The 1907 Hendrik Hudson - 380 Riverside Drive

 

image via streeteasy.com

On July 21, 1906, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide titled an article, "To Be the Largest Apartment House in Manhattan."  It reported that the architectural firm of Rouse & Sloan was designing the Hendrik Hudson apartments for Hendrik Hudson Co.  Facing Cathedral Parkway, or West 110th Street, it would engulf the Riverside Drive blockfront to 111th Street.

The journal said, "The facade in scheme will be that of an Italian villa, built of French Pierre de Lena limestone, brick and colored terra cotta, with [a] wide projecting Spanish tile roof, supported by large ornamental bronze brackets."  Notably, upon the roof on the Riverside Drive side would be two towers connected by a pergola.  All the windows facing Riverside Drive would have "wrought iron balconies, with window boxes for flowers in summer."  The article predicted that the Hendrik Hudson, "with its scheme of highly colored terra cotta, red tile and use of foliage," would "harmonize effectively with the picturesque surroundings of the Drive."

Rouse & Sloan released this rendering in 1906.  Record & Guide, July 21, 1906 (copyright expired)

The Hendrik Hudson was completed in October 1, 1907.  There were 14 apartments per floor, consisting of seven through nine rooms with two or three baths.  The rooms were "grouped around the foyers," according to the Record & Guide, and each apartment had a separate service entrance.  

The woodwork in the bedrooms in each of the 72 apartments (other than the servants' quarters) was painted in white enamel and the mahogany doors throughout had glass knobs.  Rents ranged from $1,500 to $3,000 per year, of about $4,300 to $8,600 per month in 2026 terms.

Apartment Houses of the Metropolis noted, "A billiard parlor as well as cafe for the convenience of tenants is maintained in the basement; also a first-class barber shop and ladies' hair dressing parlor."  

photograph by Irving Underhill from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The Hendrik Hudson filled with affluent families.  Among the initial residents was Dr. Julian P. Thomas, who could afford an automobile.  That vehicle and Thomas's lead foot got him into trouble on August 5, 1908.  The New York Times reported that he had been charged "with running at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour and giving a motorcycle policeman a chase of two miles at top speed."

Residents' names more often appeared because of social functions.  Such was the case on March 27, 1910 when The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Sydney B. Wight of 380 Riverside Drive gave an affair at her home on Tuesday for the benefit of the Fourth Presbyterian Church."  

Sydney Buckminster Wight, original source unknown

Ellen Chipman Wells Wight's husband, Sydney Buckminster Wight, was with the New York Central Railroad.  Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1856, he was educated in France and Germany and started his career with the railroads in 1891. 

Prominent residents were Professor Rudolf Tombo, Jr. and his second wife, Lorraine Bowes.  Tombo and his first wife, Adelaide Cooper were married in 1901, but she had the marriage annulled in 1911.  He and Lorraine were married in 1913.  Living with the couple was Tombo's daughter from his first marriage, Marion.

Rudolf Tombo Jr. The New York Times December 21, 1913 (copyright expired)

Tombo was born in Germany in 1875.  His father, Rudolf Tombo Sr., brought the family to New York City where he accepted a professorship at Columbia University.  Not, surprisingly, the younger Rudolf attended Columbia, earning his Masters of Arts in 1898, a Master of Science in 1899, and a Ph.D. in 1901.  Like his father, he was appointed an instructor of Germanic languages at Columbia University in 1900.  He was, as well, the director of the Deutsches Haus at that institution.  In 1901 he published his first work, Ossian in Germany.

In 1914, The New York Times described Tombo as being "well known in this country and in Germany as a lecturer on dramatic literature."  Early that year, he was considered for the presidency of the College of the City of New York.  In April, however, he "suffered a nervous breakdown from overwork," reported The New York Times.  The following month, on May 5, Lorraine told reporters that "she thought her husband had improved slightly and that if he could regain sufficient strength for the trip, he would be taken abroad for complete rest."

Despite Lorraine's optimism, Rudolf Tombo Jr. died in their apartment on May 21.  In reporting his death, The New York Times remarked that he had "a wide reputation in German-speaking Europe."

No doubt embittered by his first wife's having their marriage annulled, in his will Tombo directed that J. Boyce Smith, Jr. be made guardian of Marion Adelaide, who was now 11 years old.  The will said that because of the annulment, "Marion had no mother under the law and was now an orphan."  Surrogate Court Judge Cohalan did not agree.  On June 28, 1914, he ruled that because her biological mother, Adelaide Cooper Tombo, was alive, Marion would have to live with her.

A parlor in an unidentified apartment.  The dining room can be glimpsed through the wide doorway at left.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

All the residents of the Hendrik Hudson maintained a domestic staff.  Henry C. McClure's indiscretion in blurring the employee-employer relationship with one servant caused problems in 1918.  McClure was the general manager of Associated Newspapers.  He and his wife, Frances, were already embroiled in a domestic dispute on July 15 that year when she hauled her maid before Justice Finch to testify that McClure had kissed the young woman.

