The Lost Hamilton Grange Church - 149th Street and Convent Avenue

 

The New York Architect, August 1907 (copyright expired)

In 1802, Alexander Hamilton's 18-room mansion was completed at approximately what would become Convent Avenue and West 143rd Street.  Designed by the eminent architect John McComb, Jr., the Federal style residence was named The Grange.  Eight decades later, in 1887, the newly-formed Hamilton Grange Church was formed.  The New York Times would later explain, "The name of the church is derived not merely from the locality, but from the fact that the congregation at first worshipped in the old Hamilton mansion."

Before long a "graystone Gothic Church," as described by the Inventory of the Church Archives of New York City, was erected at the corner of Convent Avenue and 145th Street.  But in 1906 The New York Times reported, "The old Hamilton Grange Church...is now too small for the needs of the congregation."  That spring the architectural firm of Bannister & Schell began plans for a new church building and parish house four blocks to the north at 149th Street and Convent Avenue.  Interestingly, the corner property was owned by the Collegiate Church, which had purchased the four building lots several years earlier.  The New-York Tribune stressed, "Although the property is owned by the Collegiate Church, that corporation exercised no ecclesiastical control over the congregation."

In reporting on the cornerstone laying on June 24, 1906, the New-York Tribune noted, "the new church...will be modern in its appointments, with ample facilities for Sunday school and neighborhood work."  Construction was completed in less than a year and the dedication services were held on April 26, 1907.  The New-York Tribune described the structure was "one of the handsomest and most complete church homes on the Heights."

The side-by-side church and three-story parish house were designed in the English Gothic style.  Clad in red brick, the church's design was dominated by a square corner tower, which the New-York Tribune called on April 27, "a feature particularly pleasing because [it is] so generally lacking in recent church architecture."  Gothic pinnacles rose from each corner and ornate crosses topped each gable.

The interior was finished "throughout in dark wood," said the article.  The two-story "Sabbath school" was cleverly designed.  The article said it was "surrounded at the second story by a horseshoe shaped gallery, in which are little classrooms, like boxes in a theatre."

The configuration lent itself to public meetings as well as Sunday school purposes.  On December 23, 1909, for instance, a meeting was held here headed by Postmaster Edward M. Morgan and Congressman William S. Bennett.  They spoke "on the question of retiring superannuated and disabled United States Government employees."  To date, there was no retirement plan for Federal employees.  Morgan, who had been connected with the Post Office for nearly four decades, urged that a retirement plan would, for one thing, "do away with the present humiliating of the old clerks by gradually reducing their salary in proportion to the quality and quantity of work they are able to perform."

In 1913 the handsome Bloomingdale Reformed Church on West End Avenue between 106th and 107th Streets was demolished.  Five magnificent stained glass memorial windows, two of which were the work of John LaFarge, were salvaged and installed in the Hamilton Grange Church.  The Yearbook of the (Collegiate) Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York noted, "These windows have served to beautify and enrich the Hamilton Grange Church."

The New-York Tribune, April 27, 1907 (copyright expired)

The congregation merged with the Fort Washington Collegiate Church in 1937.  The demographics of the neighborhood had greatly changed since 1906.  The inherent racism of the early 20th century was evident in newspaper reports on the sale of the property to a mostly Black congregation.

In reporting on the first service of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Crucifixion in the building on December 20, 1937, The New York Times explained, "The church, whose congregation includes many Negroes, has been acquired from the Hamilton Grange Reformed Church."  A massive crowd attended the opening service, celebrated by Bishop William T. Manning.  The New York Times wrote, "In his address delivered to nearly 1,000 persons, many of whom could not get closer than the church door, Bishop Manning paid tribute to the Negro rector, the Rev. Dr. Egerton E. Hall."   

During the initial service, a marble altar was dedicated, "given by the congregation 'as an expression of their affection for the Bishop of the Diocese,'" reported The New York Times.

Edward Henry Margetson had been the organist and choir master of the Church of the Crucifixion since 1920.  He was, as well, the composer of sacred and concert music and had founded the Schubert Choral Society in 1927.

Edward Henry Margetson, from the collection of the St. Kitts National Archives.

