The 1903 Hotel Darlington - 402 Eighth Avenue

 

photograph by Anthony Bellov

In 1902, the northern edge of Manhattan's Chelsea district was just seeing the influx of industry.  That year, still eight years before the opening of the magnificent Pennsylvania Station one block to the north, Isidor H. Kempner broke ground for a hotel and saloon at the northeast corner of Eighth Avenue and 30th Street.  Designed by the well-known architectural firm of Buchman & Fox, it cost Kempner $25,000 to erect, or about $940,000 in 2026 terms.  

The architects drew inspiration from Colonial prototypes.  Faced in red brick above the ground floor, the Hotel Darlington was three stories tall and stretched 64 feet down West 30th Street.  Its turret-like upper corner was likely capped with a shallow, conical "witch's hat" roof.  The second floor openings wore Georgian-inspired splayed lintels with layered keystones, while the treatment of the top floor windows was slightly less exuberant.  

In the rear of the saloon, which was initially run by Howard Babcock, was a large meeting space, Gallagher's Hall.  It was rented to various social, political and labor groups.  The space had a separate entrance on the side street.

From the beginning, the Hotel Darlington got an unsavory reputation.  Shortly after midnight on September 11, 1904, William F. McLean, an unmarried bookkeeper, checked in with a woman named Dora Callahan.  Within a few hours, McLean was dead.

The New York Herald said flatly that McLean "is said to have been a drug fiend."  According to Dora, who was held as a "suspicious person," a little while after entering the room, "McLean took two hypodermic injections of some drug."  The New York Herald reported, "When she awoke at 4 o'clock in the morning she could not arouse her companion and a physician was called in.  McLean was dead."  The following day, The Evening World reported that the 22-year-old Dora Callahan had been released.  "The evidence failed to show her in any way responsible for the man's death," said the article.

On July 26, 1905, the Excise Board revoked Howard Babcock's liquor license "under the provisions of the Ambler Law," according to The Evening Post.  (The Ambler Law restricted the sale of liquor on Sunday.)  The revocation was short-lived, apparently, and before long Gallagher's Hall was again routinely booked.

In its June 19, 1909 issue, for example, The Moving Picture World reported, "The regular meeting of the Picture Machine Branch Local 15, I. A. T. S. E., was held at Gallagher's Hall, 402 Eighth avenue, to an overflowing attendance."  The union rented the room each Monday night.  

And on February 11, 1911, the Irish American Advocate reported on the "third annual social and dance" of the Ancient Order of Hibernians the previous week.  "The affair was one continual round of pleasure from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.," said the article.

Meanwhile, residents upstairs continued to draw unwanted publicity.  On May 16, 1911, The New York Times reported that the Secret Service had broken a counterfeiting ring that "had for its object the flooding of Alaska with counterfeit money."  The Federal agents had seized a printing plant in Hoboken where the fake bills were being made.  The newspaper said, "The plot started six weeks ago, when some of those under arrest lived at 402 Eighth Avenue."

Despite the often nefarious goings on upstairs, the meetings in the rear of the saloon were respectable--at least for the time being.  On July 10, 1913, Building and Engineering News reported that the "Park-Presidio District Senator Scott Club" was formed here; and four months later, on November 7, The Evening Telegram reported, "Seven hundred and fifty members of the [Chauffeurs and Taxicab Drivers Local No. 267] attended a meeting held in Gallagher's Hall, No. 402 Eighth avenue."  Taxicab drivers had been on strike and the meeting was held to consider the owners' offer.

Renting a room here beginning in 1925 was Russian-born Sam Hysso.  The 32-year-old came to New York City to study art at the National Academy of Design.  Unfortunately, things were not working out for him.  Three years later, The New York Times said he still "spoke English badly," adding, "It was said at the school that he seemed to be unhappy."  

Provincetown, Massachusetts was a summer art colony at the time.  In the summer of 1928, Hysso traveled there, but his solitude and unhappiness continued.  The New York Times said his only confidant there was "a small boy."  Hysso, said the article, was known as the "loneliest artist in Provincetown."  That boy told the town's police chief that Hysso complained that he was "tired out and sick of life."  As a storm was brewing on the afternoon of August 5, the artist told someone he was going out to "study the cloud effects."  He wandered out into the sand dunes and was never seen again.

Towering business buildings provided the ground floor business a constant supply of patrons. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1933, with Prohibition in effect, Michael F. O'Day signed a lease on the former saloon and meeting hall.  He installed an eatery, O'Day's Restaurant, in the front and a dining room in the rear.  By then, the neighborhood had filled with factory and office buildings, resulting in a brisk business.  In 1953, O'Day testified that he served 300 persons each day.  

That year, while O'Day was ostensibly at home and sick, five of his seven employees were arrested for running a gambling joint in the dining room area.  Under questioning, O'Day insisted he was ignorant of the operation.  "Well, it is a cinch I wouldn't sacrifice my livelihood, a good business," by allowing illegal activities, he insisted.

photograph by Anthony Bellov

The building was sold in 1952 and 12 years later a renovation resulted in an "eating and drinking" establishment on the ground floor and four apartments each in the second and third.  At some point the brick facade was painted mint green and the brownstone trim a rosy-pink.  Forty-six years after it opened here in 1980, the Molly Wee Pub and Restaurant continues to serve the busy Penn Station community.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post.

