The 1915 Blanche Wagstaff House - 4 East 65th Street

 

The distracting top floor was added in 1929.

In 1900 William and Anna Barnes Bliss erected two abutting mansions at Nos. 6 and 8 East 65th Street.  Designed by the firm of Hiss & Weekes, the Bliss family would live in the smaller of the two sumptuous Beaux Arts residences, No. 6.

The Bliss house is to the right.  

In 1914 Anna B. Bliss embarked on another building project.  She purchased and demolished the outdated brownstone next door at No. 4, and hired architect Thomas Nash to design a modern replacement.  Rather than Beaux Arts, which was falling from favor, Nash turned to the currently popular neo-Federal style.  He traded historic accuracy for homogeneity by facing it not in red brick, as would have been expected, but in limestone to match the earlier houses.

Unlike the high-stooped brownstone it replaced, the new mansion was designed on the American basement plan--with the entrance just two steps above the sidewalk.   It was framed by engaged Scamozzi columns which upheld a formal, dentiled pediment and wreath and swag carvings.  The three planar faced floors above the rusticated base were sparsely decorated, the significant interest being the two sets of French doors at the second floor, or piano nobile, fronted by iron Juliette balconies and set within arches ornamented with carved cornucopia.   The two uppermost floors sat back from the stone cornice.

On April 29, 1907 Blanche Le Roy Shoemaker was married to Alfred Wagstaff, Jr. in her parents home at No. 26 West 53rd Street.  Blanche had been presented to the Court of St. James following her debut and later, according to The Evening Telegram, "she was received in private audience by Pope Pius."

The socially-prominent newlyweds would not need to worry about where to live.  The New York Times reported "Col. Wagstaff has given a cottage at Islip to his son as a wedding gift," and Blanche's mother (also named Blanche) purchased a townhouse for her daughter at No. 24 East 54th Street.

But when things did not go well for the young couple Blanche Shoemaker stepped in again.  On February 24, 1916 the New York Herald entitled an article "Woman Buys Costly House for a Gift to Her Daughter," and reported that she had purchased No. 4 East 65th Street from Anna B. Bliss "as a gift to her daughter, Mrs. Alfred Wagstaff, Jr." for $275,000--more than $6.6 million in today's money.  The article pointed out the exclusive neighborhood, saying that it stood "opposite the [John Jacob] Astor mansion" and that Blanche would have as her new neighbors the Blisses, James J. Hill, M. Orme Wilson and William Watts Sherman.

This portrait of Blanche was painted in 1905 by French artist Theobald Chartran.  image via christies.com

It may have been the bride's youth that contributed to the failed marriage (she was 19 at the time), or simply her self reliance.  Blanche was already a recognized name in the literary field.  She had begun writing poetry as a child and her first poem had been sold to Town & Country magazine three years before the wedding.   Unlike other society brides, she insisted on a career and served briefly as the associate editor of the literary magazine, The International, and published volumes of her own poetry.  By the time she moved into the 65th Street house, she was editor of the Boston-based Poetry Journal and her play Alcentis had been produced.

Blanche's involvement with The International came to a crashing end when she butted heads with her close friend and the publication's founder, George Sylvester Viereck, over his ardent support of Germany as World War I erupted.  That heated rift may have contributed to her decision to join the war effort in 1917.  

Only a year after moving into her new mansion, she closed it.  On December 3, 1917 the New York Herald reported "Mrs. Alfred Wagstaff, Jr., has gone to France to drive an ambulance for the American Girls' Aid Hospital, twelve miles from the western front."  A thoroughly 20th-century woman, Blanche had obtained her State license as a mechanic.  The article said, "She has driven an automobile in nearly all parts of the world, and has ridden motorcycles, hence she thinks she is equipped to transport the wounded."  To make certain, Blanche financed her own "specially built ambulance."

Blanche's mother had retained the title to the 65th Street house.  While Blanche was in France she leased it to a succession of millionaires like the Moses Taylors, James A. Blaire and his wife, and in June 1919, to Thomas B. Yuille and his family.  

Yuille had been president of the American Tobacco Company until 1916.  He had stepped down to become president of the Universal Leaf Tobacco Company.   He and his wife, the former Nanny W. Long, had four daughters.  The Yuille's country estate, Quankey, was in Bronxville, New York.  

Once back in America, Blanche Wagstaff briefly returned to No. 4 East 65th Street.  She and her husband had never divorced, but it was most likely her romance with real estate Donald Carr that prompted her to take care of that detail in December 1920.  

Seven months later, on July 31, 1921 The Evening Telegram announced the Blanche and Carr had been married at her country home, Bide-a-Wee, in Manchester, Vermont.  The article noted "A feature of the ceremony was the reading by the clergyman of one of the bride's poems called 'Marriage.'"  The New York Times recounted some of the Blanche's exploits.  "She has traveled extensively in Italy and in the Orient and has made several campaign trips in the great Sahara desert."

Blanche Shoemaker sold No. 4 the following year to Harold C. Matthews who paid the equivalent of $3.2 million today.  He quickly resold it to Dr. Arthur Balwin Duel who installed a doctor's office in the first floor.  He lived and worked from the house until 1928 when he sold it to Henry "Harry" Pomeroy Davison, a banker with J. P. Morgan & Co.

Davison and his wife, the former Anne Stillman, had three sons, Harry, Jack and James.  Their country home, Appledore, was at Oyster Bay, Long Island.  Within months of moving in Davis hired architect Robert Cowrie to add a penthouse level to the mansion.  

