The Francis G. Lloyd House - 157 East 71st Street

 

The contracting firm of Breen & Mason was composed of James R. Breen and Alfred G. Mason.  In 1881, they acquired the 40-foot-wide wooden structure at 155-157 East 71st Street.  The partners acted as their own architects for this project, designing two four-story-and-basement, neo-Grec-style homes on the property.  Completed in December 1881, the high-stooped brownstones were distinguished by the windows, which sat within shallow architraves atop paneled spandrels and capped with prominent cornices.

The James R. Breene family moved into 157 East 71st Street just in time for a wedding.  On December 8, 1881, the New-York Tribune reported, "James R. Breene's daughter, Ariana A., was married yesterday at 7 p.m. in her father's house, No. 157 East Seventy-first-st., to John H. Bellamy."  

By 1890, Charles Brenneman and his family occupied the house.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, had a daughter, Emma.  On February 3, 1903, Emma's engagement to William Thomas Fritte was announced.  Four weeks earlier, on January 25, The New York Times reported that Brenneman had sold 155 and 157 East 71st Street.

The buyer, Dr. Andrew J. McCosh, resold 157 East 71st Street to Otto and Carrie Strack in the spring of 1904.  The couple's residency would be short-lived and tragic.  The family had not fully settled in when, on May 18, 1904, five-year-old Walker Strack died in the house.

A year later, on June 22, 1905, The New York Times reported that Otto Strack had sold the house to John L. Martin.  His ownership, too, would be short.  

Frank Guerin Lloyd purchased 155 and 157 East 71st Street in March 1907.  In October, he commissioned the architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston to update the residences.  No. 155 would be used as rental income and 157 East 71st Street would become the Lloyds' home. 

The architects' plans for 157 East 71st Street included new plumbing, windows and a "one-story partition."  The New-York Tribune said that the "making over" of the house would transform it "into an American basement dwelling house."  The plans included "remodeling the interior."  American basement houses differed from English basement houses in their lack of stoops.  While Trowbridge & Livingston left the upper floors untouched, the entrance was now slightly below grade.  Now fronting the second floor, or piano nobile, was a trio of French windows fronted by an iron railing.  The renovations, completed in April 1908, cost Lloyd $15,000, or about $517,000 in 2026.

via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Francis Guerin Lloyd was born in New Jersey in 1848.  He married Matilda Hedenberg Herbert on August 9, 1875.  The couple had two surviving children. (Two others had died in childhood.)

Lloyd was hired by Brooks Brothers, the men's clothing firm, when he was 14 years old.  He worked his way up, and in 1879 was made a partner.  Upon the death of John E. Brooks in 1896, Lloyd became senior partner.  By the time he purchased 157 East 71st Street, he was president of Brooks Brothers.  The family's country home was in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Moving into the house with the Lloyds was their daughter-in-law, Julia A. Trowbridge Lloyd.  Daniel Herbert Lloyd died in 1907, a year after the couple's marriage.  According to the New-York Tribune, when Julia's father, who was a physician, died, he "left his daughters independent fortunes."  Additionally, said the newspaper, Daniel Lloyd, "left a large estate."  Julia maintained her own country home, Driftwood, in Noroton, Connecticut.

Near Driftwood was the summer home of Thomas Crimmins, son of millionaire John D. Crimmins.  The properties were, apparently, close enough for a romance to blossom.  On February 12, 1910, the New-York Tribune reported that the pair had been quietly married in Augusta, Georgia.

Now sharing the house with Francis and Matilda were James Henry McKinley, a "well known tenor and teacher of singing," and his wife, the former Laura Celestine Fiske.  The relationship between the two families is unclear, but they would live together in the East 71st Street house for years.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the Lloyds did not routinely entertain.  An exception came on April 3, 1915.  Matilda's niece, Emilie Mathilde Roe, was married to Duncan MacIntosh Hay in St. Thomas's Church that day.  The New York Times reported that the ceremony was "followed by a breakfast at the home of Mrs. Francis G. Lloyd, 157 East Seventy-first Street."

On the morning of October 6, 1920, Francis Lloyd left the house, heading to his office.  On the way, the 72-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack.  

Matilda H. Lloyd moved permanently to the Bernardsville estate where she died on October 25, 1945.  The McKinleys remained at 157 East 71st Street.  Laura's uncle, Alexander P. Fiske, moved in with the couple.  He died at the age of 89 on May 30, 1922 and his funeral was held in the parlor the following day.

On August 18, 1928, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that James and Laura McKinley had purchased a brownstone at 626 West End Avenue.  The article mentioned that they had "resided at 157 West 71st St. for the past 25 years."

When the house was sold in August 1941, The New York Times reported that the buyer, Inez C. Robb, president of the Callaway Holding Corporation, had hired architect John S. Burrell to covert "the old residence into a modern apartment building for ten families."

