In 1836, the New York Orphan Asylum purchased the two blocks from 73rd to 75th Street, and Riverside Drive to West End Avenue as the site of an orphanage, opened in 1840. Thirty-five years later, Frederick Law Olmsted began transforming Riverside Drive and Riverside Park. As mansions rose along the wide thoroughfare and naturalistic park, the institution's property value soared. In 1893, the New York Orphan Asylum announced that its northern block was for sale.
Eight of the plots were purchased by wealthy businessmen. The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide described them as, "a syndicate of eight gentlemen who will build homes for themselves." To ensure architectural harmony, they agreed on a single architect--C. P. H. Gilbert, whose reputation for designing high-end residences was well established.
Among the "syndicate" was Leonard Paulson, Jr. Born in 1846, the son of a merchant tailor, he was a partner in Buckingham & Paulson, dealers in cotton yarn. The firm was established in 1877. A member of an old New York family, he was a member of the Sons of the Revolution, the Founders and Patriots, and the Society of Colonial Wars.
The Paulsons' 24-foot-wide mansion sat at 307 West 74th Street where a short, asymmetrical stoop fronted the limestone basement. The first floor projected slightly away from the yellow brick upper floors, creating a stone-balustraded balcony. A round, two-story bay dominated the mid-section, the wide stone frieze of which was decorated with elaborate carvings. A Florentine inspired arcade dignified the fourth floor.
Orphans assembly on the grounds of the New York Orphan Asylum. The newly-build Paulson house can be seen in the background, just to the left of the Asylum building. image by Byron Company, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
The Paulsons had three daughters, Blanch Paege, Florence Patty, and Marjorie. The house was the venue for the first of the sisters' weddings. On November 14, 1899, the New-York Tribune reported that invitations had been sent out "for the wedding of Miss Blanche Paege Paulson and Dr. John Joseph Nutt, on Saturday afternoon, December 2." The article said the ceremony would take place in the Paulson residence, "and will be followed by a small reception to the relatives and intimate friends of the couple."
The marriage of Florence Patty Paulson (who had been Blanche's maid of honor) on June 4, 1901 captured society's attention. On May 22, the New York Press reported, "Romance surrounds the approaching marriage of a wealthy New York girl and a young Italian nobleman, whose engagement was announced formally last night at a dinner given to a few intimate friends." Florence had captured the heart of Marquis Virgilio Barsotti. The New York Press said his "estates near Naples are famous throughout Italy."
Father M. J. Lavalle of St. Patrick's Cathedral officiated the ceremony in the West 74th Street mansion. The New York World noted, "Baron Golotti was the Marquis's best man, and Mrs. John Joseph Nutt, the sister of the bride, the matron of honor." Following their honeymoon, the newlyweds sailed to Italy on June 15. The New York World commented flatly, "The Marquis is rich."
Four months after her sister's high-profile wedding, Marjorie traveled to Lincolnton, South Carolina to visit friends, the Rineharts. The New York World reported, "There she met [Leonard] Richardson, a well-to-do young farmer, who fell desperately in love with her."
Marjorie became the target of what the newspaper termed, "ardent Southern wooing." Only weeks after arriving in South Carolina, she wrote home, telling her parents that she had accepted Richardson's proposal of marriage. They wrote back, "All right, but wait a year; come home first."
Marjorie obeyed, but her love was stronger than her parents' wishes. She "slipped away" from 307 West 74th Street on Christmas Day and boarded a train to South Carolina where she and Leonard Richardson were married.
A reporter from The New York World visited 307 West 74th Street. On December 28, the newspaper quoted Leonard Paulson who said, "Oh, it's all right. He is a fine young fellow and has one of the best farms down South. I simply didn't want to lose my daughter quite so soon, that's all."
At the time of Marjorie's elopement, the view from the Paulsons' parlor windows was undergoing change. In 1901, the New York Orphan Asylum sold its remaining property to multi-millionaire Charles M. Schwab. He demolished the orphanage and began a five-year construction project of a massive, block-engulfing estate with park-like grounds and a monumental French Renaissance style chateau.
