Arthur Bates Jennings's 1887 133 West 87th Street

 

On June 21, 1884, The Record & Guide reported that developer Charles L. Guilleaume, "will shortly commence the erection of seven three-story high-stoop private dwellings" on the north side of 87th Street just west of Ninth Avenue (later Columbus Avenue).  The article noted that Guilleaume's architect for the project was Arthur Bates Jennings, who had to squeeze the seven rowhouses into a 97-foot wide plot.  The article said that two would be 13.6-feet wide, two 14-feet, and the remaining three houses 15-feet-wide.

Jennings trained in the offices of architects John Correja, Russell Sturgis, and George B. Post, before opening his own office in the mid-1870s.  He would be best remembered for his college buildings and churches. 

The Record & Guide said that each house along the row would be "of different design in Rococo."  The term was misleading, at least by today's terminology.  Jennings designed the residences as either Queen Anne or Romanesque Revival in a balanced A-B-C-D-C-B-A configuration.

No. 133 West 87th Street was one of the B models.  Its highly eccentric design began with a rough-cut brownstone basement.  The Romanesque Revival-style parlor level was faced in planar brownstone, its three arched openings connected by a continuous projecting eyebrow.  For the second and third floors, Jennings turned to Queen Anne.  The incised lines of the end brick piers suggested fluted pilasters and terra cotta tiles suggested capitals.  The piers framed a highly unusual, two-story metal bay.  Rather than projecting outward, it was recessed into the structure, its front flush to the facade.  The spandrel panels were decorated with whimsical, stylized flowers.

The recessed bay is highly unusual.

Guilleaume may have financially stretched himself a bit thin on his project.  When they had not yet sold in May 1888, he lost them in foreclosure.  The New York Herald reported that 133 West 87th Street sold at auction for $16,000--about $544,000 in 2025 terms.  The owner, John J. Hughes, sought a quick turnaround.  An advertisement in the New York Herald in February 1889 offered:

For Sale--No. 133 West 87th St.: A handsome private house, three stories; now being elegantly decorated; trimmed throughout with finest cabinet work.

Hughes realized a satisfying profit on his investment.  The house was purchased on July 17, 1889 by Sanford J. Murray and his wife, the former Mary Eliza Bliss, for $18,500, or about $586,000 today.  Murray was 42 years old at the time, and Mary was 49.  They had no children.

The Murrays left for an extended period in 1894--possibly to Europe.  They advertised the house for rent, describing it as a "very finely and completely furnished three story brown stone house."  The ad was answered by prominent patent attorney George Reddington Blodgett.  

Blodgett and his wife, the former Katharine Buchanan Burr, had two children, George, Jr. and Katharine.  (Two sons had died in infancy.)

New Yorkers were enthralled when Admiral George Dewey visited the city in the fall of 1899, arriving on the Olympia.  On September 29, The Sun reported, "Admiral Dewey had spent nearly all the morning on the quarter deck, and the would-be visitors to the big warship had all had a good look at him and had all had an opportunity to cheer him."  In fact, not all had made it onto the ship.  

With the visitors cleared out, Dewey was on deck "examining his accumulating mail" at around 10:00.  The Sun said, "he saw one small boat turned away from the midship gangway of the flagship."

There was a woman and a little boy in this boat, and as it put back toward the shore the woe-begone expression on the youngster's face caught the Admiral's eye and he called his orderly and directed him to let the occupants of the boat come aboard, rule or no rule.

The article said, "The woman was Mrs. George R. Blodgett of 133 West Eighty-seventh street, and the boy was her son.  They were received with all the honors that had up to that time been accorded to any visitor of the ship."  Dewey gave young George a private tour of the ship.  The Sun said the boy, "was a mighty proud youngster when he returned to his mother's arms.  He was the envy, too, of the hundreds who had tried to get aboard the ship and couldn't."

It does not appear that the Murrays ever returned to West 87th Street.  Builder and contractor John Laimbeer, Jr. had taken possession by 1900.  Born in Brooklyn on September 22, 1860, he graduated from Columbia College in 1893 and married Wilhelmina Dulles Martin two years later.  Laimbeer had a long New York pedigree and was a member of the Sons of the Revolution.  He was, as well, an elder of the Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church.

The Laimbeers' residency would be relatively short.  They sold the house in March 1905 to Louise Jordan, the widow of Waldo H. Jordan, who had died in 1891.  Moving into the house with her was her daughter and son-in-law, Florence J. and Myron L. Coburn.

image via NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

On December 4, 1912, Louise transferred title to the house to Florence for $1.  Like their neighbors, the family had servants.  They advertised in the New York Herald in 1918, "Housework--A young, experienced white girl for general housework; no washing; city reference required; three adults."

(The mention of "no washing" implies that the family had at least one other servant.)

Louise Jordan died "suddenly" in the house on May 10, 1920.  (The term often referred to a heart attack or stroke.)  Myron and Florence Coburn remained here until July 1943, when they sold it to Ellan and Roger Kelly.  The sale initiated a string of quick resales.  M. C. Berg purchased 133 West 87th Street on June 3, 1946, then resold it five months later.

A renovation in 1955 resulted in two duplex apartments.  One of them became home to recording artist Wendy Carlos in 1969.  Born Walter Carlos on November 14, 1939, she was transgender and changed her name to Wendy.  She had moved to New York City in 1962 to study music composition at Columbia University.  A year before moving into 133 West 87th Street, she made her first mark within the musical industry with her album Switched-On Bach.  While living here, she composed the scores of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and The Shining, and for Walt Disney Productions' Tron.   

In 1975, she reconverted 133 West 87th Street to a single-family home with a "fine arts studio" in the basement.  She remained here until 1980.

The spectacular stained-glass entrance transom survives.

The house sold in 2021 for $4.35 million.

photographs by the author