The Davisons remained in the house for a decade, selling it in 1939 to a real estate operator.  The following year The New York Sun reported "The former town home of Harry P. Davison, at 4 East Sixty-fifth street, has been remodeled into nine suites of two, three and four-room duplex and triplex apartments."

The New York Sun, October 1940

Among the first of the well-heeled tenants was playwright and producer Moss Hart, who leased a duplex apartment in June 1942.  In December 1943 Hart left town for the weekend, as did his neighbor, Count Vincent Orssich.  Both men would come home to a shocking surprise.

On December 16 The New York Sun reported "Several thousand dollars' worth of jewelry, clothing, liquor and valuable mementos were stolen from the luxurious apartments of Moss Hart, prominent theatrical producer and author, and former Austrian cavalry officer, Count Vincent Orssich at 4 East 65th Street.  After briefly checking for missing items, Hart estimated the theft at $10,000, while Orssich placed his loss at $6,000--a total haul of about $235,000 today.  The article said:

Among the articles stolen from Mr. Hart were a number of souvenirs of sentimental value.  They included an expensive cigarette case given to him by Zeppo Marx, a pair of cufflinks which had belonged to the late Alexander Wollcott, a golden tray given to Mr. Hart by the cast of "Lady in the Dark" and a string of hearts which formerly belonged to Gertrude Lawrence.

Count Orssich had lost "clothing and several pairs of expensive shoes, jewelry and ten quarts of Scotch whisky."

On August 10, 1946 Hart married actress Kitty Carlisle and the couple continued to live in the 65th Street apartment.  Early in November burglars again tried force entrance into the suite but, according to The New York Times, "were frightened away."

The following month they would be more successful.  The Harts went to their country home in New Hope, Pennsylvania for Christmas.  On Christmas Eve their butler, Charles Mathies, returned to New York, "bringing with him expensive wedding gifts," according to The New York Times.  When the Harts walked into the apartment on Christmas night they found that "patient burglars during the early hours of Christmas Day thoroughly [had] thoroughly ransacked the duplex apartment."  This time they escaped with $25,000 "worth of clothing, jewelry, Christmas and wedding gifts."

As Hart looked over the wreckage of his apartment he pronounced it "A spectacular return engagement."  Police theorized that the crooks gained access by ringing the bells downstairs until someone buzzed them in.  Hart sighed, "They didn't miss a thing."

Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Hart outside a theater in 1961.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

They had taken every item of clothing from the apartment, including 14 suits and six overcoats belonging to Hart and taking all of Kitty Carlisle's coats--a sable, a white fox, a broadtail, a mink cape and a beaver cape--leaving her with only the one she wore.  The New York Times added, "The thieves also took several gold cigarette cases, her father's diamond watch fob, a gold bracelet and a gold pin presented to her by the producers of a show."  

They also made away with a Georgian tea set and a silver service given them by the Ira Gershwins.  Because all of the silverware was now gone, the butler brought knives, forks and spoons from his apartment so his employers could have breakfast, and he loaned Hart two suits.

"The playwright phoned Danny Kaye, the comedian.  Mr. Kaye provided a suit and an overcoat.  Both have the same tailor, and wear the same size clothing," said the article.  The Sun placed the value of the lost items at $196,000 in today's money.

In February 1926 socialite Gertrude Nelson had founded the contract bridge group, the Nelson Bridge Club.  For the next 25 years until her death it "attracted some of New York's finest players," according to The New York Times.  On February 1, 1964 the newspaper announced, "Today the Nelson club will be reopened at 4 East 65th Street under the management of the founder's son, Carter Nelson, who hopes to revive the sociable atmosphere of the original club."

The basement and first floor were officially converted to a club in 1969, but returned to apartments in 1972.  Outwardly the sedate facade gives little hint that the building is no longer a private mansion.

photographs by the author

The 1910 John M. Bowers House - 45 East 65th Street

On July 16 1909 Benson B. Sloan sold the old brownstone house at No. 45 East 65th Street "and part" of the four-story house next door at No. 63 to John Meyer Bowers.   The portion of the abutting property would make possible a more commodious, 28-foot wide new dwelling.  The architectural firm of Hoppin & Koen was hired to design a six-story brick and limestone residence at a cost of $50,000, or about $1.45 million today.

Born in Cooperstown, New York in 1850, Bowers was a noted lawyer.  The house in which he was born, Lakelands, was built in 1804 and sat on property granted to Henry Bowers by the British Crown.   John Bowers's wife, the former Susan Dandridge, had a Colonial pedigree as well.  She was descended from Alexander Spotswood, a Colonial Governor of Virginia, and Martha Dandridge, who married George Washington.  The couple had five grown children.

Sadly, Susan Bowers would never see her new home.  On September 14, 1909, one month before the plans were filed, she died at Lakelands.

The 65th Street house was completed the following year.  Hoppin & Koen had produced a dignified neo-Georgian residence.  A rusticated limestone base upheld four stories of red brick.  A full-width stone balustrade gave the impression of a balcony at the second floor.  Two intermediate cornices, one quite prominent with stone brackets, framed the fourth floor.  Another balustrade introduced the mansard level with its three copper-clad dormers.

By social protocol Bowers's period of mourning extended to fall 1910.  Only months afterward, on July 28, 1911 The Evening World reported "To friends in New York and other cities the news will come as a surprise that John M. Bowers of the legal firm of Bowers & Sands...is to marry again.  In Christ Episcopal Church, in Cooperstown, N. Y., to-morrow morning he will make Miss Kate Starkweather his bride."

