C. P. H. Gilbert's 1890 Romantic Trio at 456-460 West 152nd Street

 

Gilbert cleverly designed the three entrances without upsetting symmetry.  photo by Mark Satlof.

On September 6, 1890, the Record & Guide reported, "On the south side of 152d street...east of 10th avenue, the three-story and basement dwellings are nearing completion, from plans of C. P. H. Gilbert.  They are ready for the trimwork, and are being built by J. H. McKenney."  The esteemed architect had filed the plans six months earlier, projecting the construction costs of each house at $9,834 (about $340,000 in 2024).

Gilbert disguised the three residences as a single structure.  The homogenous design was a surprising and successful blending of Romanesque Revival and Colonial Revival styles.  Faced in yellow brick and trimmed in brownstone, the former style exhibited in the rough cut voussoirs of the five-part arcade at the parlor level, the faceted bay and rounded tower on the end homes, and the romantic third floor's arched openings, charming dormers and conical cap.  The Colonial was most evident in the second floor with the delicate fanlight over the central grouping and spider web leading of the oval windows.

The project was personal for real estate developer James H. McKenney.  He had purchased the vacant property on November 28, 1881 and immediately transferred the title to his wife, Sarah A. McKenney.  The couple's plan was to occupy the easternmost house, No. 456, with their daughter, Susan, and to lease the others as rental income.  

Construction was completed before the end of 1890.  Each of the residences had 10 rooms and "1 bath and 2 toilets," according to an advertisement.  The still somewhat rural district was reflected in an advertisement for 460 West 152nd Street in 1891:  

The handsome three-story and basement brick residence; hardwood finish; sanitary plumbing; fruit trees.

As the neighborhood developed, the city struggled to keep pace with services.  On March 31, 1891, for instance, the New York Herald reported, "Residents of Washington Heights and Carmansville wish to have transportation facilities accorded them throughout the night," adding, "They do not look upon the running of the cable cars on Amsterdam avenue all night in the light of a luxury, but as a necessity."  Among the residents interviewed was James H. McKenney.  He said, "houses were standing vacant on account of the poor night service given by the cable road."  The article noted, "Night after night he had been compelled to walk from 125th and 145th streets, having missed the last car."

James H. McKenney died shortly after that interview.  Then, on February 8, 1894, Sarah A. McKenney died.  Her funeral, as her husband's had been, was held in the parlor on February 11.

After living alone for years at 456 West 152nd Street, on November 11, 1900 The New York Times reported that Susan, "daughter of the late James McKenney, long a well-known resident of Washington Heights, was quietly married on October 22."  She and Bostonian Frederick Sylvester Coburn had married in Port Jervis, New York.  The article noted, "Mr. and Mrs. Coburn will be at home at 456 West One Hundred and Fifty-second Street."

At the time of the wedding, Susan's tenants at 458 West 152nd Street were Daniel Van Wagenen, a ship chandler, and his family.  

The initial occupants of No. 460 had been Reverend E. Spruille Burford and his second wife, the former Josephine Finley Hynson.  (His first wife, Rosa Petite, died in 1873.)  The house was convenient to his work.  Burford was the rector of the Church of the Intercession at 158th Street and Broadway.  While Spruille was attending a funeral in Indianapolis in March 1894, a carbuncle developed on his neck.  Back at home, it worsened to blood poison and he died at the age of 54 on April 15.

 photo by Mark Satlof

Attorney John Baldwin Hand next occupied 460 West 152nd Street.  Born on February 28, 1856 in Canada, he married Elizabeth A. Sheppard in 1885.  The couple had two sons, Richard Bertram and John, Jr.  In addition to his law practice, Hand, Sr. was involved in the Washington Heights Savings and Loan Association. 

In May 1911, Susan McKenney sold all three properties at auction.  No. 456 became home to Angus P. Thorne, the Superintendent of Dependent Adults of the Charities Department.  In 1916, as war was raging in Europe, Angus, Jr. was deployed to the Plattsburgh Military Training Camp in Plattsburgh, New York.

