The Lost George W. Pell Mansion - 392 Fifth Avenue

 

The family's private carriage house can be glimpsed behind the mansion, beyond the bay window.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Born in 1820, George Washington Pell was described by The New York Times as "a member of one of the oldest New-York families."  His earliest paternal ancestor in America, John Pell, was the first lord of Pelham Manor.  His mother, Adelia Duane, was related to "the Livingstons, the Norths, the Bleecker-Millers, and the Duanes of Schenectady," said the newspaper.

In 1853, Pell married Mary Bruen.  The couple moved into the newly built brick-and-brownstone mansion at the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 36th Street.   They would have one son, Alfred Duane Pell.

The Pell's opulent home was four stories tall above an English basement.  Its Second Empire design included a classical pediment above the entrance.  Prominent cornices upheld by scrolled brackets graced the parlor openings.  A stone balcony fronted the floor-to-ceiling parlor windows on Fifth Avenue.  The fourth floor took the form of a slate-shingled mansard.  Its elaborate dormers were strikingly similar to those of the John Jacob Astor III mansion, erected a year earlier at Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street.

Although he held a degree from Columbia College, Pell's substantial inherited wealth precluded his needing a profession.  The New York Times would later mention that he "never engaged in business further than to manage his brother's estate and his own property interests."  He did involve himself in the community, specifically regarding issues within his elite neighborhood.  At the City Council meeting on December 9, 1862, for instance, Pell's "remonstrance to the proposed incumbrance of Thirty-fifth-street, by projecting the sidewalk out," was read.  And the following year, he joined neighbors to sign a letter to Albany expressing "surprise" of the state legislature's intention to install street railroads on every "avenue and street in the City of New-York."

In 1864, George and Mary Pell moved slightly northward to the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 39th Street.  No. 392 Fifth Avenue now became home to Emil and Virginia W. Justh. 

Born in Hungary in 1825, Justh was the head of the brokerage firm E. Justh & Co.  When he and Virginia moved into their new home, the Civil War was raging.  It appears Justh was nervous about the draft lottery, enacted the previous year.  The legislation provided a loophole by which the wealthy could pay for a substitute.  On September 4, 1864, The New York Times ran the sarcastically worded headline, "The Draft: Names of Patriotic Gentlemen who Have Furnished Substitutes in Advance of the Draft."  Among those listed was Emil Justh.

The wealthy couple apparently leased 392 Fifth Avenue from the Pells.  In 1866, they moved to 93 East 34th Street.  (Emil Justh survived an assassination attempt there on Christmas Eve, 1866.  In the middle of the night, he heard a noise in the hallway.  As he approached his bedroom door, "it was suddenly thrown open and a pistol fired directly at him," reported The New York Times.)

In 1868, Louis Thurston Hoyt purchased 392 Fifth Avenue for $129,000, according to The New York Times.  The price would translate to about $2.9 million today.  Born on April 9, 1834, Hoyt was a stockbroker.  Among his high-powered clients, according to The New York Times later, were "Commodore Vanderbilt, Leonard Jerome, A. W. Morse, E. H. Miller, John Trevor and Benjamin Nathan."  He married Marie Antoinette Bogert on January 27, 1857.  The couple had two daughters, Geraldine, born in 1859; and Aline born two years later.  The couple's country home was in New Brighton, Staten Island.

Marie Antoinette Hoyt died in the mansion on June 1, 1879.  Interestingly, her funeral was not held in the drawing room, as would be expected, but at the Church of the Incarnation on Madison Avenue.

Hoyt and his daughters were at the Staten Island estate during Thanksgiving week 1886.  While there, Geraldine died at the age of 27.  Her funeral was held in New Brighton on December 1.

Left with no family members other than her widowed father, Aline was now among the most prominent heiresses within Manhattan society.  The hostess of 392 Fifth Avenue, she appeared in society columns, like the mention in The New York Times on January 29, 1893, "To-morrow Miss Hoyt of 392 Fifth Avenue will entertain a party of ladies at luncheon."

from the collection of the New York Public Library

The innocuous article did not reflect the storm clouds forming inside the mansion.  Aline was engaged to John W. Woodfield, against her father's blessings.  The potential groom was British and, reportedly, Hoyt did not wish his daughter to marry anyone other than an American.  The tensions were perhaps behind the notice in the New-York Tribune on December 24, 1893, "The wedding of Miss Aline Hoyt, daughter of Louis T. Hoyt, and John Woodfield, which was set down for January 3, has been postponed on account of the illness of Miss Hoyt."

On January 18, 1894, the New-York Tribune reported, "It is authoritatively announced that the engagement of Miss Aline Hoyt...to John W. Woodfield, of England, has been broken."  While it appears that Louis Hoyt's will had prevailed, it was a temporary situation.  Four months later, the New-York Tribune wrote, "Miss Aline Hoyt a few months ago was married to John Woodfield, in St. Chrysostom's Church...without the knowledge of her father, who has since refused to receive either his daughter or her husband."

