The Altered Charles Steele Carriage House - 107 East 61st Street

photograph by the author

Born in 1857, Charles Steele was the son of esteemed attorney Isaac Nevett Steele and the former Rosa Londonia Nelson.  He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1880 and married Ann Gordon French five years later.  The couple had three daughters, Eleanor Herndon, born in 1893; Nancy Gordon, born the following year; and Kathryne Nevitt, who arrived in 1896.

In the last decade of the 19th century, Steele did legal work for Charles H. Coster, a partner of J. P. Morgan, in reorganizing the firm's railroad interests.  Coster died in March 1900 and, reportedly, during his funeral J. P. Morgan offered Steele a partnership within the firm. 

Charles and Ann (known as "Nannie) erected an English Tudor-style country place in Southampton, Long Island in 1899.  The couple's financial and social status was further exemplified when they purchased the magnificent Edith and Ernesto Fabbri mansion at 11 East 62nd Street in 1912.

By 1916, it appears that the Steeles had given up their horses and carriages in favor of motorcars.  On January 12, 1916, The New York Times reported that Charles Steele had purchased the property at 107 East 61st Street from Francis Muldoon.  The high-stooped brownstone had been the home of Edward and Anne Miller in the early 1880s.  It would not survive much longer.

Two months later, on March 25, 1916, the Record & Guide reported that George E. Wood was preparing plans for a "three-story brick garage" for Charles Steele.  It would cost $20,000 to construct, or about $573,000 in 2025.

Wood's charming neo-Tudor-style garage was completed within the year.  A stone base with a centered garage bay supported two floors of gray brick trimmed in limestone.  A grouping of three small-paned windows at the second floor sat within a quoined frame.  A quartet of arched openings on the third floor, also with small panes, shared a continuous stone eyebrow.  The attic floor took the form of a steep, metal-clad mansard.  Its acute gable held a blind lancet window.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Unlike carriage houses, which required space for bales of hay and tackle and such, garages needed much less storage.  The upper floors held apartments, originally for the Steeles' driver and, perhaps, a mechanic.  

But as early as 1921, James McCormick and his wife occupied the upper floors.  The couple's avocation was breeding Boston Terriers.  In 1921, for instance, they registered Rival's Lady None Such; and that year James McCormick advertised in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, offering three of his male dogs--Captain Altawood, Altawood's Boy, and Rival's Surprise--at stud.  (Captain Altawood came with the priciest fee, equal to about $350 today.)  The advertisement added, "Puppies for Sale."

Nannie Steele died in the couple's East 62nd Street mansion on December 18, 1932.  (By then the couple had a second Long Island estate, this one in Old Westbury.)  Charles died seven years later, on August 5, 1939.  

Four decades later, in 1982, a massive, three-year renovation began.  The ground floor was given a sleek remodeling that harkened to the former carriage bay.  Two additional floors, with no attempt to honor George E. Wood's Tudoresque design, were added.  The result was what one realtor described as a "reverse house," meaning that the living areas were on the top.  The ground floor of the single-family mansion now had a two-car garage, recreation room and swimming pool.  The second and third floors held bedrooms and a greenhouse.  On the fourth floor were a "den" and one bedroom.  The fifth floor held a "gallery," dining, living room, and kitchen.  What was described as a mezzanine level housed a studio.

The renovated structure in 1988.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In marketing the $6.9 million residence in 1990, broker Phyllis Gallaway told The New York Times, "This place appeals more to show business people who are a little more avant-garde."  The new owners initiated an exterior remodeling the following year.  The base and upper two floors were given a sleek, white facade.