The 1860 Jonas and Henrietta Phillips House - 36 West 12th Street

Frederick P. James was the head of the banking and brokerage firm of F. P. James & Co.  In 1854, he erected three upscale homes on the south side of West 12th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.  Abutting them to the east were six rowhouses built by Alphonse Loubat a decade earlier.  Somewhat surprisingly, in 1860 James demolished the 16-year-old Loubat houses and replaced them with elegant, brownstone-faced residences. 

Identical to his original three, the 21-foot-wide homes were four stories tall above a rusticated English basement.  Their fully-arched entrances were crowned by striking arched pediments supported on foliate brackets.  The floor-to-ceiling parlor windows were likely fronted by cast iron balconies.  Molded architrave window frames added to the homes' elegance.

Sarah Semon briefly operated 36 West 12th Street as a boarding house until Jonas N. Phillips and his second wife, Henrietta, purchased it in 1863.  (Phillips's first wife, Esther Peixotto, was deceased.)  

Jonas Phillips traced his American origins to Jonas Phillips who emigrated from Germany through England in 1756.  Born in 1816, Phillips began his career as a ship chandler and, by now, was a surveyor for the city.  In 1856 he was president of the Common Council and in 1857 he served as acting mayor of New York.  As early as 1863, he was president of the Board of Trustees of the Volunteer Fire Department.  Living with him and Henrietta were six children, Walter, Rachel Rosalie, Herman Samuel, Joseph Edgar, Isaac Franklin (known as Frank), and Sydney Aaron.

The Phillips family was prominent within the Sephardic Jewish community and held unusually high social status.  In 1863, Rachel Rosalie visited her uncle in Washington D.C., Adolphus Solomons.  Her diary entry of January 9, 1864 told of her visit to the White House and being "introduced to the president, and Mrs. Lincoln."  She mentioned that Mary Todd Lincoln "was handsomely attired in a Black Velvet dress gored with white satin."  Rachel met Mary Lincoln again three days later at a reception.

Jonas N. Phillips died at the age of 57 on July 19, 1874.  His funeral was held in the house the following morning.

In 1880, the five Phillips brothers still remained in the West 12th Street house with their mother.  Their professions were varied, including an importer, broker, clerk, and canvasser (a manufacturer of canvas fabric).  

Grover Cleveland was elected in November 1884 and was inaugurated on March 4, 1885.  He was the first Democratic President since the Civil War and the Phillips household was ecstatic.  The following day, The New York Times reported, "The 'Phillips Democratic Jollification Club' held a social gathering last evening at No. 36 West Twelfth-street to celebrate the inauguration of a Democratic President."  The article said, "Fifty guests sat down to the tables, and the following toasts were responded to, 'The President,' 'Ex-President Arthur;' 'An Honest Reform of the Civil Service.'"

The Phillips estate sold the house in June 1890 to Nicholas Latrobe Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor.  Roosevelt was a distant relative of future President Theodore Roosevelt and a fifth cousin of future President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  The couple's residency would be short.  Roosevelt died in the house at the age of 46 on December 14, 1892.  

The house was purchased within weeks by Benjamin Silliman Church and his wife, the former Mary Van Rensselaer Van Wyck.  The couple had one child, Angelica Schuyler, born in 1877.  Born in 1836, Church's impressive American lineage included Mayflower pilgrim John Robinson, John and Priscilla Alden, Governor Jonathan Trumbull, and General Gold Silliman.  Mary Van Wyck Church's pedigree was equally impressive.  Among her ancestors were Pieterse Schuyler, Robert Livingston, Abraham de Peyster, Pierre Van Cortlandt, and Wilhelmus Beekman.

Church was a civil engineer and surveyor and played important parts in the construction of Central Park, the Croton Aqueduct and the Central Park Reservoir.  

Benjamin Silliman Church, from the collection of the New York Public Library

Mary's entertainments appeared regularly in the society columns.  On April 25, 1897, for instance, The New York Times reported on her reception for the Martha Washington Colonial Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  "The house was elaborately decorated with cut flowers, roses, and lilies being used in profusion," said the article.

The winter social season of 1899-1900 saw Angelica's coming-out.  Among the last events was held in the house on February 1, 1900.  The New York Times reported that Mary "gives a dinner of twelve covers for her daughter, Miss Angelica Schuyler Church.  The guests at this dinner will afterward attend the Charity Ball."

Once introduced, Angelica got into the social whirl.  On March 22, 1901, the New-York Tribune reported, "Miss Angelica Schuyler Church gave a luncheon yesterday at her home, No. 36 West Twelfth-st. to honor Miss Marjorie V. Lea."  The guest list reflected the Churches' high social standing, with surnames including Schieffelin, De Peyster, Hamilton, Van Cortlandt, and Prime.

Angelica would become an accomplished sculptor.  On April 21, 1912, The New York Times remarked, "Miss Church's statuettes of mounted policemen exhibited [at the Tiffany studios] last year created much favorable comment."

Angelica Schuyler Church's 1910 The Rescue / An Episode of Central Park was exhibited at Tiffany Studios.  private collection

By the time of Angelica's exhibition, the Churches had been gone from 36 West 12th Street for five years.  They sold the house to Arthur Farragut Townsend and his wife, the former Marcia Moffat Alley, in August 1906.  