With Aline gone, Louis handled the social affairs within his house personally.  On May 8, 1894, The New York Times announced, "Miss Edith Cruger Sands and her fiancé, T. J. Oakley Rhinelander, were the guests of honor at a handsome dinner given last evening by Louis T. Hoyt."  But the absence of a female in the Fifth Avenue mansion would be short-lived.  On May 18, 1894, the New-York Tribune reported, "The engagement has just been announced of Mrs. Richard M. Pell, of No. 436 Fifth-ave., to Louis T. Hoyt, of No. 392 Fifth-ave."  Louis and Frances Mary Jones Pell were married on June 11.  (Interestingly, Frances's former husband, who died in 1882, was the brother of George Washington Pell, the first owner of her new home.)

The newlyweds would see changes within their exclusive residential neighborhood.  A year earlier, William Waldorf Astor opened the Waldorf Hotel on the site of his father's mansion.  It would open the floodgates to commerce along the thoroughfare.

In the summer of 1901, Louis and Frances traveled to Europe.  Louis died in Bad Nauheim, Germany on August 2 at the age of 67.  His body was brought back to New York and buried in Greenwood Cemetery.  In reporting his death, The New York Times mentioned, "he had one daughter, Mrs. Woodfield, who lives in London."

At the turn of the last century, commerce had encroached into the neighborhood.  The Hoyt mansion can be glimpsed on the right, while a shop has been installed into the ground floor of the mansion to the left.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

On September 4, 1901, The New York Times reported that Frances "is to receive the bulk" of Hoyt's estate, noting, "She is to receive the residence 392 Madison [sic] Avenue, with the jewelry, furniture, and horses and carriages for life...Mrs. Hoyt is also to have the use of his country seat at Staten Island."  The Fifth Avenue property was assessed at $9 million in today's money.

It does not appear that Frances Hoyt was interested in the New Brighton estate.  Following her period of mourning, she rented "Mrs. Markoe's cottage" in Southampton for the summer of 1903, according to the New-York Tribune, and spent subsequent summers in other fashionable places and in Europe. 

By 1908, Frances Hoyt was the last of the holdouts in the neighborhood.  Other mansions had been converted for business purposes or replaced with commercial buildings.  She eventually relented.  On June 2, The Sun reported she "is the buyer of No. 726 Fifth Avenue, sold recently by Charles W. Morse."  Six months later, the New-York Tribune announced that Frances had hired McClellan & Beadel to design a replacement mansion on the site.  

With her new home completed, in February 1912 Frances Hoyt sold the brownstone mansion to The Martin Holding Co.  The Record & Guide reported, "The price paid was about $1,000,000."  The figure would translate to about $33.4 million today.  On February 4, The New York Times commented, "The old house has been occupied for many years by Mrs. Louis T. Hoyt, and it has attracted attention in view of the fact that it is the only dwelling in that locality which has thus far resisted the encroachment of business."  The article said, "it is believed that the residence will soon be torn down and improved for high-class commercial purposes."

That assumption proved to be true.  Just four months later, on June 16, The New York Times began an article saying, "In the recent demolition of the old Louis T. Hoyt house on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty-sixth Street, for an eleven-story commercial building...one of the few remaining residential landmarks in the shopping district around Thirty-fourth Street has been wiped out as a result of the all-devouring trade invasion."

The tall building in the center of the frame replaced the Hoyt mansion.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The Jacob Herrlich & Sons Building - 332 East 86th Street

photo by Ted Leather

Early in 1885, developer Gotthold Haug completed construction of three "four-story stone front flats," as described by the Real Estate Record & Guide, at 332 through 336 East 86th Street.   Their openings sat within pronounced architrave neo-Grec-style frames and bracketed cornices with paneled friezes crowned their facades.

On November 15, 1898, Jacob and Christine Ruth Herrlich purchased 332 East 86th Street for $16,150 (about $630,000 in 2025 terms).  The following month, on December 31, The New York Times reported that Herrlich had contracted architect Charles Stegmayer to make renovations.  

The alterations converted the ground floor to a commercial space.  It was originally home to the Yorkville Court (or headquarters) of the I.O.F. (the Independent Order of Foresters).  But by 1905, the Jacob Herrlich & Bros'. Funeral Parlors occupied the space.

Jacob Herrlich had opened his funeral operation in 1875.  Living above the funeral home with Jacob and Christina were sons August Jacob and Philip C.  August was made a commissioner of deeds in 1906, a civil service position similar to a notary public.

Other tenants in the building at the time were William Wheeler, a tile-layer, and his mother; and Caroline A. Wieler who, like August Jacob Herrlich, applied for a civil service job in 1909.  But her application for Typewriter Accountant was denied.  The minutes of the Municipal Civil Service Commission of July 14, 1909, said, "It appeared that the candidate had been disqualified for placing the examination number on her papers."  Caroline appealed, submitting a statement that "the error was unintentional and made with no thought of revealing her identity."  Upon consideration, the commission granted her papers for examination.

