The 1902 The Braender Apartments - 418 Central Park West

 

image via streeteasy.com

Born in Germany, Philip Braender arrived in New York as a youth.  At the turn of the last century, he was a visible player in the development of the Upper West Side.  In 1901 he commissioned architect Frederick C. Browne to design a ten-story "brick flat" at the southwest corner of Central Park West and 102nd Street.  Browne's plans projected the construction cost at $400,000--a significant $15.6 million in 2026.

Completed the following year, The Braender's French Renaissance design was splashed with Spanish Baroque Revival touches.  Clad in gray brick above the two-story stone base, The Braender's turret-like rounded bays and corbeled cornice were inspired from French chateaux and gave the building an exotic charm.  A lacy cast iron balcony girded the third floor and intricate Baroque-style terra cotta ornaments decorated the third, fourth and tenth floors.  At the ninth were balconies "capped with red Spanish tile in strong contrast to the prevailing color," as described by The World's New York Apartment House Album.

The World's New York Apartment House Album, 1910 (copyright expired)

The Braender's H-shape plan created a deep courtyard, which was entered "through a high columned archway, elaborately carved and ornamented," as described by The World's New York Apartment House Album.  Residents entered under a glass and iron marquee into a coffered ceilinged foyer that opened into a veined-marble lobby.

There were typically three apartments per floor ranging from five to twelve rooms with one to three baths.  Rents ranged (by today's conversion) from $1,650 to $3,300 per month.  An advertisement boasted that The Braender was "not exceeded in dignity and architectural beauty by any similar structure."

The World's New York Apartment House Album, 1910 (copyright expired)

The Braender's tenants were affluent and professional.  Among the early residents were Charles Herbert Stoddard and his wife, the former Frances Henrietta Thebault.  An attorney, Stoddard was also the president and director of the Builders' Construction Company.

Also in the building at the time were Carlos Benito Figueredo, Consul General of Venezuela, and his wife Louise Calcafio.  The New-York Tribune called Louise "one of the belles of Caracas."  The couple had one child, Gloria.  On May 5, 1907, the New-York Tribune reported that the Figueredos "celebrated their silver wedding last night at their home."  The article said that there were  a "hundred or more guests at the dance and dinner."

Mrs. A. Guiterrez, a widow, lived here with her daughter, Lola, as early as 1914.  Like all their moneyed neighbors, they summered in fashionable resorts.  They traveled to Winthrop, Maine during the first week of July that year.  About a week later, on July 13, they attempted to walk across the train trestle near the hotel.  The New York Times reported that they "were struck and killed tonight by a train on the Main Central Railroad."  The article said that the horrific incident occurred "in the view of guests on the hotel piazzas and in boats on the lake."

On February 22, 1920, the New-York Tribune reported that the new owner, Frederick Bangerter, had "devised a tenant ownership plan for the Braender."  The plan to convert the building to a cooperative moved forward with lightning speed.  An advertisement a month later urged, "own a select apartment in a palatial home, with all the modern comforts--steam heat, hot water, day and night elevator service, etc., etc."  Fifty of the apartments had been converted while, according to the advertisement, "The income of the remaining 25 apartments pays in full for taxes and all other running costs and charges."

Surprisingly, by the time Wurts Bros. took this photograph, the iron cresting had been removed from the cornice.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

The Braender's most celebrated tenants at the time were the Stoner family.  Dr. James Buchanan Stoner was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 1861.  He was known nationwide for his work against epidemics, starting with the smallpox epidemic of 1888.  He married educator Dr. Winifred Sackville on February 3, 1900 and their only child, Winifred Sackville Stoner Jr. was born in 1902.  (Because her daughter, who would earn prominence on her own, bore her identical name, Dr. Stoner was often referred to as Mother Stoner.)

Winifred Jr. was a prodigy.  Under her mother's tutelage, she was able to speak multiple languages by the age of ten.  At the age of nine, she passed the Stanford University and University of Wisconsin-Madison entrance exams.

On December 26, 1921, the Stoners announced their 16-year-old daughter's marriage to Charles de Bruche.  The couple was married in the Stoner apartment four months earlier, "with none but the family present," explained The New York Times.  The article said, "Miss Stoner wishes to avoid publicity having as a young girl had columns published about her education, the books and the verses she had written and the eight languages she could speak before she was twelve years old, owing to her mother's remarkable system of education."  The newlyweds, said the article, "will divide their time between Paris and New York when they are not traveling."

Winifred and Charles de Bruche were in Mexico the following summer.  De Bruche had told his bride "that he was a composer, poet and member of a noble French family, entitled to call himself a count," according to Winifred Jr.  Less than a year later she told a reporter that she learned "that he was not of noble birth and was not a person of good repute."  De Bruche disappeared and in August Winifred received a telephone call from his friend, Frank Davis, telling her that her husband "had been killed in Mexico City" in an automobile crash.

