In 1896, architect John Hauser designed a row of eight brownstone-fronted houses at 302 to 316 West 98th Street for developer William H. Picken. Sitting between two mansion-lined thoroughfares--Riverside Drive and West End Avenue--they were intended for well-heeled owners. Completed in late 1897, Hauser had designed the row in two models, repeating the A-B configuration down the line.
The easternmost house, 302 West 98th Street was designed, overall, in the Renaissance Revival style. Hauser splashed it with touches of Romanesque Revival--in the medieval carvings of the otherwise stoic stoop newels, and in the foliate carving on the insides of the entrance pilasters. The paired pilasters that separated the upper floor windows were an interesting feature--each pair sharing a single capital.
Picken sold the 19-foot-wide house to Henry Pinner on February 10, 1898. The Record & Guide said he paid, "about $2,500." (The price would translate to $966,000 in 2024.) Pinner was associated with the Aeolian Company, which manufactured player pianos and organs.
Henry W. Pinner, The Music Trades, May 6, 1922 (copyright expired)
Pinner had a long career in the piano business, starting out with the Decker Piano Company and moving to J. & C. Fischer Piano Company before joining Aeolian's piano department. His residency at 302 West 98th Street was relatively short. Pinner sold the house to Herbert Francis Taylor in April 1904.
Taylor was vice president of Whitaker & Co., merchant tailors. Its exclusive shops on Fifth Avenue and on Conduit Street in London fashioned custom clothing for wealthy clientele. Born in London in 1859, he had come to New York in 1890. Taylor and his wife Annie had three children, Herbert Jr., Eileen, and Lila Mary.
Annie F. Taylor hired a live-in servant girl shortly after moving in, and was looking for additional help later that year. Her advertisement on September 7 may have been too strongly couched: "Wanted--Woman to do housecleaning; come prepared to work."
The following month she reworded the ad. "General Houseworker--Girl (white), general housework, good plain cook and laundress; wages $20; another girl kept; two adults, three children; Apply Mrs. Taylor, 302 West 98th st., near West End av." (The monthly wages would equal about $706 today.)
While the Taylors were well-to-do, Annie's job description separated the family from the wealthier households on West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. In those homes, the cook would have had no other responsibility and the suggestion that she do housework or laundry would have been insulting.
Annie F. Taylor was a staunch fighter for the rights of women. She was corresponding secretary of The Legislative League of New York, and a member of the Woman's Suffrage League, the City Federation and the Women's Forum. The objects of the Legislative League were "to secure political, legal and industrial equality to the women of New York State." Club Women of New York noted in 1904, "The organization has aided in giving to women the rights of a mother to her child and to a woman to her earnings." The article said that currently "the members are working to amend the marriage license laws."
Following his graduation from The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Herbert Jr. went off to Yale in in 1914. There he showed diverse interests. He was a member of the swimming and cross-country teams, and a member of the Mandolin Club.
On October 14, 1917, The Sun reported on the engagement of Herbert Jr. to Madeleine Martha Ros. The wedding took place in the Ros house at 325 West End Avenue on June 29, 1918. Herbert joined his father's firm and eventually became president of Whitaker & Co.
The winter social season of 1919 was a busy one in the Taylor household. On December 10, Eileen was married to Linwood H. Geyer in St. Agnes's Chapel on West 91st Street. The New York Herald reported, "The ceremony was followed by a reception in the home of the bride's parents."
Ten days later the family was back at St. Agnes's Chapel for Lila Mary's wedding to Ben Stalker Buckmaster. Once again, a reception was held in the 98th Street house.
Now empty nesters, Herbert and Annie remained briefly in the house, while Annie continued her work with the various women's reform groups. The couple sold the house in June 1922 "to a buyer, for occupancy," according to the Record & Guide.
It continued as a single-family home until 1961, when an apartment was installed on the top floor. Then a renovation completed in 1988 resulted in one apartment per floor.
photographs by the author
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