George E. Hill purchased 458 West 152nd Street at the 1911 auction.  He and his wife, Margaret Marie, had a son, George F.  Like his next door neighbor, George F. Hill was inducted into the Army.  His address was still listed with his parents in 1923 when he held the rank of captain.

In July 1929, George E. Hill was promoted to the position of chief mechanical engineer of the Bronx Terminal Market.  His civil service job would bring welcome security when the stock market crashed later that year.  His raise brought his salary to $7,500--equal to about $133,000 a year today.

Less upstanding was Edith Stevens who occupied 456 West 152nd Street in 1922.  The 19-year-old, according to the Brooklyn Times Union, "is also known as Stevenson, nee Schneider, and whose true name is said to be Mrs. Hirsh."  On August 26, 1922, she was arrested as the conspirator of Anthony Cassese, "millionaire tobacco merchant of Ozone Park, owner of a fleet of alleged rum-running vessels, and Joseph Bartolin, his chauffeur, charged with conspiracy of smuggling liquor into this country."  The Long Island newspaper, The Daily Review, headlined an article, "Woman 'Pal' Of Bootlegger Under Arrest."

By the third quarter of the 20th century, the former McKenney house held the Wilson Major Morris Community Center.  The facility provided help to local residents.  On June 23, 1989, for instance, Newsday reported, "State Sen. David Patterson will speak on 'Budget Cuts/Freeze Efforts on Senior Citizens.'"  

At the turn of the century, at least one of the residences was tottering on dereliction.   In 2002, 460 West 152nd Street was vacant and shuttered.

All three were renovated within the decade.  In 2008, 460 West 152nd Street was remodeled to a duplex on the first and second floors with one apartment on the third.  Two years later, 456 West 152nd Street was converted to the identical configuration; and 458 West 152nd Street was remodeled in 2010 to a basement apartment and a single family home on the upper floors.

 photo by Mark Satlof

C. P. H. Gilbert's especially eye-catching trio of 1890 residences have happily survived greatly intact.

thanks to reader Mark Satlof for prompting this post

The 1894 Wm. and Harriette Greene House - 410 West 149th Street

 

Players in the real estate field in the late 19th century included several powerful women who held their own with their male counterparts.  Among them was Susan Orcutt who focused much of her attention on the developing Sugar Hill area of Harlem.   On May 19, 1893 her architect, Christian Steinmetz filed plans for seven three-story stone-faced dwellings on 149th Street, between St. Nicholas and Convent Avenues.  Each would be 19 feet wide and cost $14,000--or around $403,000 today.

Steinmetz designed the row as a pleasing assortment of styles. He drew mainly from Romanesque and Renaissance Revival but took creative license.  Among them was No. 410, faced in rough cut limestone in keeping with its medieval-inspired Romanesque Revival design.  Three stories tall above an English basement, its entrance was embellished by two floating engaged columns which upheld a blank entablature.  A bowed bay at the second floor would have provided a cozy sitting nook inside.  Steinmetz forwent a cornice for a stone parapet with a peak.

Susan Orcutt apparently stretched herself too thin on the project, finance-wise.  Just after their completion she lost the entire row to foreclosure.  They were sold to Thomas Charlton, another real estate operator, in September 1894 for $16,000 each--only $2,000 more then they cost to build.

He advertised No. 410 in April the following year saying "$20,000 will buy the 19 foot, stone front three story basement and cellar decorated Dwelling, with extension, at 410 West 149th st; restricted neighborhood."  His mention of a "restricted" neighborhood was important--it meant that no businesses were allowed to encroach on the residential blocks.

There were no buyers, however, and Charlton leased the house until finally selling it in April 1903 to William Z. and Harriette E. Greene.  William was a partner in the real estate firm of Greene & Taylor with Louis R. Taylor.

The Greenes had no children, an important detail when Harriette was looking for a maid a few months later.  Her ad read "Wanted--a girl for general housework, two in family, private house."

The couple lived quietly in the house, drawing no press coverage for either scandal or social activities.  Harriette died in the house on June 4, 1910.  Interestingly her funeral was not held in the parlor, as was common, but in Our Lady of Lourdes church nearby on Convent Avenue.

