In 1867 real estate agent Charles E. Pierce moved his family into the recently built house at 214 East 31st Street. Three stories of red brick sat upon a rusticated brownstone basement. A rather spartan version of Italianate, its double-doored entrance had no ornamentation other than a simple lintel. The 20-foot-wide home featured floor-to-ceiling parlor windows and a bracketed cornice with a paneled fascia.
Charles E. and Esther A. Pierce, born in 1831 and 1825 respectively, had an adult daughter, Lillias Adelaide, known as Lilly. Lily had an unspecified disability. In explaining why she could not appear in court in person to testify in 1869, she said, "I am quite lame."
Like many families, the Pierces rented extra rooms in their home. An advertisement in the New York Herald on July 24, 1869 offered:
Front room and Bedroom, second story, nicely furnished, closets, gas and water, with partial Board, or for light house-keeping at a low price; hall room $2.50; pleasant location.
The $2.50 room rate would translate to $60 in 2026.
The Pierces had bad luck with roomers. On August 7, Charles Allen died in his room. Unlike some landlords, the Pierces apparently did not offer their parlor for his funeral. The 56-year-old was buried from the Church of the Transfiguration.
The following year, on October 22, 1871, 77-year-old roomer Ann Irwin died. This time the funeral was held in the house.
Following the Pierces was the family of Charles G. Dean, another real estate operator, who moved in in 1874. Dean and his wife, the former Eliza Reed, had five children: William Matthews, Charles Jr., Hamilton F., Edward B., and Eliza Reed.
Born in 1813, Charles G. Dean was the son of book publisher William E. Dean. In addition to his real estate business, Charles was an alderman.
William M. Dean operated a harness business on Third Avenue as early as 1879. His brother, Charles Jr., however, was listed as a "gentleman," meaning he had no profession. Charles explained when being interviewed as a juror in 1890, that he "had no business, but was engaged in looking after his own affairs."
Charles G. Dean, Sr. died of pneumonia at the age of 68 on February 11, 1881. Interestingly, his funeral was not held in the house, but at Rutgers Church.
Shortly afterward, the Dean family tepidly updated the house. Fashionable wrought iron stoop railings and newels were installed, the parlor windows shortened, and sheet metal cornices applied to the openings.
The original appearance of the windows matched those of the homes on either side in this 1940 photo. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
Following the death of her husband, Noel B. Stanton, daughter Eliza moved back to the East 31st Street house with her mother and unmarried brothers.
William Matthew Dean died on February 12, 1896 and Charles G. Dean on September 8, 1905. Both funerals were held in the parlor.
The year 1918 was a morose one for the Deans. Eliza Reed Stanton died on January 21 and Eliza Reed Dean died at the age of 96 on November 3. Both funerals were held in the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.
Hamilton F. Dean, who was highly involved in real estate operations, continued to live in the house until his death in 1937. In August that year, his estate sold 214 East 31st Street to Richard N. Cotter.
Living here in 1942 was the Meyer family: Anna, Catherine, Harvey, John, Louise and Thelma. All of them were listed by the Congressional Special Committee on Un-American Activities that year as being registered Communist Party voters.
A renovation completed in 1955 resulted in an office in the basement, a doctor's office on the parlor floor, and one apartment each on the upper stories. More recently, the offices were converted to apartments, resulting in a total of four.
photographs by the author
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