McClure had earlier accused Frances of infidelity, charging that he had "found Mrs. McClure in a compromising position."  Frances said the allegations were "preposterous, perjured and false."  Now she countered with her own divorce proceedings based on the maid incident.  The Sun reported on July 16, 1918 that although Henry McClure "admits that he kissed a pretty maid servant in his apartment at 380 Riverside Drive, he maintains stoutly that he only did it as a 'lark' and that there was nothing in his relations with the young woman to cause Mrs. Frances C. McClure to become in the least jealous."

A central light court and side courts supplied natural light to almost every room.  Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, (copyright expired)

Criminality among the Hendrik Hudson residents had never been more serious than vehicular speeding and kissing one's maid until 1925.  On February 26, police knocked on the door of Joseph C. Cooper, president of the American Bankers' Corporation at 65 Wall Street.  They asked to talk to 14-year-old Roy Cooper.  Initially, Cooper refused to let them enter but, according to The New York Times, "After they identified a radio set there as a stolen one, Mr. Cooper accompanied them to the police station."

Also at the police station was 16-year-old Robert Garrabrants.  Roy said he had received the radio, but did not know it was stolen.  He told detectives, "he had been intending to pay his friend Robert for it.  In a separate room, Garrabrants confessed to "a series of radio shop robberies" that he and Roy Cooper had committed.  Joseph Cooper provided bail for his son.  He told reporters that night that Roy "was not implicated in the theft of the radio apparatus."

Joseph Cooper's influence may have gotten his son off the hook.  On February 18, Roy was paroled in his father's custody and was now considered a material witness.

A month later, Roy Cooper and three other teens were arrested in Nyack for "stealing four bicycles at Fort Lee and several blankets at Nyack, attempting to enter a clothing store [in Nyack] and rifling a poor box in a church near Croton," as reported by The New York Times on March 28.  Roy Cooper was removed from his cell when his father arrived at the Nyack jail.  While Joseph Cooper was talking to Chief of Police Furey, Roy "released his three companions from the jail" and the group fled.

The newspaper reported, "The four New York boys who broke jail...eluded a score of pursuing policemen and were arrested yesterday at Poughkeepsie."  Because they were all under 16 years old, they were charged only with juvenile delinquency.

Roy Cooper's young criminal career continued.  Three years later, on March 20, 1928, The New York Times reported that he had been arrested in the Bronx with another teen for stealing an automobile.  Cooper had a loaded pistol on him.  Police said the pair "confessed that they had committed several robberies in the Bronx recently."

Much more respectable were Dr. William Carr and his wife, the former Sarah Renelshe.  Carr was a founder of the College of Dental Surgery of New York City.  He died on October 25, 1925 leaving more than $100,000 to charitable institutions.  The generous bequests would translate to nearly $1.8 million today.

Also living here at the time was Louis E. Miller and his wife, Dr. Helena Miller.  Born in Russia, Louis Miller was a moderate Socialist.  He had founded at least six Jewish newspapers, including the Jewish Daily Forward and the New Warheit, the latter of which he launched in 1925.

Other Russian immigrants in the building were concert violinist, composer and director Maurice Nitke and his wife, Ethel.  Born in 1879, he first played in Carnegie Hall in 1907.  He was appearing in the Cort Theatre in August 1927 when disaster happened.  

On the night of August 23, Nitke entered his dressing room only to discover that his 300-year-old Guarnarius violin, valued at $5,000, had "disappeared."  An investigator told reporters that the thief "apparently had entered the room with a key," since there was no access by the window.

Four nights later, John Shea returned to the scene of the crime, this time to steal a valuable cello.  Unaware that Detective Charles Dugan had been detailed to watch the theater, Shea (who was a truck driver) attempted to climb the fire escape in the alley leading to the stage entrance.  He was quickly nabbed.  At the West 47th Street station house, he confessed to stealing Nitke's violin.

The New York Times reported that Shea "led them to the home of a negro to whom he had sold it for $5."  The buyer, who was a musician, was not home.  Happily for Nitke, the violin was.

An interesting resident was Dr. Wesley M. Coates.  A graduate of the University of California, he and his wife, Sylvia, arrived in New York City and the Hendrik Hudson in 1936.  The 28-year-old physicist and inventor worked in the Crocker Research Laboratory of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, which was devoted to cancer research.  He was described by its head, Dr. Francis Carter Wood, as "a brilliant electrical engineer."

While working here, Coates developed a new type of high-power vacuum tube.  The New York Times explained, "By the use of the tube, it was announced, X-rays were produced from mercury, instead of by the customary method."  