Jacob Herrlich died in 1907 and by 1910, the business was renamed Jacob Herrlich's Sons.  Philip and August Herrlich made renovations to the building in 1923, resulting in the funeral parlor on the ground and second floors, and one apartment each on the third and fourth.  The Herrlich brothers and their families were now the only occupants of the building.

Jacob Herrlich & Sons was the scene of notable funerals over the decades.  Annie White Strathern's funeral was held here in October 1920.  Never married, she devoted her life to social work and was a teacher and social worker for 55 years, 43 of those working with the Children's Aid Society.  She spent every summer vacation at the fresh air branches of that society.  In 1908 she organized the Mothers' Helpers' Association, which trained young girls in domestic science.

Another notable funeral was that of Police Sergeant Herman R. Blohm, held here on August 23, 1922.  Blohm had taken his family on vacation to Highland Lake.  The previous summer his family "were annoyed by rattlesnakes," according to The Evening World, so this year Blohm left his service pistol home "and bought a vest pocket automatic," to deal with the reptiles.

On August 20, Blohm and his wife headed to the lake.  He saw and killed a rattle snake on the way.  Uncustomed to the new weapon, he forgot to adjust the safety catch.  The Evening World said, "The trigger caught on his trousers and the weapon was discharged."  His funeral here was crowded with police.

A Nazi parade marched past the Jacob Herrlich & Sons building on October 30, 1937.  A prominent blade sign identifies the funeral home.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

Perhaps none of the funerals attracted more public attention than that of Krao Farini, known as the "bearded lady," the "missing link," and the "ape-woman" of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  

Born in Laos in 1876, Krao was afflicted with what today is known as hypertrichosis--an abnormal amount of hair growth.  She and her parents were captured by explorer Carl Bock during an expedition in 1881.  Bock put her on exhibition in 1882 as an example of the missing link between apes and humans.  By the 1920s, she lived in Brooklyn and when not on exhibition with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, she wore a heavy veil in public.

Krao Farini, cabinet card by Obermuller & Son, around 1890.

Krao died from influenza on April 16, 1926.  Her funeral was held here on April 18.  The New York Times reported on the service, spattering the article with callous descriptions of the mourners.  It described Carrie Holt as "the fat lady," and said Jim Tarver, the "Texas Giant" had "to bring his own chair."  The article said, "Victoria Anderson, 'leopard girl' with the spotted hair and skin, cried a bit as she looked at Krao for the last time."  Krao Farini had requested that her body be cremated to preclude her corpse becoming a post-mortem freak attraction.

Philip C. Herrlich died in his apartment on April 8, 1926 at the age of 53.  In reporting his death, The Casket and Sunnyside called him "one of the most widely known members of the profession in Greater New York, and a power in the State and local associations."

A coat of white paint covered the brownstone in 1941.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

August Jacob Herrlich continued the family business.  At mid-century, the firm merged with Frank E. Campbell Funeral Church, and after occupying the space for half a century, left East 86th Street.  By 1954, it was home to the office of attorney Richard E. Bauman.

In the summer of 1968, the seafood restaurant Brigadoon opened here.  Food critic Craig Claiborne of The New York Times said on August 30, "As to the decor and table service, there isn't a lot to praise in this recently opened fish and seafood house."  He deemed the fish, however, "impressive."

The venture was short lived.  It was replaced by Alda's Ristorante in 1970.  The restaurant offered "heartwarming Italian cuisine," according to its advertisement in Gourmet magazine that year.  The end of Alda's Risatorante came 15 years later when the owners were caught selling heroin in addition to pasta.

The former funeral home space continued to see a turn-over of occupants.  Christine Polish Restaurant was here in 1987, replaced by Pasta Vicci in 1989, and the following year The Well Bred Pedigree, a pet shop, was here.  Most recently, a hair-removal clinic occupies the space.

At some point the white paint was carefully removed from the brownstone facade, returning the upper floors to its 1895 appearance.

many thanks to reader Ted Leather for suggesting this post.

The George and Dorothy Draper House - 162 East 63rd Street

 

image via coldwellbankerhomes.com

In 1869, developer Gideon Fountain broke ground for six, 16-foot-wide rowhouses on the south side of East 63rd Street between Third and Lexington Avenues.  Designed by W. A. Hoffman, they were a symbiotic blend of Italianate and neo-Grec styles.  Three floors tall above a high English basement, their paired parlor level openings were fully arched.  The architrave frames of the upper windows sat upon dainty brackets and were crowned with prominent molded cornices.  The elaborate terminal cornices included rosettes and trios of full-relief sunflowers between the neo-Grec-style brackets.

The row was completed in 1870.  Gideon Fountain briefly moved his family into 162 East 63rd Street.  Then, on April 7, 1872, he advertised:

For Sale--A splendid, small three story and basement Ohio trimmed with brown stone front House, 162 East Sixty-third street, near Lexington avenue, very desirable location, at a low price; terms to suit.          

G. Fountain, owner, on the premises

The advertisement worked.  Two weeks later Fountain sold the house to James and Wilhelmina Graves for $16,750 (or about $444,000 in 2025 terms).  