Born in 1865, Townsend co-founded the Manhattan Rubber Manufacturing Company in 1893.  Marcia Townsend was highly involved in women's issues and was treasurer of the Woman's Political Union.  In 1910, four years after moving into 36 West 12th Street, their only child, Arthur, was born.

Having an infant in her care did not slow down Marcia Townsend's passionate suffrage work.  On February 23, 1910, for instance, she hosted a meeting of the Equal Franchise Society during which Ida Husted Harper spoke on "The Character of the Opposition."  The following year, on April 1, The Evening Post reported, "The Rev. Henry Frank will speak on 'Women's Political Prospects' at a meeting of the Cooperative Service League for Woman Suffrage on Monday evening, at No. 36 West Twelfth Street."

On July 19, 1913, Marcia underwent emergency appendicitis surgery at New York Hospital.  The New-York Tribune reported that a hospital spokesman said, "Mrs. Townsend, who is called the 'best dressed suffragist,' rallied well after the operation and that all danger was now passed."  The following year, however, on April 19, 1914, Marcia Moffat Townsend died at the age of 49.  

In 1918, Arthur Townsend commissioned major alterations to the house.  At the time, vintage homes in Greenwich Village were being converted to artists' studios with vast northern-facing studio windows.  The stoop was removed and the entrance lowered to below grade.  (The former doorway was converted to a window, the architect deftly mimicking the others.)  At the third and fourth floors, large studio windows were installed in the center and French doors and metal balconies replaced the outer windows.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

An advertisement for one of the upper apartments in the New-York Tribune on June 2, 1918 offered, "Attractively furnished studio apartment, 4 rooms and bath, 2 balconies; and roof, for summer months."  

Among the early tenants were sculptor Enid Vandell, and attorney Shelton Hale.  Hale was the former Assistant Secretary of the United States War Trade.  In 1924, Margaret Leech took an apartment here.  Leech graduated from Vassar College in 1915 and when she moved in was working for Condé Nast.  

Margaret Leech (original source unknown)

Remembered partly today as a member of the Algonquin Round Table, she would win the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1942 and in 1960.  She wrote her novel The Feathered Nest, published in 1928, here.  That year Leech moved from her apartment to a mansion after marrying Ralph Pulitzer, eldest son of publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

In 1943, fledgling cook James A. Beard moved into a second floor apartment at 36 West 12th Street, facing the rear.  John Birdsall, in his The Man Who Ate Too Much--The Life of James Beard, writes: "The kitchen was a converted closet, separated from the bathroom by a partition.  There was no kitchen sink.  He washed dishes in the bathtub."

Fifteen years after moving in, James Beard was being recognized.  Writing in The New York Times on August 29, 1957, Jane Nickerson reported on a course "in international cuisine that will be given at the Lexington Hotel."  Teaching it were Albert Stockli, chef director of Restaurant Associates, and James A. Beard, "the dining and cooking authority whose influence is felt in many areas connected with food."

James A. Beard, from the collection of the UCLA Library

Beard was gay, but feared being discovered as such.  In mid-century Manhattan, homosexuals could still be fired and, in his case, ruined professionally.  He met Gino Cofacci, who would be his "life companion" for thirty years, according to Jon Shadel in his 2017 America's Most Influential Chef was Gay as Hell.  And yet, they did not live together.  John Birdsall explains, "James rented the empty apartment on the first floor of his building at 36 West Twelfth.  Gino could have the bedroom in the new unit, while James would use the rest as his office, keeping his bedroom--officially--in the existing unit upstairs."

James A. Beard left West 12th Street around 1957.  He is remembered today for influencing American cuisine by championing home cooking and fresh ingredients, and establishing American cuisine as an art form.

In 1985, a dramatic renovation/restoration to return 36 West 12th Street to a single family home began.  The remarkable transformation back to its 1860 appearance was completed in 1992.  The stoop and its ironwork were refabricated, the entrance enframement restored, and the studio windows of the top two floors removed and replaced with meticulous reproductions.  The passerby today could not possibly suspect that the Phillips house has undergone a tremendous makeover.

photographs by the author

The 1854 Antonio di Alfaro House - 206 East 16th Street

 

Robert Voorhies purchased eight lots on the south side of East 16th Street, just steps from elegant Stuyvesant Square in January 1852 for $16,800--just over $700,000 in 2026 terms.  The houses he erected on the site went up with blinding speed and only nine months later he had sold nearly all of them.  Among the buyers was Antonio Franchi di Alfaro, who paid $11,000 for the westernmost house, 82 East 16th Street.  (The address would be renumbered 206 in 1864.)

Alfaro's wife was Maria Ignacia.  They had recently relocated from Cuba where Antonio had been a professor of Greek at the University of Havana.  He now listed his profession as "printer" at 7 Spruce Street, but continued his work in languages.  The same year he moved his family into the East 16th Street house, he wrote and published a Spanish language guide.  It explained a spelling system titled "Castilian-phonetic Spelling or According to Pronunciation."  Franchi Alfaro, presumably a son, lived in the house and worked in the Spruce Street business.

The Alfaros' handsome Anglo-Italianate-style home was four stories tall and faced in red brick above a brownstone base.  The segmentally-arched windows of the upper floors wore pretty cast iron lintels that sat upon ornate corbels.  Their sills rested upon especially decorative brackets.  An arched corbel table and three foliate brackets supported the cornice.