In October William sold No. 410 to Josephine C. Wood.  She owned it only seven months, losing it to foreclosure in May 1911.  It was purchased by Julia Nusbaum at auction for $16,651, or about $462,000 today.  Like the Greenes, the Nusbaums drew no attention to themselves.  They lived here until 1920 when the house was sold to William Manning.

By now the neighborhood had greatly changed.  Subways were extended to the area in 1904 making it much more accessible.  A rash of apartment building construction followed.  Many of the private homes were being converted to rooming and boarding houses, and that was the fate of No. 410.

Two of the roomers in 1932 were from Pittsburgh.  On November 12 that year The New York Age reported that they had joined with a neighbor, Lewis E. Dial who lived on Edgecombe Avenue, to search for other former Pittsburgh residents.  "Purpose--to organize a New York Pittsburgh club," said the article.

Little has changed since this photo was taken around 1941.  via the Dept of Records & Information Services

A young couple moved from Ohio and took rooms here in 1933.  They went to the Harlem Furniture Co. on Eighth Avenue and paid $12 on furniture; but when it arrived they realized they had been duped.  The New York Age reported on March 4, 1933, "it was not what they had chosen, but, instead, some dilapidated pieces."  They took the store management to court where Magistrate Renaud asserted that the operation "was nothing but a racket by which several Negroes were robbed of their money by fraudulent furniture dealers."  He ordered the owner to give the couple their $12 on the spot.

Despite the victory, something continued to nag at Esther Miller.  Three months later, on June 10, The New York Age reported that the 31-year old had been rushed to Harlem Hospital after attempting suicide by swallowing bichloride of mercury.   There Dr. Payne deemed her condition serious.

Mason Stokes's name appeared in print in 1937 for a joyous and then a not-so-joyous reason.  On July 31 The New York Age reported that he had obtained his license to married Susie Taylor.  Two weeks later he was arrested for speeding on the Cross County Parkway in Queens.  The Herald Statesmen reported that he "was given the choice of $5 fine or a day in jail.  He took the jail sentence."

On January 12, 1944 Maude Miller came back to her apartment to find that the door had been forced open.  Her fur coat and radio were gone.  She seems to have been most concerned about the radio, which she valued at $250, or about $3,630 in today's money.  Police found the radio in a pawn shop on Amsterdam Avenue.  The shop owner identified 22-year old Francis Williams as the man who brought it in, and he was arrested.

Maude was most likely disappointed when the Nassau Daily Review-Star reported on February 5 that "A charge of grand larceny pending here against Francis Williams, 22, colored...was reduced to petty larceny by Magistrate Charles E. Ramsgate after a hearing in felony court today."

In 1957 Grace Wright and Gale Page shared an apartment here.  The couple got into a heated argument at 3:15 on the morning of April 21--so heated that a policeman was called to intercede.  The Daily News reported "All he was trying to do, Patrolman Terrance Rasamen explained, was to act as peacemaker in a brawl between Grace Wright, 25, and Gale Page, 29, at their home."  Suddenly the peacemaker became the enemy.  "But, he said, the woman belted him with her shoe, and Page punched him."  Both were arrested on charges of felonious assault.

A renovation completed in 1989 brought the house back to a single family home.  

photograph by the author

The Dr. F. W. Lilienthal House - 408 West 154th Street

Despite his decidedly French-sounding name, Henri Fouchaux was American, born in Coytesville, New Jersey in 1856.  By the turn of the century he was the most prolific architect in Washington Heights and Harlem, responsible for scores of homes and business buildings.

Among them were the eight upscale residences he designed for developer William H. Lake in 1898--three on West 154th Street and two around the corner on St. Nicholas Avenue.  His plans, filed in August that year, estimated the cost of the 20-foot wide homes at $15,000 each; or around $468,000 today.

Completed the following year, Fouchaux had turned to the popular Beaux Arts style for the project.  The three 154th Street homes were designed in an A-B-A configuration.  The two matching end houses were a restrained example of the often flamboyant style.  Like its identical twin, No. 408 was three stories tall above an English basement, it was clad in limestone and featured an angled bay at the second floor, supported by ornate stone brackets.

