Although much of the 1869 architectural details have been removed, the original entrance doors survive.
John and Myer Hayes (presumably brothers) erected a row of six Italianate homes along the north side of West 47th Street Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in 1869. John Hayes designed the houses, as well. Just over 18-feet-wide and three stories tall above English basements, each featured beefy, cast iron stoop railings and newels, arched entranceways with peaked pediments, and molded, architrave window frames.
The western-most house, 437 West 47th Street, became home to the John F. Rottmann family. Born in Germany, Rottmann was a member of the New York Schutzen Corps, a German rifle club; and the Amt Hagener Club, a popular German-American social group.
He and his wife, Elizabeth, had three sons--John Jr., Henry D. and Herman H.--and a daughter, Margaret. When they moved into the 47th Street house, Rottmann was a partner in the Rottmann & Eckhoff Brewery. In 1873, Rottmann dissolved his partnership with Eckhoff and established a new brewery, John F. Rottmann & Sons. It was located conveniently nearby at 315 West 47th Street.
In 1872, one month after her 21st birthday, Margaret C. Rottman died. Her funeral was held in the parlor on May 13.
On March 1, 1889, 437 West 47th Street was purchased by James Fitzpatrick for $14,000 (about $478,000 in 2024 terms). It was resold in 1892 to Dr. John Martin for $15,000.
Dr. Martin lived and practiced from the house until 1905. It was sold to the John J. Kelly family. Living with him and his wife, Elizabeth, was their adult son, Bernard, who was head of a local ironworkers union. The Kellys took in one boarder. In 1906, it was 43-year-old Joseph Bobbnieth.
On August 7, 1906, the New-York Tribune began an article saying, "The heat wave which began Saturday increased in intensity yesterday until the record for the hottest day of the year was broken...The intense heat and the enervating humidity caused seventeen deaths in the metropolitan district and over fifty prostrations in Manhattan alone." Among the latter was Joseph Bobbnieth, "found in front of No. 508 West 34th street." He was taken to Bellevue Hospital to recover.
In 1919, the Kellys sold 437 West 47th Street to the Missionary Canonesses of St. Augustine, known as the Belgian Missionary Sisters, who converted it to their convent. While officially the St. John Berchman's Convent, it was familiarly known as the Belgian Sisters Convent.
The dedication was performed by a most auspicious figure--Cardinal Désiré-Joseph Mercier, who was also the Archbishop of Mechelen in Belgium, On September 14, 1919, the New York Herald reported he "will visit St. Albert's Church, 431 West Forty-seventh street, call upon the parish clergy and then proceed to the new convent of the Belgian Sisters...which he will dedicate."
The cast iron stoop railings and other details were intact in 1941. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Interestingly, the convent drew the support of the highest level of Manhattan society. On March 9, 1921, the New York Herald reported, "For the Belgian Missionary Sisters of 437 West Forty-seventh street, there will be a concert this afternoon at Mrs. John Sanford's." Among those in attendance were millionaires like Cornelius Vanderbilt, Thomas Fortune Ryan, Hamilton Fish Armstrong, De Lancey Astor Kane, and Countess de Laugier-Villars.
On October 28, 1973, The New York Times reported, "The Fountain House Foundation, a nonprofit organization involved in psychiatric rehabilitation, has purchased five brownstones at 429-437 West 47th Street from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York." In 2014, the foundation converted 437 West 47th Street to Fountain House College Re-Entry, "to help students that have discontinued their college plans due to mental health obstacles," according to its website.
photographs by the author
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