On September 1, the New-York Tribune reported, "Funeral services for Charles Philippe de Bruche, husband of Winifred Sackville Stoner jr., were held yesterday at 418 Central Park West, the home of his wife's parents."  The ceremony was, apparently, more accurately described as a memorial service, since there was no body.

Dr. James Buchanan Stoner died on July 22, 1925.  In reporting his death, The New York Times recounted his long history of fighting epidemics throughout the United States.  It noted, additionally, that he was a relative of President James Buchanan.

The Braender's heavily-veined marble lobby remains virtually intact.  image via cocoran.com

After Winifred Stoner de Bruche married Louis Hyman, her mother continued to occupy The Braender apartment.  In 1925 she was a member of the Citizens' Committee for Music and published the monthly Mother Stoner's Bulletin, which outlined the Stoner philosophy of education.  In 1925 she founded the League for Fostering Genius.

On August 21, 1927, a reporter from The New York Times visited Mother Stoner's apartment for information about her daughter's divorce from Louis Hyman.  She said that she hoped Winifred would join her "to carry on the work of helping young genius."  And indeed, the mother and daughter initiated "a genius hunt covering all the United States and most of the Western Continental Europe" that month, as reported by the newspaper.

Mother Stoner explained to the reporter that there "are six classes of people:

Idiots, she said, were like jellyfish and common weeds; destructionists were often clever but dangerous, like the boll weevil and poisonous weeks; morons were like pigs and vegetables; the hyper-morons (or norms) were those with 16-year mentalities with whom the world is largely filled...The only two classes worth preserving were the geniuses, she said...and the progressionists or builders.

(She explained that progressionists included "men who constantly seek to make their business more efficient."  They included "newspaper men, bankers and highway robbers.")

The following month, on September 20, 1927, The New York Times reported, "'Mother' Stoner returned from Philadelphia yesterday to her home at 418 Central Park West.  She reports that she discovered six geniuses and 300 talented children during her Philadelphia stay."  The article added, "Winifred 2d is now in Paris, looking for geniuses there, her mother said."

Now divorced, Winifred Jr. moved back to 418 West Central Park West.  She received an arcane telephone message in November 1929, "suggesting that she go to the lobby of the Hotel Ansonia."  She did and saw her long-dead husband, Charles de Bruche there.  The New York Times said that he "was living at the Hotel Bretton Hall."  On December 12, the newspaper said she had filed suit to annul her marriage because she "finds herself still the wife of De Bruche."

This photograph of Winifred Jr. may have been taken in the Braender apartment.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1931, Winifred Jr. married Earl Winston Harrison and moved to Los Angeles.  Later that year, on November 10, Winifred "Mother" Sackville Stoner died in her Braender apartment at the age of 49.  In reporting her death, The New York Times listed her books, which included Natural Education, Mother Stoner Nursery Rhymes, Arithmetic Through Play, Games With Aims, and Castles in Spain.  

Somewhat overshadowed by the Stoners in the building were prominent residents like Dr. Maurice H. Harris and his wife, the former Kitty Green.  Born in London in 1859, Harris was was ordained a rabbi in 1882.  He had been rabbi of Temple Israel since 1885.  On February 8, 1925, the congregation hosted a tea and reception in appreciation of his 40 years of service.

Dr. Sergius Ingerman lived here as early as 1934.  That year he sent a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt that said in part, "We implore you to use your influence to bring about the cessation of the mass executions in Soviet Russia."  Born in Russia in 1868, Ingerman was a specialist in eye diseases and a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and the New York Academy of Medicine.  

Dr. Sergius Ingerman, from House of Wisdom

More importantly, he was highly active in the socialist movement and a founder of the Russian Social Democratic Society.  His wife, Anna Amitin, died in 1931.  Their only child was Dr. Eugenia Ingerman.  Interman remained in The Braender until his death in 1943.

That year the building was sold to New York Savings Bank, which reconverted it to rental apartments.  The New York Times reported that it "was remodeled by the bank into eighty-eight suites."

Among the residents at the time were Dr. Walter L. Hervey, a retired member of the Board of Examiners of the Board of Education, and his wife Antoinette Bryant Hervey.  Antoinette was described by The New York Times the "dean of women photographers in New York."  

A graduate of the Clarence H. White School of Photography, Antoinette Hervey made a 25-year photographic record of the construction of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine.  In doing so, she sometimes climbed the scaffolding high above the ground to get her shots.  In 1938 she donated her 3,000 prints to the Cathedral and a duplicate set to the New-York Historical Society.

John Thompson and his wife lived in a sixth-floor apartment here in the mid-1960s.  Thompson was a director of the Fairfield Foundation, which promoted international cultural exchanges.  Through that institution, the couple became acquainted with Nathan Nakasa, a 25-year-old Nigerian journalist who arrived in America in 1964 as a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University. 