Alfaro offered the house for sale in September 1858, describing it in the New York Herald as, "A handsome, well built four story modern house, in a very genteel neighborhood, with all improvements, between Union and Stuyvesant parks."  The residence was sold quickly.  On November 11, 1858, the title was transferred to Frances Bryant Godwin.

Frances, known as Fanny, was the daughter of William Cullen Bryant and Frances Fairchild, and the wife of Parke Godwin.  Godwin and Bryant worked together in the publishing firm of William C. Bryant & Co.  The East 16th Street house became home to both the Bryants and the Godwins.

Frances Fairchild Bryant, from the collection of The Bryant Library

William Cullen Bryant, from the collection of the Library of Congress

William Cullen Bryant was, as well, the editor of the New York Evening Post, a poet, and an orator.  Perhaps his best known poem was "Thanatopsis," published in 1817.  By the time the family moved into the 16th Street house, he was well-known for his ardent stands on abolition, workers' rights and free trade.

Born in 1816 in Paterson, New Jersey, Parke Goodwin married Fannie Maria Bryant in 1837.  Like his father-in-law, he was a journalist (he had worked for the Evening Post from 1837 to 1853), an outspoken abolitionist, and author.  When he and Fannie purchased 82 East 16th Street, he was a co-editor of Putnam's Magazine with George William Curtis.

Frances "Fanny" Maria Bryant Godwin, from the collection of The Bryant Library

Parke Godwin, Current Literature, Vol. 36 1904 (copyright expired)

Bryant's and Godwin's close professional relationship was reflected in a letter Bryant wrote home to Frances during a business trip on January 16, 1861:

Dear Frances.

I think I shall not return till Friday.  I want to finish the revision of the Memoir of Cooper, and this I must do from materials furnished by "Pages and Pictures from Cooper," a big book, too large to be conveniently brought out to Roslyn.  The publisher Townsend, the same who published the Forest Hymn, is waiting for me.

All well here.  The E. P. is virtually in Godwin's hands, and he begins to breakfast earlier.  Only some papers are to be executed as soon as they are drawn up.

Yours ever, W. C. B.

(The "E. P." Bryant referenced was the Evening Post.)

The house was regularly the meeting place for The Sketch Club, also known as The Twenty-One.  Its purpose, according to historian and author James T. Callow, was "the cross fertilization of art, literature, and other professions [that] united artists and patrons, and forced each member to broaden his outlook."

By 1864, the dwelling (now numbered 206 East 16th Street) was home to John Chamberlin.  Because he did not list a profession in city directories, he may have been retired or simply affluent enough to be a "gentleman" who did not need to work.  When the family left in November 1867, an auction of their furnishings was held.  The announcement hinted at their high-toned lifestyle.  Among the items were an "iron silver safe" (which would have held the family's table service), mahogany bedroom and dining room furniture, and a rosewood parlor suite.  The rosewood piano was made by Decker & Co. (the headquarters of which was nearby on Union Square), and the china was imported from France.

The house was purchased by Jacob and Abbie W. Russell.  Russell was a director in The Safe Deposit Company of New York.  The couple would remain until about 1880, when Henry Clay Miner and his wife, the former Julia Lucinda Moore, moved in.

Born in 1842, Henry Clay Miner was well-known in the New York theater.  The impresario operated a number of prominent theaters, most notably the Bowery Theatre and the Harry Miner's Theatre.  He pioneered the concept of circuits—booking acts into a string of popular venues rather than a single theater.  Miner grew wealthy in the theater business.  

Henry Clay Miner, Notable New Yorkers of 1869-1899 (copyright expired)

Henry Clay Miner would later be highly involved in politics, serving as a United States Representative from New York from 1895 to 1897.  By then, the Miners would have been gone from 206 East 16th Street for years.  

They quickly sold the house to Johanne Hesse who resold it to John C. Oscar in 1886 for $1,600.  It would finally have a long-term owner when Oscar sold it to attorney Thomas M. Canton and his wife Susan around 1889.

In addition to his legal work as a defense attorney, Canton was a Commissioner of Deeds.  He had arrived in New York from Dublin in 1849 at the age of 20.  He and Susan were married in 1859.  At the onset of the Civil War he enlisted in the 69^th Regiment and served with the Army of the Potomac.  He had reached the rank of first lieutenant before his first battle—Bull Run.  His military service ended when he was wounded on August 25, 1864.  He was twice brevetted for bravery, earning the rank of colonel.

Canton defended some of Manhattan’s most egregious criminals, including Samuel Greenstein, charged with first and second degree rape in March 1899; Joseph J. Cronin, who went on trial for first degree grand larceny in April 1900; and James Kennedy whose list of charges in October that year included abduction, assault in the second degree, and first and second degree rape.

The two houses next door, originally part of the 1854 row, were converted to St. George's deaconess house in 1902.  When this photo was taken in 1941, an Art Deco apartment building had nuzzled up to the western side of 206 East 16th Street.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Susan M. Canton was 75 years old and in failing health in January 1907.  On Thursday, February 7 she had contracted pneumonia and was “plainly in a dying condition.”   A trained nurse, May R. Traub was called to the house to attend to her.   She later described Susan’s condition saying, “Mrs. Canton was so ill and weak that she could not hold a spoon in her hand” and “she was delirious.”

Thomas Canton had been sitting up with his wife since midnight the day before.  Susan’s niece, Emilie Randall, “an actress,” and a nephew, John Hepenstall, held vigil as well.   When, after more than 24 hours with no sleep, Canton went upstairs to bed, the relatives jumped into action.