Tragically, at 5:00 on the afternoon of March 20, 1937, Coates brushed against a high-tension electrical conductor while adjusting an X-ray machine in the laboratory.  For nearly half and hour, physicians attempted to revive him, but the engineering prodigy was announced dead around 5:30.

A celebrated resident was comedian Frank Moulan, who lived here with his third wife, Elsie.  Born in Greenwich Village in 1872, Moulan made his stage debut with the Calhoun Opera Company.  He was described by The New York Times as the "leading comedian of innumerable Gilbert and Sullivan revivals and of Roxy's Gang on the radio."

Frank Moulan, The Theatre magazine, June 1903 (copyright expired)

In 1936 alone, he appeared at the Majestic Theatre as Lord Chancellor in Iolanthe, as Sir Joseph Porter in H.M.S. Pinafore; and as Major General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance.  He personally staged all three productions.  Moulan died in his apartment here at the age of 67 on May 13, 1939.

The post-World War II years were unkind to the Hendrik Hudson.  When manager Fred W. Peavy pleaded guilty to 14 violations of the Office of Price Administration in November 1945, The New York Times described the building as "a rooming house."  Peavy rented rooms out by the week and the Government charged that he "had made overcharges to roomers of 50 cents to $4 a week."

In January 1946, the Hendrik Hudson Holding Corporation filed eviction procedures against "240 occupants of furnished rooms and small furnished apartments," as reported by The Times.  The attempt failed and nine years later, in February 1955, the building was purchased by the Eastpearl Realty Corporation.  Once home to refined families in commodious apartments, the building now held 536 rented rooms.

The change of ownership did not improve the conditions.  On December 2, 1958, city inspectors combed through the Hendrik Hudson.  The Deputy Commissioner of the Building Department Bernice P. Rogers said the "lobby was the last visible vestige of quality."  She and her inspectors called the building, "a slum with a view" and she remarked, "This type of living may be legal, but it's wrong morally, socially and ethically."

Only four days later, on December 6, a 14-year-old boy was fatally crushed in one of the elevators.  It began to fall with the door still open at the seventh floor.  The car stopped halfway past the sixth floor and Stanley Guinn lifted a little girl onto the sixth floor and to safety.  Then the car started to fall again and Guinn's head and shoulders "became trapped between the top of the elevator and the edge of the landing."  Later that week, the District Attorney's Office deemed his death a homicide and held the building's owners responsible.

The incident prompted the sale of the building and a renovation in 1959.  The New York Times noted, "The new owners had to persuade the old tenants--some of them prostitutes, narcotics addicts and other undesirables--to move.  On April 17, 1960, the newspaper reported, "The conversion of one of the city's worst slum buildings into a modern apartment house is nearing completion at 380 Riverside Drive.

The renovations, which cost $750,000 (equal to nearly $8 million today), created small apartments.  They, unfortunately, also removed much of the architectural features of the facade, including the northern tower.  The Hendrik Hudson was converted to a co-op in 1971.  

Among the early owners were Sho Onodera and his wife, Michiko.  Onodera was an actor, one-time journalist and Japanese-English interpreter.  He was known to television audiences for his roles in the Teahouse of the August Moon on "Hallmark Hall of Fame," and in the "Philco Playhouse" and "Robert Montgomery Presents" shows.  His motion picture credits included The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

photo by Scott Bintner/Property Shark

Despite the late 20th century brutalization of Rouse & Sloan's design, the Hendrik Hudson survives as a reminder of the grand apartment buildings that lined this area of Riverside Drive at the turn of the last century.

The 1909 Britannia - 527 Cathedral Parkway (West 110th Street)

 

image via streeteasy.com

On December 27, 1892, shovels broke ground for the construction of the Cathedral Church of St. John Divine on the east side of Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street.  Its sprawling property stretched from 110th to 113rd Streets.  Simultaneously, the section of West 110th Street from Amsterdam Avenue to Riverside Drive was renamed Cathedral Parkway.  Not all New Yorkers, however, warmed to the change and the buildings along those blocks continue to use both addresses to this day.

In 1909, the Gracehull Realty Co., headed by J. Charles Weschler, hired the short-lived partnership of Waid & Wallauer to design an apartment house at 527 Cathedral Parkway.  (Daniel Everett Waid would be remembered as a prominent architect.  Arthur Wallauer, on the other hand, fell from the record, apparently working with Waid only on this building.)

The plans, filed on February 19, 1909, projected the cost at $350,000--more than $8.7 million in 2026 terms.  Completed before the end of the year, the nine-story Britannia was designed in the Tudor Revival style.  Described by the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide as suggesting "the old English house," its multi-paned windows and sharply-angled bays echoed portions of Hampton Court.  Above the limestone base, the facade was clad in rough-faced tapestry brick and trimmed in stone and terra cotta.  Arthur Willauer explained in The American Architect in 1909, "Let us give to the crowded thousands some portion of that joy that we have known abroad and from the real homes in our own country."  And The Apartment Houses of the Metropolis described the Britannia as having a "domestic character in harmony with the architecture of the Cathedral."