Fouchaux stepped away from the French motif by embellishing the newels of the dog-legged stoop and the spandrel panels of the second floor bay with Renaissance-inspired carvings.  Above the understated third floor was a bracketed pressed metal cornice.

No. 408 is at the left.  The steep incline of West 154th Street necessitated a higher stoop than that of its twin at No. 412.

In 1900 Lake sold all eight of the completed houses to Charles Hibbard.   The ambitious real estate operator seems to have been overly-optimistic, for he lost six of the houses in foreclosure in 1902.   At the time of the auction on March 29 he owed the bank $16,690 and back taxes of $600--or about $550,000 today.

At the time Dr. F. W. Lilienthal and his wife, Auguste, were well-known among the German community.  He emigrated from Germany in 1861 and was one of the founders of the German Dispensary that served the often impoverished population of the East Village, known as Kleindeutschland, or Little Germany.  But the couple was also known for their fearless support of the working class Germans and Dr. Lilienthal was described by The New York Times later as "one of the pioneers of the Socialist Party in this city."

The devastating economic depression known as Financial Panic of 1873 lasted for several years.  It put thousands of New Yorkers out of work, including the tenement dwellers in the German district.  With no civic funded relief available, the people grew desperate.  Committees and organizations were formed to meet with the city government in hopes to organize public works programs to provide jobs.  But they were rebuffed.

On January 13, 1874 about 7,000 unemployed workers gathered in Tompkins Square Park.  A force of about 1,600 police officers entered the park wielding clubs to disperse the crowd.  When the workers fought back, mounted police charged the crowd.  A witness, Samuel Gompers described them "riding them down and attacking men, women and children without discrimination.  It was an orgy of brutality."

Two weeks later, on January 30, what The New York Herald described as a "German mass meeting" was held at Cooper Square.  The newspaper reported "the approaches to the Great Hall were blocked by a motley crown of Germans."

Presiding over the meeting and giving the first speech to the "boisterous and demonstrative audience" was the outraged Dr. Lilienthal.   He stressed the importance of protecting "the rights of citizens in this crisis" and to "protest against this flagrant violation of the right of free assemblage."

Among the strong male voices that night was one that was perhaps unexpected by the press covering the event.  Auguste Lilienthal stepped to the dais as one of the last speakers.  The Herald described her as "a tall, stout lady."  Her impassioned speech accused the police of a "felonious outrage perpetrated upon working-men in Tompkins Square."  She said they had robbed the people of the right of free speech guaranteed by the Constitution.  "Would the police have disturbed Messrs. Astor, Stewart, Vanderbilt, &c., in a meeting of theirs?  Oh, no, they would have taken great care to secure them a peaceable and quiet gathering."

"Who were the men clubbed in Tompkins Square?" she asked.  "They were the real citizens, the real workers, the real taxpayers."  Auguste's speech was repeatedly met with a chorus of "Bravos!"

Dr. Lilienthal's practice provided him the income to afford his upscale home in what had become a stylish suburban neighborhood.  After Charles S. Hibbard sold No. 408 in 1901 it became home to the Lilienthals.  The couple maintained a country estate in the Catskills near Tannersville, New York, as well.

Auguste was helped by a small staff of domestic servants.  An advertisement in The New York Herald read, "Two German girls, a cook and a chambermaid by small family in private home.  Two sisters or mother and daughter preferred."  Auguste's preference was most likely well-founded.  A family member, especially a mother, might keep the other from dawdling.

She needed domestic help because she was no mere housewife.  Auguste was the editor of the woman's section of the Sunday magazine of The New York Volkszeitung.  (The Lilienthal's adult daughter, Meta L. Stern, incidentally, was a popular German-language author who wrote under the pseudonym of Hebe.)

Dr. Lilienthal's booming practice may have been boosted by his generous dispensing of medications.  Medical Leaves: A Review of the Jewish Medical World later commented, "A good physician with a great following was Dr. F. W. Lilienthal.  Patients were obliged to wait in line for hours at his office.  Dr. Lilienthal usually prescribed pills in large quantities; one hundred pills was his usual prescription."