The newspaper said that the bride "belongs to one of the oldest and most prominent families in that part of the State" and pointed out "She is about half the age of Mr. Bowers and is very pretty and popular in society."

The newlyweds were entertaining in the 65th Street house that winter season.  On February 19, 1912 they hosted a dinner followed by dancing with John's son William as guest of honor.

Already well known in upstate society, Katharine Bowers became prominent in Cooperstown.  On July 6, 1913, for instance, the New-York Tribune reported "Mrs. John M. Bowers has been giving a round robin tennis tournament at Lakelands every morning and afternoon this week."

Lakelands, the 1804 Cooperstown country home.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

Although Bowers was already well known within the legal community, he garnered national attention in 1915 when he defended former President Theodore Roosevelt in a libel suit brought by politician William Barnes.   Roosevelt had publicly accused Barnes of being "a corrupt, obnoxious political boss."  Barnes sued for $50,000 in damages--more than $1.3 million today.

The highly publicized, five week trial began on August 19, 1915.  Bowers did not deny that his client had made the remarks, or say that they were expected campaign rhetoric.  Instead he explained in clear detail that the accusations were factual.  Bowers was triumphant and the former President was acquitted.  The New-York Tribune said Bowers's defense "is described by all who heard it as a 'masterly oration.'"

With World War I raging overseas, in 1917 Congress enacted a "draft law."  John M. Bowers was appointed to do the legal work in forming the Selective Service.  It was a daunting project with limited time to complete.  On March 9, 1918 The Sun reported "Another distinguished civilian has given his life for his country just as truly as though he had been killed in action as a uniformed soldier fighting the German foe.  John M. Bowers, one of the leaders of the New York bar, is dead as a result of overwork in connection with the selective draft."  

Bowers was 68 years old.  He left an estate estimated at around $17 million in today's dollars.  Before the year was up Katharine had sold the 65th Street house to lawyer Thomas Ewing.  On December 7, 1918 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that he "contemplates the erection of a private residence" on the site.

Attorney Thomas Ewing original source unknown

As it turned out, any plans to demolish the eight-year old residence were discarded.   The names of Ewing and his wife, the former Anna Phillips Cochran, would appear in social columns not only for their entertainments, but for the marriages of their maturing children.  The first to leave home was William Francis Cochran Ewing.  The 24-year old was married to Emily Fordyce Dodge in Mount Kisco, New York in June 1923.  The groom's brother, Thomas, Jr., was his best man and his sister, Ellen, was a bridesmaid.

The year 1925 was a busy one for the Ewing household.  On January 6 the New York Telegram and Evening Mail announced that Thomas and Anna had hosted a dinner at Pierre's "for their son, Mr. Sherman Ewing, and his fiancée, Miss Mary Peavy Heffelfinger."  

That winter was Ellen's debutante season; but before those events came parties that followed the announcement of Gifford Cochran Ewing's engagement to Frances Leverich Riker in November.

Ellen finally got her time in the spotlight.  On December 5 her mother gave a debutante reception in the 65th Street house, and the following week, on December 12, she was given a dinner and a dance at the Colony Club.  The Yonkers Statesman reported "At the dinner were about seventy-five friends and relatives."

Anna Ewing had little time to rest.  The following year on December 28 son Thomas was married to Lucia Hosmer Chase in Waterbury, Connecticut.  Guests came from as far away as Chicago, Cincinnati and Washington, D. C.  Eleanor Taft, daughter-in-law of former President William Howard Taft, was the maid of honor.

In November 1929 the Council on Foreign Relations purchased No. 45 East 65th Street.  The New York Times remarked "This modern six-story house will provide a permanent home for the council.  One of its features will be a reference library on international affairs, and it will provide facilities for the carrying on of the council's research program as well as for its conferences and round-table meetings."

With the world having experienced a catastrophic world war, the focus of the Council on Foreign Relations was "the scientific study of foreign relations."  It backed the publication of the Quarterly Review of Foreign Affairs, the Annual Survey of American Foreign Relations, and the Political Handbook of the World.  Its co-presidents were Elihu Root and John W. Davis.

On November 28, 1930, following interior alterations by the architectural firm of Delano & Aldrich, the organization moved in.  In his remarks Elihu Root said in part, "The establishment of this building and the centering of the work of the Council on Foreign Relations here indicates the appreciation of a truth very widely neglected and that the work of improving the foreign relations of the civilized man is necessarily very slow and laborious and difficult."

The title to the property was transferred in 1945 to the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.  Founded in 1921 for the "perpetuation of Wilson's ideals," it provided grants to groups and individuals.  The organization remained in the former mansion until 1963 when it moved to Princeton University.  In October that year The New York Times announced that the Foundation had sold the property to realty investor Fred H. Hill.

No. 45 East 65th Street now became home to the Institute for Rational Living.  Renovations were made which resulted in "psycho-therapy-educational classrooms" and a "school for emotional education" in the basement through third floor.  The floors four through six became residential space for two families.

The former Bowers mansion was sold again in February 2013 for around $20 million.  A renovation completed in 2018 returned it to a single-family home.

photographs by the author

The Palacio - 55-57 East 65th Street

20th century fire escapes obscure the detailing.

Developer Thomas McLaughlin embarked on a chancy real estate endeavor in 1892 when he hired the architectural firm of Thom & Wilson to design a flat house on the north side of East 65th Street, just west of Park Avenue.  Apartment living was still viewed with skepticism by well-to-do Upper East Side residents and The Palacio would sit markedly on a block lined with upscale private homes.

