The 1888 Charles T. Wills House - 309 West 82nd Street

 

image via realtyhop.com

A partner with Edward H. Clark in the architectural firm of Berg & Clark, Charles Berg also operated on his own as a real estate operator.  In 1887 he began construction of a row of five upscale homes on the north side of West 82nd Street, between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue.  Each cost $15,000 to construct--roughly $441,000 by 2023 standards.  Berg & Clark designed the row in a modified version of the Romanesque Revival style.  

At the eastern end of the row, 307 and 309 West 82nd Street were nearly mirror images of one another.  Each 20-feet-wide, their stone stoops gently curved upward to a single porch shared by the arched entrances.  The rounded bay of 309 rose three stories to a balcony in front of the slate shingled mansard.

The upper floors were clad in what is known as Tiffany brick.  image via streeteasy.com

There was apparently a deal struck between Berg and the builder, Charles T. Wills, for when the homes were completed Wills held title to 309 and moved his family in.   

Wills had come a long way since he started his career at the age of 17 as a bricklayer.  He was the founder and president of C. T. Wills, Inc., which erected structures like the New York Stock Exchange, the Chamber of Commerce, the Morgan Library, the American Surety Building, and All Angels' Church among many others.  He was, as well, a vice president of the Garfield Safe Deposit Company and a director in a bank and the United States Mortar Company.  Wills and his wife, the former Carrie Russell, had two sons, Ernest C. and Charles S., and a daughter Ruth.

Seven years after moving in, Wills brought Berg & Clark back to enlarge the house.  Their plans, filed on July 20, 1894, called for a one-story extension to the rear.

The two stoops curve gracefully to the shared porch.  image via streeteasy.com

The family's summer home was in Belle Haven, Connecticut.  Along with his many memberships in Manhattan clubs--the Union League, West End, and General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen among them--he was a member of numerous clubs in the country.  He held memberships to no fewer than four yacht clubs, two riding clubs, and the Fairfield County Golf Club.  He was also a member of the Westchester County Horse Show and the State Road Horse Associations.  It may have been his decidedly non-urban passions that prompted him and Ruth to move permanently to Connecticut at the turn of the century.

They leased 309 West 82nd Street to Frederick R. Wood, the senior member of F. R. Wood & Son, carriage builders.  Born in 1825, he had served in the Washington Grays militia unit during the 1850's.  Wood's health was not good when he signed the lease, and he died in the house on March 2, 1900 at the age of 75.

The following year, attorney Hugo S. Mack and his wife leased the house.  He and Wills most likely knew one another professionally, since Mack's clients included major builders and contractors and he dabbled in real estate, as well.  

He and his wife Ida Abagail Woolf had two children, Alan Winthrop and Marjorie Faith.  Like all wives of affluent husbands, Ida was involved in charitable causes and in 1903 was secretary of the Ladies' Bikur Cholim Society and the Industrial School for Poor Girls on East Broadway.

On May 23, 1908 Charles T. Wills sold 309 West 82nd Street at auction.  The listing said, "Property contains 14 rooms and 3 baths, wine cellar, billiard room, library, cabinet finish and trim, rosewood, &c."  It was purchased by Virginia Potter for just over 1 million in 2022 dollars. 

She resold it two years later to Isaac George Waterman, who transferred the title to Daisy Greene a week later.  His generosity, no doubt, caused more than a few raised eyebrows.

Daisy Greene was born in Leeds, England in 1885.  In 1900, at the age of 15, she became one of the original Florodora girls.  The show was enormously successful, making the girls superstars of their generation.  After performing in light operas in London on her own, Daisy came to New York City and was a member of the 1908 Ziegfeld Follies.

Daisy Greene is the second from left in this photograph of the Florodora Girls.  (original source unknown)

Daisy and Isaac Waterman struck up a romance.  His lavish gift of a costly house may have raised suspicions about how far-reaching their affair was.  And those suspicions were no doubt strengthened when Daisy identified herself as a married woman in a help-wanted ad on October 4, 1911:

Useful and willing white girl to do homework and can help as maid; city references.  Call between 11 and 2.  Mrs. Greene, 309 West 82d.