The renovation resulted in two apartments per floor.  Among the residents was the building's owner, Inez C. Robb.  An advertisement in The New York Sun on March 13, 1942 described the one-room, kitchen and bath apartment 2-E saying, "Decorator will lease beautifully furnished, comfortable, large living-bedroom.  Full-sized kitchen, bath, wood burning fireplace.  Fully equipped."

Robb sold the building in September 1956.  It was updated in 1982, while preserving the configuration of two apartments per floor.

Then, in September 2000, Todd Romano Antiques & Decorations opened in the ground floor.  The New York Times said it, "offers furnishings from 18th-century French to 1970's Lucite, with upholstered pieces of his design."  Romano later moved his operation to East 59th Street.

On the exterior, little has changed to 157 East 71st Street since Trowbridge & Livingston remodeled it nearly 120 years ago.

photographs by the author

The Lost Walter B. James Mansion - 7 East 70th Street

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

In 1818 Robert Lenox paid the Corporation of the City of New York $6,920 (about $176,000 in 2025) for 30 acres of land far north of the city.  He named his summer estate Lenox Farm.  In his will dated May 23, 1829, he admonished that his son should keep "the property from being sold."  James Lenox did (mostly) keep the property intact throughout his lifetime.  But in January 1870, he donated the Fifth Avenue blockfront between 70th and 71st Street for the site of a library--the Lenox Library.

In March 1895, the Lenox, Tilden, and Astor Libraries were consolidated, creating the New York Public Library.  Even before after its palatial building on Fifth Avenue was completed in 1911, plots within what the Record & Guide called "the Lenox Library block" were being sold.  The Sun mentioned, "The instructions of the trustees were that sales could only be made to parties who would improve for their own resident purposes."  (In other words, buyers could build only homes for their own occupancy on the plots.)

Industrialist Henry C. Frick was early to the party, purchasing the entire Fifth Avenue blockfront in 1907 in anticipation of his sprawling mansion.  In 1910, Cornelius Luyster Jr. completed a sumptuous residence on 70th Street, directly behind the Frick site.  On March 10 that year, The New York Times said a "half dozen" others were under construction on the block.

In 1913, a glimpse of the Frick mansion can be seen.  Between the Luyster and Walter Jennings mansions sits the last vacant lot.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

On February 26, 1914, the Engineering News reported that Trowbridge & Livingston had completed plans for "a six-story brick and limestone residence at 9 East 70th St., for Mrs. Helen I. James."  (The confusing numbering on the block--including the skipping of numbers--was soon corrected giving the James plot the address of 7.)  The Record & Guide said it would contain "21 bed rooms, 2 elevators, to cost $100,000."  (The construction cost would translate to about $32.4 million today.)

Helen Goodsell James was the wife of Dr. Walter Belknap James.  (It was common among affluent couples to place the titles of their domestic real estate in the names of the wives.  The owner of record, therefore, was Helen.)  

Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1858, James graduated from Yale in 1879 and from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883.  He immediately became a clinical lecturer at Columbia.  Walter and Helen had three children, Eunice Coe, Helen G., and Oliver Burr. 

As construction neared completion on May 8, 1915, the Record & Guide called the James mansion, "one of the largest private houses in the city," and said, 

This house is seven stories in height, with basement and attic, and in height is second only to John D. Rockefeller's house in West 54th street...The building itself occupies a plot 41 by 90 feet.  Its facade is of granite and limestone, elaborately carved.

Trowbridge & Livingston produced a dignified Renaissance Revival-style mansion.  Above the trio of fully arched ground floor openings, the windows of the second floor (or piano nobile) were fronted with stone balustrades and capped with Renaissance-inspired triangular pediments.  The two top floors, behind a stone balustrade, formed a steep mansard.  The windows of the fifth floor were capped with arched pediments.

The James family maintained a sprawling country estate in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island.  

This aerial view of the James estate and mansion in Cold Springs Harbor was taken on March 16, 1947.  from the collection of the New York State Archives.

The winter social season of 1916-17 saw daughter Helen's introduction to society.  Debutante entertainments often continued for weeks and on February 17, 1917 The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Walter B. James gave a small dance at her residence, 7 East Seventieth Street, for her debutante daughter, Miss Helen James, guests being chiefly debutantes of the season and the young dancing men."

Focus turned to Oliver later that year.  On November 22, The Evening Post reported that invitations had been issued to the wedding of Oliver B. James to Angeline J. Krech.  The article mentioned, "Mr. James is training with the aviation section of the Signal Corps."  The ceremony took place in St. Bartholomew's Church on November 28 and the couple moved into the East 70th Street mansion.

from left to right are the Frick, Luyster and James mansions.  Real Estate Record & Guide, May 8, 1915 (copyright expired)

By then, Helen James had been highly involved in war relief efforts for months.  On January 1, 1917, The New York Times reported, "Many prominent people filled the ballroom in the house of Mrs. Walter B. James, at 7 East Seventieth Street, yesterday, in the interest of the Comité Franco-Americain pour la Protection des Enfants de la Frontière, with headquarters in Paris."  The article said, "Appeals for little children of France made orphans and homeless by the war induced a small group of women to offer to support fifty children for one year."