Completed within the year, the building contained thirteen sprawling suites of seven or eight rooms.  Thom & Wilson had created a seven-story blend of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles.  Its asymmetrical design included a two-story rusticated brownstone base where the centered entrance was flanked by tightly clustered Romanesque columns.  The window directly above it was fronted by a charming Juliette balcony.  The upper floors were clad in tan brick generously trimmed in brownstone, the carved designs of which drew inspiration from the Renaissance period.  Because the building hugged the property line, several feet forward from the facades of the high-stooped houses around it, the architects were able to gently curve the western corner to create an eye catching design element.

The delightful half-round balcony above the entrance can be seen in this 1938 photograph. The double house in the center of the frame was originally home to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Franklin's mother, Sarah.  photograph from the collection of the New York Public Library

An advertisement in the New-York Tribune in April 1899 touted the modern amenities of The Palacio, including "hall service; elevator; electric light."  The term "hall service" referred to the "hall boys" on staff--normally teen-aged boys who ran errands, delivered packages, took mail to and from apartments and handled other helpful tasks.  Prospective tenants would pay $1,800 per year for an eight-room apartment, or about $4,700 a month rent in today's money.

The moneyed residents appeared often in society columns.  On May 28, 1899, for instance, the New-York Tribune announced that "Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Van Lennep and family, of No. 55 East Sixty-fifth-st., have arranged to sail for Europe on the steamship Kaiser Friedrich on June 20.  They will remain abroad until September or October."

Among the most socially prominent families in The Palacio was that of Stephen Van Rensselaer whose ancestor Kiliean van Rensselaer was one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company and of New Amsterdam.  The original Van Rensselaer manor engulfed all of what today are Albany and Rensselaer counties upstate.  On January 14, 1900 the New-York Daily Tribune reported that Mrs. Rensselaer had given her second reception of that winter season.

More newsworthy, however, was the socially important wedding that took place in Boston on December 12, 1900 when the Van Rensselaers' son, Charles Augustus, married Caroline Elizabeth Fitzgerald.  Newspapers noted "Mr. and Mrs. Van Rensselaer will reside at 55 East Sixty-fifth Street, New York."

The family of esteemed physician George B. McAuliffe lived here at the time.  Born in New York City on September 20, 1864, he had graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1888.  He was now the Adjunct Professor of Otology at New York Polyclinic, throat surgeon at the Metropolitan Throat Hospital, oculist at Harlem Hospital, the Mothers' Home Hospital and the Red Cross Hospital, as well as other positions throughout the city.

The family suffered tragedy on March 19, 1899 when five-year old George G. McAuliffe died.  Following her period of mourning, Mrs. McAuliffe resumed her social routine.  Originally from the South, she was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy.  A reception for "a large number of Southerners resident in New-York," as described by the New-York Tribune, on May 7, 1901 would raise eyebrows today.

For the most part the event was little different than any other afternoon social function; but at least one detail intended to provide Southern flavor could only be called racist today.  "The rooms were decorated with pink and white roses, and a negro banjoist and mandolinist played 'darky' melodies softly all through the reception."

Like all socialites, Mrs. McAuliffe was involved in charitable causes.  Her greatest focus was on the Northwestern Dispensary to which, according to The Evening Telegram on March 15, 1904, she devoted much of her time.

The building had been sold in 1903 and renamed The Sussex.   Nothing else changed for the tenants, including the rent which was exactly the same as it had been on opening day.

New-York Tribune, August 30, 1903 (copyright expired)

As it did throughout the country, World War I changed the lives of residents in The Sussex.  None were more affected than attorney and U. S. Commissioner of Patents Frederick Innes Allen and his wife, the former Cornelia Seward.   The couple had impressive family backgrounds--Cornelia's father, William H. Seward, had been Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick's first American ancestor, George Allen, arrived in Massachusetts in 1636.

In 1917 all three of their sons enlisted--32-year old William Seward Allen enrolled in the U. S. Naval Reserves; Ralph S. Allen enlisted in the Army (happily, no doubt for his mother, assigned to a clerical position); and 28-year old Lloyd Seward Allen joined the Army Air Corps.

Lloyd's choice of branches was obvious.  After graduating from Yale he had gone into the construction of airplanes and "the invention of flying devices," according to the New York Herald.  After training at Dallas, Texas, he was transferred to the Wilbur Wright Aviation Field in Dayton, Ohio.  But he would never see action overseas.

New York Herald, May 2, 1918 (copyright expired)

On May 2, 1918 the New York Herald reported that Lloyd, "a cadet flyer at the Wilbur Wright Aviation Field, met instant death to-day when his machine became unmanageable while he was making a practice flight, and crashed into one of the school buildings on the ground."

R. Grover Hutchins had left his position as president of the National Bank of Commerce to head the Home and Hospital Division of the American Red Cross in Paris.  His wife's anxiety was increased when their daughter, Margaret, left her studies at Bryn Mawr College and volunteered with the Signal Corps, also in Paris.  There she did "telephone duty," according to the New York Herald.  Four months after the end of the war, on February 8, 1919, father and daughter arrived home on the same ship.  The banker had attained the rank of major.

The conflict greatly affected another resident, Josiah Kingsley Ohl, in a different way.  Ohl was editor The New York Herald, a position he assumed in 1913.  With the outbreak of war was appointed head of the Washington Bureau.  The New York Times later explained the dual responsibilities "caused him physical hardship, as well, because of the necessity for frequent trips to Washington."