Any gossip that may have followed was squelched when the couple married in 1914.  Living in the house either at the time or directly afterward were Daisy's parents, Herman and Cecilia Greene.  Herman died here on August 3, 1915.

That year Isaac and Daisy purchased the house next door at 311 West 82nd Street.  They would lease the property for years as rental income.

Unlike many female entertainers, Daisy had continued her career after marriage.  On March 12, 1920, Marguerite Mooers Marshal, writing in The Evening World, followed up on the original Florodora Girls.  She wrote, "Daisy Greene, the other New Yorker, took some lucky Wall Street flyers, and graduated into comic opera, in which she has been a successful prima donna."

Six months after that article, on September 7, Isaac George Waterman died in the West 82nd Street house.  His funeral was held in the parlor two days later, followed by a mass at the nearby Holy Trinity Church.

Daisy's year of mourning had barely elapsed when gossip spread that she not only was romantically involved, but married.  She had traveled to Rome and, according to the Daily News, rumors arrived in New York by cable "that Mrs. Waterman, while abroad, had married Prince Virginio Orsinia, of Italy."  A reporter visited Daisy at 309 West 82nd Street to find the truth.

In an article on September 27, Daisy "admitted the Prince had been a 'most persistent wooer.'"  She said, "The Prince, who is a member of one of the oldest and best families in Italy, proposed to me a number of times.  My friends are at [a] loss to understand why I refused his offers."  But, although English by birth, she explained, "I am too much of an American to marry a foreigner for the social position his title and rank might give me."

In May 1925 Daisy sold both 309 and 311 West 82nd Street.  They became Miss Ferguson's Residence, a closely chaperoned boarding house for the daughters of wealthy families in New York for schooling.  An advertisement in House & Garden described it as, "A home of exclusive patronage for girl students attending school, college or special courses in New York."  While both houses received "extensive improvements," according to The New York Times, they were not joined internally.

The two residences were sold at auction in 1932, after which time 309 West 82nd Street was operated as a rooming house.  Then, a renovation in 1953 resulted in combination of apartments and furnished rooms.  

Among the tenants in 1955 was actor Lee Hays.  The well-rounded thespian worked in television, films and live theater.  In July that year he received a subpoena from Francis E. Walter, chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee.  The committee was formed in 1938 to investigate subversive activities.  By now it was widely-known for targeting the entertainment industry and its investigations often resulted in an actor's being placed on the Hollywood blacklist.  Happily, at least for this Lee Hays, the committee had sent the subpoena to the wrong man.   The intended recipient was folk singer Lee Hays.

image via douglaselliman.com

A remodeling completed in 2014 resulted in a penthouse unseen from street level, and a total of 15 apartments.

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The George A. Archer House - 307 West 82nd Street

 

A split stoop is shared by 307 and 309 (left) West 82nd Street, leading to their side-by-side entrances.  (The lamp post handily marks the line between the two houses.)

Charles Berg was a partner with Edward H. Clark in the architectural firm of Berg & Clark.  Like several other architects, he was a real estate developer, as well.  In 1887  he began construction on a row of five upscale homes on the northside of West 82nd Street, between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue.   Completed the following year, the firm had designed the Romanesque Revival homes in an A-B-C-B-A pattern.  

The A models, including 307 West 82nd Street, were romantic and fanciful, with a rounded bay that provided a balcony to the third floor, and picturesque dormers that sprouted from the tiled roof.  Both the basement and parlor levels were faced in brownstone with rough-cut bands that created a striped effect, while the upper floors were clad in ironspot Roman brick and trimmed in terra cotta.  A sweeping, split stoop lead to the arched entrance. 

George Augustus Archer and his wife, the former Lavinia Frost, purchased 307 West 82nd Street.  The couple, who had been married on May 4, 1869, had three children: Annie Mililani, and twins George and Kate.  Annie was 18 when the family moved in, and her siblings were 14.

Archer was an architectural engineer with an office at 39 Cortlandt Street.  The family often summered at Newport, Rhode Island, where Archer's yacht, the Lady Direct, was moored.  