Five months later, on May 16, The Times reported, "Sixty-one orphans of the battle of the Marne found foster-parents at the home of Mrs. Walter B. James...when each member of the New York Committee of the Fatherless Children of France pledged herself to 'adopt' one more fatherless children."  (The adoptions were financial, rather than actual.)

Eunice was introduced to society during the winter season of 1919-20.  On November 26, 1919, her parents hosted a dance for her in the house.  The Sun reported, "There was general dancing during the evening, and at midnight supper was served.  The guests, about 500 in number, included young married couples, debutantes, and young men in society."  The article listed among the guests some of New York's most socially illustrious names, including Grace and Cornelia Vanderbilt, Emily Sloane Hammond, Katharine Mackay, M. Millicent Rogers, Katherine Bliss, and A. Routh Ogden.

Even with the war over, Helen continued her relief efforts.  She could, however, begin hosting solely social gatherings.  On January 7, 1920, for instance, the New-York Tribune announced, "Mrs. Walter B. James will give an afternoon musicale to-day at her home, 7 East Seventieth Street."

On November 16, 1922, Walter and Helen announced Eunice's engagement to Henry E. Coe, Jr. and Katherine's engagement to Herman D. Boker.  (Katherine's wedding to Boker would not come to pass.  She later married Henry Burrill Anderson.)

Eunice and Henry Coe, Jr. were married in the mansion on April 19, 1923.  An at-home wedding did not imply a small affair.  The New York Times reported that Eunice had "eighteen young people" as her attendants.  The article noted, "Mr. and Mrs. Coe are sailing shortly and will travel in Europe for several months."

Years after the end of World War I, Helen James was still working for the benefit of French victims.  On January 12, 1923, for instance, The New York Times reported that she had sponsored the exhibition and sale of articles "made by French people who have been deprived of their means of support through the war." 

Dr. Walter Belnap James.  from the collection of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Walter James occasionally had private time.  On January 11, 1924, The New York Evening Post reported, "Dr. Walter B. James will leave this week for Jekyl [sic] Island, Ga."  Jekyll Island was purchased in 1886 by the male-only Jekyll Island Club, which Munsey's Magazine deemed, "the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world."  At the time of the Evening Post article, James was president of the club.

In March 1927, James suffered a heart attack while at Jekyll Island.  The New York Times reported, "His relatives were summoned to the club but he improved sufficiently to be removed to his home here."  He died in the mansion on April 6.  

The estate of Dr. Walter B. James was reported as being "about $2,000,000," according to The New York Times (around 18 times that much in today's money).  On April 19, The Times said his will, "makes substantial bequests to three colleges, a sanitarium and a biological association."  Helen received all the real estate, personal effects like furniture, jewelry, etc., and one half of the remaining estate.  The three children shared equally in the other half.

Oliver and his family were still in residence with his mother at the time.  He and Angeline would have five children, Angeline Pool, Helen, Walter Belnap, Oliver Jr., and R. Campbell (known familiarly as Zup). 

In 1930, Helen purchased a second lavish summer home, Aspen Hall, on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island from John Aspegrens and his wife.  Helen renamed it Rockhurst.

Rockhurst.  from the collection of the DeGolyer Library of the Southern Methodist University.

Helen Jennings James died in the 70th Street mansion on August 15, 1946 at the age of 86.  In reporting her death, The New York Times recalled that she was the niece of William Rockefeller and a descendant of Isaac Jennings, a settler of Hartford, Connecticut.  

At the time of Helen's death, the Frick mansion had been operating as a museum--the Frick Collection--for eleven years.  In 1940 the museum purchased 9 East 70th Street "and converted it to a wartime storage area," according to The New York Times, and following Helen James's death, it purchased 7 East 70th Street.  The museum leased it to The Asia Institute.

Founded in 1928 as the Iranian Institute, the organization was formed with the goal of "furthering the knowledge of Oriental culture and civilization."  On September 21, 1947, The New York Times reported that the institute "will move to larger quarters at 7 East Seventieth Street in time for registration for the fall semester."  The Asia Institute could now boast "the largest faculty on Chinese studies in the United States and one of the largest in the world."

In 1941, East 70th Street was lined with sumptuous mansions.  The Frick mansion is the short structure at the left, and the James residence is two doors away, behind the automobile.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The institute opened in December 1947.  Asian art was displayed on the ground floor, including "Gandhara and Khmer sculpture, Chinese and Indian rugs, Persian carpets, miniatures and ceramics," according to The Times on December 9.  The second floor housed the library and a gallery of Persian art.  The New York Times reported, "The third floor houses the art of India, Indonesia and the Zimmer Memorial Library."  The upper floors held classrooms, "each decorated in the style of the region to be studied," and the administrative offices.