Around 2:00 in the morning they found a notary to draw up a new will that divided Susan’s entire estate of around $15,000 between them.  According to court papers later, “the dying woman was propped up with pillows and her lifeless hand was drawn over the paper in imitation of a signature while she was practically unconscious.”

Emilie hid the will and three hours later Susan M. Canton was dead.  The grieving Thomas Canton had no idea of what had transpired while he slept.  Susan’s funeral was held in the house on Sunday afternoon, February 10 at 1:00.

Canton was stunned when he obtained letters of administration on the estate and found he had been removed from the will.  What followed was a long court battle during which time the probate of the will was held up.  “Surrogate Beckett says that the drawing, signing and witnessing of the will were plainly done in a great hurry and under circumstances that warrant the Court in refusing to admit it to probate,” reported The Sun.

The attorney representing Emilie Randall (consistently referred to as “an actress” in the press) and John Hepenstall attempted to prove that “the Cantons had not been happy in the closing years of their lives.”  The judge was unmoved by the argument.  The Sun reported on March 22, 1908, ‘the Surrogate holds that ‘bickerings, disagreements and jealousies’ that existed were not remarkable in a couple who had been married for forty-eight years and that they had lived together in as much peace and harmony as could reasonably  be expected.”

On March 21, 1908, Surrogate Beckett ruled in favor of Thomas Canton saying, “the will was drawn when Mrs. Canton was so near death that she did not realize the importance of the act."  He said that “influence was used to prevent the property from being left to her husband.”  In reporting on the decision the New-York Tribune once more reminded readers, “Miss Randall is an actress.”

Although he was 79 years old at the time of the decision, Canton quickly remarried and rewrote his will, leaving his entire estate to his new wife, Minnie Walling.

On April 22, 1912, the Veterans’ Corps honored Thomas Canton at a banquet in the Union Square Hotel.  It was the 51^st anniversary of the day his regiment was deployed to the South.  He was, as reported by The Evening World the following day, the “only survivor among the thirty-three officers of the Sixty-ninth Regiment who marched down Broadway April 23, 1861, on their way to the civil war.”

The ugly incident that had surrounded Susan’s will stayed with Canton.  On March 4, 1913, he added a codicil to his will.  His fear of connivers trying to get part of his estate was obvious in his wording.

Dating it “Wilson’s Inauguration Day” he still left everything to his wife, Minnie, but explained:

The will written on the preceding was written by the testator without the influence of any person.  After due deliberation I believe the provision I have made for my wife is the best I could have made for her.  In a former will I devised her my real estate in fee simple.  I have made the change entirely with a view to her interest, which by care will return a moderate income for life.  I feared that if she had the power of sale or mortgage it would pass out of her hands, as frequently happens to inexperienced women.

Nine days after he signed the revised will, the 83-year-old Thomas M. Canton died.  Other than $500, which he left to St. Ann’s Church, his $33,328 estate passed to Minnie W. Canton—a bequest equal to just over $1 million in 2026.

By now the Canton house had been architecturally separated from the rest of the row.  In 1902, the abutting houses at Nos. 208 and 210 had been drastically redesigned for use as a deaconess house for nearby St. George’s Church.

Following the end of World War I, 206 East 16^th Street became home to English-born Ernest Kilburn Scott.  A consulting engineer, he had served with the ministry of munitions for two years, part of that time with the explosives department.  He remained in the house at least into the 1920s.

In 1944, furnished rooms were being rented in the once proud house.  Three years later it was converted to apartments—one on the first floor and two on the second—with furnished rooms on the upper stories.

Another renovation came in 1962 when the first and second floors were converted to a duplex apartment, and the third and fourth converted to one apartment each.  Despite the renovations inside, the exterior of the narrow 1854 residence survives remarkably intact.

photographs by the author

The Paul Rudolph House - 23 Beekman Place

 

The two-block long Beekman Place was opened in 1860.  Running from 49th to 51st Street, it sat on land that had formerly been the Beekman family's country estate.  On December 18, 1865, former Methodist minister Samuel W. Dunscomb purchased the land from James W. Beekman for $127,500, or just over $2.5 million in 2026 terms.  (Beekman retained possession of the narrow strip of land along the river.)  Dunscombe erected a stone retaining wall and began erecting 20-foot-wide rowhouses on both sides of Beekman Place.  The high-stooped residences were four-stories tall and shared a continuous cornice.

Dr. John Jay Higgins and his wife, the former Maria Briggs, moved into 23 Beekman Place.  The second house north of East 50th Street, its rear garden sloped to the riverfront.  Moving in with the couple, who were married on April 24, 1850, were Maria's parents, William D. and Mary Major Briggs.

Born in 1827, Higgins graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1850.  When he first moved into 23 Beekman Place, he operated a pharmacy.  His advertisement on November 22, 1870 in the New York Herald offered, "A drug store, the largest, most extensive and finest on First avenue, for sale, to a cash customer; an unexampled opportunity."

Mary Major Briggs died at the age of 81 on May 7, 1870.  Her funeral was held in the parlor two days later.  