The editor's work was recognized internationally.  The Times said he "came in close contact with representatives of foreign Governments, and at various times received the decorations of Commander of the Crown of Italy, Chevalier of the Order of King George III of Greece, Chevalier of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, and Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France."

Ohl and his wife, the former Maude Annulet Andrews, had one daughter, Joan Kingsley Ohl.  On August 19, 1919 they announced her engagement to David Frank Webster.  The wedding took place on September 3 at the Church of the Heavenly Rest.

Ten months later, on June 27, 1920, Josiah Kingsley Ohl died in the 65th Street apartment after having suffered a nervous breakdown followed by a short illness and then a heart attack.  The Times reported that his heart condition "had been aggravated by strain under which he labored during the World War."  He was only 57 years old.

Maude left The Sussex soon after.  On October 18 The New York Herald announced she "has given up her home at 55 East Sixty-fifth street, and will pass the winter in Summerville, S. C.   She expects to remain there a year."

The Sussex was, by now, a cooperative building.  Although the first cooperative apartment house, The Gramercy, was opened in 1883, the concept was still relatively unusual.

New-York Tribune, June 20, 1920 (copyright expired)

The Allen family were still in residence.  Cornelia died on October 5, 1921 after a length illness.  The following year, on April 16, William Seward Allen's engagement to Dorothy Wilmot was announced.  The wedding took place that June; and Ralph was married to Elizabeth Bailey in April 1923.

Frederick Allen remained in The Sussex, now alone.  He retired in 1928, but continued his hobby of mineralogy.  The New York Times noted that "He maintained in his home, in which he had lived since 1908, a laboratory for the chemical analysis of minerals and had an extensive mineralogical collection."  Allen died of a heart attack in his apartment at the age of 79 on May 18, 1938.

In the summer of 1948 Phorwall Petersen was hired as an elevator operator.  The 51-year old was a retired merchant marine sea captain who had served in World War I.  His years of training in emergency situations came into play on January 9, 1949.

Petersen was sitting in the lobby at around 7:15 that night when he smelled smoke.  He took the elevator downstairs where he found the basement in flames.  After notifying the building superintendent, he "embarked on what the tenants he serves described as a one-man rescue mission," according to The New York Times.

He made a total of seven trips up and down in the elevator, knocking on every door and warning the residents to evacuate.  When there was no response, he used his passkey to rescue pets whose owners were not home.  After his last trip, he collapsed on the lobby floor and was taken to Roosevelt Hospital where he was treated for smoke poisoning.

Luckily, although the entire building filled with smoke, the major damage was confined to the basement level and the two doctor's offices on the ground floor.

While many late Victorian apartment buildings suffered decline by mid-century, The Sussex retained its upscale tone.  

One resident discarded an old oil painting in July 1997--one which caught the eye of a passerby.  John W. Nichols picked up the discarded portrait "sticking out of a pile of trash bags," as reported by The New York Times on July 3, despite some damage.

It turned out to be a portrait of Andrew Foster, Esq., painted in 1848 by William Jewett and Samuel Lovett Waldo.  The pair shared a studio and cooperatively worked on portraits, Waldo doing the face and hands, Jewett the clothing and backgrounds.  Examples of their works hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Upon investigation, Nichols discovered that Andrew Foster was the great-grandfather of Henry Francis duPont.

Most likely the transoms of the first and second floor windows once held colorful stained glass.

Other than replacement doors and the unsightly fire escape that veils much of the detailing of the facade, The Sussex is relatively unchanged after more than 125 years.

photographs by the author

The Edward B. Marks House - 53 East 65th Street

In 1875 developer Hugh Blesson erected a row of seven high-stooped houses on the north side of East 65th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues.   Prolific architect John G. Prague designed the narrow houses (each was just 17 feet wide) in the currently popular neo-Grec style.  Four stories tall above the high English basement, their openings were fully framed, with bracketed sills and substantial decorative lintels.  Deeply-overhanging galvanized iron cornices crowned the design.

No. 53 East 65th Street saw a succession of owners before the turn of the century.  Lost in foreclosure in 1886, it was sold at auction in April that year for $20,250 (about $558,000 today).  The sale notice that the purchase included the "gas fixtures, mirrors, &c."

The buyer was Thomas McPherson who sold it two years later for $29,000, making a handsome profit.  The house was turned over several more times before Edward B. Marks purchased it in April 1902.  Unlike his predecessors, Marks intended to stay.

Born in 1865 in Troy, New York, Edward Marks was a song-writer who founded the Edward B. Marks Music Company in 1894.  Among his early commercial hits were "Hot times in the Old Town Tonight" and "Sweet Rosie O'Grady."  Marks published the first song written by Irving Berlin, and the first by Jerome Kern.

He had married the former Miriam Chuck on December 15, 1897.  The couple would have three children, Phyllis Miriam, Herbert East, and Edward B. Marks, Jr.

Exactly a year after moving into No. 53 Marks hired architect Lewis Colt Albro to make alterations.  The plans filed are obscure; however the changes most likely had to do with interior updating.

The Marks family's summer home was at Arverne-by-the-Sea on the Rockaway Peninsula.  The property owners there enacted a strict set of rules to ensure the community's fashionable tone was maintained.  So in January 1904 when it was announced that the Halcyon Casino Company intended to improve its boardwalk property with a bowling alley and carousel, "and to run them in defiance of the restrictions," according to the New-York Tribune, the cottage owners took action.  Edward B. Marks was among those who "decided to make a legal fight."