On November 23, 1949, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, the Shah of Iran, opened "an impressive exhibit of Persian art treasure" here, as described by The New York Times.  The Shah was accompanied by "an entourage of fifteen persons."

At the time of the exhibition, The Asia Institute was in serious financial trouble.  On February 23, 1950, The Times reported, "Unless $50,000 is raised by Wednesday, the Asia Institute at 7 East Seventieth Street...will go out of existence."  While the institute managed to survive, it was forced to leave the former James mansion.

In 1952, the Frick Collection demolished the structure "for an expanded service area," according to The New York Times.  Just over a decade later, in 1973, the site of the James mansion became part of the museum's plan to create a 100-foot-square garden and terrace.

photo by Navid Baraty, from the collection of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

The Lost Harley Thomas Procter Mansion - 11 East 52nd Street

 

photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In 1879, Harley Thomas Procter was inspired by a passage from Psalms 45:8, "All their garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad."  He personally redesigned the paper wrapper of his firm's P&G White Soap, and marketed it as "Ivory Soap."  A decade earlier, Procter had revamped Procter & Gamble's marketing scheme by running full-page, colored advertisements for its floating bars of soap, rather than current "calling card" advertising.  By the turn of the century, he had amassed a significant personal fortune.

Born in Cincinnati on December 1, 1847, Procter was the son of William Procter, co-founder of Procter & Gamble.  In 1870, he married Mary Elizabeth Sanford and the couple would have four children, Harley Sanford (who died in childhood), William, Lilian Sanford, and Rodney.

Harley Thomas Procter, from Advertising Hall of Fame

Procter retired "from active connections with the affairs," as described by The New York Times, of Procter & Gamble in 1895.  Five years later, he laid plans to move his family to Manhattan.  On the north side of East 52nd Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues, were several private carriage houses.  On September 23, 1900, The New York Times reported he had purchased two of them, 13 and 15 East 52nd, for "the erection of a new house by Mr. Procter."  Designed by Don Barber, the sumptuous Beaux Arts mansion was completed in 1903.

As construction of that residence neared completion, on January 17, 1903 the Record & Guide reported that Procter had purchased the 25-foot-wide, two-story stable next door at 11 East 52nd Street from Elizabeth C. Oakman.  He paid $80,000 for the property, nearly $3 million in 2025 terms.  By erecting a first-class residence on the site, he could choose his next door neighbor.

The architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston designed a French Renaissance Revival mansion on the site.  The style had been increasingly popular after C. P. H. Gilbert created French Renaissance chateaux like the Fletcher mansion at 2 East 79th Street and the Edward Converse residence at 3 East 78th Street.  Six stories tall, its lower three floors were understated.  The decoration of the sedate, planar limestone facade relied on delicate carving around the arched entrance and above the grouped windows of the second floor.  The mood changed at the top three levels.  Introduced by an open-work, full-width stone balcony, the openings at this level wore elaborate crocketed pediments.  They were flanked by engaged colonettes that sat upon carved faces.  The top two floors took the form of a steep, slate-shingled mansard.

The Procter's only daughter, Lilian, had married Fritz Wilhelm Hoeninghaus in 1901.  By the time William married Emily Pearson Bodstein on February 3, 1910 in Grace Church, the family was living in 11 East 52nd Street.  Getting the timeline slightly wrong, on May 23, 1912, the New York Herald explained, "Mr. Proctor seemed to lose interest in the house [i.e., 15 East 52nd], placed it on the market for sale and built a smaller residence at No. 11 East Fifty-second street."

Rodney Procter was married to Beatrice M. Sterling in Grace Church on January 17, 1912.  Harley and Mary Procter, now empty-nesters, rarely appeared in the society columns.  They spent their summers at Shadowbrook, their "famous garden estate," as described by American Gardening, in Lenox.

For decades, Procter had suffered with diabetes.  On May 16, 1920, The New York Times reported, "Harley T. Procter, who for many years carried on the business of Procter & Gamble, manufacturers of Ivory Soap, died early yesterday morning of diabetes at his home, 11 East Fifty-second Street."  He was 73 years old.  Procter left an estate of $3.6 million, according to The American Perfumer.  The figure would translate to about $42.5 million today.

Mary remained in the mansion for two years.  Then, on November 18, 1922, the New-York Tribune reported that the Procter estate sold the property for $225,000 (about $4.2 million today).  By then, the neighborhood, once home to millionaires like the Vanderbilts and Goulds, was commercial.

Before the end of the year, the mansion was renovated for business purposes.  Architects George and Edward Blum converted the first through fifth floors to showrooms, and the attic (now called the penthouse) to an apartment.

Arnold Seligmann and Emile Rey installed their art and antiques gallery, Arnold Seligmann, Rey & Co., in the lower floors.  Emile Rey was born in Mulhouse, France and established himself as an expert in Gothic ivory carvings and Italian Renaissance period bronzes.  Among his clients upon his arriving in America were J. Pierpont Morgan and Thomas Fortune Ryan.  Arnold Seligmann first opened an art gallery in Paris in 1879 with his brother, Jacques.