Nakasa was an outspoken critic of Apartheid.  In his homeland he had edited The Classic, a literary magazine, and was on the staff of the magazine Drum of Johannesburg.  While here he wrote two pieces for The New York Times Magazine.  In 1965, after his one-year fellowship, the South African Government refused to allow him to return home.

The writer, who was living on Lenox Avenue, was understandable depressed.  On July 24, 1965, The New York Amsterdam News wrote, "Told of Nakasa's mood, Mr. and Mrs. John Thompson of 418 Central Park West, asked him over to their apartment Tuesday."  The article said that they talked about his troubles "at length" and attempted to ease his mind.  But shockingly, at around 9:10, Nakasa rushed to a window and jumped.  He died instantly.

Tonal composer Ben Weber lived here within the next decade.  Born in St. Louis in 1916 and never married, he came to New York in 1945.  Among his compositions were the Symphony on Poems of William Blake, the Violin Concerto, the Consort of Winds and the Concert Aria After Solomon.  The celebrated composer died of a heart attack in his apartment at the age of 62 on May 11, 1979.

photograph by Jim Henderson

Nine years before Weber's death, The Braender underwent an alteration.  It was likely at this time that the spectacular cornice was removed and ninth-floor balconies stripped off, leaving the once picturesque structure sadly denuded.

The Lost Scotch Presbyterian Church - 360 Central Park West

 

from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

On July 23, 1892, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that the Scotch Presbyterian Church "will shortly commence the erection of a handsome church edifice...on the southwest corner of Central Park West and 96th street."  Simultaneously, said the article, a "lecture room" would be constructed on the north side of 95th Street, just west of Central Park West.  "The church will cost $150,000 and the lecture room $50,000," it said.  The total figure would translate to about $7.3 million in 2026.

The Scotch Presbyterian Church originated following a schism within the First Presbyterian Church in 1756.  After worshipping in several locations, the congregation erected a Sicilian Gothic-style church at 53 West 14th Street in 1852.  Now (despite Dr. Charles Henry Parkhurst saying that the trustees "exhibited cowardice" by abandoning the increasingly commercial West 14th Street), the trustees planned another move.

William H. Hume & Son was commissioned to design what The New York Times promised would be "an imposing Romanesque pile."  Construction on both buildings began in 1892 and by late summer of 1893 the West 95th Street structure was completed.  

The West 95th Street building, like the church, was Romanesque in style.  New-York Tribune, May 31, 1894 (copyright expired)

On September 18, the New-York Tribune reported that the "handsome new Sunday-school room of the Scotch Presbyterian Church...was formally opened yesterday afternoon."  The article noted, "On October 1 the church congregation will begin to worship in the Sunday-school room, which it will use till the completion of its new church...in Ninth-sixth-st., behind the Sunday-school."

On March 31, 1894, The New York Times reported on the cornerstone laying ceremony.  "W. H. Hume, the architect of the church building, spoke briefly, congratulating the officers of the church on the successful beginning of the work."  The newspaper described Hume's plans:

The foundation is of bluestone and the rest of the structure will be of Indiana limestone.  The iron-trussed roof will be covered with Spanish tiles.  The main entrance, on Ninety-sixth Street, will be under three romanesque [sic] arches, above which there is to be a large rose window.  At the northeast corner will be a high square tower.

Nine months later, the structure neared completion.  On December 30, 1894, The New York Times remarked, "The new building of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, Ninety-sixth Street and Central Park West, attracts and rewards the visitor by its solid, impressive architecture and the display of art in the adornments."  The artistic "adornments" included the Scotch thistle motif, which appeared "from the cornerstone to the cornice, over the organ, in the pew ends, and elsewhere."

The article vividly described the 52 stained-glass windows, executed by William Gibson's Sons.  In the center of the "great wheel window over the main entrance," said the article, was "an open Bible with the text, 'Thy word is truth.'"  It was surrounded by seven small round windows.

Completed in 1895, William H. Hume & Son had, indeed, created an "imposing Romanesque pile."  Turning its shoulder to Central Park West, the building faced West 96th Street.  Above a wide set of stone stairs, three arched entrances sat below the complex rose window within a yawning arch.  On the western side of the peaked roof was a romantic turret with a conical cap.  On the eastern side, a formidable bell tower rose high above Central Park West, terminating in a pyramidal cap.

Among the first social functions held by the church was a fund-raising event.  On September 22, 1895, the New-York Tribune said it "has hit upon a novel scheme to raise funds."  Congregants received "the oddest invitation they ever received."  The cards, "printed on coarse wrapping paper of the cheapest quality," invited them to a "Povertie Partie."  Written in Shakespearean-style prose like, "Ye women must wear ye cotton gowne and apron or equally befitting apparel," the invitations explained that the party was inspired by the "hard times which do now prevail."  A list of fines, ranging from 1 to 25 cents, would be levied on guests who violated the dress code, like wearing a scarfpin or silk dress.

Two years later, the rector, David G. Wylie, and his family moved into the new "manse" next door to the church on West 96th Street.  It was designed by Jardine, Kent & Jardine.

