The Twice Remodeled Henry P. Clausen House - 10 East 78th Street

 

Real estate developers Charles Graham & Son sold the newly built 10 East 78th Street to Henry Clausen, Jr. in October 1886.  Describing the house as a "four-story brick and stone dwelling," the Real Estate Record & Guide reported the selling price at $70,000--just over $2 million in 2025 terms.  

The 26-foot wide mansion was faced in rusticated brownstone at the basement and parlor levels, and red brick at the upper three.  A two-bay wide oriel at the second floor was supported by sturdy scrolled brackets elaborately carved with leaves.  Doric pilasters flanked the oriel windows.  Between them was a panel carved with Renaissance designs.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Born in New York City on August 11, 1838, Henry was the son of German-born Henry C. Clausen and his wife Caroline.  The president of the Clausen Brewing Company, he and his wife, Mary, had four children, Charles S., George Ulmer, Marie Schmidt, and Henry P. A.  

In 1891, Marie graduated from Miss Brown's School for Young Ladies.  On February 25 that year, the New-York Tribune reported that her mother, "will give a luncheon at her home, No. 10 East Seventy-eighth-st., Saturday afternoon at 1:30 to the members of the class of '91."  There were 16 young women in the class.  

At the time, her youngest brother, Henry, was enrolled at Princeton as a "special student," meaning he had no major.  Presumably, he would be entering his father's brewery.

Henry Clausen was described by The World as, "one of the most energetic brewers in the country," but he was also politically active.  He was elected to the city's assembly in 1868 and was later appointed Alderman-at-Large by Mayor William Frederick Havemeyer in 1873.  For years, he was the president of the United States Brewers' Congress, and was also president of the Local Brewers' Association.

In October 1893, Clausen began suffering from "liver trouble," as described by The World.  At the time, operations and births were conducted in the homes of well-to-do patients.  On December 27, 1893, the family physician, Dr. Lanier, conducted an operation.  Henry Clausen died during the surgery.  

The funeral was held in the house on December 30.  The New-York Tribune reported that it "was largely attended," adding, "Many members of the Leiderkranz and Arion societies and of the Manhattan Club were present, besides other well-known men."

The house was the scene of a much more joyful event six years later.  On May 21, 1899, the New-York Tribune reported, "The coming  wedding on Wednesday next of Miss Marie Clausen, daughter of the late Henry Clausen, jr., to William H. Schmidt, of Chicago, promises to be a pretty affair."  The article said the ceremony in the drawing room would include "the couple standing in a bower of roses and lilies."

Caroline Clausen sold 10 East 78th Street in June 1900 to Jane Remsen Thompson, the widow of Joseph Todhunter Thompson.  She had two daughters, Jane Remsen (known as Jennie) and Elizabeth Remsen, 13 and 6 years old respectively, and a 15-year-old son, Jonathan.

Jane Thompson was visible in society.  On January 30, 1903, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mrs. J. Todhunter Thompson (Miss Jane Remsen) had a large card party yesterday in her residence at 10 East Seventy-eighth Street."

Jane's focus turned to her daughters starting with the winter social season of 1906.  On December 13, the New-York Tribune reported that she hosted a "debutante reception" for Jennie.  The New York Times noted that Jennie, "has returned from Europe, where she spent three years in completing her education."  The surnames of the nine debutantes who assisted Jennie in the receiving line reflected the highest level of society--Roosevelt, Townsend, Kennedy, Ogden, and Steward among them.  The article said, "A dance followed in the evening."

Debutante entertainments often lasted for weeks or months, and on January 10, 1907, Jane hosted a dance at Sherry's for her daughter.

The process was repeated in 1911.  On December 29, The Sun reported that Jane, "gave a dance last night for her second debutante daughter, Miss Elizabeth Remsen Thompson, at Sherry's.  There were about 300 guests."

In August 1915, the Record & Guide reported that Jane Thompson had hired architect I. R. Green to design a summer home in Bayshore, Long Island.  Two years later, on July 28, 1917, The Evening Post remarked, "Mrs. Joseph Todhunter Thompson has closed her town house at 10 East 78th Street, and with her daughters, the Misses Jane R. and Elizabeth R. Thompson, is passing the summer season in Babylon, L. I."  (Jonathan had his own country home, Sleepy Hollow Farm, in Hauppauge, Long Island, which he inherited from his grandfather.)

During World War I, Jonathan served in the U.S. Navy and the Army Air Corps.  Elizabeth worked in the office of the legal committee of the Red Cross.

The year 1919 was a socially frenzied one for the Thompson family.  On April 25, the Columbia Alumni News reported, "Announcement has been made of the engagement of Lieutenant, the Rev. Gilbert S. B. Darlington, U. S. Navy, and Miss Elizabeth Remsen Thompson."  The prospective groom had served as Chaplain in the Naval Air Force during the war.

The wedding took place in the newly built St. Bartholomew's Church on April 30.  The New York Herald noted that this wedding, "was the first to be celebrated in the church proper."  Jonathan gave Elizabeth away and Jennie was her maid of honor.  The reception was held in the East 78th Street house.  Following their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved in with Jane.

Two months later, on June 9, Jennie was married to Carl H. Schultz.  Her ceremony was much less elaborate and took place in the drawing room of 10 East 78th Street.  The New-York Tribune reported, "Only members of the two families were present" and there were no attendants.

On April 30, 1921, Jonathan married Lillian Adel McLeod in Babylon, Long Island.  The New York Herald reported that the newlyweds would be living at Sleepy Hollow Farm.

Jane Remsen Thompson died in 1931.  Fifteen years later, 10 East 78th Street was remodeled for a doctor's apartment and office on the first floor and three apartments each on the upper floors.  Any hint of the Victorian architecture was removed and a brick facade was installed.  The Art Moderne design included casement windows and, unexpectedly, nods to historic precedents--a neo-Colonial doorway and square-headed Gothic brick lintels.

via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Among the residents over the subsequent years were Dr. Walter Elliott Taylor, a dentist whose apartment and office were here when he was married to Esther Margaret Ralston on February 11, 1950; and economist Howard A. Law, Jr. and his wife, the former Charlotte G. Law.  Law served as an intelligence officer with the Third Army during World War II.

In April 2018, a three-year project headed by studioMDA returned 10 East 78th Street to a single-family residence in what the architects describe as a "top to bottom gut renovation."  The brick facade was stripped off and replaced with a neo-Beaux Arts-style limestone front.  The extraordinary result was a mansion that slips comfortably into the 19th century landscape of the block.

photographs by the author