The Art News, October 31, 1924 (copyright expired)

The gallery remained here at least until the 1940s.  By 1952, American Listings, Inc., a real estate office that handled upscale homes and country estates, operated from an upper floor.  The Austrian State Tourist Department occupied offices here on January 3, 1958 when the Buffalo Courier Express advised that the "detailed program of the Salzburg Festival" was available here.

Blum & Blum's renovations little affected the exterior appearance.  from the Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1965, the Government of Austria purchased the property and converted it to the Austrian Cultural Center and the residence of the Austrian Consulate General.  Three decades later, on February 21, 1993, Christopher Gray announced in The New York Times, "The Austrian Cultural Center is proceeding with permit applications for its new headquarters, a futuristic 20-story building at 11 East 52nd Street designed by Raimund Abraham, an Austrian architect."

Although Gray asserted that the former Procter mansion, "is attractive, but not really a candidate for landmark designation," he lamented, "its demolition signals a change more important than the loss of any individual building: one by one, the last vestiges of Midtown East's character as a neighborhood of mansions and town houses is being lost."

photograph by Madnessofarts

The new building was completed in 2002.

The Lost Robinson Houses - 750 and 752 Park Avenue

 

Photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In reporting on the upcoming June wedding of Helen Rebecca Roosevelt and Theodore Douglas Robinson on April 24, 1904, The Sun hinted at the union's social importance.

The couple are cousins and are niece and nephew of President [Theodore] Roosevelt.  The bride-elect is a granddaughter of Mrs. Astor, who may hasten her return from Europe to be present on the occasion.  The Misses Alice Roosevelt and Caroline Drayton and the Misses Whitmore of England, cousins of the bridegroom, will be on the list of bridesmaids.

Helen was the daughter of James Roosevelt Roosevelt, Jr. and the former Helen Schermerhorn Astor.  Her father was the half-brother of the future President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  (Franklin was the son of James Roosevelt I with his first wife, Rebecca Howland, who died in 1876.)

Helen Rebecca Roosevelt Robinson. from the collection of the FDR Library

Born in 1883, Theodore Douglas Robinson was the son of Douglas Robinson, Jr. and Corinne Roosevelt (the sister of President Theodore Roosevelt and aunt of Eleanor Roosevelt).  His material grandparents were Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Stewart Bulloch.  The grandparents on his father's side were Douglas Robinson, Sr. and Frances Monroe, a grandniece of President James Monroe.

Theodore Douglas Robinson later in life.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

Two years after Theodore and Helen were married, on April 28, 1906, the New-York Tribune reported that plans had been filed for "two fine Park Avenue houses" at 750 and 752 Park Avenue "for Douglas Robinson and Mrs. Helen Roosevelt Robinson."  Designed by Trowbridge & Livingston, the article said, "They will be of Colonial design, the facades of granite at the first story and marble trimmed brick above.  The entrance will be flanked with tall lamps of ornamental metal."  The architects projected the construction costs at $50,000 and $65,000 respectively.  (Although visually mirror images, Theodore's and his wife's house would be slightly narrower than that of his parents.)

Trowbridge & Livingston's neo-Georgian design featured a rusticated base.  Above the double-doored entrances were scrolled keystones carved with a swag.  The upper floors were faced in red brick, their fenestration treated differently at each level.  Fully arched French windows at the second floor were fronted with iron faux balconies.  The marble lintels of the third floor windows were decorated with a centered carved shell, and splayed lintels crowned the fourth floor openings.  The fifth floor took the form of a slate-shingled mansard with stately dormers behind a stone balustrade.

It was common for well-to-do couples to place the title of real property--especially their town and country houses--in the wives' names.  And while Helen was the title holder of 750 Park Avenue, it appears that it was a gift from her father-in-law.  The New York Times explained the "the two fine houses of similar design...were erected by Douglas Robinson, one for himself and the other for his son, Theodore Douglas Robinson." 

On February 15, 1907, as construction neared completion, The Augusta [Kansas] Daily Gazette reported that the two families "have developed an idea which is entirely original."  Should they have a common entertainment, a wall of the piano nobile, or second floor, could be opened.  "By the manipulation of a wall in the shape of wainscoting, reinforced with steel and made fireproof, the two houses will be made one," said the article.

After what was reportedly weeks of planning, Livingston & Trowbridge devised (or more likely, contracted) an apparatus by which, "the massive wall can be moved silently, and, with the application of power supplied by a single pair of hands."  The Gazette explained, "When the wall, which is on the second floor, is sent on its ballbearing attachment two spacious drawing-rooms will be thrown into one."

The Augusta Daily Gazette, February 15, 1907 (copyright expired)

The feature would soon be utilized.  "When the twin houses are entirely completed a reception will be given in the form of a housewarming for the friends of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, and the movable wall will receive a practical test," reported the article.