Annie (who, interestingly, had been born in Honolulu) pursued a career in art.  By 1899, she was a member of the Municipal Art Society, showing her works at respected exhibitions.  In its March issue that year, The Architectural Review reported on the Architectural League Exhibition, commenting:

The bronze lamp by Miss Annie Mililani Archer possesses much...charm, and the writing trays, candle-sticks and Egyptian pipe-rack are interesting, as showing examples of an effort to apply better ability to the simple things in daily life.

George Archer's expertise was called into service following the horrendous fire in the Asch Building--the event better known today as the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire--on March 25, 1911.  On that day 144 employees, most of them young women, perished.  Archer was selected as one of 45 architects and engineers who composed the coroner's jury.  The Evening World said they had "expressed their willingness to serve, notwithstanding the great personal sacrifices entailed.  In this, they declared, they were moved by the imperative need for taking every possible means to prevent the recurrence of similar tragedies."  Their findings resulted in the beginnings of strengthened fire codes and better work conditions.

George A. Archer died at the age of 80 in the West 82nd Street house after a brief illness on March 24, 1914.  His wake was unusually short and the funeral was held in the drawing room the following day.

Kate was married at the time, but George and Annie were still living at home.  Each of them inherited $100,000 (more than $2.5 million in today's money), with Lavinia receiving, essentially, the rest of the estate.

Lavinia, George and Annie remained in the West 82nd Street house until 1920.  That year Annie was listed in the Who's Who Among Craftsmen for her metalwork.  She would eventually turn to painting and by the 1940's, now living in Tucson, Arizona, would focus heavily on desert landscapes.

Lavinia sold 307 West 82nd Street in 1920 to Ida Grant, who seems to have rented rooms.  Living here in 1925 was illustrator Genevieve Cowles.  She exhibited eight works in the Architectural and Allied Arts Exposition that year.  (Cowles had stepped away from magazine and book illustration during World War I to work on ship camouflage for the U.S. Navy.)

Genevieve Cowles painted this self-portrait around 1930.

On June 20, 1932 the New York Evening Post reported that Roger Vidal had leased 307 West 82nd Street, noting, "It will be altered into one and two-room apartments and made ready for occupancy about July 1."

The house was acquired by Gallivan Gables in 1950.  He initiated another renovation, completed in 1953, that resulted in two apartments each in the basement and parlor levels, and four furnished rooms on each of the upper floors.   The configuration lasted until 1971 when there were now two apartments on every floor.

Living here that year was 24 year old Donald Phillips, alias Roy Browne.  A petty criminal, his life came to an abrupt end on May 10, 1971 when he and two other men were shot to death by unknown assailants.  The New York Times reported, "The dead men were found in a stolen 1969 Cadillac parked in front of 1115 Walton Avenue, the Bronx.  The police are seeking two gunmen."

In 1989 a penthouse level, unseen from the street, was added to 307 West 82nd Street, to accommodate a duplex apartment extending to the fourth floor.  

photograph by the author

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The 1888 Edwin Ruthven Holden House - 311 West 82nd Street

Charles Berg was not only a real estate developer, he was a trained architect, as well.  With Edward H. Clark he formed the architectural firm of Berg & Clark.  In 1887 Berg began construction on a row of five upscale homes on the north side of West 82nd Street, between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue.  Not surprisingly, Berg & Clark were the architects.  The plans projected the cost of construction of each of the homes at $15,000--about $421,000 in today's money.

There was apparently a deal struck between Berg and the builder, Charles T. Wills, for when Edwin Ruthven Holden purchased 311 West 82nd Street in June 1889, he acquired it from Wills.

Born in November 1835, Holden had entered the coal business in Syracuse, New York.  In 1867 he relocated to New York City to oversee the Eastern coal dealings of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co.  Three years before purchasing the 82nd Street house, he was voted vice-president of the firm.  The Coal Trade Journal said of him, "Mr. Holden may rightly be regarded as the dean of the Anthracite coal trade."