Waid & Wallauer produced this rendering in 1909.  Supplement to Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, 1910 (copyright expired)

The side courts of the Britannia's U-shape provided light and ventilation to nearly every interior room.   The wide, deep central courtyard also acted as "an entrance for vehicles and pedestrians, as well as the approach to the private entrances to two ground floor apartments," as reported by Apartment Houses of the Metropolis.  

Potential residents could choose apartments from five to nine rooms with one or two baths.  Apartment Houses of the Metropolis said, "None of the apartments contain the long dark narrow hallway, so objectionable to dwellers in apartments."  Residents would enjoy, "garbage receptacles, porcelain lined refrigerators, long distance telephone, etc."  Rents ranged from $1,400 to $3,000 per year--about $4,000 to $9,000 per month today.

Apartment Houses of the Metropolis, 1910 (copyright expired)

Notably, Waid & Wallauer gave the Britannia more than its share of personality in the form of humorous carved corbels in the form of medieval characters.  The Record & Guide explained that each one was "symbolic of some form of the homely art of housekeeping."  And so the ten crouching figures stir a pot, eat from a bowl and spoon, carry a roasted chicken on a platter, write in a diary or ledger, and such.

This comical figure licks his finger before turning the page in his ledger or diary.  photograph by Carole Teller

Among the first residents were its builder, J. Charles Weschler, and his family; and Archer S. Gibson, his wife, the former Frances Fleetwood Bryant, and their seven-year-old daughter, Elinor.

Born on December 5, 1875 in Baltimore, Gibson was arguably the most famous organist in the country.  He was organist and choirmaster of the Brick Presbyterian Church on Fifth Avenue.  He was also in great demand by high society, almost all of whom had pipe organs in their mansions.  The New York Times would later describe him as the "organist by appointment to many of the country's richest families."  Among his clients, for instance, were Charles and Eurana Schwab, who had two pipe organs in their sprawling chateau, Riverside House.  The Times added to the list: "Mrs. Henry Clay Frick, William Sloane, Andrew Carnegie, Walter P. Chrysler, H. E. Manville, Mrs. H. Mckay Twombly...and the Rockefellers, Senior and Junior."

Archer S. Gibson.  He and his family remained here at least through 1915.  (original source unknown)

A fascinating couple were Fabian Franklin and his wife, Christine Ladd-Franklin, who were also initial tenants.  Born in Hungary in 1853, Franklin was brought to America by his parents when he was four.  He graduated from Columbian College (today's George Washington University) in 1869 with a Ph.B. in engineering, and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from John Hopkins University in 1880.  He and Christine Ladd were married in 1882.  By the time the couple moved into the Britannia, he was an associate editor of the New York Evening Post.  He would go on to write books on social, political and economic issues.

Fabian Franklin, MacTutor History of Mathematics

Christine Ladd-Franklin was no less respected in her field.  A psychologist, logician and mathematician, she was known familiarly as Kitty.  She was born in 1847 in Connecticut.  Highly unusual for a female at the time, Christine graduated from Wesleyan Academy in 1865 and enrolled in Vassar College the following year.  Although she had a passion for physics, women were banned from physics laboratories, so she turned to mathematics.

Christine Ladd-Franklin from the collection of the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Christine obtained a fellowship at John Hopkins University in 1878 by signing her application, "C. Ladd."  It was only after she accepted the position that the university realized she was a woman.  Now living here, the erudite woman's name appeared in newsprint more often than that of her husband.  On January 14, 1911, for instance, The Evening Post reported on the Sarah Berliner fellowship, "which grants the sum of twelve hundred dollars for study or research in biology, chemistry, or physics."  The article said, "Applications must be in the hands of the chairman of the committee, Mrs. Christine Ladd Franklin, No. 527 Cathedral Parkway, New York, before February 1."

The Franklins' only daughter, Margaret Ladd, graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1908 and entered New York University Law School where she graduated in 1917.  She became a prominent advocate for women's rights.

Christine Ladd-Franklin's concerns were not limited to mathematics, psychology and education.  On March 1, 1915, the Fortnightly Review reported:

Mrs. Christine Ladd Franklin, of 527 Cathedral Parkway, New York City, protests against the illustrations of women's underwear published in many newspapers and magazines and which quite pass beyond the limits of decency.  This is a matter where women, even without organization, have the case in their own hands.  A few letters to the shops, newspapers and magazines concerned would, no doubt, be at once effective.

photograph by Carole Teller

Like Christine Ladd-Franklin, her neighbor Bertha Vivian Wooten was an adherent of Edwardian proprieties.  Her husband, Jesse B. Wooten, was an associate of the Knox Hat Company.  His disturbing behavior forced Bertha to leave him in May 1913.  She filed separation "because he played golf on Sunday and fell asleep over his evening paper when she wanted to talk to him," according to the New York Herald.  But the last straw came when, after they had been apart for two days, "he kissed his niece before he did his wife."  To make things worse, when Bertha complained about that, he replied, "Don't be silly."