Shortly after moving into their respective houses, the Douglas Robinsons had a change of mind.  In September 1908, they sold 752 Park Avenue to publisher Robert Joseph Collier and his wife, the former Sara Stewart Van Alen.  The combined Robinson families, at least temporarily, shared No. 750.  On October 19, 1909, the New-York Tribune reported that the marriage of Corinne Douglas Robinson and State Senator Joseph Alsop on November 4, would be held, "in the new home of her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Robinson, No. 750 Park avenue."

In the meantime, the Colliers moved into 752 Park Avenue.  Born in 1876, Robert Joseph Collier was a partner in the publishing firm founded by his father, P. F. Collier & Son.  The company's most visible publication was the popular Collier's Weekly.  He married Sara Stewart Van Alen in Newport in 1902.  On April 22, 1903, the couple had a son, Robert, Jr.  He died two days afterward.  The Sun remarked nearly two decades later, "They never fully recovered from the loss, their friends say."

This photograph of Robert J. Collier was taken in 1906, two years before he and Sara moved into the Park Avenue house.  The World's Work, 1906 (copyright expired)

The next door neighbors were closely related.  Helen Roosevelt Robinson and Sara Stewart Van Alen were first cousins.  Sara's mother was Emily Astor, the eldest daughter of William Backhouse Astor, Jr. and Caroline Webster Schermerhorn.  Helen's mother, Helen Schermerhorn Astor, was the Astors' second eldest daughter.

Sara Stewart Van Alen Collier.  Harper's Weekly 1902 (copyright expired)

In the spring of 1908, when the Colliers were still living on Gramercy Park, their house was burglarized.  The New York Times said they "were among the many victims of what was known as the 'chloroform gang.'"  According to the newspaper, the incident "unnerved" Sara and prompted the couple to move to Park Avenue.

On October 1, 1908 decorators were "doing up the house both inside and out," according to The New York Times.  Sara was home, but Robert was on a business trip in the West.  During all the confusion, a thief entered the house around noon and stole two rings valued at $30 from a maid's room on the top floor.  The newspaper said, "They have their suspicions as to the thief, and hope to make an arrest shortly."

The Colliers had two celebrated house guests in 1909.  On January 3, Samuel Langhorn Clemens wrote to Margaret Blackmer, saying in part, "Miss Lyon [i.e., Isabel Lyon, his secretary] & I are going to arrive at Robert Collier (752 Park Avenue) at noon the 20th of this month & remain there the 21 & 22nd & perhaps till the 3.32 [train] the afternoon of the 23d."

Two months later, on March 13, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mr. [Theodore] Roosevelt will be the principal guest at an informal breakfast given by Robert J. Collier at his home, No. 752 Park avenue, this morning.  About thirty men will be present."  (Presumably the former President stopped by the house of his niece and nephew next door, as well.)

Theodore Douglas Robinson was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1911.  Throughout his term, which ended on December 31, 1913, he and Helen lived in Albany and leased 750 Park Avenue to well-heeled families.  In 1911, they rented it to Willard D. Straight and his wife, the former Dorothy Whitney.  They were followed by George S. Brewster and his wife; and finally by William Douglas Sloane and his wife, the former Emily Thorn Vanderbilt.

Peter Fenelon Collier died in 1909 and Robert became head of P. F. Collier & Son.  He and Sara maintained a country estate, Rest Hill, in New Jersey, and a "camp" at Racquet Lake, New York in the Adirondack Mountains.  The couple was at their camp in August 1914 when Robert suffered "an acute attack of uraemic poisoning," according to The Sun.  He was brought back to 752 Park Avenue unconscious in his private train car, Vagabondia.  Days later, on August 28, the newspaper said, "The efforts of several physicians have failed to rouse Robert J. Collier, the publisher, out of the coma into which he lapsed several days ago."

Collier survived the frightening ordeal.  On February 15, 1918, the New York Herald reported that the couple had sold 752 Park Avenue to William Hartman Woodin and his wife, the former Anne Jessup.  The article said, "Mr. Woodin paid close to $300,000 for the realty and furnishings."  The price would translate to about $6 million in 2025.

An 1890 graduate of Columbia University, Woodin was president of the American Car and Foundry Co., and a director of a score of corporations, including General Motors Corporation, Westinghouse Electric International Company and railroads and shipping firms.  He and Anne had four children: William, Jr., Mary Miner, Anne Harvey, and Elizabeth F.

On the afternoon of June 25, 1919, Theodore Douglas Robinson was approaching his doorway when he was attacked by three gunmen.  The Evening World called it a "bold attempt at a hold-up with a revolver in the best resident quarter of New York on a street where many people were moving and less than half a block away from two police officers."  Seventeen-year-old Harold Vogel thrust a revolver against Robinson's body and threatened to shoot him if he did not hand over his money and jewelry.

