The Frederick Wm. Saltzsieder Mansion - 324 West 108th Street

 

photograph by the author

On November 5, 1898, the Real Estate Record & Guide titled an article, "Joseph A. Farley's New and Artistic Dwellings."  Farley had just completed three upscale homes on the south side of West 108th Street between Riverside and West End Avenues.  Designed by Janes & Leo, their rusticated Indiana limestone bases supported four floors of gray Roman brick.  Although the article said they were, "in modern French style," the houses would be described as Renaissance Revival in style today.

No. 324 West 108th Street was an "A" model of the A-B-A configuration.  A three-sided bay at the second and third floors provided "an excellent view of the river," said the article.  

Real Estate Record & Guide, November 5, 1898 (copyright expired)

The mahogany inner door of its white-enameled "Colonial vestibule" was flanked by sidelights and topped with a leaded fanlight.  Guests next entered a hall with seven-foot high wainscoting with a plate or stein shelf along the top.  "The hall has a parquet floor, a large fireplace and mantel surmounted by a stepped hood, and supplemented by deep fire-seats on either side," said the article.  The hall led to a "gallery" in the rear "with fluted Ionic columns supporting the ceiling."

In the far rear of the ground floor were a "bicycle room with excellent light" outfitted with a sink; the kitchen and the laundry (accessed by a separate service entrance).  "Back stairs extend from the laundry to the fourth floor, and a dumb-waiter connects the kitchen with the floors above," said the article.

On the second floor, or piano nobile, were the drawing room, the "foyer," the dining room, and butler's pantry.  The Record & Guide described:

The drawing room is in white mahogany and gold, and contains a large Colonial mantelpiece and fireplace.  A high base runs around the room, and full length French windows allow egress to a balcony in the front, which commands an excellent view of the Drive [i.e. Riverside Drive] and river.

The dining room was "English Gothic in design" and paneled with seven-foot high quartered oak wainscoting.  The mantel above the fireplace was supported by Gothic style columns, their capitals carved with lions' heads.  Leaded windows overlooked the rear garden.

The third floor held the "handsome library" in the front.  It was separated from a bedroom by a "salon passage" that held "four large hanging closets, one washstand with closets and drawers and a large cheval glass."  Off the bedroom was a bathroom with a marble mosaic floor.  The floor above contained bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as three small servants' rooms and a servants' bathroom.  A stained glass skylight lit the main staircase.  The article noted, "The houses are wired for electric light and piped for gas."

Joseph A. Farley titled an advertisement for 324 West 108th Street in The Evening Post on February 4, 1899, "One Left of The Best-Planned Houses in New York City For Sale."  The ad noted that the street was "restricted to wide private dwellings."  It caught the attention of Frederick William Saltzsieder and a month later, on March 5, The New York Journal reported that he had purchased the mansion for $41,000 (about $1.6 million in 2025 terms).

A brewer, Saltzsieder was a director of the Consumers Brewing Co., the Hudson Trust Co., and William E. Seitz & Co.  He had married Marie Schneider a year earlier, on May 26, 1898.  It was the second marriage for both, their previous spouses were deceased.  Saltzsieder came into the marriage with three sons, Frederick W., Walter H., and Herbert G.  Marie had a daughter and son, Hedwig Ottilia and Otto Herbert.  Marie was pregnant when they moved into the West 108th Street house, and a daughter, Irma, was born on May 10, 1899.

The affluence of the family was reflected in Otto Schneider's registering his new automobile--a Chalmers 30--in September 1910.  The price would equal about $51,000 today.

Otto Herbert Schneider purchased a Chalmers like this in 1910.  (copyright expired)

    

Hedwig's engagement to Joseph E. Ridder that year caused excitement among the German community.  The prospective groom was the son of Herman Ridder, publisher of the German language newspaper Staats-Zeitung.  On February 4, 1911, The New York Times reported that the plans for the marriage "are now completed" and the date was set for February 11.  The article mentioned that Hedwig was "being entertained extensively."

The wedding was celebrated at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament at Broadway and 71st Street.  The New York Times reported, "There were about 500 people at the wedding ceremony, and about 300 attended the reception which followed at the Plaza." 

Frederick W. Saltzsieder died on March 13, 1913 at the age of 64.  He left $25,000 to Marie (about $817,000 today) and the remainder of his substantial estate to his four children--ignoring Marie's children, Hedwig and Otto.  The slight resulted in a lawsuit.

While the upheaval played out, Marie leased 324 West 108th Street in September to Frederick E. Montgomery.  He was still occupying the house in the spring of 1917 when he enlisted in U.S. Army to fight in World War I.  With her tenant gone, Marie sold the house in May to Thomas Lancaster for $24,500. 

Thomas Lancaster and his wife, the former Ruth Jacques, had two sons, Thomas Jacques and Horace Mayhew.  The younger Thomas attended Columbia University.  Upon graduation, he moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, where he married Eleanor Helena Nelson on September 14, 1926.  At the time, his brother was attending Trinity College.  Horace graduated in 1929 and began a law career in the office of Thomas F. Keogh.

In 1941, the Lancasters converted their home to apartments, retaining one for their own use.  Horace, now 35, was still unmarried and living with them.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that year, America entered World War II.  Five months later, in May 1942, Horace joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and was assigned to Mitchel Field on Long Island.  The following month, he was given a furlough and visited his parents.  On June 23, The New York Times reported, "First Lieutenant H. Mayhew Lancaster of the Army Air Forces...was found dead yesterday morning in the gas-filled kitchen of the apartment in which he lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lancaster, at 324 West 108th Street.  He was 36 years old."

Suicide among society families was scandalous, and preposterous explanations were often concocted.  Thomas Jacques Lancaster told reporters, "he believed the officer had gone to the kitchen, which adjoined his bedroom, on Sunday night, and that his bathrobe sleeve had caught against the stove, turning on the gas."  He assumed that Horace did not notice the escaping gas, "until awakened by an alarm clock this morning and that he had gone into the kitchen to turn off the gas and had collapsed there before he could do so."

In 1950, the mansion was converted to Windham House, the "national training center for women workers" of St. George's Protestant Episcopal Church on Stuyvesant Square.  The organization remained here until about 1975, when the house became home to St. Luke's Hospital's Alcoholism Program.

In 1981, the alcoholism treatment center was expanded into No. 326.  By 1996 it was operated as the Smithers Center.

image via streeteasy.com

Today there are ten residential condominium units in the co-joined buildings.