A sliver of the new rectory can be glimpsed at the right.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

The Scotch Presbyterian Church, deeply rooted in the British Isles, was the scene of two mourning services for world leaders in 1901.  In his sermon on January 27, Reverend Wylie memorialized Queen Victoria and pointed out the late monarch's viewpoint on women.  He said in part, "she was interested in everything which tended to elevate woman.  She was a queen in her home, and believed that home was pre-eminently woman's real sphere, where she should shine as a queen."

Eight months later, on September 16, The New York Times reported on Wylie's sermon following the assassination of President William McKinley.  He said that the name of the fallen President would "be closely associated with those of Washington and Lincoln--an immortal triumvirate."

The Central Park West elevation.  Streetcar tracks run down the middle of the stone-paved avenue.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society.

Earlier that year, on July 28, the decorum of Sunday service was shattered.  During Reverend Wylie's sermon, a woman suddenly stood up.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Tearing her collar from around her neck, she placed it around her head and exclaimed: 'I am going to be married to Mr. Rockwell.'"

Wylie stopped speaking, the congregants turned to face the disturbance, and an usher rushed over to the woman.  The New-York Tribune described her as "tall, black haired and neatly attired in a white waist and a black skirt."  When the usher attempted to restrain her, she "fought desperately, and succeeded in tearing the lining entirely out of the man's coat."  She was finally carried to the vestry room where she continued to attempt to "get at the usher, especially after the unfortunate man, in his efforts to quiet the woman, told her that he was Mr. Rockwell."

An ambulance took Pearl Rockwell to the Harlem Hospital.  She was later transferred to Bellevue Hospital and placed in the "insane pavilion."  There it was learned that the 40-year-old and her husband were estranged.  "It is thought that grief over the separation unbalanced her mind," explained the New-York Tribune.

Rev. Dr. David G. Wylie, New-York Tribune, September 17, 1904 (copyright expired)

Reverend Wylie, like other pastors throughout the city, was highly opinionated and announced his views from the pulpit.  On July 3, 1904, for instance, he laid out the evils that threatened the United States.  He said in part:

One of our National evils is Mormonism.  Another is divorce.  The next menace is that of the saloon.  Corporate greed offers a menace not to be forgotten...There ought to be a greater regard for human life in this country than there is at present.  Our street railways are a source of danger because of the gross carelessness often exhibited.  The automobile threatens the lives of children, women, and old people.

In 1907 the Scotch Presbyterian Church merged with the First Reformed Presbyterian Church.  That congregation moved into the West 96th Street edifice and on March 16, the New York Herald confirmed that the consolidated congregations would operate "under the name of the Scotch Presbyterian Church."

David G. Wylie had married Jennie McWilliam in 1884.  The couple had four sons, Howard M., David R., John McWilliam, and Robert Sterling, and one daughter, Jennie D.  The family found themselves in the national spotlight when John went missing.

On April 26, John Wylie, who was 15 at the time, and his best friend, 16-year-old Buster Gutelius, sold their bicycles and took the $25 they obtained to buy train tickets to Port Jervis, New York.  The duo later explained that they "were in search of some needed outdoor recreation."

When the boys failed to come home from school that Friday afternoon, their parents had reported them missing.   By Tuesday the New York newspapers reached the Mill Rift Post Office near the Pennsylvania border.  The boys, who had established a camp within a cave, purchased an axe, some eggs, and other rations, from the general store that shared space with the post office.  

When Wylie and Gutelius returned, Postmaster Maloney compared their faces with the photographs.  Rather than confronting them and risking scaring them away, he quietly mailed off a letter to Rev. David G. Wylie.  On the morning of May 3, Dr. Wylie and another son arrived at the post office while the Gutelius family waited nervously on Central Park West for word.

Maloney sent a neighbor, Samuel Wilson, to the mountain cave with word that the postmaster needed to see him.  Leaving Buster cooking bacon and flapjacks, John Wylie rushed to town.  When he entered Maloney’s store, he was confronted with his father and brother.  The quixotic adventure was over.

The New York Times wrote, “Dr. Wylie was much impressed by the natural habitation, and was delighted to find that the boys had been living in a comfortable manner.  However, they had but $2 left.”

The following morning the New-York Tribune ran a headline reading “Cave Boys Come Home.”  The newspaper advised “The erstwhile cave men, or cave boys, did not willingly leave their subterranean retreat in a mountainside near Millville, Penn., but they came back at the earnest persuasion of Dr. Wylie.”

Reverend David G. Wiley would suffer unspeakable tragedy  in 1910.  On October 8, he conducted the funeral of John McWilliam Wylie, whose adventure had captured America's attention three years earlier.  The New York Times remarked, "members of the [United Boy's Brigade of America], his classmates in public, high, and Sunday schools will be present."

Jennie McWilliam Wylie fell sick upon his son's death.  Less than a month later, on November 4, she died.  The New-York Tribune said that it was thought that the loss of her son had "hastened Mrs. Wylie's death."