In court, Jesse explained that his niece was only nine years old, and when he said, "Don't be silly," his "tones were conciliatory rather than brutal."

Happily, just 31 days after Bertha stormed out, she returned to the Britannia and her husband on June 27.  The New York Herald reported that they "were reconciled."

Engineer Albert Bach and his family lived in the Britannia as early as 1915.  On May 22 that year, he and his wife, the former Alice Henricks, announced the engagement of their daughter, Justine Ellen, to Otto Ludwig Koscherak.  The Bachs had two other children, Albert Jr. and Henry Michael.

Alice Bach died in the apartment the following year, on November 17, 1916, at the age of 53.  The family would remain at least through 1919.  By then, Albert Bach Jr. was an engineer like his father.

A prominent resident was architect Lionel Moses, who lived here with his wife, the firmer Shirley Maduro, and three sons, Lionel Jr., Felix, and Richard.  A great-grandson of Revolutionary figure Isaac Moses, Lionel joined the firm of McKim, Mead & White in 1887.  It was Moses who proposed to William Rutherford Mead the formation of a club for Rome Prize winners who had completed their residence at the American Academy in Rome.  He died in his apartment here at the age of 60 on February 19, 1931.

Another respected resident died the following month.  Richard Fitch was an assistant in the psychology department at Columbia University.  He shared his apartment with his brother Carl.  On the afternoon of March 18, Fitch asked the elevator operator to take him to the top floor.  He explained that he "was going to the roof to repair the radio wires."  Once there, the 25-year-old lost his balance and fell to his death.

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

Hermine Baranyi Serly and her widowed daughter Ethel (born Etelka) Serly Brummer shared an apartment here at midcentury.  Hermine was the widow of composer, conductor and author Lajos Serly.  Her son (and Ethel's brother) was composer and conductor Tibor Serly. 

Hermine was born in Budapest, Hungary.  When she met Serly, she was the prima donna of the National Theatre in Kolozsvar, Hungary and he was the conductor.  The New York Times would later recall, "For a number of years she sang in Europe with various opera and operetta companies, of which her husband was conductor."  The couple moved to the United States in 1905.  Hermine and Lajos organized the First Hungarian Theatre here and she later helped found the Hungarian Free Lyceum.

Hermine and Ethel later established the Hungarian Folk Dance and Character Ballet Group (Buzavirag Koszoru).  Hermine was the musical director of the group until 1950.

Ethel started out in vaudeville with her sisters, the Serly Sisters.  An accomplished dancer, she was a member of the Dancing Masters of America and the Dance Educators of America.  When she and her mother moved into the Britannia, both were widows.  Ethel's husband, art connoisseur and founder of the Brummer Art Galleries, Imre Brummer, had died in 1928.

Hermine Serly died at the age of 82 in their apartment on August 9, 1951 "after a long illness," according to The New York Times.  Ethel Serly Brummer died the following year, on August 16, 1952, at the age of 64.

Virginia Brauer, who lived here at the time, experienced a terrifying incident on July 16, 1954.  Virginia worked as the cashier at the Cherry Lane Theatre at 38 Commerce Street.  That night, two gun-wielding men rushed in and forced her and the manager, Nelson Sykes, to turn over the receipts.  The crooks grabbed the $225 in cash and fled in a waiting auto.

As early as 1979, poet Rika Lesser occupied an apartment here.  Born in Brooklyn in 1953, she graduated from Yale University in 1974, studied at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, and received her Masters in Fine Arts from Columbia University in 1977.  In addition to her own compositions, she translates poetry from Swedish and German works to English.  

Lesser received the Landon Poetry Translation Price from the Academy of American Poets in 1982, and the Poetry Translation Price from the Swedish Academy twice--in 1996 and 2003. 

photograph by Carole Teller

Thankfully, little has outwardly changed to the Britannia since 1909.  The automobile turnaround no longer allows vehicles to turn around, but the magnificent many-paned windows are miraculously intact.  And as for its marvelous carvings, Thane Rosenbaum described the building in The New York Times on April 19, 2002 as "a veritable Gothic asylum for grotesque characters."

many thanks to artist Carole Teller for suggesting this post

The 1911 Riverside Mansions Apts. - 410 Riverside Drive

image via apartments.com

In 1888, the mansion of George Noakes was erected at the northeast corner of Riverside Drive and 113th Street.  The lavish private homes facing Riverside Park were being replaced by luxury apartment buildings by the first years of the 20th century, however, and on January 1, 1910, just 22 years after the Noakes family moved into their mansion, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported, "The Einsworth Construction Co. will soon begin work on the new 12-story elevator apartment house on the north corner of Riverside drive and 113th st."  The article noted that construction, "is estimated to cost $750,000."  The figure would translate to $25.5 million in 2026.