Born in Philadelphia in 1836, Graves relocated to New York City at the age of 22.  He and Wilhelmina Smith were married in 1859 and they had one son.  The New-York Tribune later recalled that when Graves arrived in New York he was "engaged in the business of a lapidary, afterward becoming also an importer of diamonds."  When he and Wilhelmina moved into the 63rd Street house, he was a partner in the diamond importing firm M. Fox & Co. on Maiden Lane.

Well-to-do couples routinely traveled to Europe in the summer months.  James and Wilhelmina Graves went abroad in 1884, but their sojourn was not completely for relaxation--and a "rival Maiden lane diamond merchant," as worded by The Sun, suspected that was the case.  He contacted the Special Treasury Agent's office and warned that Graves was likely attempting to smuggle jewels into the country.

The couple arrived back in New York City on the Amerique on October 3.  The Sun reported, "When he and his wife landed at the Barge Office a number of Treasury detectives were present, and waited until he had made his declaration to Inspector Bucklin and the eight pieces of luggage he had brought had been examined by Inspector Barry."  Graves said that they had no dutiable articles and the inspector found nothing.

Then, James and Wilhelmina were separated and their clothing searched.  They found six turquoise stones in Grave's pocket and a bar of soap that contained 40 uncut diamonds.  Upon being pressed, Graves turned over his satchel, which had a false bottom.  It contained another batch of diamonds.

In the meantime, women inspectors searched Wilhelmina.  In her trunks, they found unset diamonds sewed into the lining of several garments.  In what must have been a humiliating situation for a 19th century lady, Wilhelmina was disrobed.  The inspectors said, "they found pinned on one of Mrs. Graves's undergarments a lace pin set with solitaire diamonds as big as peas.  In a pocket of her underskirt was a brooch with six big amethysts and a big pearl in the center encircled with brilliants."  In all, officials seized $12,000 worth of gems, mostly diamonds.  The value would translate to $388,000 today.

Although he cited his reason as ill health, it was most likely the embarrassing publicity that prompted Graves to retired shortly afterward.  He died from "acute bronchitis," according to the New-York Tribune, on November 29, 1888.  His funeral was held in the parlor two days later.

Wilhelmina sold 162 East 63rd Street to Louis E. Neuman for $15,750 in April 1891.  Born in Germany in 1835, he immigrated to America as a young man and served in the Civil War.  A widower, Neuman ran a lithography business on Pearl Street.  He suffered a fatal heart attack in the house on October 2, 1902.

The house was next home to attorney William H. Steinkamp and his family.  He sold it in June 1912 to Dr. George Draper, whose wedding to Dorothy Tuckerman was just three months away.  Dorothy was the only daughter of Paul and Susan Minturn Tuckerman.

When he purchased the 63rd Street property, Draper was affiliated with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.  He later wrote that his new marital status "necessitated starting the practice of medicine, for browsing in academic halls, though entertaining, was not productive of much support."  He became an assistant attending physician at the Presbyterian Hospital and an instructor at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. George Draper (original source unknown)

Dorothy had had a privileged childhood.  Her parents owned not only the Tuxedo Park estate where she was married, but a Manhattan townhouse and a Newport cottage.  Her early education was at home, taught by her governess and tutors, before spending two years at the prestigious Brearly School.

The social position of the Drapers was reflected in George's memberships to the University Club and the Harvard Club in addition to his professional associations.  Dorothy was highly involved in social events.  As the anticipated Russian Ball at the Ritz-Carlton was being organized in the fall of 1913, for instance, the New-York Tribune announced, "Tickets may be obtained from Mrs. Draper at her home, No. 162 East 63d street."

The Drapers enlarged the narrow house, hiring architect Robert W. Gardner in May 1913 to add a one-story extension to the rear. 

Dorothy Draper's flair for interior design caught the attention of her society friends, who asked her do their homes.  Working with bold colors and oversized prints, she pioneered the style called Modern Baroque and, later, the Hollywood Regency style.

Dorothy Draper, from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1915, George and Dorothy Draper purchased the house next door at 164 East 63rd Street.  One of W. A. Hoffman's 1870 row, it had just been given a new Mediterranean personality by architect Frederick Junius Sterner.

The Drapers moved next door to this house.  No. 162 East 63rd Street with its paired parlor windows can be glimpsed at the far right.  Architecture magazine, May 5, 1918 (copyright expired)

The Drapers sold 162 East 63rd Street in August 1915 to another physician, gynecologist William S. Stone and his wife, Katherine.  They lived here until the summer of 1931, when they leased the house to newlyweds August Perry Belmont and his bride Elizabeth Lee Saltonstall.  The couple was married on June 15 that year.  In reporting on the socially important wedding, the Buffalo, New York Courier Express commented, "Young Belmont has just finished his courses at Harvard and his marriage to Elizabeth will deprive Boston of one of its fairest daughters, for after the honeymoon the young Belmonts will live at 162 East 63d street."