After occupying the pulpit of the Scotch Presbyterian Church for 23 years, on February 23, 1914, The New York Times reported that Wylie had resigned to take the position of Secretary of the Board of Church Erection of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.  (On October 1 that year, the newspaper reported on his engagement to Martha Richter Thomas.)

The Reverend Dr. Robert Watson was installed as the new pastor on January 10, 1915.  Two years later, the congregation's name was changed to the Second Presbyterian Church.

In the post-World War I years, congregations nation-wide began embracing a new concept: the skyscraper church.  Parishes replaced their church edifices with office or apartment buildings that incorporated worship space within the lower floors.  On January 17, 1928, The New York Times reported that the Second Presbyterian Church would lease its property "to the Vinross Realties Company, Inc."  The article explained that the developer would replace the church with "a fifteen-story apartment building, which will house and support the church and its various activities."

Demolition of the 33-year-old church structure began in 1928.  It was replaced by 360 Central Park West, designed by Rosario Candela.

image via streeteasy.com

The Henry and Felicia Ressmeyer House - 348 West 122nd Street

 

J. A. Webster designed eleven brownstone-fronted rowhouses along the north side of West 122nd Street between Morningside and Manhattan Avenues for developers Joseph W. and A. Alonzo Teets in 1888.  Upon their completion in 1889, the brothers brought Webster back to design ten houses on the opposite side of the street.  This time E. H. Hammond was listed as working with Webster on the designs.  

Filed in May 1889, the plans listed the construction cost of the three-story, 16-foot wide homes at $11,000 each, or about $397,000 in 2026.  The neo-Grec design of 348 West 122nd Street included beefy cast iron stoop newels and balustraded railings.  Echoing the entrance enframement, the windows sat within architraves decorated with incised "fluting" on the lower portion and stylized flowers above.  The brackets of the parlor window cornice mimicked those of the entranceway.

The Teets originally rented the house, with the leases of some occupants being cut short by their demise.  Barbara Rimick was one of 75 New Yorkers who succumbed to a brutal late season heat wave on November 24, 1891.  She was 73 years old. On August 18, 1899, resident Margaret Johnson died in the house at the age of 43.  

Shortly afterward, the house was purchased by Fannie Mayer, the widow of Robert Mayer.  Living here with her and her unmarried daughters, Fanny, Annie, and Caroline, was at least one maid.  Tragically, Fannie would live here only a matter of weeks.  She died "after a lingering illness," as reported by the New York Herald, on April 11, 1900.  She was 61 years old.

The sisters experienced a shocking and distressing incident two years later.  The Brooklyn Standard Union ran a one-line article on June 3, 1902 that read: "Annie Dahn, employed by Miss Annie Meyer [sic], of 348 West 122d street, Manhattan, took her life this morning by swallowing carbolic acid."

After Annie's marriage to Joseph A. Kapp, Caroline and Fanny continued to live at 348 West 122nd Street.  Then, on July 29, 1908, Fanny died "after long suffering," according the notice in The New York Times.  Her funeral was held in the parlor on the 31st.

Caroline Mayer sold 348 West 122nd Street in August 1910 to Henry Frederick Ressmeyer and his wife, the former Felicitas Stang.  (Felicitas was known familiarly as Felicia.)  Born in Germany in January 1854, Henry was the president of the Lutheran Education Society.  He and Felicia were married in 1888 and they had three children, Felicia C., Rudolph S., and Gertrude Henrietta.  

Rudolph, who was a Lutheran minister, lived elsewhere.  But moving into the house with the family was Felicia's widowed mother, Anna C. Stang.

Both Gertrude and Felicia attended Barnard College.  (Felicia would eventually move to Maryland where she was associated with the Society for Preservation of Maryland Antiquities at midcentury.)

Henry F. Ressmeyer died in the house on September 19, 1921.  Most likely because of his involvement with the Lutheran Church, the parlor would not accommodate the anticipated mourners at his funeral.  It was held two days later at St. Matthews Lutheran Church on 145th Street and Convent Avenue. 

As late as 1940, there was not a single tree on the block.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Another funeral would be held in the parlor four years later.  Anna C. Stang died at the age of 79 on May 29, 1925.  Her funeral was held here on the 31st.  The following month, The New York Times reported that her estate would be distributed among her "children and grandchildren."

At the time of Anna Stang's death, the Harlem neighborhood was changing.  Private homes were being converted to rooming houses.  Felicia sold 348 West 122nd Street to Jeanette Glassman in February 1928 for $20,000 (about $321,000 today).  In reporting the sale, The New York Times inaccurately commented, "This is the first sale of the property in twenty-five years."

Jeanette Glassman resold the house to Louise Chaudruc three months later.  He rented rooms to respectable tenants, among the first of whom was Robert W. Frary.  On August 30, 1928, the Alfred, New York newspaper The Alfred reported that Frary, "who has been doing graduate work at Columbia and Texas," had been named to fill the temporary professorship of Columbia Professor Joseph Sidlin.