Two months later, on March 6, the New York Herald said The Riverside Mansions building "will be ready for occupancy, according to the builders, next October."  Interestingly, the article explained that of the 35 apartments, 14 would be cooperative.  They would be priced from $16,000 to $20,000, or approximately $545,000 to $680,000 today.  The remaining 21 apartments would be rentals.

Architects Neville & Bagge designed the 13-story-and-attic structure in the Chateauesque style.  The three-story base was clad in undressed granite.  The seven-story midsection, which sat between scalloped intermediate cornices, was clad in beige Roman brick.  Stone-and-iron balconies at the fourth, sixth and eleventh floors sat on corbel tables that matched the intermediate cornices.  Neville & Bagge embellished the top floor and attic with Loire Valley inspired gables and crockets and a steep mansard.

The World's New York Apartment House Album, 1910 (copyright expired)

There were three apartments per floor with either eight or nine rooms with three baths.  The well-heeled residents would enjoy "uniformed hall and elevator service day and night," according to The World's New York Apartment House Album, and there were a "separate entrance and elevator for service."

The irregular footprint presented the architects a challenge in laying out the apartments.  The World's New York Apartment House Album, 1910 (copyright expired)

Among the initial residents were the families of Henry Field, Edward A. Mays, Hugo Schweitzer, and Harry McDonald.  The Mays' and McDonalds' apartments were on the ground floor and only months after moving in that caused a problem.

On the evening of February 25, 1911, Edward A. Mays and his wife were hosting a dinner party.  The guests' coats and purses were placed in a bedroom.  While the group was at dinner, a burglar entered a window in that room.  He fled with a $300 fur overcoat and a silver toilet set.  The New York Times reported, "The thief overlooked a wallet containing $1,500 in cash, which was in one of the bureau drawers."

About the time that Mays and his guests discovered the theft, Harry McDonald arrived home.  His wife and daughter had been out all afternoon.  He told a reporter from The New York Times, "his apartment had been stripped."  Among the items stolen were "$600 worth of clothing, silverware, and decorations."

Henry and Mary Fields had two daughters, Rosalynd and Sylvia.  All the residents of The Riverside Mansions employed at least one servant and the Fields family employed 23-year-old Lydia Johnson, whom they said had "long been a faithful employee."  On August 31, 1911, The Evening World said, "For several days the servant had been acting queerly."  But the family "decided to humor her and kept her at her usual duties."

In fact, Lydia Johnson was having a mental breakdown.  On the afternoon of August 30, when Mary Field entered the kitchen, Lydia attacked her.  Mary screamed and her 18-year-old daughter, Rosalynd, rushed in.  "She pulled her mother from the servant's grasp, blocked several wild rushes and succeeded in getting Mrs. Fields into the hallway," reported The Evening World.  Then Rosalynd grappled with Lydia until she could get safely into the hallway and slammed the door.

The women's loud commotion had attracted "two painters at work in the building, two bellboys, two expressmen and the superintendent."  Policeman Best also ran into the building and "all made a rush for the raving negress," as worded by the article.  Lydia Johnson had been worked up into a frenzy, and she took Best's night stick from him and tore his uniform.  The painters came to Johnson's aid, but "the combined strength of the three was no match for that of the woman."  She was overpowered only when all eight men "made a concerted rush and dragged her to the floor."

Lydia Johnson was placed in an improvised straitjacket and taken to J. Hood Wright Hospital.  The day after the incident, The Evening World reported that Mary Fields, "is under the care of a physician to-day from the shock."

More typical of events within The Riverside Mansions were glittering dinner parties, teas and receptions.  On the evening of September 6, 1912, for instance, Dr. and Mrs. Hugo Schweitzer hosted a dinner "for forty, in honor of the official delegates of Germany, France, and Great Britain," as reported by The New York Times.  (The men were attending the Eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry.)  

Dr. Hugo Schweitzer was born in Pitschen, Silesia in 1861 and came to America around 1885.  He married Adela Hammerslough in 1892 and the couple had one son, Edward Stephen.  Hugo Schweitzer studied chemistry in four German universities and was a member of the Society for Chemical Industry, the American Chemical Society, Engineers' Club of Boston, Cosmos Club of Washington and was president of the Chemists' Club of New York.

The international harmony seen at the Schweitzer's dinner table that September evening in 1912 was about to be shattered world-wide.  Following the outbreak of world war in 1914 and several years before America became involved, Schweitzer ardently sided with Germany.  He was a delegate of the German-American Alliance meeting in Utica in 1915, and that autumn announced that he would publish "a New-York daily newspaper of pro-German proclivities, to be used in propaganda," according to The Evening Post.