Born in St. Kitts in 1892, Margetson's father, Henry Francis, was a choral director and his mother, Marie Thomas, was an accomplished pianist.  A musical prodigy, he mastered the piano early on.  According to The New York Age, he was five years old when his mother's funeral was held in the family's living room.  As the mourners sang the first hymn, "At first it was thought that Edward's father was playing the piano, but upon investigation, the player proved to be Edward himself, whose feet were barely able to reach the pedals."

Margetson strove to bring sacred music to the Black community.  On June 27, 1992, the New York Amsterdam News recalled, "the existence of the [Schubert] society is believed to have helped open the door for black classical musicians, who at the time may have been denied the opportunity to sit as members of established orchestras in this city and state."

On November 13, 1954, The New York Age reported, "A committee of organists, headed by Hugo Bornn, organist of St. Andrews church, will pay a musical tribute to Edward Margetson on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 21."  The article noted that Margetson was "now very ill."  He had suffered what The New York Age had described in 1953 as "a severe stroke," adding, "little hope was held for his recovery."  His condition necessarily resulted in his retirement from the Church of the Crucifixion.

The following year, on December 31, 1955, the newspaper updated its readers, saying that Margetson was "making remarkable progress" under the therapists of Bellevue Rehabilitation center.  "In spite of the loss of the use of his right side and his speech, great hopes are held for a recovery."

Deemed by The New York Age as a "music maestro" and "one of the most distinguished musicians of our time," Margetson was at the apartment of a relative in January 1962 when a fire broke out.  He died on January 22, 1962 in Mother Cabrini Hospital from "smoke poisoning," as reported by The New York Times.

A year later, fire destroyed the Church of the Crucifixion.  Architect Costa Machlaouzarides was commissioned to design the replacement structure, completed in 1967.  It is widely compared to Le Corbusier's 1954 church at Ronchamp, France.

photo by Jim Henderson

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The Wm. J. McGinley House - 420 Convent Avenue

In 1897 developer Mary Cahill was erecting two nearly identical rows of houses on Convent Avenue--Nos.408 through 418, and Nos. 420 through 430.  They were separated by West 148th Street.  Designed by architect John Hauser, the residences were a happy marriage of the Renaissance and Romanesque Revival styles.  The two anchor homes on the corners were, of course, the most desirable with windows on three sides (an ample service alley behind the houses provided an unusual amount of light and ventilation to the rear).

Despite its Convent Avenue address, the entrance of No. 420 was situated squarely on 148th Street above a dog-legged stoop.  A mirror image of No. 418, the basement and first floor levels were faced in rough-cut limestone.  Hauser carried the material the full height of the Convent Avenue elevation.  The upper floors were clad in beige brick and the pressed metal cornice was decorated with foliate-filled panels.

No. 420 became home to Walter H. Tappan and his wife, Jennie.  The couple had married on April 15, 1895 and had a one-year old child, Herrick Ogden at the time the house was completed.  In March 1902 a second child was born, Eleanor House Tappan.

Tappan was a banker and a director in the Vergennes Realty Co.  Jennie involved herself in social activities and was a member of the Washington Heights Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  She hosted an afternoon reception for its members on November 16, 1914.  On its page titled "Society and Its Charities" the New York Herald noted "There will be a musical programme and historical papers will be read."

The following year Jennie was elected a vice-president of the Washington Heights Day Nursery.  The organization not only made it possible for women to work, but found them jobs as domestic servants.  The New York Times mentioned on December 15, 1915 "The Day Nursery now has a membership of more than 200, and during the past year has taken care of 10,000 children."

Following the Tappans at No. 420 was the family of William Joseph McGinley.  He and his wife, Mary Ann, had seven  children: Paul J., William V., Aaron M., Helena (better known as Helen), Frances, Florence and Mary.  

Unlike Jennie Tappan, Mary Ann's interest were in business.  She bought and sold real estate.  William was Supreme Secretary of the Knights of Columbus.  

His was a significant post, evidenced when Madison Square Garden hosted 6,500 wounded or convalescent veterans at the circus on April 13, 1919.  The Sun reported "One of the biggest and gayest detachments was chaperoned from General Hospital No. 1 on Gun Hill road by the Knights of Columbus...On the trip to the Garden the long string of cars rolled down Convent avenue, where it was reviewed by Supreme Secretary William J. McGinley and other K. of C. officials from the McGinley home at 420 Convent avenue."