In the meantime, Blanche and her husband were living with her parents. The couple appeared regularly in the society pages. On August 23, 1902, for instance, the New York Herald reported, "Dr. and Mrs. John Joseph Nutt, of 307 West Seventy-fourth street, are at Kineo, Moosehead Lake, Me., for the remainder of the season."
On February 4, 1905, the Record & Guide reported that Leonard Paulson had sold 307 West 74th Street." The New York Times mentioned, "This house was specially constructed for Mr. Paulson and faces the new residence of Charles M. Schwab."
The buyers were John and Mary M. Munro. A director of the Metropolitan Realty Co., John was one of four children of the massively wealthy publisher George Munro, who died in 1896. The couple had one daughter, Mary Watson Munro.
The Munros were socially visible. On December 16, 1909, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. John Munro of 307 West Seventy-fourth Street entertained yesterday with a luncheon at Sherry's." The winter social season of 1915-16 saw their names appearing in the society columns more frequently, as it was Mary Watson Munro's debutante year.
It began when The New York Times announced on November 15, 1915, "Mr. and Mrs. John Munro of 307 West Seventy-fourth Street will give a coming-out reception for their daughter, Miss Mary Watson Munro, on Dec. 4." Then, on New Year's Eve, the couple hosted a dinner at Sherry's at which "they introduced their daughter, Miss Mary W. Munroe [sic]," as reported by The Sun on January 1. The article said,
Their dinner guests, numbering 100, were seated in the suite adjoining the large ballroom, and after dinner there was dancing, interspersed with exhibition dances by professional people. There were the regulation observances of New Year's eve, with the darkened supper room just before midnight, and afterward dancing was resumed in the grand ballroom.
Mary Watson Munro, The New York Times, February 13, 1916 (copyright expired)
Two years later, on March 23, 1918, the Munros announced Mary's engagement to Joseph Bryan Chaffe, Jr. The wedding took place in the Central Presbyterian Church on April 23. With World War I raging in Europe, the wedding had a decided military atmosphere. The groom's brother, Ensign Blackshear Chaffe of the U.S. Navy was the best man, and among the ushers were Major Frank A. Cook and Lieutenant George Schurman of the U.S. Army. A reception was held in the West 74th Street house.
John Munro was retired in June 1921 when he was called for jury duty. But this was no ordinary jury. Prohibition had gone into effect in January 1920 and Munro was chosen as one of 23 "merchants, manufacturers and brokers" to sit on "the Extraordinary Grand Jury of the Supreme Court" that would hear the cases of "4,000 alleged violations of the Mullan-Gage dry law in this country," according to The Evening World on June 7.
On August 2, 1931, John Munro died in the West 74th Street house. His funeral was held in the drawing room three days later.
Mary M. Munroe sold 307 West 74th Street in 1939 and it was converted to apartments, two per floor. The tenants came and went, bringing little attention to the address until 1984 when things drastically changed.
On October 10 that year, police raided the ground floor apartment leased by Sheila Devin. Four days later, The New York Times began an article saying, "A raid on an Upper West Side town house has shut down a $1 million-a-year prostitution ring that catered to an affluent clientele around the world, according to police, who said yesterday that they were waiting for the head of the ring to turn herself in." Sgt. Raymond Wood of the Manhattan Public Morals Squad called Devin, "the most professional madam we've ever come across."
Sheila Devin was, in fact, Sydney Biddle Barrows, a descendant of William Biddle, a Quaker shoemaker who arrived in America in 1681. New York Magazine, on December 10, 1984, explained that she had been educated at the Rumson Country Day school and Stoneleigh-Burnham in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Sgt. Wood said, "she has a management degree and once received the 'Female Executive of the Year' award from the management firm that employed her." Her deep-rooted pedigree earned her the nickname, The Mayflower Madam.
Nine months after the raid, on July 19, 1985, Sydney Biddle Barrows pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution. The New York Times reported, "She was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine." Barrows told a reporter, "Handling things this way was the only way I could protect the women and my clients."
Things returned to normal for the tenants of 307 West 74th Street. In 1993, a penthouse level, unseen from the street, was added. The two fourth-floor apartments were now converted to duplexes.
photographs by the author
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