Despite the breezes and views that had first prompted wealthy New Yorkers to build lavish country estates above the river, Beekman Place residents in the last quarter of the 19th century dealt with the abattoirs across the river.  On February 24, 1881, The New York Times reported on complaints "against the bone-boiling and other nuisances of Hunter's Point and vicinity."  The article mentioned, "Dr. J. J. Higgins, of No. 23 Beekman-place, reported that the stenches were most powerful in the Summer, but were by no means limited to that season."  And on the same day, the New York Herald quoted him saying, "Frequently I have had to leave my house and drive to another portion of the city."

In the meantime, Higgins regularly contributed articles and papers to medical journals.  By the last decade of the 19th century, he and Maria maintained a summer estate in Connecticut where he practiced his avocation of photography.  In its May 1892 issue, Scientific American, Architects and Builders Edition remarked, "In addition to his rare accomplishments as a physician and surgeon, the doctor is an amateur photographer of rare skill."

23 Beekman Place, the second house from the right, originally resembled the high-stooped brownstones at the north of the block, seen here on September 20, 1927.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

John Jay Higgins died at the age of 79 on August 28, 1906.  His funeral was held in the house two days later.  Maria L. Higgins almost immediately left the residence.  One month to the day after Higgins's funeral, she sold the house to Charles Philip Schmid.  (Schmid's middle name was sometimes reported as "Pin.")

Born in Ulm, Germany around 1855, Schmid came to America at the age of 13.  He married Marie Louis Weisendanger in April 1877.  The couple had six surviving children when they moved in: Charles Philip, Ernest Emmel, Robert Major, Agnes Henrietta, Emeline Elise and Walter Arnsdale.

Schmid was secretary of the Schaefer Brewing Company, having joined the firm in 1884.  He would not enjoy his new home for especially long.  On December 30, 1911, the New York Herald reported that he had died in the residence after a short illness.

Still living in the house with Maria were Robert, Walter, and Emeline.  Walter became a hero in the spring of 1915.  On May 24, The New York Herald reported, "The cry of 'Man overboard!' was heard by Walter A. Schmid in his home, at No. 23 Beekman place, yesterday."  He ran down the slope to the pier at East 49th Street and leaped into the East River to rescue William Grist.  The man had fallen asleep on the pier and rolled off.

Schmid reached him as he "was sinking."  He kept Grist's head above water and treaded until a boat from the Life Savings Corps reached him.  Although Grist's lungs were filled with water, he was revived at Blackwell's Island.  The article said, "In a similar circumstance, Schmid saved another man in the same place last August."

Emeline Elise was married to William Claxton Dooris in March 1920.  It is unclear how the two met, since Dooris worked for the British Government in India.  The Sun said, "After an extended honeymoon, which will include a trip through Egypt, Mr. Dooris and his bride will live in Nasik and Bombay."

It was likely the Schmids who removed the stoop of their house.  By the time of Emeline's wedding, 23 Beekman Place was a two-family home--what today we would call a duplex and a triplex apartment.

Maria Louise Schmid advertised the house for sale in 1921.  Her advertisement in the New York Herald on April 10 read:

Four story and basement brownstone front two family house, 14 rooms, 2 baths; electric light, steam heat; quiet neighborhood in restricted section.  Rear overlooks East River, with unobstructed view; $32,000.  Schmid, 23 Beekman place (East 50th st.).

The price would translate to about $561,000 in 2026.  It reflected the transformation within the neighborhood that started when millionaires began remodeling nearby similar houses into mansions, creating exclusive Sutton Place.

On April 1, 1922, the New-York Tribune reported that Maria had sold the house to Guthrie McClintic.  Interestingly, a stipulation in the transaction apparently allowed Maria Louise Schmid to remain here.  She would die in the house at the age of 68 on November 27, 1927.

A theatrical producer and stage director, McClintic and his wife, actress Katharine Cornell, were both born in 1893.  He would produce every play in which Cornell starred beginning in 1925.  A leading lady, Katharine Cornell would later earn the title, "First Lady of the Theatre."  

Four months before purchasing 23 Beekman Place, The Dover Road opened at the Bijou Theatre.  It was McClintic's directorial debut and would become a smash hit.  An article about Guthrie McClintic in the November 1922 issue of National Magazine commented, "The atmosphere of his home at 23 Beekman Place is electrifying with everything that makes life worth while."

Following Maria Schmid's death, the couple returned 23 Beekman Place to a single-family home.  In 1929, they hired architect Franklin Abbott to renovate the interiors and exterior.  He remodeled the ground floor with rusticated stonework and arched openings.  Cast iron Juliette balconies were applied to the second floor and a metal mansard installed.  The ground floor was extended at the rear and the garden girded by walls.

The couple descended a few steps into the former English basement level to enter the home.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On December 17, 1939, The New York Times reported that The Dover Road was still playing.  "The curfew will be muted at 23 Beekman Place next Saturday night, magnums will boil, dulcimers will be whanged and the welkin shivered, for Guthrie McClintic will be celebrating the eighteenth anniversary of the opening of 'The Dover Road,' first play carrying his managerial and directorial stamp to enchant this bus-strewn island."  The article noted, "One of the fruits of 'The Dover Road' is 23 Beekman Place, his handsome five-story home."

McClintic and Cornell in their Beekman Place library.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

On May 27, 1955, The New York Times reported that 23 Beekman Place had been sold.  "It formerly was owned by Katharine Cornell, the actress," said the article.  Five years later, on January 13, 1960, the newspaper reported that the house had been resold, saying the buyer "will convert it into apartments, including a duplex suite for his own occupancy."