Her father's elevated position provided little Helena a rare opportunity on September 10 that year.   The entire city turned out to see war hero General John J. Pershing lead his troops down Fifth Avenue.  The parade briefly stopped in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral where Archbishop Patrick J. Hayes and Cardinal Mercier, "the hero priest of Belgium," would greet the general.  Before the troops arrived, Helen presented the cardinal with a bouquet of roses.

"He accepted them graciously and, indicating a cluster of American beauties the girl held in her arms, inquired: 'And the other flowers, tell me, now, who are they for?'" reported the New-York Tribune.

"They are for General Pershing, Your Eminence," she replied.

Earlier that year the Knights of Columbus offered to commission a portrait of General Pershing to be presented to the French Government.   A letter arrived on April 21 from artist Gustave Klammerich, a German artist who had fought in the war.  "I desire to paint the portrait of Gen. Pershing," he wrote, "and assure you of a good job as I have admiration for the soldiers of America and their commander."

William McGinley was succinct in his response.  He told reporters "the portrait is going to be made by an American artist."

It was not the last gift to France initiated by the Knights of Columbus and spearheaded by McGinley.  In 1920 50,000 of the 100,000 Knights who had served in World War I contributed to fund a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette to replace the statue of Frederick the Great in Metz.   McGinley said that the K. of C. "had the happy thought that the dethroned statue might be replaced with a statue that would combine French and American tradition."

Interestingly, Hauser made one of the limestone gateposts higher than the other, following the rise of the steps.

The esteem with which McGinley was held was evidenced on April 10, 1921.  At the annual communion breakfast at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy at Fordham University, he was presented with a $3,000 diamond ring and a $2,500 silver service set.  The lavish gifts would be equal in value to more than $77,000 today.

Not long afterward it appears the McGinley family relocated to New Haven, Connecticut.  Their former home was being operated as a rooming house by 1924 when Jane Forestall was living here.  She was fined $10 for driving without a license in July that year; The New York Telegram adding she "is said to be a Belgium actress."

The motion picture industry was fast moving to the West Coast in the 1920's, but the Famous Players-Lasky studio was still in Astoria, Queens when "talkies" began replacing silent movies.  It was a change not welcomed by all employees.

One of them was Ernest DeValera, who rented a room at No. 420 in 1928.  The studio had asked the police for extra protection "as the result of complaints made that the work of installing new equipment for 'taking-movies' has been threatened with interference," reported the Daily Star on August 29.

The policeman who had been on duty the previous night noticed DeValera drive by the building.  Then again.  And again, until he had circled the property five times.  "While he was questioning him, the patrolman said, DeValera became abusive and used boisterous language," reported the Daily Star.  He was charged with disorderly conduct.

A most disturbing incident occurred just outside the house on February 25, 1937.  Albert Victor lived nearby on West 141st Street and made his living as a "rag picker."  That morning he noticed a cardboard box on the sidewalk in front of No. 420, and stopped to open it.  He was horrified to find a dead infant inside.  The New York Post described it as "a stillborn white girl baby wrapped in cheesecloth.  The body had been there only a few hours, physicians say."

Alicia Lawrence had leased the rooming house for many years when it was placed on the market in August 1943.  She purchased the property and initiated a renovation, completed in 1949, that resulted in a doctor's office in the basement, two furnished rooms on the first floor, three on the second and four furnished rooms on the third.  The Certificate of Occupancy noted "Doctor to reside on premises."

That was Dr. Eric Thompson, a dentist who lived and operated his practice practice here at least through 1973.

Surprisingly, much of John Hauser's elements--including the delicate carvings over the basement stairs, survive.  photos via DouglasElliman.com

In 2008 No. 420 was reconverted to a single family home.  Astoundingly, much of the interior detailing had survived.  It was offered in 2012 for $3.5 million.

photographs by the author

The Barnard School for Girls - 421 Convent Avenue

In the early 1890's the bulk of women who worked were shop girls, teachers, nurses or factory workers.  Upper crust females busied themselves, instead, with charity work and social activities.  There were a few, however, like Annie Doyle who made their own fortune within a world of men.  A real estate developer, she would wheel and deal in properties into the first decade of the 20th century.

In 1893, as high-end residences arose in the Sugar Hill neighborhood, she hired the architectural firm of A. B. Ogden & Son to design a row of six upscale rowhouses on Convent Avenue, stretching north from the northeast corner of West 148th Street.  Designed essentially as three pairs (an A-B-A-B-A-C pattern) the residences would rise three stories above English basements. 