The Lilienthals were at their summer estate on July 28, 1910 when the 77-year-old doctor died.  The New York Times, while noting that he was "one of the leading German physicians" in the city, focused on his political and social stances.  "He was also a founder of the Free Thinkers' Society, and a member of the various organizations which joined to form the present Socialist Party in this country.  He was a member of the International Socialist Union."

Within the year Lilienthal's estate sold No. 408 to Martin E. Roache.  He was the vice-president and the second-largest stockholder in James Butler, Inc., grocers.  The firm, which was started by James Butler, now operated 171 retail grocery stores in connection with its wholesale business.

The Roache family leased the house to Harry C. Hequembourg, purchasing agent for the American Locomotive Company in 1917; and in 1919 sold it.  By now the neighborhood had noticeably changed.  Subway service reached the area in 1904, making it more accessible to middle class New Yorkers.  Apartment buildings began sprouting along the avenues and the exclusivity of the neighborhood disappeared.

By the Depression years 408 West 154th Street was being operated as a rooming house.  At least one tenant, William J. Garvey, was financially comfortable enough to own an automobile.  On January 30, 1930 he was driving along South Broadway in Yonkers when a 19-year-old boy, Henry Offerman, stepped in the path of his car.   Garvey was unable to react and he hit Offerman, injuring the teen enough to require his treatment at St. Joseph's Hospital.  Garvey was held innocent of any negligence.

Mrs. Odette Kelly took the building manager to court in 1935, claiming he was pocketing her rent money.  On November 15, according to The New York Age, she complained that she had given Samuel J. Cottman (a "well-known realtor") her $67.50 rent on October 2.  She was later informed by the building's owner, Emanuel & Shure, that she was behind in her rent.  When she confronted Cottman he "kept making excuses to her about the money," she said.

The New York Age reported "Cottman was hauled into Heights Court."  The hearing was held on November 22 where Cottman's defense convinced the judge of his innocence.  "The realtor told the court that he had held the money up at the request of the woman's husband," reported The New York Age.  "The court agreed with him...and dismissed the charge."

By the last decade of the 20th century the neighborhood around No. 408 had revived.  Today there are four apartments in the Lilienthal house; but from the outside little has changed after more than 110 years.

photographs by the author

The Otto Presspritch House - 411 West 154th Street

In 1874 developer John Kelly acquired the large parcel at the southwest corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 154th Street.  It would be years before the development of the Sugar Hill neighborhood was fully underway; and Kelly waited nearly a decade before hiring architect James Stroud in 1883 to design eleven row houses that wrapped the corner--seven on 154th Street and four others at Nos. 881 to 887 St. Nicholas Avenue.

In May 1883 Building, An Architectural Monthly remarked on the unusual setting.  "The architect, Mr James Stroud, has designed them on plateaus, giving the pleasing effect of green terraces, with walks of Seyssel Rock asphalt."  The writer described what today we recognized as the Queen Anne style.  "He has introduced colonial features of architecture, such as bow windows, irregular roofs, verandahs and balconies.  There will be ornamental sashes with glacier decorations and rolling Venetian blinds."  

A rendering released by Stroud's office reveal that the houses originally had covered porches--called "verandahs" by Building.  Building, An Architectural Monthly, May 1883 (copyright expired)

Each of the 21-foot wide houses had upscale detailing.  Expensive ash and cherry trim and hot and cold running water were expensive, modern amenities.  Building pointed out that at each stairway landing was a window "opening to the outer air," which it deemed "a decided improvement on the usual city house."  

Kelly erected the houses for rental income.  The Building journalist noted "Just why families are willing to pay $1,800 or $2,000 per annum for a suite of apartments on the eleventh story of an apartment house when they can rent a pleasant residence on its own ground for less than half the money, it is difficult to tell."  

The West 154th Street row was designed in an A-A-B-C-B-A-A configuration.  The pairs of "A" houses on either end were near mirror images of one another; the significant differences being in the treatment of the mansard towers.  No. 411 at the western end was, like its neighbors, three stories tall including the full-height mansard.  The openings wore brick lintels with stone keystones and imposts.  The dramatic mansard included a dormer and an oval window within the tower.