Holden had married Emeline Theodosia Foreman on December 2, 1858 and had four grown children, Edith, Edwin Babcock, George Albert, and Jessie.  The family summered in Thousand Island Park, New York, where Holden had erected a home around 1882.  There Holden docked his steam yacht, the Lotus Seeker.

Edwin Babcock Holden had graduated from Columbia College in 1883, and in April 1889 he married Alice Cort.  He and his bride moved into 311 West 82nd Street with his parents.  In 1891, two years after moving into 311 West 82nd Street, Arthur C. Holden was born.  

Holden started out in the coal department of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, before forming the coal business William Home & Company with William Home in December 1889.  He would become best known, however, for his valuable collection of historic engravings of New York City, portraits of George Washington, and rare books.

Edwin Babcock Holden was as well-known as his father.  Foreman-Farman-Forman Genealogy, 1915 (copyright expired)

In 1892 a Congressional committee was formed to "probe the coal combine," as worded by The New York Times on November 27.  Edwin R. Holden proved of little help to the congressmen's investigation.  The New York Times said:

Edwin R. Holden, Second Vice President of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, whose flowing side whiskers formed such an important factor last Summer before the State Senate Committee which investigated the Reading coal deal, was the witness of the day.  He was troubled with the same complaint that afflicted him in the Summer--a complete loss of memory at the most critical periods in the hearing.

Edwin Ruthven Holden, The Coal Trade Journal, 1900 (copyright expired)

On February 12, 1900, The Evening News reported that Edwin Ruthven Babcock had resigned from the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Co.  The article stressed that his resignation "is entirely voluntary," saying it was prompted by his age (he was 65), and "the unsatisfactory condition of his health and a desire to withdraw from active business life."  The Coal Trade Journal added, "It is understood that Mr. Holden is a man of ample means."

In 1902 the Holden family left 311 West 82nd Street.  Edwin Babcock Holden erected "a beautiful residence on Riverside Drive," according to the Foreman-Farman-Forman Genealogy, "one floor of which was largely devoted to his exceptionally well selected library of over 10,000 volumes and rare historic collections." The family retained possession of the 82nd Street house, leasing it to Mrs. T. Tileston Greene, who moved her Montpelier Home School for Girls into the residence.  Her advertisement in Harper's Monthly that year noted, "Limited number of boarding and day scholars.  Summer session for Music and Art students."

The estate of Edwin Ruthven Holden sold the house in January 1915 to I. G. Waterman and his wife, Daisy.  They leased it for a number of years to Leon N. Adler, a chemist.  Then, in May 1925, both it and the house next door at 309 West 82nd Street were sold.  The New York Times remarked that the buyer "will occupy same after making extensive improvements."  While the remodeled houses were not joined internally, they were  now used as Miss Ferguson's Residence, a well-chaperoned boarding house for well-heeled young girls to live while in New York City.  An advertisement in House & Garden described it as, "A home of exclusive patronage for girl students attending school, college or special courses in New York."

A typical resident was Reba Hinsdale who lived here in 1935.  She had graduated from St. Mary's School in Raleigh, North Carolina a year earlier, and now the St. Mary's School Bulletin said that she "is studying fashion illustration in New York City."

A renovation completed in 1953 resulted in apartments and "Class B" rooms in the structure.  That configuration lasted until a 1972 remodeling.  There are now two apartments per floor in the former Holden house.

photographs by the author

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The 1894 Darling Building - 208 Fifth Avenue

By the end of the Civil War fine residences lined the west side of the Fifth Avenue block between 25th and 26th Streets.  They looked across the avenue to the verdant Madison Square.  But as the century crew to a close their wealthy residents had moved further north and the houses were either converted for business purposes or replaced.

At the far left a portion of the elegant residence at No. 208 Fifth Avenue can be glimpsed in this 1888 photo.  The large corner structure is the fashionable Delmonico's restaurant.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

In 1859 Alfred B. Darling and Paran Stevens had opened the lavish Fifth Avenue Hotel at the northwest corner of 23rd Street, two blocks south of the five-story residence at No. 208 Fifth Avenue.  Now in 1893 Darling purchased and demolished that old brownstone which stretched through the narrow block to Nos. 1128-1130 Broadway.  He hired the architectural firm of Berg & Clark to erect a seven-story office and store on the site.  Their plans, filed in March, estimated the cost of construction at $85,000, or about $2.45 million today.

