In the 1880s, the Upper West Side experienced a flurry of construction as developers erected long rows of brick and brownstone rowhouses. Among them was William J. Merritt, the principal in Merritt & Co. He would be responsible for scores of residences in the area, designing many of them himself. In 1888 alone, Merritt & Co. advertised 38 new houses, including both sides of the block of 73rd Street between West End Avenue and Broadway.
The four-story houses on the southern side, from 246 to 272 West 73rd Street, were not designed by Merritt. A year earlier, he commissioned prolific architect Charles T. Mott, with whom he often worked, for the project. The outcome was striking. Mott drew inspiration from the French Renaissance, particularly, according to architectural historian Andrew S. Dolkart, the medieval castle Pierrefonds.
The romantic row evokes images of damsels and knights.
The picturesque assemblage of dormers and towers, oriels and mansards created a romantic streetscape. Among the row was 262 West 73rd Street. Its basement and parlor levels were faced in brownstone. The brick-clad upper floors were almost completely consumed by a rounded bay, girded above the third floor by a complex, copper balustrade. The fourth floor was capped with a conical tiled roof.
The house became home to William Stevens Louderback and his wife, the former Emma Beekman. The family moved in just in time for a triple celebration. On November 13, 1888, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. W. Stevens Louderback celebrated their silver wedding last evening at their new residence, 262 West Seventy-third-street." The New-York Tribune noted, "The anniversary was of three-fold interest, as it was as well the occasion of their daughter's introduction to society, and a housewarming. Miss Etta Louderback assisted her mother to receive."
The triple entertainment was a sparkling opening of the new residence. "Several hundred guests were present," said The New York Times. Among the high society figures present was millionaire heiress Helen Gould.
The Loudebacks' residency would be short. In August 1891, Joseph J. O'Donohue, Jr. and his wife, the former Marie Louise Bruner, purchased the house. The couple was married on October 27, 1887 and had two sons, Joseph, 3d, who was three years old, and Henry, who was a newborn. Two daughters would be born in the house--Marie in 1896, and Ethel in 1901. The family's summer home was in Elberon, New Jersey.
O'Donohue's father was well known to New Yorkers. A millionaire grocery dealer, he had been a member of Tammany Hall since 1856. Joseph, Jr.'s business interests were wide-flung. He was president of the Brooklyn and North Ferry Company, president of the Agatine Shoe Hook and Eyelet Company, vice-president of the General Realty and Mortgage Company, and a director in two railroads, an insurance company and other corporations.
The family was deeply religious and Marie involved herself with Catholic charities. She was, for instance, president of the Ladies of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
The O'Donohues received unexpected house guests early in the morning of February 4. The New York Times began an article saying, "The families occupying the handsome row of dwellings in Seventy-third Street, between West End Avenue and the Boulevard [i.e., Broadway] were aroused between 12 and 1 o'clock this morning by a fire which was caused by an overheated furnace in the basement of George Crawford's home, 272 West Seventy-third Street."
The family escaped into the cold night in their bedclothes. While firefighters battled the blaze, which luckily did not extend above the basement level, The New York Times reported, "The Crawford family went to the home of Joseph J. O'Donohue at 262 West Seventy-third Street for the night."
Interestingly, O'Donohue's uncle, James O'Donohue, lived with the family by the turn of the century. (This despite the fact that his son, Louis V. O'Donohue was a well-to-do manufacturer and banker.) Born in 1830, James was at one time City Chamberlain and was a member of the coffee firm John O'Donohue's Sons before his retirement. He died here at the age of 71 on December 12, 1901.
By 1911, Henry was enrolled at Princeton University and Joseph, Jr. was associated with his father in business. On May 27 that year, Joseph was married to Rose Mildred Taylor in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament on West 71st Street.
When The Sun reported on the Monmouth County Horse Show on July 29, 1915, it mentioned that Joseph J. O'Dohonue, Jr. was first vice-president of the association. It also noted that his parents were among the viewers "in the boxes and on the lawn." No mention of Rose Taylor O'Donohue was made. That was because, as reported by The Evening World four months later, since April she had "been living in Reno in luxurious apartments."
Joseph, Jr. was now back in the West 73rd Street with his parents. On October 16, 1915, The Evening World reported that Rose Mildred Taylor O'Donohue, "prominent in New York and Washington society," had been granted a divorce. She charged her 27-year-old husband with "desertion and non-support." The article said O'Donohue was said to be out of the city and "his father would say nothing about the case."
Joseph, Jr. was granted duel custody of the couple's son, Joseph J. O'Donohue, 4th. He would live in the 73rd Street house six months of the year.
Ethel Louise was the first of the O'Donohue daughters to marry. On May 30, 1920, The Sun reported that her wedding to Alwyn Ball 3d had taken place in the Louis XVI suite of the St. Regis Hotel. "Miss O'Dohonue was once identified with the summer life in Elberon, N. J., where her parents had a villa, but for three summers they have had a place in Greenwich, Conn.," said the article.
The following year, on October 9, the O'Donohues announced Marie Gladys's engagement to C. R. Coster Steers. The couple was married on November 7, 1922.
Joseph and Marie hosted a dinner party on December 20, 1925. Among the monied guests was Thomas M. McCarthy, the treasurer of the wholesale grocery firm Austin Nichols & Co. The Christmas week party ended tragically when, after dinner, the 74-year-old McCarthy suddenly became ill. The New York Times reported he, "died a few minutes later, presumably from heart disease or acute indigestion."
As with all well-to-do New Yorkers, the society columnists followed Joseph and Marie O'Donohue's movements. In July 1927, The Sun reported, "in June [they] will go to Bretton Woods for the Summer," and the following year, in July, the newspaper said that they would be taking Joseph J. O'Dohonue, 4th along with them "to the Apawamis Club at Rye for part of the summer."
Marie Bruner O'Donohue died on December 29, 1928. Joseph remained in the house and it appears that his grandson was living with him full time by now. On February 1, 1930, the Rye Chronicle reported, "Mr. Joseph J. O'Donohue, well known member of the Apawamis Club, gave a dinner Tuesday evening at his home 262 West Seventy-third Street to celebrate the birthday of his grandson, Joseph J. O'Donohue 4th. Following the dinner Mr. O'Donohue took his guests to the theatre."
In 1941, the tile roof was intact. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
After living here for 44 years, O'Donohue sold 262 West 73rd Street in 1935. (He died two years later.) Architect Frederick S. Keeler was hired by the new owners to convert the house to furnished rooms.
It was purchased by architect Henry J. Gazon in January 1954. It continued to be a rooming house until a renovation completed in 2012 resulted in ten apartments.
While little survives of Charles T. Mott's interiors, outwardly the picturesque house is greatly intact.
photographs by the author
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