Construction was begun in October 1893 and would not be completed until April 1895.  The corner house was intended to be the showpiece of row, and while the other five cost $13,500 to erect, it cost $23,000--or around $662,000 today.

Although its entrance was centered on the 85-foot long 148th Street elevation, it took the Convent Avenue address.  It shared little in common with the rest, although, somewhat surprisingly, it shared a shallow, modified mansard with No. 423; the others wore stone balustrades. 

Faced in pinkish brick and trimmed in brownstone, the residence sat upon a rough-cut brownstone basement level.  The box stoop rose to an arched double-doored entrance flanked by windows.  The openings were arranged to create a Palladian effect.  A thin stone cornice separated the first from upper floors where ornamentation relied on quoins, spandrel panels and engaged columns between the grouped openings of the third floor, 148th Street elevation.

The unusual mansard is evident in this early photograph of the Barnard School.  photograph by Thaddeus Wilkerson from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In 1885 Dr. William L. Hazen had founded the Barnard School for Boys.  Two years later he brought in Theodore Edward Lyon as an instructor of English, mathematics, and science.  Then, in 1892, Katherine Huguenin Davis joined them to form the Barnard School for Girls.

The exclusive school moved into No 421 Convent Avenue.  Katherine Davis lived in the school, both teaching and overseeing the girls.  She came from an old and respected family.  Never married, she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Founders' and Patriots' Club.

Pupils in the Barnard School for Girls came from well-to-do families with high expectations for their daughters.  Katherine Davis, no doubt, had no tolerance for misconduct or impropriety.  An advertisement in 1914 promised "The School seeks to co-operate with the home in keeping the pupil a wholesome girl."

Unlike some girls' schools which simply prepared their students to enter polite society, focusing on French, music, deportment and arts; the Barnard School for Girls prepared theirs for higher education.  "The curriculum includes all grades from Kindergarten to College," said an ad.  "The certificate at the School admits to the leading Colleges...No pupil of the School has ever failed to enter College."

Katherine Davis worked under Theodore Edward Lyon.  The New York Times later explained that he "retained the title of associated headmaster at both schools, although devoting most of his attention to the girls' school."

The school had leased the house from Maria L. Aldrich for years.  Finally she sold the property to the Barnard School for Girls in July 1920.

Dated 1927 and labeled "Barnard School for Girls," this class picture includes six unexpected boys. 

In November 1934 the school sold moved to No. 554 Fort Washington Avenue and sold Convent Avenue property to the Millicent Realty Corporation.  It was converted to a rooming house.

The 1940 census shows 20 "lodgers" living here.  Almost all of them were unmarried.  Josephine Cooper was among the tenants in the building a decade later.  Her "vacation" which began in the autumn of 1950 was remarkable enough to earn newspaper attention.  The New York Age, one of Manhattan's most widely-read Black newspapers, reported on September 16, "A gala 'Farewell Party' was held last Sunday for Miss Josephine Cooper of 423 W. 148th St., who sailed on the Liberte Thursday on the first leg of a year's vacation which will ultimately take her to Lagos, Africa."

Another resident around that time was Sidney Evans.  In 1955 he worked as a doorman at a Times Square nightclub.  He was a witness to a violent encounter on the night of September 13 that year.  Frank (Frisco) McBride worked as a "portrait painter" in the Times Amusement Corp.  But that night he had been drinking--a lot.

When a man "pushed" him, according to McBride, he became enraged and rushed through the Times Square crowd to "get vengeance."  But he could not find the offender so he lashed out with a sharp beer can opener at passersby--stabbing them randomly.

Evans told police that McBride "seemed to become enraged all of a sudden."  McBride was tackled and subdued by two detectives.  He explained his behavior by simply saying "I must have been crazy drunk."

Today the building holds just two large residences.  Other than a fire escape and replacement windows, little has changed outwardly to the former school where Katherine Huguenin Davis diligently oversaw the virtue of her pupils.  

photographs by the author

The J. Romaine Brown Mansion - No. 340 Convent Avenue

In 1886 William Mowbray was busy transforming the blocks around Convent Avenue and West 144th Street into a fashionable neighborhood.  The area, once part of Alexander Hamilton's estate The Grange, was quickly developing.  In December that year the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide noted "More than twenty elegant houses, of English Gothic, Flemish and other styles, as modified by the taste of the architect Mr. Wm. E. Mowbray, are already planned and will be built without delay."