The Renaissance Revival style Darling Building was completed within the year.  A limestone frame embraced the two-story retail space.  Its vast show windows were made possible by the use of cast iron. The architects had faced the upper stories of the structure in yellow brick encrusted with terra cotta decorations.  The top floor was especially adorned, with heavy terra cotta sheaves outlining the flanking panels and the openings.  

It seems that the Connecticut-based silver manufacturer The Meriden Britannia Co. had negotiated the lease of the building even before construction began.   It moved its showrooms into the two lower floors and quickly began advertising for tenants for the upper offices.

The original two-story retail space is seen in this announcement.  New-York Tribune, September 17, 1894 (copyright expired)

As a marketing gimmick Meriden Britannia Co. published a booklet in 1894.  A notice in the New-York Tribune on December 20 explained "To celebrate our removal to our new building, we have published a book, 'Historical Madison Square,' which every lover of New-York ought to read."  The price of the book was 50 cents, but the firm dangled a carrot to draw patrons into the store, saying "but we are not booksellers, and to all customers it is free."

Among the original tenants in the upper floors was Town Topics Publishing Co.  Publisher William D'Alton Mann's Town Topics offered news, literature, sports and business advice.  But in reality its subscribers were interested only in the social columns, which were in fact a gossip sheet.  Every scandalous word—true or not—printed in Town Topics was read with delicious zeal.   Those at the highest levels of society trembled in fear of  being mentioned in Mann’s scathing columns.   He rarely printed names; but gave tantalizing and obvious clues like “though unfortunately a woman, is not an American, but a specimen of British aristocracy.”

New-York Tribune, October 27, 1898 (copyright expired)

Albert Darling was at his country home in New Jersey in the summer of 1896 when he was thrown from his carriage.  The New York Times reported several months later that "his system received a shock from which he never fully rallied."  He died on September 6.  Darling's estate retained possession of the Fifth Avenue property.

The Broadway elevation is essentially identical to the Fifth Avenue side.

The Meriden Brittania Company, understandably, had formidable security measures in place to prevent break-ins.  But late on the night of January 28 or early January 29, 1902 thieves managed to thwart the obstacles.  Although the less public Broadway entrance would seem to make more sense, the criminals entered on Fifth Avenue.  "The burglars removed a panel from the glass door, pried open a heavy grating inside that and then forced an inner door which admitted them to the store," said The Sun on February 1.

Town Topics still occupied the top floor in April 1902 as construction began on the Cross Chambers Building next door. from the collection of the New York Public Library 

Police felt "that the job was done by expert cracksmen who were well equipped."  Days later the clerks were still taking inventory, but by the time of The Sun's article the loss was more than $150,000 by today's terms.

Within five months The Meriden Brittanica Company had left No. 208.  The Lincoln Trust Co. took over the lease, but before moving in hired architect John H. Duncan to renovate the lower floors.  The commission was convenient for Duncan, whose office was in the Darling Building.  He would remain here through 1914.

The remodeling, costing more than $1.5 million in today's dollars, gave the lower two floors a more bank-like appearance.  A stately portico supported by Corinthian columns was added, and the second floor showrooms were replaced by more business-like openings.  Beaux Arts swags now hung from the piers that separated the windows.

Duncan's changes affected only the lower floors.  The bank painted an advertisement on the wall of the Cross Chambers Building next door.  original source unknown

The Lincoln Trust Co. faced a major challenge beginning in mid-October 1907.  A failed attempt to corner the market on the stock of the United Copper Company knocked over the first domino that would result in the Stock Market Exchange falling nearly 50 percent from the previous year.  Known variously as the Panic of 1907, the 1907 Bankers' Panic and the Knickerbocker Crisis, it prompted panic among depositors and runs on the banks.

