 |
| photo by Alice Lum |
Problems came as war clouds formed over Europe. Forstmann supplied woolen goods to Germany, which ended up in the construction of German Army uniforms. With the U.S. entry into the war in 1917, Forstmann’s plant was seized by the Alien Property Custodian and he was subpoenaed to appear before Deputy Attorney General Alfred L. Becker on April 2, 1918.
In his strong German accent, Forstmann declared himself “a loyal citizen of the United States” and denied any “German taint.”
Julius Forstmann was cleared of any suspicion of anti-American conduct and eventually regained control of his mills.
With the end of the war, things settled back to normal for Forstmann, whose fortune was growing daily. In 1922 he commissioned the famed mansion architect Charles P. H. Gilbert to design an imposing townhouse at 22 East 71st Street where millionaires like Robert Chesebrough (the inventor of Vaseline) had already settled.
Although other wealthy New Yorkers were trending towards neo-Georgian or Regency homes in the early 20’s, Forstmann nudged Gilbert back to the tried-and-true Italian Renaissance style that was all the rage at the turn of the century.
For the double-wide lot, Gilbert produced a distinctive 25-room, limestone-fronted mansion, completed in 1923. Five stories high over an American basement, it rose to a mansard roof pierced by arched dormers. The house that cost Forstmann $700,000 spoke silently of refinement and taste.
Guests entered through a dramatic arched entrance way, nearly a story-and-a-half tall into an spacious foyer and reception hall of polished stone floors under a coffered ceiling. A sweeping staircase with an ornate bronze railing flowed along one wall.
It was a house that a century later the AIA Guide to New York City would call “contented, self-satisfied.”
 |
| Julius Forstmann's limosine waits outside No. 22 East 71st Street -- photo Museum of the City of New York collection |
To celebrate her launch, the Forstmanns took the Orion on at 30,000-mile cruise around the world in 1930. The Great Depression, it seems, had little effect on the Forstmann’s lifestyle.
 |
| photo trulia.com |
 |
| The Forstmann reception hall was impressive, if not "warm" -- photo trulia.com |
The modeling and booking agency, IMG, took over the space for a short time before it was purchased in 2004 real estate developer Aby Rosen for $15.65 million. Within only a few months, the high-end art dealers, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, signed a 10-year lease on the 22,000 square foot mansion for an unrealistic rent of $1.8 million a year. In lieu of a security deposit, Lawrence B. Salander handed over an Edouard Manet painting, “La Femme aux Chiens.”
 |
| photo by Alice Lum |
The Manet, by the way, was returned to Salander so it could be sold to pay back the nearly $1 million in back rent.
Two years later Julius Forstmann’s elegant limestone home still sat unsold. Rosen reduced the price in 2010 to $59 million, and again in 2011 to $50 million.
The house served as the setting of Cromwell’s Auctioneers and Appraisers, where Hugh Grant’s character, Michael Felgate, worked in the 1999 film “Mickey Blue Eyes.” It sits regally and patiently waiting for a new owner, a grand slice of the privileged life during the 1920’s.
.png)
I grew up in Passaic New Jersey, where I spent every Saturday morning of my childhood at the Julius Forstmann Library, a charming, warm, wood paneled building that fueled a lifelong love of language. Even through HIgh School, it was the reference point to create reports and research for my HS papers. My memories are fond and indelible, as are my thanks to the Forstmann family.
ReplyDeleteMy father and grandfather both worked at the Forstmann mill in Passaic. They lived in an old Victorian house on River drive, and my father worked and got an engineering degree in the 1930s. In our suburban home, there were boxes of Forstmann woolens that awaited the tailor. So delighted to learn more of the family history.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons he was so wealthy was that after his father insisted he, instead of attending American college, which his father dubbed a "pleasure palace" ) tour the world in his yacht, the Orion, when in Europe, the younger Forstmann "saw unsold goods stockpiled in factories. When he returned, in October of 1929, he instructed his broker to liquidate his portfolio."
ReplyDeleteWhen the the building served as a convent, apparently, the nuns used an outside courtyard on the fifth floor, hidden by the Mansard roof (since enclosed), to hang their laundry to dry. In 1942, with the help of Robert J. Reiley, it was transformed into the Catholic Center for the Blind. The Certificate of Occupancy from 1943 lists the kitchen and dining rooms in the basement; a chapel, coat room, work room and living room on the first floor; three bedrooms and three dormitories on the second floor; four bedrooms and four dormitories on the third floor; nine bedrooms on the fourth; and one bedroom, an isolation room and the infirmary on the fifth floor. The convent’s housing arrangement of so many people found a perfect solution in the blind, who did not experience claustrophobia in such small accommodations.
After a few changes of ownership, in 1985 the sports management agency IMG purchased the building and performed extensive renovations, including the addition of a greenhouse in the back, the removal of the dumbwaiter, and the conversion of the fifth floor courtyard into offices. Lafave notes that a river used to run down the block and under the building. “When IMG took occupancy, there was an open sump in the sub-basement with a pipe descending about 6-8’ below the floor surface, at the bottom of which you could actually see running water!” In what was called the “fish trap,” there was screening to prevent wildlife from entering the building. My favorite memory was that took the small chapel as office, turning the confessional into a bar-- the next owner noticed that the handles on the confessional were very well worn!
*Arnold Palmer
ReplyDelete