The management of the casino fought back against the injunction by erecting signs on the boardwalk prohibiting passage onto the "private property."  And when the community simply began construction of a second boardwalk that would circumvent the casino, the managers played what the New-York Tribune called its "strongest card."

On June 28 the newspaper reported "On Sunday the residents of Arverne were horror-stricken to see a dozen or more negroes sitting in willow rocking chairs on the boardwalk in front of the Halcyon Casino Company's building.  They were guests of President William F. Kemble of the company.  They had basket luncheons provided, it was said, by their host, and were served with ice cream by men in the employ of the company."

The community restrictions banned the sale of anything to Blacks; but, as the New-York Tribune pointed out, "he can remain a jolly host (gratis to the guest) just so long as he likes and the company's funds hold out."  Marks and his neighbors had been trumped.  

It may have been this incident that prompted Marks to relocate the family's summer residence to Great Neck, Long Island.  Their home "Cherry Lawn" there included amenities like a tennis court.

In July 1913 Marks brought Lewis Colt Albro back to make additional renovations on the 65th Street house--this time more significant.  The plans called for the equivalent of $131,000 today in remodeling.  The stoop was removed and the entrance moved to the former basement level within a columned portico.  It supported a striking copper-clad bay at the former parlor level.  Then, a month after the plans were filed, the Record & Guide noted the house "is being altered into small apartments."

If that was the initial plan, the renovations fell short of that, at least for a while.  The family continued to live in the remodeled house.  The children of the song writer and publisher were exposed to the cultural advantages of Manhattan.  In his 2005 autobiography Still Counting: Achievements and Follies of a Nonagenarian, Edward B. Marks, Jr. recalled:

My mother took me to children's theater performances, to the Museum of Natural History, to the zoo, and once, on the subway, to Coney Island.  when I was six or seven, she took me to a matinee to see Sarah Bernhardt perform on one of her farewell tours.

He noted that his parents gave roulette parties on Saturday nights and that they "enjoyed musical comedies and operettas, especially if my father was publishing the music, and they periodically went to the Metropolitan Opera."

In 1920, after Phyllis married and Herbert went away to college, the Marks family moved into an apartment at 99th Street and West End Avenue.  Edward retained possession of the East 65th Street and once again had renovations done.  The house was converted to bachelor apartments with a doctor's office on the first floor.  The Department of Buildings warned that cooking in more than two of the apartments "will render this building liable to immediate vacation."

Obstetrician L. A. Wing initially took the doctor's office.  Among the upstairs tenants was Louigi Criscuolo, the former plenipotentiary of Montenegro in the United States.  While here he founded the Committee for Montenegrin Independence, using the address as its headquarters.  Criscuolo remained here at least through 1925.

When No. 53 was sold in May 1927 The Sun described it as a "five-story and basement apartment house."  It brought $69,350, or just about $1 million today.

Among the residents in 1936 was the widowed Hazel Short, who shared her apartment with her sister, Mildred Messingham.  Hazel's 21-year old daughter attended Columbia University.  That spring both Hazel and Mildred found themselves in legal trouble.

On May 28 the New York Post plastered a photograph of Hazel on its front page under a headline "Widow Accused of Forging $150,000 Check Gives Up."  

Press photographers captured Hazel arriving at court.  New York Post, May 28, 1936

Hazel surrendered at the East 51st Street police station on charges of adding zeroes to a $150 check, creating a $150,000 note.

The Evening Post described her as "attractive and smartly dressed."  Hazel, understandably, was not eager to have her photograph snapped by the reporters.  "Mrs. Short held the brim of a picture hat over her face," said the article, "but an appeal to vanity finally led her to post for pictures."  The reporters pointed out mug shots on the wall and warned "that such a picture of her would be printed in newspapers if she did not permit a more desirable one to be taken."

Mildred accompanied her sister to court, but it was not entirely for moral support.  After Hazel pleaded not guilty and paid her $2,500 bail, the women went off to Yorkville Court where Mildred was "to be arraigned on disorderly conduct charges."  The Los Angeles bank president who filed charges against Hazel, George M. Wallace, had come to town for to file the action.  The Post explained "This charge, filed by the Hotel Barclay, grew out of a disturbance in Mr. Wallace's room there."

An advertisement in the New York Post on September 17, 1938 offered available apartments, "one from $55."  That least expensive rent would equal about $980 per month in today's money.  The ad noted that one of the available apartments had a fireplace.

No. 53 would undergo three more alterations.  In 1950 it was converted to two apartments per floor, in 1993 to just three units, and in 1999 it was returned to a single family residence with four bedrooms and five baths.

photograph by the author

The Frederic H. Betts Mansion - 22 East 65th Street

Attorney Frederic Henry Betts was a partner in the firm of Betts, Betts, Sheffield & Betts.  His wealth and social status were reflected in his memberships to some of New York's most exclusive clubs--the Metropolitan, Century, and Grolier Clubs among them.  He and his wife, the former Mary Louise Hollbrook (who went by her middle name), were well known among Manhattan society.  Their summer estate was at Ardsley-on-Hudson.  

In March 1897 Betts purchased the large property at the southwest corner of Madison Avenue from Archibald D. Russell for just under $1.8 million in today's money.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported on March 13 that Betts "will build a residence for his own occupancy."