Passersby rushed to Police Lieutenants Frank Brady and Patrick McCarthy.  The three would-be robbers separated and Edward Henebry and Arthur Plum, 18 and 23 years old respectively, were captured running away.  Vogel cleverly turned back and tried to meld into the growing crowd.  Lt. Brady, however, was not fooled.  The Evening World reported that he "was attracted by a young man who was breathing heavily as if from the stress of running."  Brady pressed his hand over the youth's chest "and found it throbbing."  He discovered a revolver in his pocket.  Brady took him to Robinson, who identified his attacker.

The Woodins' children were growing up at the time.  In December 1919, the couple announced the engagement of Anne Jessup Woodin to Olin Frisbie Harvey.  The couple was married the following year on November 6 and the reception was held in the Park Avenue mansion.  The following month, Elizabeth F. Woodin was introduced to society in the Rose Room of the Plaza Hotel.

Elizabeth's engagement to William Wallace Rowe was announced in April 1922, and her brother, William Hartman Woodin, was married to Carolyne Hyde on December 9 that year.  In reporting on William's wedding, the New York Herald mentioned, "During the war, Mr. Woodin was in the aviation service."  (Three months earlier, William Sr. had been named the State Fuel Administrator.)

In 1924, Theodore Douglas Robinson was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President Calvin Coolidge.  (The position had previously been held by his cousin, Theodore Roosevelt III.)  Three years later, he and Helen sold 750 Park Avenue to James T. Lee, a real estate operator and the owner of the Hotel Shelton.  If Lee intended the house to be his family's home, he soon had other ideas.

Living in the mansion next door at the corner of 71st Street were George Stephenson Brewster and his wife, the former Eleanor Grant Bosher.  (They were the couple who rented 750 Park Avenue from the Robinsons in 1912).  Lee convinced the Brewsters to give up their home in favor of an upscale apartment building on the site.  On March 14, 1929, The New York Times reported that Lee had purchased 752 Park Avenue from William H. Woodin.  By then, he had also purchased a fourth property adjoining the Brewster mansion on 71st Street.

Lee replaced the properties with 740 Park Avenue, designed by Rosario Candela.  (Interestingly, when the 17-story apartment building by Horace Ginsberg & Associates was erected at the northern part of the block in 1951, it usurped the former address of Theodore and Helen Robinson's home, 750 Park Avenue.)

The J. William Clark Mansion (Automation House) - 49 East 68th Street

 

image by Jim Henderson

Millionaire banker Frederick Dobbs Tappen died in his brownstone-fronted mansion at 49 East 68th Street on February 28, 1902.  Just over a decade later, on January 4, 1913, the Record & Guide reported that the house had been sold, noting it, "adjoins the residence of Percy R. Pyne, at the northwest corner of Park av."  (The Pyne mansion had been designed by McKim, Mead & White two years earlier.)

The buyers were John William Clark and his wife, Margaretta Brua Cameron.  Born in 1867, Clark was president of the Clark Thread Company and the Spool Cotton Company, founded by his grandfather in Paisley Scotland.  (Its O. N. T. brand, short for Our New Thread, was a staple in stores and homes throughout the nation.)  Margaretta was the daughter of former Senator J. Donald Cameron.  The couple had three sons, William, Jr., John Balfour, and James Cameron.  The family's summer estate, Peachcroft, was in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Peachcroft, from the collection of the Bernardsville Public Library

The Clarks hired the architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston to design a replacement home on the site of the Tappen mansion.  On April 23, 1913, The New York Times reported, "Plans have been filed for a new five-story private residence for J. William Clark...The facade will be of brick and marble in the Colonial style of architecture."  The neo-Federal style was, almost assuredly, meant to blend harmoniously with the Pyne mansion next door.  The architects placed the cost of construction at $60,000 (about $1.9 million in 2024).

John William Clark, United States Passport Application, 1923

On October 4, 1913, the Record & Guide reported that excavation was underway for the Clark house.  Its completion would be too late for the Clarks' eldest son, William, to occupy it.  He was married to Marjory Bruce Blair at Blairsden, the country estate of the bride, a month before the article.

The family moved into 49 East 68th Street the following year.  The main and service entrances were recessed within a double-arched loggia.  The upper floors were faced in Flemish bond red brick.  French windows at the second floor opened onto a full-width iron balcony.  The metal-clad attic level was fronted by two elegant, Federal style dormers.

James Cameron was 22 at the time and John Balfour was 17.  The boys prepared at St. Mark's School and James was currently a junior at Harvard.  When America entered World War I in 1917, both young men entered the United States Army Air Service.  While John would serve in France, earning the rank of lieutenant, James was stationed in Texas for the war's duration.

