The 1892 Felix Hamberger House - 123 East 95th Street

 

In two phases--completed in 1890 and 1892--developer Francis J. Schnugg erected 17 abutting houses on the northern side of East 95th Street between Park and Madison Avenues.  Nearly filling the blockfront, they were designed by Louis Entzer Jr. in a happy blend of styles.  Among the second phase was 123 East 95th Street, a mirror image of No. 125.  The structures' Rorschach-like design was best exemplified in the shared molding and Renaissance Revival carving that straddled the doorways.

Along with side-by-side stoops, the parlor floor ornaments unified the pair.

Entzer's potpourri of styles included Gothic Revival inspired square-headed moldings at the parlor level, the Renaissance Revival carving above the doors and faceted oriels at the second floor in the same style, Romanesque Revival arched windows and eyebrows at the third floor, and neo-Classical swags and wreaths in the pressed metal cornices.

No. 123 was purchased by Felix Hamberger, an insurance broker.  The family's upper-middle-class status was reflected in their ads looking for domestic help.  In wealthy families, the roles of the staff were highly defined, while in middle-class homes servants took on several responsibilities.  An advertisement on October 2, 1895 read: "General housework and plain cooking for family, adults.  123 East 95th st." and the following year, on June 15, 1896, an ad sought a "Girl to do plain cooking, washing and ironing for small family of adults."

Francis Schnugg reclaimed the house in foreclosure in 1902.  It was sold to Bernard Neuhaus who resold it to Charles Gulden in June 1906.  Gulden purchased the house as an investment and leased it to Dr. George A. Friedman and his wife.  The couple had two small children.

Among the Friedmans' staff was Katie Becker, described by the New York Herald as "a Hungarian girl of 22."  On April 27, 1912, the newspaper said that Katie was "such a model maidservant that [the couple] wouldn't part with her for anything.  Peace and quiet usually follow Katies ministrations to household needs."

That peace and quiet was shattered the the night of April 25.  Dr. Friedman came home late from a meeting at Mount Sinai Hospital.  "He found his wife and Katie in the dining room, where Katie had prepared a late supper," said the New York Herald.  Just as Friedman sat down in the basement level dining room, Katie remarked that she smelled smoke.  The doctor investigated and found the portieres between the living room and his consulting room were on fire.  The fire was put out, but Katie was "greatly excited."

Dr. Friedman assumed that Katie had accidentally set the curtains on fire while lighting the gas fixtures.  He told Katie that "she wouldn't be scolded," but she insisted that she had nothing to do with the fire.  Unconvinced, Friedman and his wife went back to their dinner and Katie went upstairs.

Seconds later, the Friedmans were jolted by Katie's screams.  The doctor bolted out of the basement door to find a policeman.  The street was busy with men and women who were leaving a dance nearby.  By the time Friedman brought back a policeman, he found his parlor floor crowded with passersby who "had run in to find out what the matter was."  He also found Katie, "lying on the floor under a small table."

The curtain incident had been, apparently, a distraction by an intruder.  When Katie came to, she told of entering her room to surprise a "big man."  She told investigators that he "put chloroform to her mouth and then dragged her downstairs, throwing her into the room where she was found," according to the newspaper.  Other than the $2.50 that had been in her purse, the intruder took nothing.

Because of that, police did not believe Katie's story.  The New York Herald said, "The police were somewhat inclined to think that Katie's digestion was out of order."  Her employer, however, trusted her.  Dr. Friedman now accepted that the "queer burglar" had set the curtains on fire and "that it was a real adventure that Katie met with when she climbed the stairs."  The article said, "So Katie won't loose her job on a charge of being too imaginative."

Dr. Friedman placed what many readers must have consider a bizarre ad in the "Lost" columns of The New York Times on July 14, 1913.  "LOST--Six rubber stomach tubes, July 9, on Lexington car, 118th St.; reward.  Physician, 123 East 95th St., 9 to 1 P.M."

The Friedmans continued to rent 123 East 95th Street through 1918.  On January 28, 1919, the New-York Tribune reported that the Charles Gulden Estate had leased it to Mrs. Harry Symonds.  She was still occupying the house when the Charles Gulden Estate offered it for sale in November 1920.

