The Lost Marion P. Brookman Mansion - 5 East 70th Street

 

By the time of this photograph, the upper two floors had been remodeled.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1900, ground was broken for the New York Public Library building on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets.  It would make the Lenox Library, on Fifth Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets, obsolete.  As early as 1907 plots on what was called "the Lenox Block" were being purchased.

On March 10, 1910, The New York Times reported that Cornelius Luyster, Jr. had sold "the new six-story fireproof residence now nearing completion at 7 East Seventieth Street."  (The confusing numbering on the block, including some skipped numbers, was soon corrected and this mansion became 5 East 70th Street.)  Marion Prentice Brookman purchased the house for $275,000, or about $9.37 million in 2025.

Designed by Warren & Wetmore in the neo-Louis XV style, the mansion was faced in limestone.  Above the rusticated base, sturdy stone balconies fronted the tall French windows of the second floor, or piano nobile.  The top two floors took the form of a high, slate-shingled mansard with two arched dormers.

Marion Prentice Brookman was the widow of Henry D. Brookman, who died on February 19, 1895.  Born in New Hampshire in 1836, she was the daughter of John Hill Prentice and the former Sara Nichols Davis.  She and Henry had three children, Henry Prentice, Marion, and Sarah.

Moving into the mansion with Marion were daughter Marion and her husband, Armory Sibley Carhart, their 13-year-old son Armory Jr. and their 10-year-old daughter, Marion Renée.  Carhart was a director of the Union Trust Company of New York and the People's Trust Company of Brooklyn.  

The original appearance of the upper floors can be seen in this 1915 photograph.  Record & Guide, May 8, 1915 (copyright expired)

In 1912, Marion's six-year-old grandson, John Vanneck moved in.  John was the son of Sarah Brookman and John Torrance Vanneck.  Sarah died in Cannes, France in 1908 and John Torrance Vanneck died there on February 22, 1912.  Marion Prentice Brookman was made guardian of the little boy.

On May 12, 1912, The Sun reported that John Vanneck had inherited a $1 million trust fund from his father's estate.  He would receive one-fifth of the funds when he reached the age of 25, and would receive the income from the rest throughout his life.

Just a month after John Torrance Vanneck's death, on March 18, 1912 Armory Sibley Carhart died in the mansion at the age of 60.  In reporting his death, The New York Times remarked, "He was commander of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States and a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants.  He was also Lieutenant Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars."

Marion P. Brookman found herself the guardian of three youngsters in 1917.  Marion Brookman Carhart died here at the age of 52 on October 1, 1917.  Armory Carhart, Jr. and Marion Renée, along with John Venneck, were all now under her direct care.  

In May 1918, Marion hired architects Lord & Hewlett to make alterations to the mansion.  They remodeled the sloping, two-story mansard into two distinct levels--a vertical-faced fifth floor and a less dramatic mansard with dormers.

Armory S. Carhart, Jr. was married to Isadora Bliss on June 15, 1918.  The 21-year-old groom brought his bride back to 5 East 70th Street to live.

Armory Sibley Carhart, Jr. (original source unknown)

At the time, Marion Renée was 18.  She went out on the evening of March 11, 1918 wearing a pearl necklace valued at $5,000 (about $104,000 today).  A week later, she intended to wear it again, but found it missing.  The mystery seems to have never been solved.  The Sun reported, "In the Brookman home there are eight servants, but none of these is suspected, as all have been with the family for a number of years."

During the following winter season, Marion Brookman introduced her granddaughter to society.  The entertainments began with a reception in the mansion on December 9, 1919.  The New-York Tribune noted, "Since the death of her mother, Mrs. Amory S. Carhart, Miss Carhart and her brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Amory Sibley Carhart, have made their home with Mrs. Brookman."  

Now officially an adult, Marion Renée embarked on an extensive trip to Europe.  On April 15, 1921, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mrs. Henry D. Brookman gave a luncheon and reception yesterday afternoon at her home, 5 East Seventieth Street, for her granddaughter, Miss Marion R. Carhart, who returned recently from Europe.  The guests included the debutantes of last winter and the usual dancing men."

Marion Prentice Brookman was 83 years old at the time, and among her domestic staff was Marie Gruner, her companion.  On July 18, 1921, Marie sued Adolph Levi for $25,000 for breach of promise.  She had waited two years for her intended husband to set a date and finally lost patience.