The building received a "multiple dwelling violation" in 1938, most likely for the lack of sprinklers.  Their installation was completed in 1940.

Although never officially converted to apartments, there are eight rental units in the former Ressmeyer house.  From the outside, it survives remarkably intact.

photographs by the author

The Van Buren Ryerson House -- 129 East 94th Street

 

In 1878 developers Duffy & Bros. tackled the problem of developing Goat Hill--presumably named because its steep slope had made it unworkable for planting, but quite satisfactory for grazing goats.  That year they hired architect F. S. Barus to design nine rowhouses--121 through 137 East 94th Street--between Park and Lexington Avenues.  The 16-and-one-half-feet wide homes were completed in 1879.

Among the group was 129 East 94th Street.  Faced in brownstone, it rose three stories above a high English basement.  Beefy cast iron newels and railings flanked the stoop, and austere stone architraves embraced the openings.  Their sills and molded cornices sat on scrolled brackets.

It became home to engineer and inventor Van Buren Ryerson.  Born in 1805, he was renowned for his inventions, like his 1869 Ryerson Pulverizer used by miners to pulverize dry ores.  But none was more celebrated than his 1858 Sub Marine Explorer, a pioneering diving bell.  Ryerson's residency would be short-lived.  He died in the house on November 16, 1880 at the age of 75.  

Frank R. Houghton purchased the house.  A real estate broker, he was treasurer of the Real Estate Board of Brokers.  Houghton offered 129 East 94th Street for sale in March 1890 for $16,000, guaranteeing its "value [will] surely increase."  

Andrew Fay purchased the house in September 1892 after, apparently, negotiating the price.  He paid $15,500, or about $551,000 in 2026.

An attorney, Fay was an assistant clerk in the District Attorney's office.  He and his wife, Maria, had five children, Elizabeth A., Edward J., Eugene, Loretta, and William A.

The Fay family led quiet lives, never appearing in the society pages.  Other than legal business matters, Andrew Fay's name did not appear in print until his passing here on October 24, 1906.  And even then, his death notice was a succinct, one-sentence announcement.  His funeral was held in the drawing room two days later.

Interestingly, Fay bequeathed the house in equal portions to his children.  Maria was not included in the title.

At the time of their father's death, at least Eugene, Loretta and Elizabeth were still living with Maria.  Eugene was highly involved in civic affairs and on January 24, 1906 was appointed a member of the Local School Board of the 16th District.  

On January 21, 1909, the New York Herald reported, "Mr. John J. Daniels and Miss Elizabeth M. Fay were married yesterday in the Church of St. Francis de Sales."  Loretta was her sister's maid of honor.  The article noted, "A wedding breakfast was served at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. Andrew Fay, at No. 129 East Ninety-fourth street."

Maria Fay died on August 16, 1912.  Her funeral was held in the drawing room on the 20th, followed by a mass at the Church of St. Francis de Sales.

In 1941, the muscular stoop ironwork was intact.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The house saw several occupants over the subsequent years.  It was lost in foreclosure in the World War II years.  On August 5, 1943, The New York Times reported, "Paul G. Reilly of the law firm of Earle, Rust & Reilly has bought for his own occupancy, the three-story brownstone dwelling."  

Reilly and his wife, Lillian, made substantial changes before moving in.  The stoop was removed and the entrance lowered below grade.  The 1879 details of the parlor floor openings were shaved off.  (Oddly enough, the upper floor windows were left intact.)  A second renovation remodeled the interiors  in 1948.  During one of the projects, the brownstone was stuccoed.

image via Google Streetview

Paul and Lillian had three sons, Willis, Gorman, and Paul Jr., and a daughter, Jane.  Reilly had been a member of Reilly, Fleming & Reilly since the 1930s.  In 1948, he represented the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy for reimbursement for 22 million acres of upstate New York land.  He would work on the case for four decades, amassing a library of photocopies of treaties between Native American nations and the U.S. Government, maps, chapters from history books, and other materials.

In 1954, Reilly unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives.  The couple was in San Pedro Cantira, Spain on April 26, 1979 when Reilly died at the age of 70.  His casework materials, called The Paul G. Reilly Indian Collection, was donated to the E. H. Butler Library of The State University of New York.

In 2014, a restoration was initiated by William Vitacco Associates, Ltd.  The stoop was restored, the stucco removed, and the window details refabricated.  Still a single-family home, it has been sympathetically returned to its 1879 appearance.

photographs by the author

The 1852 Elisha R. Belcher House - 14 East 11th Street

 

Born in 1791 in Fairfield, Connecticut, Dr. Elisha Reynold's earliest American ancestors settled in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1640.  His father, Dr. Elisha Belcher, served in the Revolutionary War as a surgeon under General Israel Putnam.  Dr. Reynolds married Esther Rebecca Knapp on February 1, 1814 and the couple had five children, William K., George Elisha, Henry White, John Southard, and Frances B.