Many of those homes were designed for developers William H. DeForest and his son, also named William.  Mowbray's builder father, Anthony, constructed the residences.  But for Nos. 340 through 346 Convent Avenue, at the corner of West 144th Street, Mowbray acted as both developer and architect.

Not completed until 1890, the row was anchored by the impressive corner mansion.  Although the entrance was unquestionably located at No. 451 West 144th Street, the house took the address of No. 340 Convent Avenue.  All Mowbry's houses along the street were modern takes on historic styles.  But the red brick mansion was less quaint and more imposing than its neighbors.  A Victorian adaptation of French Renaissance, it featured a large corner tower with a conical cap, a basement level of rough-cut granite, and pedimented dormers which cut through the steep slate-tiled roof.

The neighborhood at the turn of the last century was charming.  The tower of No. 340 Convent Avenue (right) still retained its conical cap.  photograph by Thaddeus Wilkerson, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In 1905 the mansion became home to Joseph Romaine Brown and his wife, the former Annie Elizabeth Lockwood.  The 72-year old was still highly active in the real estate business and headed the J. Romaine Brown Company at No. 10 East 43rd Street.  He was deemed the "Dean of Manhattan Brokers."

He and Annie had married in April 1865.  By then he had had a widely-varied career.  He had started business by learning the locksmith trade; then in 1854 purchased the 34th Street stage coach line (it ran from 34th Street, down Broadway to 26th Street, then to Third Avenue and back), and two years later started his real estate business.

By the time the Browns moved into the Convent Avenue mansion, their four children were grown and Joseph Brown had accumulated a significant fortune.   That was partly due to the street car line which was formed in the 1850s.  Its founders wanted to run it along the same route as Brown's coach line, so they bought him out for $150,000--in the neighborhood of $4.25 million today.

J. Romaine Brown -- photo via werelate.org

In 1913, when the country was still suffering through the crippling financial depression known as the Panic of 1907, a reporter from The Sun visited Brown to get a veteran's views on the economy.  The article, which appeared on Sunday, August 31, encompassed half of the front page.  Brown boosted optimism among the newspaper's readers by retelling stories of earlier depressions--like the paralyzing Panic of 1873 that lasted until 1880.  The article noted "Mr. Brown expects that the experiences of 1878 are soon to be duplicated here, that is, the real estate market will turn from a period of inactivity to one of splendid business."

Two months later, 345 lots on Jerome Avenue were sold at auction.  The New York Times noted on November 2, "J. Romaine Brown, whose knowledge of New York real estate extends over a longer period that the great majority of brokers, showed his faith in the future of the Jerome Avenue lots sold by purchasing nearly the entire block front on the east side of Jerome Avenue" at 174th Street."

Brown used his reputation to further bolster confidence in the economy.  He chided other real estate men for not bidding, saying "the lots sold for absurdly low prices" and adding "anyone who will look back at the growth of New York can readily see that Jerome Avenue, in a short time, will be far better than Eighth Avenue, and more like Sixth Avenue, below Fifty-ninth Street, with stores and substantial improvements."

Brown sold No. 340 Convent Avenue in May 1916 to an investor.  Annie died in 1923 at the age of 87; and Brown died the following year at the age of 91.

The house was the scene of considerable excitement the year after the Browns moved out.  Burglars did not expect Thomas Stuart to be in his West 142nd Street apartment on the afternoon of July 18, 1917; but he worked nights and was sleeping.   He was wakened by the sound of men trying to jimmy his front door open.   He surprised the would-be crooks but, "by reason of his attire was unable to pursue the burglars, but gave the alarm to passersby in the street," reported The Sun.

The two men were chased down 142nd Street and onto Convent Avenue "by an ever increasing crowd."  The accomplice of Charles J. Miller (described by the newspaper as "a Swiss, 26 years old) ducked into a construction site, then managed to reappear and slip into the crowd unobserved.  To distract the pursuers, he pulled a fire alarm at 145th Street and Convent Avenue.  The Sun reported that the ploy worked for him, but not for Miller who began "a systematic series of fence vaulting from one yard to the next."

