, and by the time of Elizabeth's wedding she was back in the East 78th Street house with her parents.  Louise was married in the drawing room on November 6, 1941 to Dr. Rudolf L. Baer.

The following year, on December 21, 1942, The New York Sun reported that William A. Drayton had purchased the house for $18,000, a bargain equal to $346,000 today.

Louis and Edna Grumbach moved to 465 Park Avenue, where Louis was diagnosed with cancer in March 1952.  He committed suicide on September 19 that year by throwing himself from a fifth-floor window of Lenox Hill Hospital where he was being treated.

In the meantime, William A. Drayton added a "penthouse" level to the residence that had no architectural panache.  He sold the mansion in 1950 and on April 13 The New York Times reported that the buyers had filed "plans for remodeling."  The renovations resulted in apartments, including two in the penthouse level.

The rooftop addition had the architectural flair of a World War II bunker.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

An initial resident of the apartments was the fascinating Nancy Garbett-Edwards Wilbur, who was separated from Emery Wilbur.  Born in Llandinam, Montgomeryshire, Wales, during World War II she served with the Auxiliary Territorial Service of the British Army.  She was now an officer on the staff of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.  She and Wilbur were married on November 9, 1946 and she was now suing for divorce "on grounds of cruelty," according to The New York Times.

At the time, women in the neighborhood were being terrorized by dozens of violent burglaries by two men.  On November 9, 1951, Isabelle Parker was accosted by one of them in the hallway outside her apartment here.  The New York Times reported that he, "assaulted her and then fled with her pocketbook containing $60 in cash."  The perpetrators, it turned out, were brothers.  Calling them, "two young thugs," The New York Times reported that they were arrested on November 25, 1951 and charged with "burglary, felonious assault, robbery, possession of burglars' tools and illegal possession of a weapon in the commission of two crimes."

A renovation begun in 2011 returned 116 East 78th Street to a single family home.  As part of the remodeling, the top floor addition was given dormers, more sympathetic to Rouse & Goldstone's neo-Georgian design.

photographs by the author

The Henry H. Keeler House - 128 East 31st Street

 

On November 11, 1856, Henry H. Keeler was married to Rachel C. Crane in "the Lafayette-place Church," as reported by the New-York Tribune.  Keeler was a partner with Julius A. Candee and Cornelius C. Demarest in the lime business Candee, Keeler & Co.  The newlyweds moved into the new three-story-and-basement house at 74 East 31st Street (renumbered 128 in 1867).  

The 16-foot-wide, brownstone-faced residence had been completed around December 1855.  Its cutting-edge, French Second Empire design included an arched pediment supported by foliate brackets over the doorway, and a projecting, three-sided parlor oriel.  The upper floor openings sat within robust architraves with molded cornices.  The leafy entrance brackets were echoed in the cast metal cornice.

Keeler was drawn into the mysterious case of Jane Augusta Blankman's death in 1860.  He and five other businessmen were impaneled as the coroner's jury to investigate the woman's "sudden demise, burial, and subsequent exhumation."  Jane Blankman's body had been exhumed "on the supposition that her decease was occasioned by sinister means," explained The New York Times on October 22.  After hearing lengthy testimonies, Keeler and his peers ruled that the 35-year-old had died from a stroke.

By 1864, the Keelers had moved to West 26th Street.  Merchant John Johnson and his family occupied the 31st Street house, while broker Conrad Phillip Bruns lived on Staten Island.

Bruns married 22-year-old Charlotte Emilie Switzer on December 16, 1863.  Interestingly, both of them went by their middle names.  Around 1866, they moved into the former Keeler house.

Born in Bremen, Germany on February 23, 1837, Bruns emigrated to the United States in 1858.  He found a job as a clerk in a brokerage house and rose within the firm.  The young man arrived at a propitious time.  In 1859, Edwin Drake successfully struck oil in Pennsylvania.  It triggered a frenzy of trading in "paper oil" and oil certificates.  The Evening World would later comment that Bruns, "made a fortune in the early days of oil speculation."