It is unclear whether Mrs. Symonds continued to lease the house from the new owner, or if she, in fact, was the purchaser.  Either way, she continued to live here.  Her vocation was the breeding of pedigree Pekingese dogs and in 1921 a dozen of her dogs were listed in The American Kennel Gazette and Stud Book.

On December 12, 1925, Noble T. Macfarland and Helen Brantingham were married in Rockford, Illinois.  Macfarland was a 1919 graduate of Amherst College and was a partner in Beckhard & Macfarlane, concert promoters.  The February 1926 issue of the Amherst Graduates' Quarterly noted, "They live at 123 East 95th Street."

As early as 1929, Henry Anderson Rapp (known as Harry) and his wife, the former Elizabeth Reilly, occupied the house.  The couple was married in 1927 and on January 7, 1929, The New York Times reported that their daughter had been born the previous day.  Suzanne Elizabeth would get a sister, Elizabeth Pamela, in 1936.  

Sharing the house by then were Henry's older brother, William J., and his wife, the former Martha Florentine Geyer Rapp.  A maritime attorney, Henry was a partner in the law firm Hann & Rapp.  Also living here was the brothers' widowed mother, Anna G. Reilly Rapp.  Anna was born in 1870.  Her husband and William's and Harry's father, Francis Berkely Rapp, died in 1921.

A young Anna G. Reilly Rapp as she appeared around the 1890s.  (original source unknown)

It was almost assuredly the Rapps who altered the parlor opening to French windows with multiple panes sometime before 1940.

The updated parlor window was in place in 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

The Harry Rapp family's trip to the Bronx on July 4, 1940 was doubly unlucky.  They got a flat tire in Pelham Manor and Harry pulled over to change it.  While he worked, Forest L. Appelby, Jr. slammed his car into the rear of Harry's.  The Daily Argus of Mount Vernon, New York reported, "Both cars were considerably damaged."

Anna G. Rapp died at the age of 75 on October 11, 1946.  Her estate of "more than $10,000," according to the New York Star Journal, was divided equally among her six children.

By the time of Susanne Elizabeth's engagement to E. D. Farrell Sullivan in January 1951, her family had moved to 118 East 93rd Street.  William and Martha continued to live in the East 95th Street house.  

William J. Rapp, who was still actively working at the time, died of a heart attack on December 19, 1965 at the age of 73.  It is unclear how long Martha continued to live at 123 East 95th Street.

An original mantelpiece survives on the parlor floor.  image via streeteasy.com

At some point, the house was converted to a two-family home.  Much of the interior detailing survives and from the exterior the house has changed little since the parlor windows were updated in the early 20th century.

photographs by the author

The 1892 John Stich House - 117 East 95th Street

 

In 1891, developer Francis J. Schnugg hired Louis Entzer, Jr. to design nine abutting houses on the northern side East 95th Street between Park and Madison Avenues.  Along with the eight homes the pair created a year earlier, they would nearly fill the blockfront.

Completed in 1892, Entzer's row would compliment the earlier houses.  The four designs were configured in an A-B-C-C-D-D-B-A pattern.  Among the B models was 117 East 95th Street and, like its architectural siblings, was three stories high above a basement.  The undressed stone blocks and the heavy voussoirs over the arched parlor windows were Romanesque Revival in style.  Above the double-doored entrance, a stained-glass transom incorporated the address.

Entzer gave the planar sandstone of the upper two floors interest by striating it with bands of rough cut stone.  A sheet metal oriel dominated the second floor--its whimsical bosses along its base and the artistic panes of the upper sashes were Queen Anne in design.  The architect continued to blend styles by placing Gothic Revival, square-headed drip moldings above the top floor windows.  An elaborate and highly unusual pressed metal cornice completed the design.

The house became home to the John Stich family.  Born in 1856, Stich was the head of the John Stich Building Company.  He and his wife, the former Rose Herrmann, had two daughters: Mildred, born in 1882, and Nellie, born in 1886.