In the early 1850s, the Belcher family lived in the newly-built, brick-faced house at 54 East 11th Street (renumbered 14 East 11th Street in 1868).  It was one of an identical pair erected in 1852 by banker James Gallatin.  Four stories tall and 21-feet wide, it reflected the respectability and affluence of the family.  The Belchers' country home was in Claverack, New York.

Dr. Elisha Reynolds Belcher (original source unknown)

The Belcher children were young adults by 1855 when Henry listed his profession as "merchant," and John as "grocer."  (John had studied medicine, but "then, for family reasons, went into the grocery business in New York, under the firm name of Mead, Belcher & Titus," according to The Class of 1845 of Yale College in 1881.)

Henry married Martha Ann Garrison in 1842 and the couple initially moved into the East 11th Street house with the family.  On December 15, 1853, John married Emma Snyder at the family's country home.  They lived here with the Belchers and on August 24, 1855, the couple had a daughter, Sarah Esther.  Shortly afterward, Henry and Martha moved away.

Emma Snyder Belcher died here on January 14, 1858 at the age of 25.  Her funeral was held in the parlor the following day.  John Southard Belcher was now tasked with rearing his three-year-old daughter alone.

John Southard Belcher as he appeared in 1888 at the age of 65.  The Record of the Class of 1845 of Yale College, 1888 (copyright expired)

There would be one more Belcher funeral in the house.  Elisha Reynolds Belcher died at the age of 69 on March 19, 1860.  His funeral was held in the parlor two days later.  Esther Rebecca remained in the house with John and Sarah Esther, and Frances (who never married) until 1865.

The house was purchased by Benjamin Richards, a real estate broker, and his wife, the former Eliza Fenno Verplanck.  Born in 1835 and 1838, respectively, the couple was married on September 30, 1862 and would have four children: Guy, born in 1866; Louisa Verplanck, born in 1868; Philip Verplanck, burn in 1872; and Gulian Crommelin Verplanck (known as Guy), born two years later.  

In August 1896, the Richards advertised the house for rent.  It was leased to a series of well-to-do tenants over the coming years.  Henry Jefferds Goodwin and his wife, the former Annie Sutton, were perhaps their first. 

The New York Times called Annie, "the elder of the beautiful Sutton girls, the daughters of the late Cornelius K. Sutton."   Henry was a Civil War veteran and had been awarded a medal "for his bravery in the battle of Gettysburg," according to the Sun-Journal.  The couple was still living here when Annie Sutton Goodwin died at the age of 51 on January 20, 1899.

Henry D. Whitfield followed Henry Goodwin.  He was gone by the autumn of 1905.  On September 8 that year, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Harry B. Hollins, Jr., will be at No. 14 East 11th-st. throughout the winter."  Henry was the son of millionaire financier Henry Bowly Hollins and his wife was the former Lilian Livingston.

From 1907 through 1909, Helen Bulkeley Redmond rented the house.  Born in 1858, she was the widow of millionaire Roland Redmond, who died in 1894.

The Benjamin and Eliza Richards finally returned to 14 East 11th Street.  Eliza died in the house on November 25, 1914.  In reporting her death, The New York Times remarked, "She was one of the pioneer workers in the suffrage cause, and was a member of the various organizations and clubs connected with it in this city."

The house was soon home to attorney Charles MacVeagh and his family.  The assistant general counsel of the United States Steel Corporation, MacVeagh was born on June 6, 1860, the son of Wayne MacVeagh, who was United States Attorney General under President James Garfield. 

He and his wife, the former Fannie Davenport Rogers, had six sons.  Their summer estate, Fasnacloich, was in Harrisville, New Hampshire.  The couple erected the mansion there in 1911.  (Although the architect of record is A. S. Bell, Fannie is generally credited with much of its design.)

On December 30, 1916, Lincoln MacVeagh's engagement to Margaret Charlton Lewis was announced.  He was a graduate of Princeton and would go on to be the U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, Greece, Yugoslavia, South America, and Iceland.

When America entered World War I, two of the MacVeagh sons--Charles Jr. and Francis Wayne--were inducted into the U.S. Army.  They were sent to the Plattsburgh, New York training camp on the same day, June 8, 1918.

At the end of the war, Charles Jr. returned to college and graduated from Harvard in June 1919.  He lived with his parents in the East 11th Street house.

Charles MacVeagh would become U.S. Ambassador to Japan in 1925.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

Early in 1920, Fannie traveled to Washington D.C. to have an eye operation and in February, Charles Jr. went to Fasnacloich for the winter sports.  He took along his friend, Charlton Reynders.