The owner was Antoinette Trombetta Marsicano who moved in with her daughter, Dr. Philomena R. Marsicano.  The widow of concert harpist Vincent Marsicano, Antoinette was founder and president of Antoinette of the Plaza, a hairdressing salon, and the Antoinette Beauty Salon, Inc. on West 38th Street.  Philomena was an attorney and she established the Marsicano Foundation.

Among the Marsicano's tenants was architect Paul Rudolph, who moved in in 1961.  He originally used the apartment as his New York pied-à-terre while he chaired the Department of Architecture at Yale University.  The apartment became his primary residence in 1965.

Paul Rudolph purchased 23 Beekman Place in 1976 for $300,000, according to Timothy M. Rohan's The Architecture of Paul Rudolph.  The price would equal $1.65 million today.  Rohan writes, "Work began in 1977, when Rudolph demolished his fourth-floor apartment (it was too idiosyncratic for a rental unit) and began building the rooftop addition."  The sculptural penthouse level was completed in 1982.  At the rear, he installed a series of what one critic called a "jungle gym" of metal, geometric balconies.

The complex of rear balconies can be glimpsed from East 50th Street.

Rudolph completely redesigned the interior spaces.  Writing in House & Garden in January 1988, architect and critic Michael Sorkin called the penthouse "one of the most amazing pieces of modern urban domestic architecture produced in this country."

Paul Rudolph died on August 8, 1997, having gained the esteem of architectural critics world-wide.  Nevertheless, his interior sense of design over function was sometimes problematic, at least for one person.  

On December 3, 1998, The New York Times reported, "Modernism can be dangerous.  Just ask Cremilda Conceicao, whose forehead and sweat pants bear the battle scars of 14 years of cleaning the see-through elevator, transparent sinks and 17 levels of Plexiglas walkways and mirrored I-beams that snake bewilderingly through the late architect Paul Rudolph's Beekman Place triplex, perhaps the city's most stunning apartment."

Cremilda recounted how earlier that week, she almost fell off a balcony while trying to clean a Plexiglas platform "that serves as the head-grazing ceiling for one level and the floor of the level above," said the article.  At the time of the article, the house was on the market for $5.65 million.  

The Paul Rudolph Penthouse & Apartments was designated an individual New York City Landmark on November 16, 2010.

photographs by the author

The Jacob Scheer House - 323 West 108th Street

London-born Thomas Graham was both builder and architect.  In 1898, he took his 25-year-old son, William Van Wyck Graham, as his partner in an ambitious project--the erection of seven upscale rowhouses on West 108th Street between Riverside Drive and Broadway.  William was listed as the owner and builder of record, while his father was designated as the architect.

On November 4, 1899, as the row from 317 to 329 West 108th Street was taking shape, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide predicted that they would be "the finest and best equipped American basement residences ever offered to the public for sale in this city."  The article noted, "They are all built, finished and fitted in the most approved style of modern domestic construction, with hard woods, tiles, mosaics, sanitary plumbing, and the closest attention to the necessity of producing large, airy apartments, rich in appearance and containing all the requirements of elegance and comfort."   

323 West 108th Street is the fourth residence from the right.  Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, November 4, 1899 (copyright expired)

Young, wealthy and with a bright future ahead, William Van Wyck Graham committed suicide on August 31, 1900.  His fiancée had broken their engagement.  William's devastated father stopped work on the West 108th Street project, which changed hands twice before the final owner, Hugh J. Gallagher, commissioned the architectural firm of Horgan & Slattery to complete the houses.  The row was completed in 1902, four years after ground was broken.

Thomas Graham had designed two massive mansions on the western end of the row, with five 17-foot wide residences to the east.  The latter group was designed in the Renaissance Revival style and among the most striking was 323 West 108th Street.  The arched entrance above a short stoop was crowned with a elaborately carved spandrel below an ornate curved hood.  The entrance alone caused the house to stand out among the row.

Clad in beige brick, the upper four stories were embellished with rich terra cotta decorations, notably in the Corinthian pilasters that flanked the paired windows of the second and third floors.

The house was initially rented.  In 1903 James Geraty signed a lease, and in 1905 Harry Newington and his wife occupied the residence.  Then, in January 1906, Jacob Sheer purchased 323 West 108th Street.

Scheer was born in 1863 in Pumpenai, Lithuania.  His wife, the former Dora Jaffe, was born in 1871 in Vilijampole, Lithuania.  When they moved into the 108th Street house, their four children--Mae, William, Frances, and George--were 10, 7, 5, and 2 years old respectively.

Jacob Sheer, original source unknown.

Upon arriving in New York City in 1888, Scheer went into the jewelry business.  Then, six years before buying 323 West 108th Street, he and Dora partnered in real estate development.  In 1907, Jacob co-founded the Scheer-Ginsberg Realty and Construction Company and was its president.

Dora Jaffe Scheer, original source unknown.

Not long after moving into the residence, the Scheers were confronted by their celebrated next door neighbor, Victor Herbert, who lived at No. 321.  Music and art was an important facet of a young lady's upbringing, and Mae Scheer played piano.  Unfortunately, her morning practicing wafted through the party wall of the two houses, upsetting the quietude necessary for Herbert to compose.  Neil Gould, in his A Theatrical Life-Victor Herbert, explains, 

The young lady was accustomed to practicing her Czerny [piano exercises] for three hours each morning--about the same time that Herbert loved to compose...The young lady's music penetrated the wall of Herbert's studio and disturbed his routine.