The run on the Lincoln Trust began on October 25.  The bank officials retained their composure and four days later things seemed to have somewhat calmed down.  The New-York Tribune reported "There were fifty persons in line when the doors of the main office, at No. 208 Fifth avenue, were opened.  All who presented claims were paid off as rapidly as possible."

Frank Tilford, the president of the bank, put a positive spin on the crisis.  On November 1 the New-York Tribune reported that he had announced "last night that its affairs were in splendid condition, despite the heavy withdrawals of the last six days."

In the meantime, the offices in the upper floors were rented to a variety of tenants.  Among them in 1911 was the office of Frank McMillan Stanton, a mining engineer and investor in copper mines.  For many years his "confidential secretary" was William B. Hall, who not only handled much of Stanton's business affairs, but those of his brother M. R. Stanton and Dr. J. W. Moore, their brother-in-law.  All three men were in the same business, although with different office locations.

Stanton's sister and her husband, Dr. Moore, were going to Michigan on business on May 19, 1911.  Before leaving they stopped by the 6th floor office here to say good-bye to Frank Stanton.  They were surprised to find the door locked, and peering through the glass they saw William Hall's body lying on the floor.  There was a bullet wound in his heart.  The coroner said there was "no doubt" that it was a suicide and the case was not investigated further.

Other tenants at the time were the Klosfit Petticoat publicity department and contractor Edwin Outwater.

Duncan's portico had been removed by the time of this June 19, 1912 photograph--possibly because it encroached on the public sidewalk. from the collection of the New York Public Library

In the spring of 1914 the Lincoln Trust Company moved two doors south to the new building at No. 204 Fifth Avenue.   The lower two floors were renovated again in 1918 when the Charles W. Ackerman signed a lease that March.  Architect William E. Austin designed the $15,000 in changes (about a quarter of a million in today's dollars).

Straw "boaters" line the shelves of the Ackerman store in this 1919 photograph.  Note the spittoons spaced along the floor for the convenience of tobacco-chewing patrons.  The American Hatter, July 1919 (copyright expired)

Born in Albany in 1865, Charles W. Ackerman apprenticed in the hat industry as a boy.  He came to New York City in 1885, working in various hat shops until he opened his own store on First Avenue and 23rd Street in 1889.  By now he was among the foremost hatters in the country.

The store, which opened on May 15, 1919, was deemed by The American Hatter "one of the largest exclusive hat stores in the United States."  It noted "The store at 208 Fifth avenue is probably the only hat store in the world with equal frontage on two streets known the world over--Fifth avenue and Broadway."

The article called the shop "truly palatial in its appointments and finish."  Mirrors were inset at spaces along the walnut cabinets so the patrons could adequately judge a potential purchase.  "The Fifth avenue end of the balcony is devoted to silk hats and the Broadway end to military hats," said the article.

Throughout the subsequent decades the Madison Square neighborhood gradually saw upscale stores like Charles W. Ackerman leave as the stores and offices became home to a variety of more low-end tenants.  But the third quarter of the century saw a renaissance in the district, now known as Nomad.

In 1980 a renovation was completed that resulted in two apartments each floor other than the fourth, which had just one.  Today there are duplexes on the fourth and fifth, and sixth and seventh floors.

photographs by the author

The Chester W. Chapin House -- 331 West End Avenue

In 1887 construction began on a row of eight houses on the west side of West End Avenue between 75th and 76th Streets.  It was an unusual arrangement of ownership among the developer, George B. Jacques and his architectural firm, Berg & Clark.  Possibly as part of the commission negotiation, Charles I. Berg and his partner Edward H. Clark each owned one property, and  Berg shared ownership with Jacques in one other.

The row was completed in 1888, a frenzy of shapes and styles.  No. 331, owned by Charles L. Berg, was a marriage of the Renaissance Revival and Queen Anne styles.  The 22-foot-wide residence cost $20,000 to build; more than half a million in today's dollars.  Red brick contrasted with the brownstone base, while limestone provided accents to the upper floor.  Two quirky, unrelated dormers, poked through the slate-shingled roof.  The elegant neo-Georgian fanlight above the entrance was defiantly out of character; fighting stylistically with, for instance, the colorful stained glass transoms of the upper floor windows.