After being there a few days, on the afternoon of February 14, the two young men started out to climb to the summit of Mount Monadnock.  The New York Times said, "The weather was fair and mild...They did not wear heavy coats, hats or gloves, as they expected to make a quick trip and believed the exercise would be sufficient to keep them warm."  They were about a half mile from the summit when a snowstorm began.  It quickly developed into "a wild mountain blizzard," as described by the newspaper.

In their attempt to get back down the mountain, they lost their bearings in the blinding storm.  The conditions worsened with the loss of daylight.  After becoming exhausted and stumbling several times, at around 9:00 MacVeagh lost consciousness.  Reynders attempted to shield his friend from the snow and cold, but the 22-year-old MacVeagh died at around 4:00 that morning.

In the meantime, the Fasnacloich caretaker, Frederick Nettleton, realized that the young men had not returned and set out to find them.  He fired his revolver at intervals and, finally, Reynders heard the shots and fired back.  Nettleton helped Reynders, who was exhausted and suffering from exposure, to the foot of the mountain where he collapsed.  Nettleton was forced to leave him there while he went to a farmhouse for help. 

The farmer and Nettleton transported Reynders, who was unconscious, to the farmhouse on a toboggan.  The New York Times reported, "although suffering severely from exposure, [he] is expected to recover."

On the night of February 15, Charles traveled to Washington to break the news to Fannie, who was still recovering.  The Evening World reported that he would meet Lincoln MacVeagh in New Hampshire "to take charge of the body of his son."

The MacVeaghs left 14 East 11th Street that year and the Richards family leased it in August to the William George Sickel family.  Described by The New York Times as being "prominent in shipping circles both here and in Europe," William Sickel was an executive with the American Ship and Commerce Corporation.  He and his wife, Sallie Ruby Allen, had three children, Pearl A. Loraine, Jane Allen, and John Allen.

Five months after moving in, on January 21, 1921, the Sickels announced Jane Allen's engagement to George W. Lewis.  In reporting the event, The New York Times remarked, "Miss Sickel is a graduate of Miss Wright's School at Bryn Mawr, Pa."  The wedding took place in the parlor here on August 13, 1921.

After being in her family's possession for more than six decades, on May 9, 1925, the Record & Guide reported that Louise Verplanck Richards had sold the house to Isabel Schelling.

Isabel was the wife of Dr. Henry I. Schelling.  He was her second husband.  In 1898, she was the secretary to General Stewart L. Woodford, a Civil War veteran and U.S. Minister at Madrid.  When the Spanish-American War erupted, he and his legation party, including Isabel, left Spain for Paris.  Two years later she and her employer were married.  He died in 1913.

Isabel and Henry were married in 1915.  Their summer home was in Southport, Connecticut.  The intrepid Isabel went to Paris in 1917 with the American Red Cross, originally in charge of "a large surgical-dressing station," according to The New York Times.  She later was attached to a Red Cross aviation canteen in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Isabel was involved in politics, as well.  On January 13, 1926, for instance, she hosted a meeting of the Republic Committee of One Hundred here. 

Like the previous residents of the house, the Schellings not only enjoyed their country estates, but world travel.  On April 1, 1928, The New York Times reported that they had sailed on the Volendam "for a motor trip of two months through Belgium and Holland."

The Shellings were in Southport on September 28, 1934 when Isabel died "of an apoplectic stroke," as reported by The New York Times.  Her funeral was held in the Connecticut home.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

In March 1950, esteemed architect Edgar A. Tafel and his wife, the former Lucille Blair, purchased the house.  The New York Times reported that he intended to alter it "into a residence and architect's office."  Instead, he converted it into one apartment each on the basement through third floors, and three furnished rooms on the fourth.  

Born on March 12, 1912, Edgar Tafel had trained under Frank Lloyd Wright.  During his nine-year residency, he had worked with Wright on Fallingwater, the Johnson Wax Headquarters and Wingspread, among others.

A young Edgar Tafel looks over the shoulder of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wisconsin in the summer of 1938.  photo by the Associated Press

In 1958, Tafel received the commission for the La Hermosa Community Center at Fifth Avenue and East 110th Street.  At the same time, he was designing the Church House for the First Presbyterian Church.  The latter project earned him a design award from the Fifth Avenue Association.  

The following year he remodeled 14 East 11th Street again.  It now held a duplex apartment in the basement and parlor floors, and one apartment each in the upper stories.

The Tafels were in St. Thomas, Virgin Island, on February 23, 1972, when Lucille Blair Tafel died.  After having been a buyer for several department stores, she had until recently operated her own buying office, Hudson Blair.

On January 25, 2011, The New York Times reported Edgar Tafel, "among the best known of Frank Lloyd Wright's many apprentices," had died in the East 11th Street house a week earlier, on January 18, at the age of 98.  The article said, "On his own, Mr. Tafel designed 80 houses, 35 religious buildings and 3 college campuses, among other projects."

Five years later, 14 East 11th Street was returned to a single family house.  It sold in November 2020 for $28.5 million.  Outwardly, it has changed little from the day the Belcher family moved in in 1852.

photographs by the author