Dr. Schweitzer died of pneumonia in the apartment on December 22, 1917 at the age of 56.  In reporting his death, The Evening Post commented that in the early days of the war he "had been the centre of much attention because of his pro-German sympathies."

In the meantime, the Fields family appeared in society columns.  On June 22, 1914, for instance, The New York Times announced that Mary and Rosalynd "who sailed on the Vaterland last Tuesday, are to visit Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Holland."  The article added, "Mr. Fields, who is a brother of Lew Fields, with his youngest daughter, Miss Sylvia Fields, will join his family abroad in August."

The following year, on October 21, 1915, Mary and Henry announced the engagements of both of their daughters.  More surprising was that the sisters would be marrying brothers.  The New York Times reported that Rosalynd and Sylvia were engaged to Meyer and Jacques Ginsberg, respectively.

On January 21, 1916, the newspaper reported on Rosalynd's and Meyer's wedding in The Riverside Mansions apartment.  The article said the newlyweds left for their honeymoon, "but will return on Sunday to act as attendants at the wedding of Miss Sylvia Fields and Jacques Ginsberg."

In the meantime, the family of Farron S. Betts occupied an apartment here.  He was the president of F. L. Schafuss Co., maker of greeting cards and postcards.  Living with the family was Betts' widowed mother-in-law, Alma E. Byxbee.  

When Betts sailed to Europe on business in July 1914, he took along his chauffeur, Ernst Theodor Edward Fischer.  The young man was the son of Brigadier General Carl Heinz Fischer of the German Army.  They were in England when war was declared and Fischer "was promptly taken into custody by agents of the British Secret Service," reported The New York Times.  He was held in prison for several weeks before Betts could get him released.  The article said the chauffeur pledged, "not to try to get back to Germany, but to return to the United States."  Betts and Fischer returned to New York.  However, like Hugo Schweitzer, the chauffeur "admits that he is anxious for the kaiser to win," reported The New York Times.

Nine months after the Fields sisters' weddings, on October 19, 1916 Jenesse Alma Betts was married to Ernst Theodor Eduard Fischer.  Alma E. Byxbee died in the Betts apartment at the age of 89 on February 18, 1918.  Her funeral was held in the parlor the following afternoon.

Once America entered World War I, Ernst Fischer's outspoken favoritism to the German cause could not be ignored.   On July 4, 1918, The New York Times reported that he had been arrested by agents of the Department of Justice.  Although he had not committed a crime, the Department said his family "is one of the best known fighting families in Germany."  Ernst Fischer was imprisoned as an enemy alien, "for the period of the war," said the article.

A war of a different type was playing out in the apartment of Edwin Clifford and Louise McCullough.  McCullough was the head of E. C. McCullough & Co., which imported cigars and tobacco from the Philippines.  He had a personal fortune of $2 million according to Louise (or about $23.7 million today).  Louise was, according to the New York Herald, "a musician of ability and a linguist, speaking German, French and Spanish, as well as English."

Clifford met Louise at her dancing school when she was 15 years old and he was 25.  They eloped on April 23, 1893 and had a son and daughter.  According to Louise, their marriage was happy until McCullough "began to tell her of his affairs with other women, wives of his social and business friends."  When he began coming home early in the morning three or four days at week, according to Louise, he said "he was entitled to live his life in his own way."

On June 27, 1920, Louise, her 15-year-old daughter, also named Louise, and a cousin, Edwin Elser, were riding in the McCullough's large touring car in Westchester County, driven by their chauffeur, Pietro Holanda.  The teen badgered her mother to allow her to drive and finally, after luncheon, she let Louise get behind the wheel.  The girl slammed the car into a tree on Pelham Parkway.  The crash killed the young driver and severely injured her mother and the other occupants.

Ten days after the accident, Louise was back home, incapacitated with two broken legs and other injuries.  Edwin walked out, telling her that she "could communicate with his stenographer."  He took their son with him.

The following year, on March 26, 1921, Louise began separation proceedings, charging Edwin with abandonment and "poisoning her son's mind" against her.  Edwin denied the charges, saying that his wife was "temperamental."  Louise was awarded alimony the following year.

On Christmas Eve 1921, Farron S. Betts was in his automobile in the Bronx (driven by his new chauffeur).  The New York Herald reported that Betts "felt a bump in the West Drive, and getting out to investigate found an unconscious man."  The victim was Edward McConnell, who lived at 54 West 98th Street.  Betts and his chauffeur lifted him into the automobile and took him to Reconstruction Hospital, "where it was said he had a fractured skull."  Both Betts and his driver insisted that they had not originally struck McCullough, but merely ran over him.

At the time, rents at 410 Riverside Drive ranged from $3,100 and $3,500 a year--equal to $4,000 to $4,500 per month today.

Among the residents during the Depression years were prominent attorney and railroad man Walter J. Bartnett and his wife, the former Frances G. Vaux.  Married in 1895, they had three daughters, one of whom, Joanne, who was unmarried, lived with them.  Born in California, Bartnett received his law degree from Hastings College of Law in 1890.  