John Stich (original source unknown)

The 1899-1900 winter social season saw 18-year-old Mildred's debut.  Debutante entertainments often stretched for weeks, and on January 7, 1900, the New York Herald reported, "Mr. and Mrs. John Stich, of 117 East Ninety-fifth street, gave a musical and dance on New Year's night in honor of their daughter Mildred."

Two years later, on October 1, 1902, the New York Herald reported that John and Rose had announced Mildred's engagement to Saul Manovitch.  It may have been that article that provided Mary Smith the alternative identity she needed.

Shortly afterward, Mary Smith, described by The New York Times as "stylish and twenty-five years old," went on a shopping spree in the Stern Brothers' dry goods store on West 23rd Street.  She was arrested on October 25, 1902 "charged with obtaining goods under false pretenses."  The article said she confessed "to having obtained a large quantity of goods by representing herself to be the daughter of Mrs. John Stitch [sic] of 117 East Ninety-fifth Street."

John Stich sold the 18-foot-wide residence in April 1903 to Hyman (who often angelized his name to Herman) Adelstein.  He was born in Russia (in an area that would later become part of Poland) on December 7, 1868 and came to America in 1887.  He was a partner with Herman Avrutine in an iron foundry.

Hyman and his wife, the former Rosa Solvey, had six children--the eldest, Michael, was 13 years old when the family moved into 117 East 95th Street and the youngest, Sidney, was three.  Also living with the family was Ida Ksofsky, a niece.  Ida's time here was relatively short.  On February 4, 1906, Hyman and Rosa announced her engagement to Ezekiel Yachnowitz.

The Adelsteins were supplanted by the Jacob Lunitz family as early as 1912.  Lunitz was president of the Laclun Realty Company.  Like Hyman Adelstein, he was born in the Russian Empire around 1865.  He arrived in the United States in 1878.  Jacob and his wife, the former Betsie Horwitz, had six surviving children.  Two others, Feige and Salie, had died in 1894 and 1900, respectively.  The family maintained a summer home in Tannersville, New York.

Jacob and Betsie announced daughter Pansy's engagement to Louis Propp on March 1, 1920.  The Lunitzes were already planning a move and on July 10, the Record & Guide reported that they had sold 117 East 95th Street to Ernest and Oscar Sondheim.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Brothers Ernest and Oscar Sondheim were partners in The Imperial Metal Manufacturing Corporation, the factory of which was located in Long Island City, and in the Perfumers & Jewelers Box Company on West 14th Street.

The bachelor brothers purchased 117 East 95th Street as a family home.  Living with them here were their widowed mother and their unmarried sisters.

Ernest Sondheim was the last of the family to occupy the house.  He died in 1954, 34 years after moving in, and his estate sold the house to George Axelrod.  He resold it eight years later, in August 1962, to designer Stephen Kyle and his wife, entertainer, lyricist, playwright, and screenwriter Betty Comden. 

The couple, who were married in 1942, had created their own names.  Stephen Kyle was born Siegfried Schutzman and Betty Comden was born in Brooklyn in 1917 as Basya Cohen.  They had two children, Susanna and Alan.  

Betty Comden, from the collection of the New York Public Library

Betty Comden formed a troupe, the Revuers, in 1938 that included Judy Holliday, Adolph Green, and Leonard Bernstein.  Comden and Adolph Green partnered to write musical plays.  Their first Broadway production was the 1944 musical On the Town.  They relocated to California and, working for MGM, wrote screenplays.  Among their output were The Barkleys of Broadway, Singin' in the Rain, and The Band Wagon.

Now, back in New York City, Betty and Stephen became close friends with Leonard Bernstein.  When his wife, Felicia Montealegre, died in 1978, Betty wrote a moving letter that ended,

You are so much, Lenny--so many qualities and gifts and inner voices not given to many human beings.  You will find your strength somehow in them--and in the beautiful elements added to them by the co-mingling of your life and Felicia's.

        Much love, always, from Steve and from me.  Betty

A year after that letter, Stephen Kyle died of pancreatitis.  