August Perry Belmont, from the National Cyclopedia of American Biography 1967

On the evening of May 4, 1933, Elizabeth Belmont was dressing when she discovered what police suspected was an "inside job."  The Daily Review of Freeport, New York (while inserting August's august pedigree), reported, "Mrs. August Belmont, 4th, whose husband is a grandson of the late August Belmont, noted sportsman and banker, reported to the police yesterday that two flexible diamond bracelets worth $30,000 had been stolen some time within the last week from a dresser drawer in a room on the second floor of her three-story home at 162 East 63rd street."  Suspicion focused on the servants, since "other pieces of jewelry in the same drawer of the vanity dresser had not been taken," said the article.  The value of the stolen bracelets would translate to about $76,200 today.

William and Katharine P. Stone sold 162 East 63rd Street to A. Glen and Marion Becker Acheson in the spring of 1939.  On March 2, The New York Times mentioned that they would occupy the house after altering it.  Their renovations resulted in the removal of the stoop and lowering the entrance to below grade, and balancing the parlor openings--now two (one of which took the place of the former entryway).

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Born in 1895, A. Glen Acheson graduated from Cornell University in 1917 and served in World War I with the American Field Service.  A broker, he was a partner in the New York Stock Exchange firm of Bache Co.  His wife, the former Marion Becker, was the widow of Harry Randall Wilson, who died in an automobile accident in 1922.  Their son, Harry Wilson, was 21-years-old and attending Yale University when the family moved into 162 East 63rd Street.

Harry Wilson was described by the Daily News as "prominent in New York social circles."  It was most likely while here during Christmas 1940 that he told his mother and step-father than he would be leaving Yale to join the Army Air Corps.  He entered the Corps on January 4, 1941 and was sent to Maxwell Field near Montgomery, Alabama for training.

In what had to have been a horrifying case of déjà vu for Marion, considering her former husband's death, she received notification on February 10, 1941 that Harry had been killed in an automobile accident 18 miles south of Montgomery.

Two years later, on August 14, 1943, the Army and Navy Journal reported, "Lt. Comdr. A. Glen Acheson, USNR, has reported for duty as commanding officer of Colgate University's Naval Flight Preparatory School."  He served in that capacity throughout World War II.

On October 13, 1954, the Smithtown [New York] Star reported that the Achesons had purchased the 1703 Roe Tavern, a "16-room early American residence" in East Setauket.  Acheson retired the following year and the couple moved permanently to the Long Island house.

A renovation in 1959 resulted in a doctor's office in the basement and an additional floor.  The physician's office became the Piero Corsini, Inc. art gallery in the early 1990s.

Then, in 1998, the house was purchased by John Adams Morgan and his wife, the former Sonja Tremont, for $9.1 million.  Born in 1930 to Henry Sturgis Morgan and the former Catherine Lovering Adams, Morgan was the great-grandson of financier J. P. Morgan, and a descendant of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams III.  Like his great-grandfather, Morgan was a banker and co-founded the firm Morgan Lewis Githens & Ahn, Inc.

John and Sonja were married in 1998, just prior to buying 162 East 63rd Street.  The groom was 68 and the bride was 35.  They hired designers Harry Schnaper and John Pierre Borg to remodel and decorate the home.  The result was a 4,650-square-foot residence with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths.

image via 6sqft.com

Sonja had studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  The couple had a daughter, Quincy Adams Morgan.  They divorced in 2006 with Sonja receiving the house in the settlement.

The divorce devastated Sonja's finances and in 2009 she filed for bankruptcy and listed the East 63rd Street house for $12 million.  In 2010. Sonja Morgan joined the cast of the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of New York City.  The house was featured in several of the episodes.  

Sonja Morgan (center) with child actress Devon Haas and Julie Klausner at a charity event for Dogs for the Deaf on April 13, 2013.  photograph by Andrea Arden

After years of relisting and repricing the property, in April 2024, Sonja place the property at auction.  She told Concierge Auctions in April that year, "In addition to raising my daughter here, we entertained heads of state, royalty, luminaries, and Fortune 500 CEOs.  In addition, memories were made over the years, including hosting my daughter’s friends from boarding school and university, and so many noteworthy moments were filmed by NBC for Bravo and Peacock TV."

image via dwell.com

The oft-remodeled townhouse, easily ignored by passersby, gives little hint that it has been home to a succession of renowned figures over the decades.

many thanks to ready Joe Crowley for requestion this post

H. I. Feldman's 1940 139 East 35th Street

 

photo by Lowell Cochrane

On December 19, 1939, The New York Sun titled an article, "Apartments for Church Plot."  The previous year, the Church of the Epiphany, erected in 1856, was demolished.  The article said that the newly formed 139 East Thirty-fifth Street, Inc. had purchased the former church property at the northeast corner of 35th Street and Lexington Avenue as the site of a 12-story apartment building.