The Brookman mansion is on the left.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

On October 25, 1923, Marion announced Marion Renée's engagement to George S. Amory.  The 28-year-old groom-to-be graduated from Cornell in 1916 and served in the army during World War I.  The wedding took place in the East 70th Street mansion on January 12, 1924.  The New York Times reported, "After the wedding Mr. Amory and his bride will sail on Jan. 16 on the Paris to make their home in Copenhagen, Denmark."

Marion Prentice Brookman died in the mansion on June 20, 1925.  She left an estate of $5.4 million, or about $94 million today.  The New York Times reported, "Her house, valued at $261,700, including the furnishings, and a life estate of $2,119,020, were left to John Vanneck."  The 19-year-old had also inherited an annual income of $42,000 from the estate of his uncle, John U. Brookman in addition to the trust fund left to him by his parents.  The Times said he had "an income of more than $200,000 yearly."  That figure would translate to $3.5 million today.

Despite the social protocol that demanded a year-long period of mourning for his grandmother, five months after Marion's death, on November 14, 1925, The New York Times reported, "John Vanneck gave a dinner party last night at his home, 5 East Seventieth Street, for Miss Marie Louise McClellan and Thomas F. Joyce, Jr., whose engagement was recently announced."

A year later, on October 1, 1926, The Times reported on Vanneck's engagement to Mary Atwell.  "The engagement is interesting as Mr. Venneck ranks as one of the wealthiest young bachelors in the United States," said the article.  The marriage would not come to be, however.  Two months later, Mary's father, George J. Atwell, announced that the engagement had been broken.  "Mr. Vanneck insisted upon an immediate marriage.  My daughter did not wish the wedding to take place until Mr. Vanneck becomes of age on January 15, and until her sister...who is now at the McLean School of Travel in Paris, and her brother, George J. Atwell Jr., a student at Oxford, could reach New York for the ceremony."  John Vanneck would not bend and the engagement was broken.

Eight months earlier, in April, John Vanneck sold 5 East 70th Street to George Dunton Widener, Jr. and his wife, the former Jessie Sloane Dodge.  Born in 1889, George came from the Widener family of Philadelphia, once ranked among the wealthiest families in America.  He and Jessie maintained a 450-acre summer estate, Erdenheim Farm, outside the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

George Widener was a director of the Electric Storage Battery Company and of the Provident National Bank in Philadelphia.  His passion, however, was horse racing.  He raised thoroughbreds at Erdenheim Farm.  His horses won 1,243 races throughout his lifetime, earning more than $9 million in winnings.  

Jessie was the daughter of Henry T. Sloane and Jessie Robbins.  George was her second husband.  She was formerly married to William Earl Dodge IV, whom she divorced.  She and George were married in 1917.

The Wideners entertained regularly in the mansion.  On February 10, 1929, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. George D. Widener gave a small dinner followed by a dance, to which additional guests came, last night, at 5 East Seventieth Street, for Miss Elsie Wilmerding, debutante daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elbert F. Wilmerding."

George and Jessie Widener.  image via encyclpedia-titanic.org

The Wideners traveled to Florida each winter for the Hialeah horse racing season.  They were there in January 1968 when Jessie was hospitalized at the Miami Heart Institute.  She died there two weeks later, on March 11, at the age of 84.

George Widener continued to occupy the East 70th Street mansion and Erdenheim Farm attended to by his domestic staff.  He died at Erdenheim Farm on December 8, 1971 at the age of 82.  In reporting his death, the Detroit Free Press called him, "one of the foremost breeders and racers of thoroughbreds in America."

The Frick Collection, housed in the former Henry Clay Frick mansion since January 1935, purchased 5 East 70th Street.  On June 15, 1973, Carter B. Horsley, architectural critic of The New York Times, reported on the Frick Collection's plans to create a garden and terrace.  "The site of the garden includes the former George D. Widener House...which the museum acquired last year and plans to demolish."

The demolition was delayed by pleas from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which suggested that the Frick Collection repurpose the mansion as an extension of the museum.  Then, on July 9, Horsley reported that demolition was imminent.  On its site and the two adjacent lots, the Frick Collection's 100-square-foot garden was established.