Betty Comden and Adolph Green received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1991.  She died in the New York Presbyterian Hospital on November 23, 2006 at the age of 89.

The following year, an apartment was installed in the basement level.  When the house was offered for sale in 2011, The New York Times described the main portion as having five bedrooms and three baths.  Outwardly, little has changed to the 134-year-old residence.

photographs by the author

The 1892 Max D. Neuberger House - 115 East 95th Street

 

Between 1890 and 1892, developer Francis Joseph Schnugg nearly filled the northern blockfront of East 95th Street from Lexington to Park Avenues.  His 17 rowhouses were constructed in two phases and designed by two architects.  The second phase, which included No. 115, was designed by Louis Entzer, Jr.  His hybrid Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival residences harmoniously complimented the earlier homes, designed by Frank Wennemer.

Faced in brownstone, the three-story-and-basement house was just 16-feet-wide.  Simple, square-headed stone drip moldings sat above the parlor floor openings, while continuous arched eyebrows crowned the top floor windows.  Entzer's design was dominated by a sheet metal oriel at the second floor.  It was decorated with fluted pilasters, neo-Classical swags, and a triangular pediment.

The house was initially home to commission merchant Max Seligmann, a partner in Seligmann Brothers.  The family's residency would be short-lived and by the turn of the century, the Max Neuberger family owned and lived in 115 East 95th Street.  Neuberger was the head of the importing firm Neuberger & Co.

Max Neuberger's father, David, died at Stuggart, Germany on April 3, 1900.  A memorial service was held in the parlor here on April 5.

On December 5, 1907, The Warrensburgh News, of Warrensburgh, New York, reported that the Neubergers had announced "the engagement of their daughter, Miss Henrietta, to Walter K. P. Baumann, of Warrensburgh."  The article noted that a "reception will take place at the Neuberger residence, 115 East 95th street, on Sunday, December 22."  The wedding took place in Delmonico's on October 12, 1908. 

On September 24, 1913, The New York Times reported, "The Rev. Dr. Moses Hyamson, for years one of the best-known rabbis in England, who was called to New York to take the place of the rabbi of the Congregation Orach Chaim...arrived from England on the North German Lloyd liner Kronpriz Wilhelm yesterday morning.  He was accompanied by Mrs. Hyamson."  

Born in Suvalk, Russia (today part of Poland), Rabbi Hyamson had been serving as acting Chief Rabbi of the British Empire when he left London.  He and Sarah Gordon were married at the Great Synagogue in London in 1892.  His contract as Rabbi of Congregation Orach Chaim was for life.

Within four months, the couple had a long-term home.  The Neubergers moved out of the East 95th Street home for the Hyamsons' use.  On January 25, 1914, The New York Times reported, "The Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hyamson are now occupying their house at 115 East Ninety-fifth Street, and will be glad to receive their friends."

Rabbi Moses Hyamson, from the collection of the Library of Congress

Rabbi Hyamson's busy schedule, it would appear, did not allow time for relaxation.  The entry about Hyamson in Who's Who 1915 noted: "Recreations: none."  Sarah Hyamson filled her time with religious and civic service.  She was president of the Sisterhood Path of Life, a women's group that offered spiritual study and support.

Dr. Solomon Schechter, a life-long friend of Hyamson, died in November 1915.  Moses Hyamson visited Schechter's bier in the drawing room of his Riverside Drive home on the evening of November 20.  Upon leaving, Hyamson walked down Riverside Drive to 116th Street to catch a crosstown bus home.  He saw a bus approaching and stepped into the street to hail it.  The New York Times reported, "Seeing that it was the wrong one he stepped back, and directly into the path of a taxicab."

Rabbi Hyamson was knocked to the pavement.  The cabbie, Martin Joseph, stopped the automobile and his passengers fled.  Joseph and a policeman carried Hyamson to a park bench and waited for an ambulance.  At Knickerbocker Hospital, the rabbi was treated for a fractured left ankle.  He refused to make a complaint against Joseph and was later taken to 115 East 95th Street.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The Hyamsons left the house in 1921 and on June 14 The New York Times reported that Max D. Neuberger had sold the property to William Poshik, who resold it in March 1922.