The 11-room house became home to the large Presspritch family.  Otto Presspritch and his wife, the former Marie Le Gendre, had been married in 1862.  The New York Times mentioned that Marie "was descended from an old family of New Orleans."  Otto was a cotton broker at the time.  Following the Civil War Presspritch was made Consul to the Russian Government and the couple moved to Liverpool, England, until 1875.

Otto and Marie had two daughters, Marie and Alice, and five sons, Henri, Ernest, Walter, Reginald, and Otto, Jr.  In 1887 Reginald was a freshman at the College of the City of New York, enrolled in its "Classical course;" while his brother, Henri, was studying a Columbia University.

In 1900 the Presspritches were paying $900 per year rent on the house--approximately $2,300 a month in today's terms.  But they would not continued to do so for much longer.  Perhaps because the children were now grown, In 1904 the family left No. 411.  In July that year it was purchased by Albert Pritchett and his wife, Mary Elizabeth.

Pritchett was a manager of the Baltimore-based Keen & Hagerty Mfg. Co. at No. 99 Nassau Street.  His residency in the 154th Street house here was a rocky one.  He troubles started in February 1906 when The Title Insurance Company of New York began foreclosure proceedings against him.  He owed $11,582.28 on his mortgage at the time, nearly $335,000 today.  The situation was grim enough that the house was scheduled to be auctioned on April 5.

Pritchett managed to wriggle out of that situation; but his problems were not over by far.  He attempted to improve his finances by gambling in 1907, but that ended badly.  On September 23 The Sun reported that he appeared in the West Side Court "with his right arm badly cut" and was charged with "being a disorderly person."

As the article explained, "Pritchett said that he had been to 141 West Ninetieth street to play in a poker game on Saturday night to see if he could win back some money he had lost.  He lost more, he said, and made a kick."  When his hosts demanded that he leave, he "got out by going through the glass panel of the door in the vestibule."   The judge was as much surprised by the fact that the poker game had not been raided as he was by Prichett's bad behavior.

Possibly in an effort to avoid another foreclosure, Albert transferred title to the 154th Street house to Mary Elizabeth on February 28, 1908.  Apparently desperate for money, two months later he turned to larceny.  On the afternoon of April 5, 1908 he accompanied a 30-year old woman, Frances Tenney, to the apartment of her friend, Amelia B. Liddy at No. 2337 Broadway.  The two women had been close friends for years so Amelia had no reason to be suspicious.

But as the three were sitting in the living room, Pritchett rose and boldly walked into the bedroom.  According to Amelia, he "went to a dressing table...and took from a drawer $2,650 worth of jewelry."  Included were a diamond and pearl ring, a diamond locket and a "snake pin" set with diamonds."  Pritchett then bolted from the apartment.

"Miss Tenney ran over to me and placed her hand over my mouth that I might make no outcry," Amelia said in her complaint.  "I tried to rise from my chair.  She pushed me back into it and held me there."  

When Pritchett had had sufficient time to escape, Frances ran away too.  It did not take long for authorities to apprehend her; and the following day The New York Herald reported "Police are searching for Albert G. Pritchett of No. 411 West 154th street."

Pritchett appears to have panicked.  When Amelia appeared before a judge the day after the incident, a man identified only as "Sam" entered the courtroom.  The Evening World reported he pleaded with her "to withdraw the complaint against Pritchett."   And when he handed her a chamois bag containing the stolen jewelry, she did just that.  "All I wanted was my jewels back," she said.

The Evening World described the detectives as being "dumbfounded."  Amelia told reporters "He's not a bad sort, anyhow.  He's Miss Tenny's friend.  I hated to have the dear girl arrested, but you know those diamonds are worth $2,700 and that's something."  The article said "Both women are considerate of Pritchett.  He is a married man with a family."

The Pritchetts managed to remain at No. 411 into 1912.  They were followed by Daisy L. Jordan, whose former husband Arthur M. Jordan was the proprietor of the Cedarcliffe Hotel in New Rochelle, New York.   Daisy took him to court in September 1912 claiming he owed $950 in back alimony--nearly $25,500 today.   Daisy Jordan's time here was short and in 1913 electrical engineer Virgil Ellsworth Metcalfe called No. 411 home.