Not long after the couple moved into the East 31st Street house, twin boys--Philipp and William Ferdinand--were born on January 6, 1867.  Sadly, Philipp died five months later on June 24.  Another son, Edwin George, arrived on March 3, 1870.

Charlotte Emilie Bruns died at the age of 30 on April 23, 1872.  Her funeral was held in the parlor at 2:00 on the afternoon of the 25th.

Emilie had had domestic help, of course, but now servants were even more essential in the all-male household.  On April 25, 1873, an advertisement in the New York Herald sought: "Wanted--A cook; one who has lived in a German family preferred; also a chambermaid to assist in washing.  Apply, with reference, at 128 East 31st street."

Phil Bruns (as he was known familiarly) was "noted for his open-handed generosity," according to The Evening World.  His son seemed to have inherited the trait.  The 1888 Annual Report of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children noted that William F. Bruns had donated "25 books for reception-rooms" to the facility.

Known to his friends as Willie, William Ferdinand Bruns died in the house on July 25, 1889 at the age of 22.  His funeral was held in the parlor two days later.

By then, Philip Bruns was well-known and well respected in Wall Street circles.  He had purchased his seat in the New York Stock Exchange in 1869 and now he and his surviving son were partners in the firm of Edwin G. Bruns & Co.  

At some point Philip Bruns had begun a romance with Madge M. Gurney.  It is possible that the two never married because Madge was "a victim of an incurable disease," according to The Evening World.

Conrad Philip "Phil" Bruns (original source unknown)

On the evening of August 4, 1893, Bruns met Henry G. Hilton to have dinner at the Casino in Central Park.  They rode in Hilton's surrey and, as reported by the New-York Tribune, "In turning the corner at Fifty-eighth-st. and Seventh-ave. the vehicle went around so quickly that Mr. Bruns was thrown out and he fell heavily on the pavement."  Hilton rushed back to his friend, "who was bleeding profusely."  Bruns was taken back to 128 East 31st Street where Dr. Henry Forbes said he was suffering with a broken nose and two fractures of the collar bone.  "The most serious injury, however, was the cutting of the artery under the right eye, which had caused a great loss of blood," said the article.

The next day Bruns was described as "delirious" and "in an exceedingly critical condition."  That evening, Madge Gurney visited him and "remained with him for sometime," according to The Evening World.  

Phil Bruns lingered for nearly two weeks, dying in the East 31st Street house at 6:15 p.m. on August 15 at the age of 56.  The Evening World commented, "The death of Philip Bruns removes from Wall street one of its most familiar and well-known personages."

On August 19, The Evening World reported that when Madge Gurney heard of Bruns's death, "she appeared to be greatly dejected."  The newspaper announced, "at 6:15 P. M. the next day she died at her rooms in the Milburn apartment house."  The article said they died 24 hours apart to the minute.

Perhaps because of the anticipated large attendance, Conrad Philip Bruns's funeral was not held in the house, but in the Church of the Transfiguration.  On August 17, The Evening World reported, "The casket was almost buried in flowers."

Before the turn of the century, George Bruns sold 128 East 31st Street to George Florence Scannell and his wife, the former Elizabeth Rafferty (known as Lizzie).  The couple had three sons: Frank Joseph, John Jay, George Jr.; and a daughter, Marie F.

Born on February 22, 1860, Scannell was highly involved in Tammany politics.  He worked as a clerk in the Surrogate's office and was the leader of the 25th Democratic District and the chairman of the Seneca Club.  

In the fall of 1900, the family received a horrific scare.  John, who was 15 years old, attended the College of St. Francis Xavier on West 15th Street.  He and a number of other boys were "playing leap-frog" in the gymnasium, according to the New York Herald on October 10.  The New-York Tribune explained that John, "had succeeded in jumping over two boys, and was trying to jump over three, when he fell, striking his head on the floor."  The New York Herald reported that he was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital unconscious and diagnosed with a "concussion of the brain."  The New-York Tribune's report was more dire, saying that the teen had sustained a skull fracture.  At the hospital that evening, his father was told "that his son would probably recover," said the New York Herald.  Happily, John Jay Scannell did recover.