The Clark house enjoyed an unexpected second wall of light and ventilation.  photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The global conflict was unable to hinder James's romance.  On December 6, 1917, the Air Service Journal reported on his engagement to Teresa Fabbri, the daughter of multimillionaire Ernesto Fabbri and the great-granddaughter of William Henry Vanderbilt.  He obtained a ten-day pass and the pair was married at Bar Harbor, Maine, on December 11.  Two days later, The New York Times reported, "Lieutenant James C. Clark and his bride, formerly Miss Teresa Fabbri...are on their way to San Antonio, Texas, where Lieutenant Clark is in the Signal Corps of the ground school for the Aviation Corps."

At the war's end, James was discharged on December 20, 1918 with the rank of first lieutenant.  He and John went into the family's business.  (John would eventually become its president, by then renamed Coats & Clark, Inc.)  William, in the meantime, had pursued law and eventually became a Federal judge. 

On January 16, 1924, The New York Times reported on John's engagement to Rhoda Cameron.  The couple was married later that spring.

John and Margaretta were at the Bernardsville estate on July 15, 1928 when John suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 60.  He left an estate of $12,957,775, according to The New York Times.  The figure would translate to $236 million today.

In May 1937, Margaretta leased 49 East 68th Street.  It was occupied by Walter Mack and his family when she died in March 1941 at the age of 71.  Two years later, her estate sold the mansion to Leroy Alton Lincoln.

Lincoln was chairman of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.  Born in 1880, his earliest American ancestor had arrived in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1635.  His wife, the former Hilda F. Deyoe, was his third, his two previous wives having died.

The Lincolns resided here for a decade, selling the house in November 1953 to the Soviet Government for $150,000 ($1.7 million today).   The New York Times explained it would be used "as a residence for Andrei Y. Vishinsky, the Soviet Union's permanent delegate to the United Nations," adding, "The property has twenty rooms, an elevator, and three floors below ground."

In 1967, the mansion was purchased by Theodore Kheel for his American Federation on Automation and Employment.  Now called Automation House, its lavish 1914 interiors were gutted.  The renovations resulted in a "private museum" on the first and second floors, and office and exhibition space on the upper floors.

On March 2, 1970, New York Magazine announced, "Automation House...opens this week.  It is a kind of electrical service station for artists to plug in to.  Its first show will be The Magic theatre, an exhibition of electrical environments by eight artists."

Automation House was more than that.  Theodore W. Kheel was described by the Staten Island Advance in November 1970 as "the famous lawyer-mediator."  The venue for years was the scene of tense labor negotiations and was the headquarters of the Board of Mediation for Community Disputes, founded here in January 1969.

Automation House was outfitted with "telephones and electrowriters, as well as telex, Xerox and Magnavox facsimile machines," according to Catherine Spencer in her Beyond the Happening, Performance Art and the Politics of Communication.  Here, she writes, "Groups of children were invited to inhabit them simultaneously and use the technology to send each other text and picture messages."

The house served as meeting space, as well.  On January 27, 1970, for instance, British Prime Minister Wilson addressed a gathering of management and labor leaders here.  And later that year, on July 1, Samuel R. Pierce was sworn in here as general counsel to the Treasury Department by Secretary David M. Kennedy.  (Pierce was the first black to receive an appointment to a sub-Cabinet post in the Treasury Department, according to the Associated Press.)

A riotous situation occurred on July 13, 1976 when Rolling Stone Magazine, "long a fount of anti-establishment culture," as described by The New York Times, hosted a "big party for the new Jimmy Carter establishment."  The organizers miscalculated the response and at 11:00 p.m. the Automation House executives ordered the doors barred.  The New York Times reported, 

Left out on the sidewalk were the likes of: Warren Beatty, the actor, and Representative Bella S. Abzug, who later sauntered off as a twosome; Jane Fonda, the actress; Katharine Graham, publisher; and Benjamin Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post; William vanden Heuvel, Carter campaign manager here; Theodore H. White, the chronicler of presidential campaigns, and for a while, Lauren Bacall.

A few of the celebrities who had made it inside before the doors were locked were Paul Newman, Shirley MacLaine, and Walter Cronkite.  Apparently Bella Abzug was not overly-bruised by not gaining admittance and the following year, on December 19, 1977, she used Automation House to announce her candidacy for Congress.

Richard Feigen purchased 49 East 68th Street in 1991.  He told James McElhinney in an interview for the Archives of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution in 2009, "All the detail was gone from the inside...And it appealed to me because you had brick walls; you could hang early paintings and contemporary art and everything in there.  And I've always enjoyed mixing these things up."

On September 23, 1991, New York Magazine reported, "Richard L. Feigen settles into his new location with paintings and drawings by the Italianate Dutch landscape painter Bartholomeus Breenbergh."  It was the first of a long string of  important exhibitions that would last through 1999 when  composer Mitch Leigh and his artist wife Abby Leigh purchased the property for $1.1 million.

photo by Jim Henderson

The couple hired Wendy Evans Joseph to reconvert the building into a single family home.  Mitch Leigh, who won a Tony Award for composing the music to Man of La Mancha, died in 2014.  Two years later, Abbie Leigh, whose works hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and the Whitney, sold the house for $20.4 million.