Importantly, the Tishman Realty & Construction Company had been hired to erect the structure.  "This will be the first new apartment house operation with which the Tishmans have been identified since 1931," said The New York Sun.  The Tishman concern had been static since the beginnings of the Great Depression.  "It marks the active entry of this organization into the construction field as a building contractor."

The article noted, "H. I. Feldman, the architect, will design the building."  Hyman Isaac Feldman opened his architectural office in 1921.  He would soon become well-known for his Art Deco apartment houses along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx and similar buildings in Brooklyn.  Known professionally by his initials, before his death in 1981, Feldman would design more than 2,500 metropolitan area apartment buildings.

The New York Sun reported that the building would contain "156 two and three room suites and will present a number of ingenious features, such as in respect to dressing rooms and alcoves."  A roof garden was available "for the relaxation of the tenants," said the article.  Calling it a "sky garden," an advertisement described the space as being "swept by cool breezes."

Construction was completed in August 1940.  Typical of Feldman's designs, 139 East 35th Street had no setbacks and terminated in a drama-free parapet.  Windows wrapped the chamfered corners of the recessed central section.  Below them, the offset entrance was tucked into a reentrant corner.  Reeded brick piers thrust upward from the second to tenth floors, capped with striking stone palmettes.

photograph by Lowell Cochrane

Interestingly, among the initial tenants was Robert Valentine Tishman, of the Tishman Realty & Construction Company.  Born in 1916, he graduated from Cornell University in 1937 and entered his family's business.  It was established in 1898 by his grandfather, Julius Tishman.  On June 12, 1941, The New York Sun reported that he and Phyllis Gordon would be married in the Hotel Lombardy that afternoon.  "After a wedding trip to California, the couple will live at 139 East 35th Street," said the article.

Moving into an apartment in October 1941 were actor Frank O'Connor and his wife, author and screenwriter Ayn Rand.  The couple met on the set of Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings and were married on April 15, 1929.  Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1905, Ayn became an American citizen in 1931.

Ayn Rand in 1943.  from the dust jacket of The Fountainhead

Two months after moving in, Rand landed a contract to publish the novel she was working on, The Fountainhead.  It was published in May 1943.  Later that year, Rand returned home from a business lunch and, according to Anne Conover Heller in her Ayn Rand and the World She Made:

When she got back to the apartment, tired and downcast, her husband was waiting in the dimly lit living room, a peculiar look on his face.  "Well, darling," he said, after a dramatic pause, "while you were at lunch you earned fifty thousand dollars."

Frank O'Connor had received the phone call from Warner Bros. informing her they had purchased the screen rights to The Fountainhead.  The couple left 139 East 35th Street in December that year.

photograph by Lowell Cochrane

In the meantime, composer and songwriter Vernon Duke signed a lease on January 5, 1942.  Born into a noble Russian family in 1903 as Vladimir Doukelsky, he was the grandson of Princess Tumanishvili.  He entered the Kiev Conservatory at the age of 11, but his studies were interrupted by the Russian Revolution.  The family escaped, eventually landing in America in 1921.  He was befriended by George Gershwin who urged him to Americanize his name to Vernon Duke.

Vernon Duke, from the collection of the Library of Congress.

While living here, Duke served in the U.S. Coast Guard and toured for the Guard in a show, Tars & Spars.  Among his best known works are Taking a Chance on Love, April in Paris, and Autumn in New York.

Like Duke, other tenants saw military service during World War II.  Among them was Charles G. Moses, who had attended Washington High School and was in the real estate business before being drafted on October 11, 1941.  The 23-year-old's life suddenly and drastically changed.

On September 4, 1943, The New York Sun began an article saying, 

Corporal Charles G. Moses, listed as wounded in action, wrote his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Moses of 139 East 35th street, that in the African and Sicilian fighting he was bombed ninety-seven times.  "The ninety-eighth time," he added, "they got me."

Charles Moses was saved by a fellow New Yorker, Louis Bellows from the Bronx.  He applied tourniquets and sprinkled sulpha powder on his wounds.  Moses wrote, "In the hospital, they took shrapnel out of both arms and pieces of my watch out of my left wrist."  After nine days in the hospital, Moses returned to his unit.

Another tenant who gave up their workaday life to serve was Virginia Sanders, the daughter of Howard S. Sanders.  She had worked for Hardy & Company, but on November 2, 1944, The East Hampton Star reported that she, "has arrived in India to serve the armed forces as an American Red Cross hospital staff aide."

On the afternoon of September 6, 1965, 34-year-old resident Sanford Simon was driving back to Manhattan from Westhampton when he noticed a teenager hitchhiking.  Simon picked up 17-year-old Robert B. Rowa.  At around 4:45, when Simon pulled over at an exit to let Rowa out, the teen pulled out a knife and demanded, "Give me your money."  Simon told him there was $275 in the glove compartment, but pleaded to leave him some money for the tunnel toll.  The Long Island Advance reported, "the youth left him a quarter."  Rowa was arrested two days later and charged with first-degree robbery.