By the Depression years the Sugar Hill neighborhood had significantly changed.  Most of the comfortable 19th century homes were converted to rooming houses, some with shops in the basement levels.  The end of the line for No. 411 as a dwelling came at the beginning of 1938.

In 1924 West 154th Street was still unpaved.  Several of the porches have been lost, as was a portion of the retaining wall.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York 

On January 24 The New York Sun reported "A stag stronghold, the St. Catherine's Boys Club, has been established in an old four-floor private house at 411 West 154th street, with as many officers as there are in a Mexican army."  Each of the 35 members, ranging from 15 to 22-years old, was at least a director.

The house had been acquired by the Catholic Youth Organization and Rev. Joseph A. Brady of the nearby Church of St. Catherine of Genoa gave the boys a daunting responsibility.  They were told, according to The Sun, "that they could have the house for a clubhouse if they would furnish it."  The article note "they have furnished the house partly with articles from members' homes, and are ready to make merry and make money."

To make money the boys organized their own "employment agency" to obtain after-school jobs like dog walkers, window washers, errand runners and "carriage-wheelers."  They also published an eight-page newspaper, the Armchair.

The boys were also responsible for the maintenance of the house as well.  Seventeen-year old Robert O'Brien, who acted as the Armchair's editor, for instance, tended the furnace.  So "in the heat of press time the clubhouse is cold," said The Sun.

It was not all work, of course.  St. Catherine's Boys Club also had "football, baseball, basketball, track and debating teams, a dance committee and a library," according to the article.

Unfortunately for the boys, the endeavor did not last.  Within a year it had become The Modern School, a private elementary school.  In the 2001 book Manhattan at Mid-Century: An Oral History, Barbara Pringle recalled that the first school she attended "was the Modern School at 154th Street, which was a feeder for white private schools.  Ethel Waters's daughter, W. E. B. Du Bois's granddaughter, a whole number of children who came from black professional families went there."

The girls of The Modern School were dressed for a program on Christmas Eve 1939.  from the collection of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

The Modern School was founded in 1934 by Mildred Johnson Edwards.  A Black graduate of the teacher training program at the Ethical Culture Center on Central Park West, when she found that she could not get a teaching position in a New York City private school, she simply opened her own.  The school accepted children from 18 months of age through the fifth grade.

Mildred Edwards purchased No. 411 when her success demanded more space and her enrollment reached 200.  Years later, in 1999, Nina Seigal wrote in The New York Times, it "came to be respected as one of the best private schools in Manhattan."

Around 1954 the school moved to West 152nd Street.  No. 411 became home to Bryant Memorial Zion Baptist Church, which retains ownership.  Although sadly battered, the house has managed to retain its charm, silently begging for sympathetic attention.

photographs by the author

The Peter F. McCoy House - 414 West 149th Street

Susan Orcutt was a prolific developer in the last decade of the 19th century, focusing much of her attention on the developing Sugar Hill area of Harlem.   On May 19, 1893 her architect, Christian Steinmetz filed plans for seven three-story stone-faced dwellings on 149th Street, between St. Nicholas and Convent Avenues.  Each would be 19 feet wide and cost $14,000--around $403,000 today.

Steinmetz designed the row as a pleasing assortment of styles. He drew mainly from Romanesque and Renaissance Revival but took creative license.  No. 414 was essentially Romanesque Revival with stoop newels capped with medieval style carvings and heavy rough-cut brownstone blocks facing the facade.  But unlike its fraternal twin at No. 410, which stayed much truer to the Romanesque style, its openings were rectangular like its Renaissance Revival neighbors.  The offset gable with blind openings smacked heavily of the Queen Anne style.

No. 410, two doors away, is a near match but more closely adhers to the Romanesque style.

The row was completed in 1894.  Susan Orcutt sold No. 414 to builder and architect John P. Leo.  The president of the newly-formed Builders' League of New York, he apparently used the house simply for rental income.

In January 1896 Leo sold the residence to Peter F. McCoy.  He, too, was involved in real estate, the president of the Ethelia Realty Company.  McCoy's first wife, Margaret, had died in March 1884 at just 35-years old.  Two years later he married Anna R. Hogan.