Berg & Clark created a dizzying mixture of shapes and angles  No. 331 is at the far right. photographer unknown from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York 

The house caught the eye of the trustees of The New York Institute for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb.  Charles I. Berg personally gave the organization a $30,000 mortgage on the property.  Whether it ever moved in is unclear, but if so it was a short-lived arrangement.  On March 12, 1891, Berg and his wife, Ada, sold the house to millionaire Chester Williams Chapin for $50,000.

Chapin's father, Chester W. Chapin, Sr., President of the Boston and Albany Railroad, had died in 1883.  He left an estate of about $2 million (more than 25 times that amount today).  The Pacific Commercial Advertiser later explained, "he left the bulk of his vast estate to his son, who had already made himself a millionaire and a power in the railway, steamship and financial worlds."

Indeed, Chapin had founded the New Haven Steamboat line, was president of the Connecticut Railroad and the Western Railroad, and had merged several others to form the Boston and Albany system.  In addition, he founded the Chapin Trust Company of Springfield, Massachusetts, the National Start Company, and was a director in many other corporations, banks and railroads.

Chapin had moved to New York City from Springfield in 1880.  He and his wife, the former Emelia Ward, had married in New Orleans in 1867.  It was a surprising match.  Although they were both 27, Emelia was a widow with three children.  Two more children, Julia and Pauline, would increase the family.

No. 331 West End Avenue was a fraction of the size of the Chapin mansion at 34 West 57th Street.  But the family never intended to live in it.  Instead Chapin purchased the house for the use of his extended family when they visited New York.  Among those using the house from time to time was Chapin's married sister, Anna Rumrill, and his cousin Charles Henry Chapin, and their families.

The vast wealth of Chester and Emelia Chapin was summed up in two sentences in The Pacific Commercial Advertiser in 1906.  "They entertained extensively at their town house, No. 34 West Fifty-seventh street, just down the block from the Vanderbilts, Huntingtons and Oelrichses; their hospitalities at their many country places at Red Bank, Springfield, Montclair, Lebanon Lake and Tampa, and at their village at Aix-le-Bains, France, were notable.  There were notable cruises, too, on their yachts, Whim, Iroquois and Yampa."  Their Putnam County "farm" engulfed 2,000 acres.

The colorful stained glass survives in the second story transoms.  The brownstone has been regrettably painted.

On November 25, 1894 The New York Times remarked on the Chapins' Thanksgiving house party.  "Many guests have been invited to their Berkshire residence which is a spacious, old-fashioned mansion, and is always kept ready for occupancy.  The building is over 200 years old, and is delightfully arranged for house parties.  An interesting feature of the house is the ballroom, which occupies an entire floor, and has at either end an immense fireplace."

Quite possibly among the guests were Charles H. Chapin's three daughters, Louise, Annette, and Elizabeth (known as "Bessie").  They and their parents were repeated guests at the country estates and on long voyages on the Chapins' lavish yacht, the Yampa.  Chester Chapin was especially generous to his young Chicago cousins, since, as one newspaper put it, their "father had not been so well blessed with this world's goods as he."

As the Bessie and her sisters had grown to young women, they visited New York relatively often.  They stayed in the West End Avenue house, always with a chaperon, of course.  Their aunt Anna Rumrill (Chester's sister) often filled that position.

Chester's and Emelia's daughters married and left the Fifth Avenue mansion.  The Pacific Commercial Advertiser remarked "Instead of growing closer together as their children married and went away to homes of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Chapin gradually drifted apart, though married nearly forty years."  The newspaper added, somewhat cattily, "And it was then that the millionaire turned to his pretty cousin, winsome 'Bessie,' for companionship and sympathy."

Bessie spent less and less time in Chicago.  The Advertiser said "The summers found her practically mistress of the great estate at Lebanon Lake, with Mr. Chaplin's sister, Mrs. James A. Rumrill, as chaperon.  When she was in New York a house which Mr. Chapin has bought on West End avenue was always opened to her and her mother and sister."