An interesting resident was Edith Ehrman.  Born in 1932, she was the daughter of Frederick L. Ehrman, chairman of the board of Lehman Brothers, Inc.  Never married, Edith was the manager of the foreign-areas materials center of the New York State Department of Education.  She was more known, however, as a collector of Japanese prints.  A founder of the Japan House Gallery, she was also a member of the visiting Committee of the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute and of the Association of Asian Studies.

Quintessentially H. I. Feldman, 139 East 35th Street survives essentially intact, other than replacement windows.

many thanks to reader Lowell Cochrane for suggesting this post

The John W. T. Nichols House - 42 West 11th Street

 

In 1840, builder Andrew Lockwood, carpenter Erastus Freeman, and mason James Harriot began construction of a row of 11 brick-faced houses that would nearly fill the south side of West 11th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.  Completed in 1841, the two-and-a-half-story homes sat upon rusticated brownstone basements.  Handsome doorways with Corinthian-capped pilasters, sidelights and transoms were recessed within the expected Greek Revival-style brownstone frames of flat pilasters and a heavy entablature.  The attic windows punched through the fascia of the delicately denticulated cornices.

No. 42 West 11th Street saw a succession of professional occupants (who possibly rented) over the first decades.  In 1884, for instance, it was home to John H. Kitchen, a builder who was appointed receiver of the United States Underground Cable Company in December that year.  (The firm was organized in 1882 "to manufacture and lay underground electric cables, both for telegraphic purposes and lighting, and for telephonic purposes."  Perhaps ahead of its time, the company failed.)

Early in 1897, merchant John White Treadwell Nichols purchased 42 West 11th Street, ending the turnover in occupants.  Born in Brighton, Massachusetts on October 30, 1852, he married Mary Blake Slocum in 1876.  They relocated to New York City in 1884, at which time Nichols became a partner in the cotton goods commission house of Minot, Hooper & Co.  The couple had three sons, George S., John Treadwell, and William Blake; and three daughters, Helen Slocum, Elizabeth, and Susan Farley.

Nichols had suffered from poor eyesight from an early age.  The Textile World Journal later explained, "He went to work in the woolen business in Boston at the age of fourteen years, as poor eyesight prevented his continuing his studies."  The journal said, "Mr. Nichols encouraged the development of devices that would operate to relieve others distressed in that way."  He commissioned the development of a switchboard operated by bells rather than lights.  It was installed at Minot, Hooper & Co., and, after being thoroughly tested, "was submitted to broader commercial usage."

At one point, Nichols turned his attention to his female employees, and established a women's restroom in his firm's building at 51-53 Leonard Street.  It was one of the first women's rest rooms in a large commercial building.

The Nichols family were involved in philanthropy.  John and Mary were aboard an ocean liner headed to Europe in April 1906 when news came of the San Francisco earthquake and fire.  Nichols immediately wired his firm, recommending that it "extend credits and especial courtesies in the stricken zone."  Other businesses joined the movement.  The Textile World Journal said, "it is remembered in the business district as probably the first step in commercial relief."

A year later, when The Association of the New York School of Philanthropy was formed, Helen S. Nichols was elected secretary-treasurer.  

At the time, the aristocratic tenor of the lower Fifth Avenue neighborhood was threatened.  When the two houses at 44 and 46 Fifth Avenue, at the corner of 11th Street, were offered for sale in the spring of 1907, Nichols purchased them.  On May 4, the Record & Guide commented, "It is said that Mr. Nichols bought [them] for the purpose of helping to preserve the old-time residential character of lower 5th av."

It was around this time that Nichols purchased a 36-acre estate near Cove Neck in Oyster Bay, Long Island.  It abutted Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill, and was near the estate of J. Pierpont Morgan, Matinicock Point.  Nichols commissioned Minerva Parker Nichols, the wife of his second cousin, to design the house, which became known as The Kettles.

The Kettles.  image via minervaparkernichols.com

At some point, Nichols purchased 44 West 11th Street and combined the two, removing the stoop of 42 while retaining the address.  It was no doubt at the same time that both houses were raised to full three floors and identical cornices installed.  The Spur described the Nichols home in 1915 as, "Two houses thrown into one, it is a very spacious dwelling with the old-fashioned high ceilings of half a century ago."

The original appearance of 42 and 44 West 11th Street can be seen in the unaltered house at the right.  Although the Nichols house retained the address of 42 West 11th Street, the entrance was technically at 44. image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

On June 12, 1910, The New York Times began an article saying, "The old Floyd homestead [in Mastic, Long Island], built in 1730, and the ancestral home of Gen. William Floyd, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the scene of a wedding at noon today."  John Treadwell Nichols was married to Cornelia Du Bois Floyd.  George was his brother's best man, and William was one of the ushers.  The article said, "A special train brought 100 guests from the city, and many came in automobiles."

Among those arriving in a car may have been George Nichols.  That year he registered his new Matheson 50 automobile.

