Prolific real estate developer Anthony Mowbray erected two brownstone-faced homes at 32 and 34 East 69th Street between Park and Madison Avenues in 1880. Designed by Lamb & Wheeler in a marriage of neo-Grec and Queen Anne styles, they were 20-feet wide and four stories tall above high English basements.
34 East 69th Street would originally have been very similar to its next-door-neighbor at 32 E. 69th Street. from the collection of the New York Public Library
Politician John Kelly and his wife, Ann Theresa Mullen, purchased 34 East 69th Street. Born in 1822, Kelly entered politics in 1840 and served as a New York Representative in Congress from 1855 to 1858. He was elected Sheriff of New York County in 1859 and in 1871 turned his focus to fighting the corruption of the notorious Tweed Ring. By 1874, Kelly controlled Tammany Hall and earned his nickname, "Honest John."
John Kelly, from the collection of the Library of Congress
Ann was Kelly's second wife. His first, Mary Ann McIllhargy, died on July 17, 1866, and within five years their three children had perished. He and Ann (who was the niece of New York Cardinal John McCloskey) had a son, John Jerome, and a daughter, Josephine.
Kelly, the most powerful force in New York City politics, suffered a blow in 1884. In his 1917 The History of Tammany Hall, Gustuvus Myers writes:
Kelly broke down with nervous and physical prostration after the Presidential campaign of 1884. Grover Cleveland's election, which falsified his predictions, deeply disappointed him. He kept to his house, No. 34 East Sixty-ninth street, but still issued his orders to the Tammany organization.
His condition was well publicized. On February 14, 1885, The New York Times reported that Kelly had spent a few days as a guest of Nathaniel Jarvis, Jr. in Far Rockaway. Now back home, the article said "it was announced that he was greatly improved in health, and had not been in better spirits for several weeks."
New Yorkers no doubt realized things were more serious that November. The day after the elections, the New-York Tribune reported, "John Kelly remained all day yesterday at his home, No. 34 East Sixty-ninth-st. It was stated that he was too ill to go out of the house."
By the following year, according to Gustuvus Meyers, "he could not sleep except by the use of opiates." Around 1:30 on the morning of May 30, 1886, Mary Ann sent for a priest. Two more came at around 10:00 to administer last rites. On June 2, The Sun reported, "John Kelly, the Tammany chieftain, whose name is as familiar to the country as the President's, died yesterday afternoon at a little about 3 o'clock." John Kelly's funeral was held in St. Patrick's Cathedral on June 5.
Kelly had left the East 69th Street house in equal shares to Mary Ann and Josephine, who was still unmarried. Following their period of bereavement, the women again entertained. Those gatherings often reflected the Kellys' deep Catholic faith. On December 16, 1894, for instance, the New-York Tribune wrote, "One of the pleasant dinners of the week was given by Mrs. John Kelly for Monsignor Satolli, at her home, No. 34 East Sixty-ninth-st., on Monday. The decorations were in white and purple, the Papal and the Delegate's colors." (Monsignor Francesco Satolli was the first Apostolic Delegate to the United States.)
Mary Ann and Josephine remained here until August 1928 when 34 East 69th Street was sold to stockbroker Charles Frederic Watson Jr. Somewhat ironically, seven months later, on March 25, 1929, Mary Ann Kelly died.
In reporting the sale on August 3, 1928 The New York Times had remarked that during the decades that the Kelly family occupied the house, "the block was improved with fine residences." Charles and Maude Watson followed suite by hiring architect A. Wallace McCrea to remodel the outdated brownstone.
He stripped off the outer wall and pulled the facade to the property line. McCrea gave the mansion a tripartite, neo-French Classic marble facade. Above the rusticated base, the windows of the piano nobile were fully arched, while the upper openings were segmentally arched. McCrea even executed the terminal cornice in marble.
The renovation caused a stark contrast to its once fraternal twin next door. via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.
As work on the house progressed, the Watsons lived in a sumptuous apartment in Mayfair House at 610 Park Avenue. Then, on November 2, 1929, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Watson Jr. have left Mayfair House for 34 East Sixty-ninth Street."
Both Charles Frederic Watson Jr. and his wife, the former Maude V. Burnside, came from privileged backgrounds. They were married in St. Thomas's Church on January 26, 1924. The New York Times said that Charles was "descended from the Campbell and Argyle families of Scotland." On her maternal side, Maude was a descendant of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Charles was born in Orange, New Jersey and educated in private schools. He became a member of the New York Stock Exchange in 1906, but was, perhaps, better known for his athletic skills at the time. He was a championship amateur tennis player. Now, he and Maude maintained a home in London where they spent several months every year.
As early as 1938, the Watsons's butler was John Evert Andren. The butler was the most trusted member of a family's domestic staff and were entrusted with all the keys and combinations for silver safes. On January 17, 1939, Andren was arrested "as a suspect" in the theft of some of the Watsons' silver. Although he claimed innocence, he was carrying "monogrammed silverware worth more than $500" at the time of his arrest. (The value would translate to more than $11,000 in 2026.)
Charles Frederic Watson Jr. died at the age of 71 on April 19, 1954. Maude sold 34 East 69th Street on November 1, 1956 to Harold G. and Irene R. Lacks. The couple's marriage dissolved and the house was auctioned as part of the divorce proceedings in February 1969. It was purchased for the equivalent of $3 million today by the Government of Iran. On February 28, The New York Times reported, "The house will be the residence of Iran's consul general, Parviz Sepahbodi."
On February 11, 1979, revolutionary, armed forces overthrew the Iranian Government. The U.S. State Department took over Iranian properties, including 34 East 69th Street in April 1980. Six months later, on October 14, The New York Times reported that the State Department had leased the building to the French Designer Showhouse. The Decorator Showcase continued to be held here through 2000.
In 2001, the Richard L. Feigen & Co. gallery opened in three floors of 34 East 69th Street. Founded in Chicago in 1957, the gallery "handles work by such important artsists as German Expressionist Max Beckmann and Surrealist master Henri Rousseau," according to the 2016 ART + NYC.
David Zwirner's gallery took over the space in 2017. Art dealer Adler Beatty occupied the fourth floor. When Zwirner closed his East 69th Street location in July 2026, artnet recalled, "The Zwirner on East 69th Street hosted about three-dozen exhibitions for canonical figures like Yayoi Kusama, Bill Traylor, and Dan Flavin."
With the gallery gone, the future of the landmarked marble mansion is unclear.
photographs by the author
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