There was no hint of scandal, no whispered words that Chapin and his young cousin were engaged in anything unseemly.   But in the first years of the 20th century, "Mrs. Chapin had quietly dropped out of sight of her friends," according to one newspaper.  She quietly obtained a divorce and "was handsomely provided for."

Chester's affection for his cousin now blossomed.  Although he was 65-years-old, 40 years older than Bessie, and she had always called him "Uncle Chet," they were married in Chicago on November 22, 1905.  Following their honeymoon, which included a voyage to Hawaii, the newlyweds only briefly lived in the massive 57th Street mansion.  On May 18, 1907, The Real Estate Record & Guide reported that Chapin had transferred the deed of 331 West End Avenue to his wife as "a gift."

Despite the initial surprise to society, the fall-spring marriage seems to have worked out well.  It weathered what could have been a significant bump on December 6, 1911 when Chester was served with a summons to appear "in a suit brought against him by a Mrs. Janet H. Phillips, a widow, living on the upper west side," reported The New York Times.

The newspaper said on January 3, 1912 "The nature of the action has not been determined because the complaint did not accompany the summons, but it is intimated that a 'package of letters' will play an important part in the suit, should it come to trial."  The implication was clear.

Chapin admitted to reporters that he had known Mrs. Phillips for 15 years; but "had not known her directly in the last seven years."  He charged that "it was only a desire to get money from him."

A journalist from The Times went directly to 331 West End Avenue to get answers.  "Mrs. Chapin was seen at her West End Avenue home yesterday afternoon," he reported on January 3.  "She appeared in a black riding habit."

Bessie dismissed the entire affair.  "I saw my husband only an hour ago, and he said nothing about it.  We have been married for six years, and I never heard of such a woman."  As she spoke, Chester showed up.  "Mr. Chapin returned from a drive, just then.  With a show of anger, he refused to say anything about the suit."

It is possible the Chapins avoided messy publicity, whether Janet Phillips had a real complaint or not, by paying her.  There was no subsequent trial.

Chester and Bessie were gone from New York for a prolonged period beginning in the summer of 1915, prompting them to lease No. 331 to R. M. Claussen.  Their departure may have been prompted by the noisy demolition of the neighboring houses to the south house that year.  By the time the couple returned the rowhouses had been replaced by a 12-story apartment building.

Bessie had, at the time, a somewhat unusual hobby for a woman of society--that of breeding pedigree cats. When the 15th annual Atlantic Cat Club opened "with a yowl," according to the The Evening World on November 22 the following year, the newspaper noted that Bessie was "one of the largest exhibitors.  She has almost a score of cats on display."

Following World War I, the Chapins loaned their Putnam County estate to the Government for use as a convalescent camp for wounded soldiers and sailors.  Hundreds of returning veterans stayed there for months.

On November 11, 1922, at the age of 80, Chester W. Chapin died in the West End Avenue house.  In reporting on his death, The New York Herald remembered his active life. "Mr. Chapin formerly drove a fine team of horses in this city and was a leader in all horse shows and similar events.  He also hunted much in the Rocky Mountains and on the plains.  He was a licensed navigator and gave substantial support to yachting."

Chapin's will was filed for probate on November 21.  The New York Times reported that he left "an worth between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000."  In addition to securities worth $200,000 (just under $3 million today), Bessie received the West End Avenue house, another on West 78th Street, the Sands Point, Long Island estate "Meadow Farm," and the country homes at Port Washington, Long Island and Pasadena, California.  The article added "She is given also the furniture, paintings, jewelry and personal and household effects."

Bessie sold Meadow Point in 1924, and 311 West End Avenue in 1932.  She died in Santa Barbara, California on November 15, 1969 at the age of 88.

She had held on to No. 311 long enough to prevent its demolition when the other remaining Berg & Clark houses were demolished in 1925 for an Emery Roth-designed 15-story apartment building.  Now wedged between the modern structures, No. 311 survived as a single-family home until 1986, when it was converted to two apartments per floor.  A subsequent renovation in 2000 added an unseen penthouse.

Elizabeth Chapin's refusal to sell gave us a wonderful squashed-in hold-out.

photographs by the author