Betts commissioned society architect Grosvenor Atterbury to design the home.  His choice of architects is not surprising, since until three years earlier Charles Atterbury, Grosvenor's father, had been Betts's partner in Betts, Atterbury, Hyde & Betts.

The cost of construction brought his total outlay including land to the equivalent of just under $3 million today.  Construction progressed with lightning speed and the sumptuous residence was completed within the year.

Atterbury had produced a dignified neo-Georgian style mansion.  It was 25-feet wide on the avenue and stretched 95-feet along 65th Street.  The centered entrance sat within a portico below a grouping of three windows, fronted by a stone loggia.  Each of the second floor windows was enhanced with colorful stained glass transoms.  Atterbury used limestone for the quoins and bandcourses, which contrasted with the red brick, and faced the entire fifth floor in stone.

The couple had three children, Louis F. H., Mary E. (who was already married), and Wyllys Rossiter.  Louis and Wyllys moved into the mansion with their parents.  (Wyllys received his unusual name in honor of his ancestors, early Connecticut Governors George Wyllys and Samuel Wyllys.)

Louise resumed her social routine in the new home.  Every Monday morning during the winter season the Ladies' Singing Class met in the Betts residence.  Louise had organized it several years earlier and the New-York Daily Tribune deemed it "the oldest organization of its kind in New-York society."  On the evening of February 23, 1899 she showed off the group's accomplishments.

The Tribune reported "a very pleasant incident on Thursday evening was the informal reception given Mrs. Frederic L. Betts at her new home, No. 22 East Sixty-fifth-st."  Mary assisted her in receiving the guests, including some of the most recognized names in Manhattan society--like Mrs. Charles T. Barney, the William D. Sloanes, the Edward J. Berwinds, the Townsend Burdens, the Koernochans and the Schieffelins.  The article noted "The musical part of the entertainment was contributed by the members of the Ladies' Singing Class."

Three weeks later, on March 14, Louise experienced a frightful accident.  She was riding down Fifth Avenue in her brougham when a bicyclist, Michael Davay, lost control and ran into the pole of her carriage.  Louise's driver was able to control the frightened horse, but Davay suffered a fractured jaw.

The brougham Mary Betts was riding in was much like the one above.  Davay crashed into the pole at the side of the horse.  original source unknown

The following month, on April 6, 1899, Wyllys married Ada Godfrey.  When the newlyweds returned to New York Louise welcomed them back with a fete.  On December 7, 1899 the New-York Tribune reported "Mrs. Frederic W. Betts, who passed the summer in Europe, will give a reception at her home, No. 22 East Sixty-fifth-st., on Tuesday afternoon, December 19, in honor of her son and daughter-in-law."  The article noted that the couple "have established themselves for the winter in their new home, No. 63 East Seventy-fourth-st."

While Frederick and Louise sometimes summered in Europe, they most often spent the season at their Long Island estate, Mocomanto, in Southampton Village.  The house sat on Lake Agawam.  Louise had a gondola shipped from Venice in which she would be seen entertaining small groups of four or six on the lake.

Mary Louise Betts and friends in her Venetian gondola.  original source unknown

Louise was also highly involved in the Virginia Day Nursery, often holding its weekly meetings in the 65th Street house.  She opened the home for a sale for the benefit of the organization on Friday afternoon, December 13, 1902, as well.

On November 11, 1905 Frederic Betts died suddenly in the 65th Street house.  In reporting on his death, newspapers remarked on his illustrious career.  The Newburgh Register called him "one of the most prominent lawyers in New York," and said "He had been counsel in patent cases for the Western Union Company, American Bell Telephone Company, Edison Electric Light Company and many others."

Louise received the entire "big estate," as worded by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, with the stipulation that she "is to care for the children."  Saying that Betts was "classed among the millionaire summer residents" of Southampton, the newspaper estimated the value of Mocomanto alone at $200,000--nearly $5.9 million today.

By 1908 Louise had moved into a Park Avenue apartment.  She leased the 65th Street house in August that year to banker James Cunningham Bishop and his wife, Abigail.

Like Mary Louise Betts, Abigail was interesting in honing musical talent.  She organized weekly classes for underprivileged children in the house.  In an unexpectedly democratic move, she included her four of her five daughters in the classes--three who played violin and one the piano.

On February 16, 1911 The New York Herald reported that she had sent out invitations to an upcoming Children's Orchestra concert in the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel.  "The concert will be out of the ordinary run of musical entertainments prepared for society," said the article, "as the performers will all be children, prodigies of Mrs. Bishop, and members of her own family."

The article went on "Many women in society provide for the children of the less fortunate tribes in the country in the summer, but in lieu of anything of this sort, Mrs. Bishop has made possible for children of talent whose means do not allow its cultivation a chance for the study of music and for several winters these children have met at her house, No. 22 East Sixty-fifth street and have been trained by Mr. Louis Cornau." 

To anyone who knew the Bishops, their married life seemed tranquil.  Their names repeatedly appeared in society columns for entertainments like the dinner party on October 15, 1912 for Abigail's niece, Laura Merriam and her fiancé, James Freeman Curtis, the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.  Two months later a dinner and dance was held in the house for the Bishops' debutante daughters, Mary and Augusta.

But things had been rocky in the Bishop household for several years.  What the guests at the glittering debutante dinner and dance probably did not know was that James had moved out on November 9.  On January 8, 1913 Abigail sued for divorce, naming Mrs. Lelia Gaines Gwathmey as her husband's mistress.  Abigail had given a maid at the Astor Hotel a camera to capture evidence of the dalliance.