Walter J. Bartnett in his younger years.  from the collection of the Western Pacific Railroad.

He organized the Western Pacific Railroad Company in 1903 and became its first president.  He organized the Central California Traction Company and built an interurban system between Sacramento and Stockton, California.  He was, as well, a founder of the World Federation League.

In 1941, the roof cresting had been removed.  Cast iron sconces with milk glass globes still illuminated the entrance area and the balconies were intact.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

An interesting resident at the time was Dr. Raphael Constantin, who lived here with his wife, Florence M.  Born in Armenia, Constantin received his medical degree in 1893 from the University of Edinburgh.  He came to America in 1902 and turned his focus from medicine to industry.  He became the president of the Obelisk Waterproofing Company, which waterproofed structures like the obelisk in Central Park, St. Paul's Chapel, and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Riverside Park.  He was also highly involved in Armenian-American affairs and was president of the Armenia-American Society and the Constantinople Armenian Relief Society.

Millionaire Ida M. Valentine was a resident in the second half of the century.  Never married, like many wealthy employers, she developed a close connection with her loyal servants.  Upon her death on July 28, 1962, she bequeathed the bulk of her large estate to three charitable institutions.  But she did not forget her chauffeur of 23 years, Louis Reale.  Mr. Reale, who lived on West 191st Street, received "a tax-free bequest of $200,000," according to The New York Times, as well as "jewelry and personal property."  The cash inheritance would equal $2 million today.

image via streeteasy.com

By the mid-1980s, Columbia University had acquired 410 Riverside Drive as apartments for "postdocs, faculty and staff."  In 1999 the school restored the upper portion of the building, including the eye-catching gables.  Nina Siegal, writing in The New York Times on November 21, 1999, said, "The structure had needed repairs badly, and instead of just patching it up, the university hired a respected preservation firm, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates."  The architects used extant details to copy missing ornaments "and restore the roof to its original grandeur," according to Siegal.  It may have been during this renovation that the balconies were removed.

The 1887 Michael Hughes House - 365 West 123rd Street

 

The blocks just east of Morningside Park saw a flurry of construction in the 1880s.  In 1886, real estate developer Samuel H. Bailey purchased "the lots on the northeast corner of Ninth avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-third street," as reported by the Record & Guide and hired architect Charles E. Baxter to design a row of brownstone-faced houses on the site.  Completed on April 30, 1887, the neo-Grec-style homes were three stories tall above high English basements.  Baxter blended touches of Queen Anne into his design.  Instead of the striking copper oriels seen at the second floor of the other houses, the end homes, including 365 West 123rd Street, featured full-height angled bays.

That house became home to the Michael Hughes family.  He and his wife, the former Mary A. O'Grady, had four children, three sons and a daughter.  

The two rows of stylized acanthus leaves that decorate the cornice enhanced the Greek motif.

Hughes joined dozens of men who were "engaged in business in the northern part of the city of New York" in signing a petition to the Common Council on November 27, 1895.  Pointing out that the district "lying north of One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street and fronting the Harlem river is a rapidly growing locality," they complained that the riverfront was not keeping up.  The businessmen asked for "wharves and dock facilities" which would make merchandise more easily received.

Mary was looking for a servant in September 1897.  The wording of her ad suggested the girl would not have an easy workday.  "Strong girl for general housework."

Nearly a half century after moving into the house, Michael Hughes died on March 26, 1921.  His funeral was held in Annunciation Church three days later.  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Mary A. Hughes advertised 365 West 123rd Street for sale the following summer.  Her ad in the New York Herald read, "House, brownstone, 10 rooms, fine condition; could be used by two families."  It was purchased by Michael T. Reilly and his wife Catherine.  

In the fall of 1940, the Daily News challenged housewives to be a "pigskin clairvoyant" by picking the weekend's football game winners.  Of the 117,263 entries who guessed the outcome of the November 30 games, Catherine Reilly received the third prize of $25.

Michael T. Reilly sold 365 West 123rd Street in September 1941 to Thelma York for $5,500 (about $117,000 in 2026 terms).  She and her family lived here nine years, selling the house to Jacob Goodman & Co. in April 1950.

When Daisy Hatcher purchased it two years later, The New York Times described the property as a "four-story rooming house."  Among the roomers living here that year was musician and band leader Rudolph "Rudy" King.

Born in Trinidad, Rudy King introduced the steel pan to the United States in 1949.  The evolution of the steel pan began in Trinidad when empty cans were struck with bamboo shoots, according to King in an interview later.  He organized a band called the Tropican.  

Of the original row of six homes, three survive, including 365 West 123rd Street.  Greatly intact on the exterior, a renovation completed in 1989 resulted in a two-family home.''

photographs by the author