 

A conference between Herbert's wife, Theresa, and Dora Scheer solved the neighborly dispute.  Mae's practice hours was moved to the afternoon and Herbert's morning composing time was restored. 

Mae's engagement to I. Herbert Gordon was announced at a reception at the Hotel Majestic on October 18, 1914.  Not long after her wedding, the Scheers sold 323 West 108th Street to Mrs. Charlotte A. Haig, who rented it.  In September 1917, she signed a lease with E. N. Sinclair.

Charlotte's next tenant would upset the 1906 detente established with the Scheers and Herberts.  Dr. Fery Lulek was the founder of the Conservatory of Music.  Neil Gould writes that moving into 323 West 108th Street were "a violiniste and two pianistes as female artists were then known...eight vocalists, and, together with Mrs. Mary Turner as chaperone, and her daughter 'Miss Jean' as piano coach."  He adds, "As Victor and Theresa watched in disbelief, in they came: eight chirping sopranos, four Steinway pianos (one for each floor) and a pubescent Paganini."

This time a ceasefire was harder to accomplish.  On March 31, 1920, The New York Times titled an article, "Victor Herbert Asks Relief From Music."  The Herberts sued, charging their neighbors with "disorderly conduct."  Mary Turner testified,
 

We are sorry if we annoy the Herberts, but what can we do?  We have moved the pianos.  We do not practice all the pianos at one time, as Mrs. Herbert said.  No doubt the Herberts do not enjoy the music.  It is quite likely they do not appreciate our music.  Thank heaven, it isn't the kind of music Mr. Herbert writes.  We play classical music!

The Herberts lost the suit, but their nemesis next door was soon gone, anyway.  Charlotte Haig sold the house in April 1920 to the Ahl Co., Inc.  The sale initiated a series of rapid-fire turnovers, ending with the purchase by the New York City Society of the Methodist-Episcopal Church for $38,500 in 1921.  (The price would translate to about $675,000 in 2026.)  

The house became home to the Japanese Methodist Church, its affiliated groups, and to Japanese tenants.  The 1922 report of the New York City Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church said, "As a social, intellectual and spiritual center and rendezvous for the Japanese community in New York City this property presents an ideal equipment and places our Church in a position to fully entertain the large responsibility we have for the Japanese."

The 1923 Directory of Social Agencies described the Japanese Church and Educational Institute (Mii Kyokai), as being "for Japanese young men."  The tenants living here were varied.  Some routinely advertised for work as butlers.  In contrast, architect Hisashi Tanaka, lived here in 1928.  Born in Tokyo in 1899, he had a degree in Architectural Engineering, and a Master's in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois.  Muralist Sakari Sukuki lived here in 1934 when he was employed by the Public Works Arts Project.  Born in Iwate, Japan in 1899, he attended the California School of Fine Arts.

Sakari Suzuki painting on a mural for the Willard Park Hospital in New York City for the Works Project Administrations.  from the collection of the Archives of American Art.

On May 17, 1928, The Christian Advocate reported,

Sunday, April 29, the birthday of the Emperor of Japan, was appropriately made the occasion of an interesting service at the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church, 323 West 108th Street...Beautiful American and Japanese silk flags were presented to the church.

The American flag was presented by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Shedd.  "Mr. Schedd, in presenting the American flag, challenged the well-known words of Kipling: 'East is East and West is West / And never the twain shall meet'," said the article.

Kipling's sentiment seemed to come true on December 7, 1941 when the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Naval Base in Pearl Harbor.  Four months later, on April 18, 1942, The Japanese Methodist Church and Institute and its affiliate groups, The Young People's Federation of New York and The Tozai Club of New York, signed a declaration that began, "We affirm our loyalty to this country and faith in its ideals."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The Japanese Methodist Church and Institute weathered the war.  The rampant anti-Japanese sentiment in America, however, did not end with peace.  On November 29, 1946, The New York Times reported on Rev. Alfred S. Akamatsu's sermon the previous day.  He, "declared that our nation had not yet attained the goals of 'cultural and racial democracy,'" said the article, which added, "Declaring that a 'fearful racial tension' exists in America today, Mr. Akamatsu said 'God calls upon us not only to assist other peoples but to show the way to truly democratic living."

In 1953 the Japanese Methodist Church and Institute merged with the Japanese Christian Mission and the Japanese Christian Association.  No. 323 West 108th Street became headquarters of the United Church of Christ Japanese-American.  The New York Times, on August 19, 1963, explained that it "is a federation of Christians of Japanese descent and it comprises most Protestant denominations."

In 1967, the group renovated a three-story commercial building on lower Seventh Avenue as its "first adequate home," as worded by The New York Times on April 30.  Four years later, 323 West 108th Street was acquired by the Bloomingdale School of Music, a non-profit institution.  On October 22, 1972, The Times reported, "The Bloomingdale House of Music...now in its ninth year of operation, has finally been able to move into its own building at 323 West 108th Street.

The school continues to occupy the former Scheer mansion.  Working with public schools, it offers weekly music lessons to 500.  It also holds concerts in the facility.

Other than its modern, industrial grade security gates, the Scheer house remains remarkably intact.

photographs by the author.