As Miller jumped over one back fence to another, Patrolman Whelan had joined the chase.  Unfortunately for the crook, the policeman had "won fame not long ago as a pole vaulter and gymnasium expert with the Irish American A. C."  The athletic cop "showed such superior technique in fence vaulting that he caught Miller in the yard of 340 Convent avenue."

Although Miller put up a fight, he was subdued and arrested.  At the police station, it was confirmed that he had been involved in several other burglaries in the neighborhood.

The following year, in June 1918, the mansion was purchased by the Little Sisters of the Assumption.  Their convent had been located since 1899 at Nos. 125-127 West 130th Street which a spokesperson said was, at the time, "a desirable residence locality."

Now, the President of the Little Sisters, Claire Daburon, explained the move in terms disturbing to 21st century readers.  She said a reporter from The Sun in late June that "within the last few years the character of the neighborhood had so changed because of an influx of colored residents that the site was no longer desirable for a residence and convent."

The Little Sisters of the Assumption was founded in 1864 in Paris.  The Catholic Encyclopedia described its work in 1922.  "The Little Sisters nurse the sick poor in their own homes, without regard to creed or nationality, accepting no remuneration of any kind.  In addition to caring for the patient, they keep the house clean and in order, prepare the meals for the family, dress the children and send them to school."

In 1922 the Little Sisters purchased and demolished the abutting house at No. 342 Convent Avenue.  Architect P. F. Brogan was commissioned to design a four-story addition to the mansion; a strikingly dissimilar red brick structure in a toned down version of the French Classical style which continued the original mansard.

A section of the 1922 addition can be seen above.

The convent remained in the mansion until about 1960, when it became home to the Greater Tabernacle Baptist Church, which describes itself as "a small church with a big heart."  Although the conical cap of the tower has been lost and the facade painted red, the house is as attention grabbing as it was in 1890.

photographs by the author

The Chas. H. Tuttle Mansion -- No. 339 Convent Ave

Developer Jacob D. Butler was well-known in the real estate field.  His impressive Lincoln Building on Union Square--designed by Robert Henderson Richardson--was completed in 1890.  At the same time he was highly involved in the development of Hamilton Heights, creating long rows of upscale homes.

That same year he finished a row of 15 residences on Convent Avenue on the long, interrupted block between West 141st and 144th Street.  Designed by architect Adolph Hoak, the row was a delightful blend of styles--Flemish Revival, neo-Tudor and Romanesque Revival.  Construction had begun three years earlier, in 1887 and resulted in a particularly picturesque row.  No. 339 Convent Avenue, however, stood out.

Anchoring the corner of Convent Avenue, the mansion stretched 100 feet along West 144th Street, where, despite its avenue address, the entrance sat above a sideways brownstone stoop.   The red brick and brownstone house mainly exhibited elements of the Romanesque Revival style--the corner tower with its conical cap, carved spandrel panels, and the clustered colonnettes under a single capital, for instance.  But then Hoak changed gears with a Flemish Revival stepped gable above the three-sided bay to the rear.

A rear extension, with wonderful rounded corners, fills part of the rear yard.

Another real estate operator, Charles Augustus King, purchased the house in January 1909.  Unlike Jacob D. Butler's high-end structures, King made his fortune mostly in tenement buildings and stores.

He and his wife, the former Mary O'Connor, announced the engagement of daughter Grace Cecile to John Lewis Bull on January 11, 1913.  The following year the newlyweds' first child, John Lewis Bull, Jr. was born.  He would grow to be a renowned ornithologist and author.

In June 1916 Charles A. King vehemently denied reports published a week earlier in various newspapers  that he had sold his mansion to Eva Wardach.  There was, however, apparently a hint of truth in the rumors; for he sold the property five months later to Cornelius P. Toomey.

In a charming detail, the clustered colonnettes by the entrance are repeated in miniature one floor above.  Difficult to see in the photograph, the stained glass transoms of the parlor level survive.

Within a few years Toomey resold the house to lawyer-politician Charles. H. Tuttle.  Educated at Columbia University, Tuttle was no stranger to Hamilton Heights.  His grantfather, the Rev. Isaac H. Tuttle had been pastor of St. Luke's in The Fields Church in Greenwich Village when, in 1892, the church moved to Convent Avenue and 141st Street (on the opposite end of the block from No. 339).  It was Isaac Tuttle who recognized the neglect and decay of Alexander Hamilton's The Grange and had the house relocated next to the church.

