In 1887 developer brothers William J. and John P. C. Walsh set out on an ambitious project of a row of 12 residences on the south side of the 95th Street block between Lexington and Park Avenues--numbers 116 to 138. The steeply sloping site was known as Goat Hill.
The architectural firm of C. Abbott French & Co. turned to the popular Queen Anne style in designing the individual, yet harmonious homes. Seen more frequently on the west side of Central Park, the often-whimsical style played with historic elements, materials, shapes and colors.
Like its neighbors, 116 East 95th Street was three stories tall above a brownstone fronted basement. A dog-legged box stoop rose to the segmentally arched doorway, the terra cotta lintel of which connected that of the window creating a graceful wavelike effect. A cast metal oriel, flanked by basketweave brick panels, dominated the second floor. The openings of the third floor wore elaborate terra cotta decoration--the outer windows crowned with arches filled with sunbursts and mythical faces, and the central opening topped with a draped swans' head pediment. Rather than a cornice, the house was completed by an arched brick parapet supported by a complex brick corbel table.
The house had a rocky start. Its original owner, James R. Cuming, lost it in foreclosure in 1891 to Daniel P. Mahoney. He immediately sold it to Henry Wallach, who sold it to the Irving and Mollie Hirschfeld in May 1895. The couple paid $16,500 for the house, or about $636,000 in 2026.
The Hirschfelds, too, would not remain especially long. On April 12, 1902, they announced the engagement of their daughter, Minnie, to Henry Cohen. Before the end of the year, they had sold 116 East 95th Street to Henry Hirsch and his wife, the former Helen Ella Gattman.
Henry was born in 1839 and Helen around 1845. They couple, who were married in 1864, had seven adult children. In July 1903, only months after purchasing No. 116, the couple hired architect J. Berry to make the equivalent of $276,000 today in interior renovations.
Helen Hirsch, of course, had a small domestic staff. On March 29, 1906, for instance, she advertised, "A neat girl wanted as chambermaid, assist washing; small private family. 116 East 95th st."
Henry Hirsh died in the house at the age of 77 on May 26, 1916. His succinct, two-line death notice said, "Interment private."
Four years later, on May 5, 1920, The New York Times reported that Helen Ella Hirsch had sold the 20-foot-wide house. The buyers were Latham Gallup Reed and his wife, the former Mary Newbold Welsh.
An attorney, Reed was born in Albany on December 10, 1855. His American pedigree was deep and he descended from members of the Plymouth Colony. His father was an Episcopalian priest, Rev. Sylvanus Reed, and his mother, Caroline Gallup Reed, "maintained a fashionable girls' school," according to The New York Times later. He studied at Columbia before transferring to Cambridge University where he earned his law degree.
He and Mary were married in 1884. Latham was 29 and his bride was 25. The couple had a son, Latham Ralston, and a daughter, Elizabeth Eunice. When they moved into 116 East 95th Street, Latham Reed had been retired for six years. The family's country home was in Locust, New Jersey.
Elizabeth, who never married, lived with her parents. She was, perhaps, more visible in society than her mother. On October 30, 1928, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Miss Elizabeth Reed...gave a reception yesterday afternoon at the Junior League Club, 133 East Sixty-first Street, for the Countess de la Gabbe, who is here from Paris."
Mary Newbold Welsh Reed died in the East 95th Street house on November 26, 1943 at the age of 84. Her funeral was held two days later in All Saints Memorial Church in Navesink, New Jersey.
The stained-glass transoms of the parlor level and the charming multi-paned, Queen Anne-style sashes of the top floor were intact in 1940. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
In 1945, Latham Gallup Reed fell ill. He died "after a brief illness," according to The New York Times, on November 29 at the age of 89. The newspaper described him as an "internationally known lawyer."
No. 116 East 95th Street was sold the following year in June to Colonel George Leonidovich Artamonoff and his wife, the former Jessie Downing. Born in Kursk, Russia on April 21, 1902, Artamonoff's father was General Leonid Konstantinovich Artamonoff of the Imperial Russian Army. George fought in the White Army in 1919 before fleeing to the United States in 1921.
At the outbreak of World War II, Artamonoff was commissioned a major in the United States Army. The conflict would cut short the couple's residency here. The New York Times reported that in 1947, he was made "director of the Tokyo office of the Marshall Plan." He was charged with "restoring economic relations between Japan and countries of Southeast Asia." The Artamonoffs leased the house until June 1949, when they sold it.
The subsequent occupants of the residence continued to be affluent--albeit not always as upstanding as their predecessors. Harold Von Maker lived here in 1968 when was one of eight men, "including Carmine Lombardozzi, the Mafia figure," according to The New York Times, who were arrested by the FBI. They were charged for conspiracy to steal brokerage checks.
Five years later, on August 16, 1973, The East Hampton Star reported that "Steven H. Maltby, 22, of 116 East 95th Street, New York" had been arrested. He was charged "with criminal possession of a dangerous drug in the sixth degree (LSD)."
The house, still a single-family home, was renovated in 2020. It was most likely at this time, that the stained-glass in the parlor floor transoms were removed in the process of replacing the windows.
photographs by the author
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