It became home to newlyweds Louis Butler McCagg, Jr. and his bride, the former Katherine G. Winslow.  The couple was married on June 27 that year.  Born in 1897, McCagg was a graduate of Harvard College where he was captain of the rowing crew.  He had just graduated, his college education interrupted by World War I, during which he served as a naval officer.

McCagg had a sterling pedigree.  His father, attorney Louis Butler McCagg, Sr., was, as described by The New York Times, "connected with several of the most prominent and older Newport families."  His mother was the former Edith Edgar King, the daughter of Edward and Mary Augusta LeRoy King, prominent in Newport and Manhattan high society.

When the McCaggs (who would have five children) moved in, Louis was working in the banking firm of Lee, Higginson & Co.  His career would take a decisive turn, however, becoming an architect with the firm of Rogers & Butler.

In October 1953, The New York Times reported that Fred H. Hill, president of the Melfra Realty Corporation, intended to buy 115 East 95th Street.  The article said he "plans to convert the structure to seven apartments of one and one-half and two and one-half rooms."

Instead, actress June Havoc stepped in.  Decades later, The New York Times would describe her as "the actress who buys and refurbishes houses in the city and in the country as a hobby."  She purchased the house and converted to three apartments--a duplex in the basement and parlor level (for herself and husband, William Spier), and one unit each on the upper floors.

June Havoc was born Ellen Evangeline Hovick in British Columbia, Canada on November 8, 1912.  She began her theatrical career as a child, "Baby June."  Her sister, Rose Louise Hovick, would also become famous as Gypsy Rose Lee.  Their mother, in order to circumvent child labor laws, forged birth certificates for both girls. 

June Havoc and Van Johnson in the 1940 Broadway production of Pal Joey (publicity photograph)

Havoc had starred in the 1944 Broadway play Mexican Hayride, and left that show to take on the title role of Sadie Thompson (written for Ethel Merman, who withdrew from the production before its opening).  Throughout the 1940s and '50s, she appeared in musical films with stars like Alice Faye, Betty Grable, and George Raft.  Now back in New York City, she returned to the stage.

Producer, director and writer William Spier was Havoc's third husband.  The couple was married in 1948 and remained together until Spier's death in 1973.  He was born in New York City on October 16, 1906.  Starting his career at the age of 19 with Musical America magazine, he would eventually become its chief critic.  In 1929 he began producing and directing radio shows for Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn.  

William Spier, from the collection of the New York Public Library

Spier hired Orson Welles in 1936 for The March of Time program, Welles's first radio job.  In 1952, shortly after he and Havoc moved into 115 East 95th Street, he launched the 90-minute television show, Omnibus.  In 1954, he produced, directed and wrote the CBS situation comedy Willy, starring June Havoc.  That year he co-directed the film Lady Possessed, starring June and James Mason.

In January 1967, Havoc sold 115 East 95th Street to Robert Piccus and his wife.  Piccus was manager of telecommunications-market planning for the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation.  It is unclear how long the Piccus family remained here.  The house was reconverted to a single family home in 2000.

photographs by the author

The 1892 Francis J. Schnugg House - 127 East 95th Street

 

In 1890, real estate operator Francis Joseph Schnugg completed construction of eight rowhouses on East 95th Street.  Designed by Frank Wennemer, they started near Lexington Avenue and stretched westward toward midblock.  The following year, Schnugg hired architect Louis Entzer, Jr. to design nine abutting houses that would fill the block to Park Avenue.

Completed in 1892, Entzer's row would compliment the earlier houses, while slightly exceeding them in visual interest.  Like its architectural siblings, the easternmost, 127 East 95th Street, was three stories high above a basement.  The undressed stone blocks and the heavy voussoirs over the arched parlor windows were Romanesque Revival in style.  Above the double-doored entrance, a stained-glass transom incorporated the address.