Charles Tuttle and his wife, the former Helene L. Wheeler had four children.  By the time the family moved into the Convent Avenue mansion he had made a name for himself as a reformer.  In 1927 President Calvin Coolidge appointed him as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.  He earned a reputation as a staunch anti-corruption champion, launching investigations into the activities of public officials, gangsters and crime rings.  Tuttle was unruffled by the status and power of the men he investigated and in 1930 sent Albany's Democratic political boss Daniel P. O'Connell to jail for contempt of court when he refused to answer questions.

Helene Tuttle's widowed mother, Katherine Harding Wheeler, lived with the family.   She died here in January 1929; her funeral being held in the house on January 17.  At the time daughter Charlotte was attending Vassar College.  She brought happier news to the family a month later when The New York Times reported she had made the honor roll.

The following year, on September 17, 1930, Tuttle resigned as U. S. Attorney in order to run for Governor of New York against Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Helene, who was actively involved in political and social issues, proved to be a strong asset.  She was Vice President of the Women's Republic Club and Chairman of the club's civic committee.

Helene routinely held meetings of the club in her home.  Her awareness to racial issues--possibly vitalized by the changing racial make-up of the Hamilton Heights neighborhood--was often high on her agenda.   On April 19, 1930, at a meeting in the mansion, she announced the initiation of a "civic center" in the Hotel New Yorker.  One of the goals, she told reporters was to "try to organize various racial groups and for that purpose will inaugurate a series of 'courtesy evenings,' when women of these groups will be our guests and meet with us for discussion."

Three days after her husband announced his campaign for Governor, she added another item to the group's endeavors.  The New York Times reported "A particular attempt, Mrs. Tuttle said, would be made to bring into the Republican ranks young women and first voters."

Charles H. Tuttle's campaign included all the speeches and hoop-la associated with major politics.  He was the guest of honor of the Republicans of Washington Heights on October 4, 1930; an event which included a press-grabbing spectacle.  The Times announced the occasion would "include a parade with torchlights, red fire and band music, from the Tuttle residence at 339 Convent Avenue to the clubhouse of the Twenty-third Assembly District Republican organization."

Charles H. Tuttle.  New York Telegram, August 9, 1930.

Tuttle lost the election; possibly because conservative Republicans felt he was too soft on Prohibition.  He hoped to campaign on his anti-corruption background; but that was overshadowed by his views that states, not the Federal Government, should control alcohol consumption and production.

He returned to practicing law as senior partner in the firm of Breed, Abbott and Morgan; continued on the vestry of St. Luke's Church; and was the Chairman of the Council of Religious Education; and served on the Rapid Transit Commission.

Helene, in the meantime, continued her work as a leader in women's politics.  She was elected President of the New York State Women's Republic Club in April 1931; but resigned on December 20.  She made the announcement following a Christmas party in the Tuttle home, saying she wanted to "devote more time to forming a State-wide organization of young people's Republican clubs, and also to organize non-partisan groups of future voters, now in their 'teens."

And she continued her work to improve the conditions of the black community.  On October 19, 1933 The Times reported that "Mrs. [Fiorello] LaGuardia and Mrs. James Russell Parsons...will be guests today at a Fusion tea to be given by the Negro women of the regular Republican organization of the Twenty-first Assembly District.  The tea will be given at the home of Mrs. Charles H. Tuttle."

By mid-century the private homes of the Convent Avenue block had been mostly divided into apartments.  No. 339 managed to escape drastic change; being converted into just two large residences.  Then, in 2001, new owners poised to restore the mansion to a single family home.

But they were stopped by motion picture director Wes Anderson, who pleaded to leave the property in its somewhat frowzy condition--at least temporarily.

Anderson had been looking for a set for the comedy-drama film The Royal Tenenbaums.  He rented the Tuttle mansion for six months; filming inside and out.  The motion picture made the mansion a celebrity of sorts in its own right.

When the production crew pulled out, renovations ensued.  Today the Charles H. Tuttle mansion is again a private home and, except for updates like replacement windows, looks much as it did in 1890.  And, as it did then, it still commands the spotlight along Adolph Hoak's delightful row.

photographs by the author