The McCoy family included Alice Regeina, Ethel Regina, Angelia, Walter, Harvey, and Peter, Jr.  A year after they moved in, their population was increased by the birth of Rosina on July 10, 1897.  Tragically, the little girl died a year later just ten days after her first birthday.  Her funeral was held in the drawing room of the home.

On August 8, 1901 the New York Herald reported "Announcement is made of the engagement of Miss Alice Regeina McCoy...to Mr. John Monks, Jr."  The article added, "Miss McCoy is an attractive and accomplished young woman...She has been at Long Beach, L. I., for several weeks, but will leave there in a few days for the White Mountains, where she intends to remain until some time in September."

Alice Regeina McCoy - New York Herald, August 8, 1901 (copyright expired)

And so it was presumably on Long Island that Alice read the news of her engagement.  And she was not pleased.  Two days later the same newspaper printed a much different article.

Miss Alice Regeina McCoy, daughter of Mr. Peter F. McCoy, of No. 414 West 149th street, requests the Herald to contradict the announcement of her engagement to Mr. John Monks, Jr., of this city.  The announcement was made originally in the Herald on Thursday, on the authority of Miss McCoy's stepmother.  Yesterday Miss McCoy, who is spending the summer at Long Beach, telephoned that she had no intention of marrying Mr. Monks or anyone else at present."

Despite that unpleasant incident, the family forged on.  In 1904 Anna placed a help wanted ad for a "respectable girl to do upstairs work and assist with children."

At some point Anna's widowed father, Michael Hogan, moved in with the family.  He died in the house on November 29, 1915.   His prestige within the Roman Catholic community was reflected in his funeral being celebrated with a solemn requiem mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

In 1908 20-year old Peter, Jr. graduated from Columbia University.  Four years later he earned his law degree from the New York Law School.  On January 10, 1918, now associated with the law firm Eaton, Lewis & Rowe, he was elected to membership of the executive committee of the Bank of Washington Heights.

On April 3, 1918 Peter McCoy, Sr. died in the 149th Street house.  His funeral was held there before his casket was taken to St. Catherine's Church prior to the burial.

In October 1920 the family was looking for additional staff.  An advertisement in The New York Herald read "Man and wife wanted in private house."  An ad in another newspaper explained their intended roles more specifically:  cook and driver.

There was no drama this time when Anna announced the engagement of Ethel Regina to William Lane Donovan on September 21, 1921.   The wedding took place in St. Patrick's Cathedral on January 10, 1922.  The impressive ceremony included two monsignors among the celebrants.  Peter escorted the bride down the aisle and Angelia was the maid of honor.  Walter (now a physician) and Harvey served as ushers.  The only member of the family not mentioned in press coverage was Alice Regeina, who possibly had not reconciled with her step-mother.

A year before the wedding Peter was named Assistant United States Attorney.  His focus was on mail and investment fraud.   Among his most visible cases came soon afterward.  The New York Times later wrote "Mr. McCoy was instrumental in breaking up the nation-wide blind pool, or participating syndicates known as the 'Ponzi System...He prosecuted many persons accused of counterfeiting, selling narcotics and violating the Food and Drug Acts."

Peter was still living in the 149th Street house when on March 7, 1924 the Columbia Alumni News reported that he was "still an assistant United States District Attorney...handling bucketing investigation and commercial frauds."

In 1926 Peter was named Assistant United States Attorney General, assigned to break up mail frauds.  Afterward in the private sector he served as a counsel for the General Electric Co. and other large corporations.

The McCoy family left No. 414 not long afterward.  It was seemingly being operated as a rooming house in 1937 when the Department of Buildings deemed it an "unsafe building."  It may have been at this time, while correcting the conditions, that the owners altered the interiors to apartments.  

Whenever that conversion was completed, however, no official Certificate of Occupancy was granted.  It was not until 2015--most likely after a request from the owner's bank--that a Letter of No Objection to the apartments was issued by Department of Buildings.  The former McCoy house has nine apartments today.

photographs by the author

The Wm. J. McGinley House - 420 Convent Avenue

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

photographs by the author