George's new car would have looked much like this 1910 model.  The $3,000 price tag would translate to about $95,300 in 2024.  Cycle & Automobile Trade Journal, 1910 (copyright expired)

Nichols's hope of preserving the old-time atmosphere of the neighborhood apparently extended to their own home's interiors.  When John and Mary combined the two houses, they did not install electricity and, in fact, had never installed gas.  On January 9, 1915, The Sun announced, "There will be a meeting of the Neighborhood Club on the evening of January 13 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John W. T. Nichols, 42 West Eleventh street.  The artists will be Francis Rogers and Bruno Huhn."  On February 1, The Spur followed up:

It seemed like stepping into the romantic past when the members and guests of that unusual New York organization, the Neighborhood Club, entered the reception room of Mrs. John W. T. Nichols, at 42 West Eleventh Street, and found it lighted by candles.  The Nichols house is one of the few on Manhattan Island in which gas has never been installed; there are no chandeliers--only side lights.

It may have been the proximity of the Morgan and Nichols summer estates that sparked romance between George and Jane N. Morgan.  On June 11, 1917, the New-York Tribune reported that the couple had obtained their marriage license in Oyster Bay.  Somewhat shockingly, the article said, "No one accompanied the couple, the two driving to the clerk's office in Mr. Nichol's machine."

The wedding was performed on November 14 in the Church of St. John at Lattingtown, where both families worshiped during the summer season.  The Sun reported, "Two special cars were run from the Pennsylvania Station, New York, to accommodate the guests," adding that the couple, "will probably make their home on the Nichols estate at Oyster Bay."  (In fact, they moved into the West 11th Street house and shared The Kettles in the summer.)

The following year, the Morgan family and George and Jane Nichols were the victims of a bizarre extortion plot.  On September 17, 1918, The New York Times reported, "For eighteen months past somebody has been trying to extort $20,000 from Mr. Morgan and his daughter, Mrs. Jane Nichols of Glen Cove, L.I."  It said that a series of letters mailed from Lansing, Michigan promised sure death if instructions were not followed.

The writer asserted that he represented a gang in close touch with the Morgan family.  He said the entire family was inoculated with a disease germ which would cause their death in three years.  J. Pierpont Morgan, Sr., the writer said, had met death through this germ.  The antidote for the germ, however, could be purchased from him for $20,000.

Federal agents began "dickering" with the writer through personal columns in newspapers in Lansing and Detroit.  A plan was finally agreed upon by which the $20,000 would be handed over to an "unnamed man" in Lansing.  On September 17, 1918, J. B. Thorn, a 51-year-old janitor, was arrested.  

John White Tredwell Nichols died of heart failure in his sleep on April 25, 1920 at the age of 72.  His large estate was left mostly to Mary, to be divided among the children after her death.  A $5,000 bequest was made to Harvard University to establish the George Nichols Fund in honor of John's father.  He remembered, as well, his long-time domestic staff.  Ellen Barr, who worked at The Kettles, for instance, received $1,000 (about $14,600 by 2025 conversion).

Mary lived on here with Susan, who was unmarried; and George and Jane and their two-year-old daughter Jane Norton.  A second child, George, was born on May 15, 1922.  The population of 42 West 11th Street was reduced by one when Susan married writer John Trowbridge Pulsifer in 1924.   

George Nichols was a member of his father's firm, Minot, Hooper & Co. and a noted yachtsman.  In 1925, he was made commodore of the New York Yacht Club.  George captained the Weetamoe in the America's Cup race of 1930, with his brother-in-law Junius S. Morgan as a member of the five-man crew.  Around this time, George and Jane had established their own summer estate, Uplands, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island.

In May 1928, Helen, who was married to Mansfield Estabrook, died.  Their three children, James, Laura and John, moved into 42 West 11th Street and The Kettles.  Although Mansfield Estabrook was still alive, in 1935 George and Jane introduced Laura to society at a dance.  The New York Post explained, "She and her two brothers, James M. and John N. Estabrook, make their home with their grandmother, Mrs. John W. T. Nichols, at the Kettles, in the Cove Neck sector of Oyster Bay, and at 42 West Eleventh Street, New York."

The following year, on September 12, 1936, The New York Post wrote, "The various members of the J. Pierpont Morgan clan pride themselves on their exclusiveness, so that the dance given last night by the financier's son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. George Nichols at Uplands, their country home at Cold Spring Harbor, to introduce to society their daughter, Miss Jane Nichols was one of the smaller of the debutante coming-out parties of the week."  The article continued,

The dance was held in a marquee on the lawn, and the entire estate was illuminated by colored lights.  Alexander Haas and his Hungarian orchestra, that has played at most of the parties given by this family in the past few years, contributed to the entertainment of the guests, who included members of the young married set as well as many of this season's debutantes.

Mary Blake Nichols died on September 8, 1943 at the age of 89.  Three years later the combined houses were converted to a two-family residence, with a duplex in the basement and parlor levels, and another on the second and third floors.  

The configuration lasted until 1988, when 42 and 44 West 11th Street were separated.  A remarkable restoration of the lost stoop and entrance brought the house back to its 1841 appearance.

photographs by the author