Entzer gave the planar sandstone of the upper two floors interest by striating it with bands of rough cut stone.  A sheet metal oriel dominated the second floor--its whimsical bosses along its base and the artistic panes of the upper sashes were Queen Anne in design.  The architect continued to blend styles by placing Gothic Revival, square-headed drip moldings above the top floor windows.  An elaborate and highly unusual pressed metal cornice completed the design.

Francis Joseph Schnugg and his family occupied 129 East 95th Street while this house was being constructed.  Upon its completion, they moved in.  Schnugg was born in 1859 and graduated from St. Francis Zavier College in 1882 and from Columbia Law School in 1883.  While matriculating in the latter, he delved into real estate.  It proved lucrative and he never used his law degree.  Schnugg and his wife, Carrie H., had three children, Joseph F., Elsie and Marion.

Towards the turn of the century, Schnugg sold the 18-foot-wide house to Julius Doernberg and his wife, the former Ida Stern.  Julius was born in Thüringen (today's Thuringia) Germany on May 7, 1848.  He and Ida, who was 20 years younger than he, had five sons: Milton, Dudley, Edmund, Walter, and Arthur.  The youngest, Arthur, was a toddler when the family moved in.

Julius Doernberg, The new York Lumber Trade Journal, November 1, 1908 (copyright expired)

Doernberg was the senior partner in the lumber and box manufacturing firm of Doernberg & Goodman.  He came to America in 1866 and after working in the men's apparel business for years, organized Doernberg & Company in the 1880s.  Henry D. Goodman partnered with him a few years later.

Like all well-to-do New Yorkers, the Doernbergs summered at fashionable resorts.  On July 11, 1908, The New York Times remarked, "The Hotel Kaaterskill, always the centre of interest in the Catskills, is attracting more interest than ever because it is having the most brilliant social season in the history of the house."  The article went on to list some of the distinguished guests that season, including Julius and Ida Doernberg and Arthur, who was now 15 years old.

It would be the last summer season Julius Doernberg would enjoy with his family.  He died in the East 95th Street house at the age of 60 on October 24, 1908.  His funeral, which was held in the parlor two days later, "was attended by a host of friends," according to The New York Lumber Trade Journal.

Six months later, on April 2, 1909, The New York Times reported that Doernberg's estate had sold 127 East 95th Street.  It was purchased by William Pabst, the assistant cashier of the Second National Bank.  He and his wife, Grace R., had two daughters, Elise and Grace.

William Pabst retired in 1923.  In the meantime, the Pabst daughters had grown to young women.  Lillian, for instance, attended the Barnard School for Girls and Columbia University.  The New York Times would later say that she, "has traveled extensively in this country and abroad."

Two decades after moving in, William Pabst died "after a short illness," according to The New York Times, on March 1, 1929.  Interestingly, his funeral was not held in the house, but at the Church of Our Lady of Esperanza, far north at 157th Street and Broadway.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Rather shockingly, three months later--in the midst of the family's expected mourning period--on June 2 The New York Times reported, "Announcement has been made of the engagement of Miss Lillian Pabst, youngest daughter of Mrs. William Pabst, of 127 East Ninety-fifth Street, to William Paul Wilson."

The wedding took place in the drawing room on July 11, 1929.  Frederick Pabst, William's brother, gave Lillian away.  The New York Times noted, "Only relatives and a few intimate friends had been invited to the ceremony, owing to the recent death of the bride's father."

Grace R. Pabst remained at 127 East 95th Street through 1942.  The following year artist and printmaker Karl Schrag occupied the house.  Born in 1912 in Karlsruhe, Germany, he studied art in Germany, Switzerland and Paris.  He arrived in New York City in 1938, entering the Art Students League.  Among his fellow students there were artists Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock and Marc Chagall.

Karl Schrag, from the collection of the Dixie Art Colony Foundation.

While living here, in 1947 Schrag had a solo show at the Krauschaar Galleries.  He would remain at 127 East 95th Street at least through 1959.  Deemed by the National Gallery of Art as "among the most important printmakers in America during the 1950s," his works are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The Schnugg house remains a single-family house today.  When it was placed on the market in 1999, the realtor touted the five-bedroom, three-bath home as having "original mahogany woodwork and detail."

photographs by the author