The 1896 Adolph B. Ansbacher House - 41 West 87th Street

 

Architect Theodore E. Thompson designed five 20-foot wide houses on the north side of West 87th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue for developer James Carew in 1895.  Like its identical neighbors, 41 West 87th Street was completed the following year, its Renaissance Revival-style brownstone facade splashed with touches of Romanesque Revival.  

A dog-legged box stoop with pierced wing walls rose above the rough-cut basement level to the double-doored entrance flanked with handsome Corinthian pilasters.  Elaborately carved Renaissance-inspired panels decorated the parlor level, the windows of which sat atop carved, faux balustrades.  A two-story oriel dominated the upper floors and a pressed metal cornice decorated with a row of slender colonettes crowned the design.

At the time, the family of Adolph B. Ansbacher lived in a four-story house at 17 West 52nd Street, just around the corner from William Henry Vanderbilt's Triple Palace.  Ansbacher sold that house to Thomas Denny in 1895 for, according to the Record & Guide, about $90,000.  (The figure would translate to about $3.47 million in 2025.)  He and his wife, the former Frances V. Eger, purchased 41 West 87th Street.  Moving from what was known as Millionaires' Row made economical sense.  The Record & Guide reported that they paid "a little less than $40,000."

Born in Bavaria in 1831, Ansbacher was the head of A. B. Ansbacher & Co.  He was described by America's Successful Men of Affairs as, "one of the leading merchants of paints."  He was, as well, a founder and director of Mount Sinai Hospital.

Just over a decade after purchasing 41 West 87th Street, the Ansbachers moved again, this time to Central Park West.  They sold the house on March 1, 1906 to Dr. Clarence Degrand Ashley, Ph.D. 

Ashley was born on July 4, 1851 in Boston.  His family, said the New-York Tribune, "has been well known since the days of settlement."  He married Isabella Heyward Ripely on August 12, 1880 in Geneva, Switzerland.  The couple had three children, Edith Heyward, Clarence Degrand, and Mabel Pierce.

Clarence D. Ashley graduated from Yale University in 1878 and further studied in Berlin.  He co-founded the Metropolis Law School and when that facility merged with the Law Department of New York University in 1896, Ashley became the latter's dean.  An author of law books, among his works were Cases on Contracts and The Law of Contracts.

The summer social season saw well-to-do New Yorkers leaving the city to fashionable resorts or country homes.  Other than indispensable servants--like the valet and lady's maid--the domestic staff was often dismissed, to be replaced in the fall.  On June 9, 1913, Isabella advertised in The New York Times, "A lady closing her house for the Summer would like to find places for her chambermaid and waitress; they can be seen at present employers, 41 West 87th St., Tuesday and Wednesday, from 10 to 12."

Around January 14, 1916, Ashley suffered "an attack of the grip," as described by The New York Times.  The term most often refers to influenza today.  His condition led to "hemorrhages," said the newspaper.  On January 27, the New-York Tribune reported, "Clarence D. Ashley, dean of the New York University Law School, died suddenly yesterday at his home at 41 West Eighty-seventh Street."  His funeral was held the following afternoon in St. Matthew's Church on West 84th Street.

Mabel Pierce Ashley was still unmarried and living with her mother as late as 1922.  Like her older sister, Edith, she graduated from Bryn Mawr College and was now working as the secretary to the principal of the Finch and Lenox Schools.  (She would later found the Edith Heyward Ashley and Mabel Pierce Ashley Scholarship Fund at Bryn Mawr College.)

On October 27, 1928, The New York Times reported that Isabella Ashley had sold 41 West 87th Street to Martin J. Doody and his wife, the former Nellie O'Connau.  The article said they "intend to remodel and use the house for their own occupancy."  Included in their renovations was the removal of the stoop and lowering the entrance to the former English basement level.

With the stoop removed, the Doodys walked a few steps below grade to enter the house.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Martin J. Doody was born in Ireland on May 29, 1899, and Nellie was born in Listrowel County, Ireland, 1887.  The couple had two daughters, Josephine Marie and Helen.  (Helen was married and lived elsewhere).  Real estate operators, they owned and managed rooming houses and apartments in New York City and the Rockaways.  One of those, in Rockaway Beach, was named for Josephine--the Josephine Villa.

The Advocate, August 23, 1941

The Doody family was at Belle Harbor, Long Island in 1939 when Martin was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital.  He died there on June 21 at the age of 50.

Josephine Marie was married to Naval Reserve Lieutenant Sydney Conrad Schoenberger in St. Patrick's Church on October 18, 1944.  With no surviving men in the family, Isabella gave her daughter away.  The reception and wedding breakfast was held in the Pierre Hotel.  

Nellie Doody remained in the West 87th Street house until December 1949 when she sold it to David Light.  She moved permanently to Belle Harbor and continued managing the real estate business.  She died there on August 26, 1978 at the age of 91.

For half a century, 41 West 87th Street was operated as respectable rented rooms.  Then a renovation completed in 2000 resulted in a duplex in the basement and first floor, and two apartments per floor above.  

A remarkable five-year renovation started in 2015.  Amazingly, the complicated stoop was refabricated, every detail--including the carved bows on the newels--copied from the surviving examples on the row.  Theodore E. Thomson's 1896 interiors were gutted during the process of returning the house to a single-family home.

photographs by the author