The drawn-out hearing was not a pleasant affair.  Bishop denied any misconduct and called his wife's charges "the phantoms of a disordered imagination, induced by the excessive us of alcoholic stimulants for the past several years."  Affidavits signed by three psychiatrists (known as alienists at the time) prompted an all-caps headline in The New York Herald on February 5, 1913:

ALIENISTS SAY MRS. BISHOP DRANK LIQUOR TO EXCESS

In what might be seen as a attempt to gain sympathy, Abigail filed for bankruptcy on March 8, 1913, claiming her husband refused to support her and the children.  She told the court that "the only assets she can actually lay her hands on are the furnishings of her house at 22 East Sixty-fifth street, which she estimates to be worth $1,000."

The Sun, however, pointed out that she owned outright $57,000 shares of stock in the Orchard Spring Water Company (about $1.5 million today), and would receive a $20,000 a year income when the divorce was finalized.  Abigail was immediately concerned, however, in the $28,351 she owed her dressmaker, milliner and lawyer.

Things turned physical on the evening of May 22, 1913.  James and his brother, Francis, visited Abigail that night.  The discussion apparently grew heated, for Abigail called her lawyer, James W. Osborne, and said "My husband and his brother are in my home and my husband has said he would kill you, Mr. Osborne."

Osborne and his nephew, also named James, jumped in a taxicab and arrived at the 65th Street house a few minutes later.   Just as they reached the door, Osborne and his brother were leaving.  Word were exchanged and Osborne's nephew and James Bishop began throwing punches.  The battled went from the porch to 65th Street, and "extended over a good part of the intersection of that street and Madison avenue," reported The New York Herald.

The colorful and complex stained glass transoms survive in the second floor windows.

"James C. Bishop and the younger Mr. Osborne were locked so tightly in each other's arms while they hammered with their fists as they rolled over the street that a policeman had difficulty in prying them apart."  Both men were taken away in a patrol wagon and both preferred charges against the other.  The newspaper said "the charges were withdrawn in the Men's Night Court in the presence of Mrs. Bishop, who was highly excited."

Abigail won her case on May 30.  She won custody of their seven-year old daughter, the other four being of the age to choose.  They chose their father.   The judge, Justice Hendrick, noted that Abigail would most likely have to leave her lavish home.

"It appears that this house is rented by the plaintiff at $10,000 a year...It is evident that if the plaintiff is to live in that house in such circumstances as she has been accustomed to it will be an expensive establishment to maintain."

He was apparently correct, for Abigail moved out within a year and a half.  In March 1915 Martina Downing signed a 20-year lease on the house.  The Record & Guide noted "Mrs. Downing will move her business to that location."

Madison Avenue had already become highly commercialized with high-end shops.  The location was perfect for Martina Downing's dress shop.  The designer had created a reputation among fashionable society women.  On August 7 The Record & Guide reported that architect Charles F. Peck had designed the renovations for a store in the Madison Avenue elevation.

Martina, her husband, Mortimer J. Downing, and their 19-year old son, Mortimer, Jr., moved into the house.  They were looking for a new houseman (a catch-all term for someone available to do general duties) in March 1920.  Their ad specified a "steady, reliable, Christian man, with first class references."

Mortimer and Martina worked together in the business, but it was Martina who ran it.  The Woman's Home Companion said in July 1923 that she "makes clothes for smart younger New York and may be trusted as an authority."

Martina Downing designed these summer dinner dresses in 1923.  Women's Home Companion, June 1923

In 1936 the house was purchased by the Oceanic Investing Corp.   Architect C. F. Rosbarg was commissioned to convert the upper floors to apartments.  In doing so, he removed the portico and the loggia.  The renovations, completed in 1937 resulted in three stores on the first floor and two apartments each in the upper stories.

Seams in the brickwork testify to the missing portico.

In 1960 a beauty salon was installed on the second floor for society hairdresser Monsieur Marc.  His high-end clientele was evidenced at a cocktail party he held in the salon on March 26, 1970.  The New York Times began its article saying "The Duchess of Windsor didn't make it--her ship was lake docking.  Neither did Mrs. William S. Paley nor her sister, Mrs. John Hay Whitney.  They were in the Bahamas.  However, their sister, Mrs. James W. Fosburgh, did.  So did young Mrs. Frederic Byers 3d, who is Mrs. Payley's stepdaugher.

"And so did Mrs. Winthrop Rockefeller, wife of the Governor of Arkansas, Mrs. Leland Hayward (who was once Winston Churchill's daughter-in-law), Mrs. Joseph A. Meehan, Mrs. Julien Chaqueneau, Mrs. Lawrence Copley Thaw, Countess Guy de Brantes, Mrs. Palmer Dixon and other regulars who have their hair done at the Monsieur Marc salon."

In 1985, Mimi Sheraton wrote an article in Harper's Bazaar about the society restaurant Le Cirque.  She mentioned "Nancy Reagan is likely to order the [lobster] salad, but when she is at her hairdresser's (Monsieur Marc, 22 East Sixty-fifth Street) and doesn't have time to make it to the restaurant, Sirio sends over a chicken-and-watercress salad."

In the meantime the ground floor shops housed upscale businesses.  Harbour Knits opened in 1982; The Green Thumb, a florist, was here the following year; and the gourmet shop Terra Mare by 1995.  In 2018 contemporary art gallery Kurimanzutto opened.

Although sadly missing its terminal cornice and its elegant entrance porch, the Betts mansion manages to remind the passerby of its elegant past.

photographs by the author