On January 1, 1904, Manhattan Borough President John F. Ahearn informed the Municipal Civil Service Commission that George F. Scannell had been appointed Superintendent of Highways.  He replaced James G. Collins, whom The New York Times said had been "ousted" by Ahearn.  The position came with a salary of $5,000 (about $175,000 in 2026).

In 1905, a woman who said her name was Mary Scannell, began appearing at the stoop of 128 East 31st Street and at Scannell's office on Park Row.  She said she was the daughter of Scannell's brother, Thomas, and when he died, when she was five years old, she was sent to a convent.  She tracked down George Scannell, she said, through the New York Foundling Asylum.  Now she insisted that he support her.

The major flaw in Mary Scannell's story was that George never had a brother named Thomas.  She was, nevertheless, persistent.  Two years after she first rang the bell of 128 East 31st Street, George Scannell's patience was exhausted.  When she showed up at his office again on August 17, 1907, he had her arrested.  The New York Times reported, "She was sent to Bellevue Hospital for observation as to her sanity."

George Scannell's promotion to Superintendent of Highways in 1904 turned into a nightmare for the family.  James G. Collins had not gone quietly after being fired.  He sued the city and Scannell.  The New York Times reported, "To safeguard the city in case Collins should win the suit Scannell had to furnish a $10,000 bond to guarantee that he would turn back his salary to Collins.  His own house, which stood in his wife's name, was put up as security."

In December 1909, James G. Collins "bodily took possession of Scannell's office," reported The New York Times.  He barricaded himself inside and "held the fort for a number of days."  Astoundingly, Collins's ploy worked.  The newspaper said that Mayor William Jay Gaynor's "revocation of the office of Commissioner of Highways" finally "induced Collins to surrender his stronghold."  The article concluded, "Thus Scannell lost his job."

Not only did Scannell lose his job, Collins continued to sue him personally for his back wages of about $30,000, or about $1 million today.  In the meantime, Scannell was appointed the Superintendent of Records in the Surrogates' Office--the same position in which he had started.

George F. Scannell fell ill in May 1912.  On September 19, The New York Times headlined an article, "George F. Scannell Dead From Worry."  The 52-year-old had died in the 31st Street house the previous evening.  The Times reported, "It was the prospect of losing everything in the world, Mr. Scannell's friends said last night, which had suddenly made such a noted change in the man."

The original 1850s detailing was intact in this 1940 photograph.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On January 3, 1913, The New York Times printed a one-line story:  "Frank J. Scannell, son of George F. Scannell, has been appointed to his father's place as Superintendent of Records of the Surrogates' office."

The Scannell family finally received welcomed news in June 1916.  A court ruled that James G. Collins was entitled only to $3,000.  Elizabeth Scannell's tenuous hold on her home was restored.

Two months later, on August 22, George was married to Elizabeth O'Brien in the Church of St. John the Evangelist on East 55th Street.  Marie (who would never marry) attended the bride and John J. Scannell was his brother's best man.  

Frank was still living here with his mother and Marie as late as 1920, when he was appointed a commissioner of deeds.  Elizabeth sold 128 East 31st Street in September 1924 to the 5 Gramercy Park, Inc.

The firm operated the property as a rooming house and it continued to be such for decades.  When Mary Macfayden and her husband, Frank Netter, purchased the house in 1960, it was described as being vacant.  It was resold in 1964 when the couple began divorce proceedings.

A renovation completed in 1969 resulted in a photography studio in the basement.  It was most likely during this time that the Victorian details were removed from the doorway and windows.  

Shocking publicity came in 1981 when, on January 15, The New York Times reported that four men had been arrested for "operating houses of prostitution," one of which was 128 East 31st Street.

Renovations done in 2009 returned 128 East 31st Street to a single family home.  Despite the loss of most of the Italianate details, the Keeler house manages to retain its architectural charm.

photographs by the author