The Jacob Scheer House - 323 West 108th Street

London-born Thomas Graham was both builder and architect.  In 1898, he took his 25-year-old son, William Van Wyck Graham, as his partner in an ambitious project--the erection of seven upscale rowhouses on West 108th Street between Riverside Drive and Broadway.  William was listed as the owner and builder of record, while his father was designated as the architect.

On November 4, 1899, as the row from 317 to 329 West 108th Street was taking shape, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide predicted that they would be "the finest and best equipped American basement residences ever offered to the public for sale in this city."  The article noted, "They are all built, finished and fitted in the most approved style of modern domestic construction, with hard woods, tiles, mosaics, sanitary plumbing, and the closest attention to the necessity of producing large, airy apartments, rich in appearance and containing all the requirements of elegance and comfort."   

323 West 108th Street is the fourth residence from the right.  Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, November 4, 1899 (copyright expired)

Young, wealthy and with a bright future ahead, William Van Wyck Graham committed suicide on August 31, 1900.  His fiancée had broken their engagement.  William's devastated father stopped work on the West 108th Street project, which changed hands twice before the final owner, Hugh J. Gallagher, commissioned the architectural firm of Horgan & Slattery to complete the houses.  The row was completed in 1902, four years after ground was broken.

Thomas Graham had designed two massive mansions on the western end of the row, with five 17-foot wide residences to the east.  The latter group was designed in the Renaissance Revival style and among the most striking was 323 West 108th Street.  The arched entrance above a short stoop was crowned with a elaborately carved spandrel below an ornate curved hood.  The entrance alone caused the house to stand out among the row.

Clad in beige brick, the upper four stories were embellished with rich terra cotta decorations, notably in the Corinthian pilasters that flanked the paired windows of the second and third floors.

The house was initially rented.  In 1903 James Geraty signed a lease, and in 1905 Harry Newington and his wife occupied the residence.  Then, in January 1906, Jacob Sheer purchased 323 West 108th Street.

Scheer was born in 1863 in Pumpenai, Lithuania.  His wife, the former Dora Jaffe, was born in 1871 in Vilijampole, Lithuania.  When they moved into the 108th Street house, their four children--Mae, William, Frances, and George--were 10, 7, 5, and 2 years old respectively.

Jacob Sheer, original source unknown.

Upon arriving in New York City in 1888, Scheer went into the jewelry business.  Then, six years before buying 323 West 108th Street, he and Dora partnered in real estate development.  In 1907, Jacob co-founded the Scheer-Ginsberg Realty and Construction Company and was its president.

Dora Jaffe Scheer, original source unknown.

Not long after moving into the residence, the Scheers were confronted by their celebrated next door neighbor, Victor Herbert, who lived at No. 321.  Music and art was an important facet of a young lady's upbringing, and Mae Scheer played piano.  Unfortunately, her morning practicing wafted through the party wall of the two houses, upsetting the quietude necessary for Herbert to compose.  Neil Gould, in his A Theatrical Life-Victor Herbert, explains, 

The young lady was accustomed to practicing her Czerny [piano exercises] for three hours each morning--about the same time that Herbert loved to compose...The young lady's music penetrated the wall of Herbert's studio and disturbed his routine.

 

A conference between Herbert's wife, Theresa, and Dora Scheer solved the neighborly dispute.  Mae's practice hours was moved to the afternoon and Herbert's morning composing time was restored. 

Mae's engagement to I. Herbert Gordon was announced at a reception at the Hotel Majestic on October 18, 1914.  Not long after her wedding, the Scheers sold 323 West 108th Street to Mrs. Charlotte A. Haig, who rented it.  In September 1917, she signed a lease with E. N. Sinclair.

Charlotte's next tenant would upset the 1906 detente established with the Scheers and Herberts.  Dr. Fery Lulek was the founder of the Conservatory of Music.  Neil Gould writes that moving into 323 West 108th Street were "a violiniste and two pianistes as female artists were then known...eight vocalists, and, together with Mrs. Mary Turner as chaperone, and her daughter 'Miss Jean' as piano coach."  He adds, "As Victor and Theresa watched in disbelief, in they came: eight chirping sopranos, four Steinway pianos (one for each floor) and a pubescent Paganini."

This time a ceasefire was harder to accomplish.  On March 31, 1920, The New York Times titled an article, "Victor Herbert Asks Relief From Music."  The Herberts sued, charging their neighbors with "disorderly conduct."  Mary Turner testified,
 

We are sorry if we annoy the Herberts, but what can we do?  We have moved the pianos.  We do not practice all the pianos at one time, as Mrs. Herbert said.  No doubt the Herberts do not enjoy the music.  It is quite likely they do not appreciate our music.  Thank heaven, it isn't the kind of music Mr. Herbert writes.  We play classical music!

The Herberts lost the suit, but their nemesis next door was soon gone, anyway.  Charlotte Haig sold the house in April 1920 to the Ahl Co., Inc.  The sale initiated a series of rapid-fire turnovers, ending with the purchase by the New York City Society of the Methodist-Episcopal Church for $38,500 in 1921.  (The price would translate to about $675,000 in 2026.)  

The house became home to the Japanese Methodist Church, its affiliated groups, and to Japanese tenants.  The 1922 report of the New York City Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church said, "As a social, intellectual and spiritual center and rendezvous for the Japanese community in New York City this property presents an ideal equipment and places our Church in a position to fully entertain the large responsibility we have for the Japanese."

The 1923 Directory of Social Agencies described the Japanese Church and Educational Institute (Mii Kyokai), as being "for Japanese young men."  The tenants living here were varied.  Some routinely advertised for work as butlers.  In contrast, architect Hisashi Tanaka, lived here in 1928.  Born in Tokyo in 1899, he had a degree in Architectural Engineering, and a Master's in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Illinois.  Muralist Sakari Sukuki lived here in 1934 when he was employed by the Public Works Arts Project.  Born in Iwate, Japan in 1899, he attended the California School of Fine Arts.

Sakari Suzuki painting on a mural for the Willard Park Hospital in New York City for the Works Project Administrations.  from the collection of the Archives of American Art.

On May 17, 1928, The Christian Advocate reported,

Sunday, April 29, the birthday of the Emperor of Japan, was appropriately made the occasion of an interesting service at the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church, 323 West 108th Street...Beautiful American and Japanese silk flags were presented to the church.

The American flag was presented by Mr. and Mrs. John A. Shedd.  "Mr. Schedd, in presenting the American flag, challenged the well-known words of Kipling: 'East is East and West is West / And never the twain shall meet'," said the article.

Kipling's sentiment seemed to come true on December 7, 1941 when the Empire of Japan attacked the United States Naval Base in Pearl Harbor.  Four months later, on April 18, 1942, The Japanese Methodist Church and Institute and its affiliate groups, The Young People's Federation of New York and The Tozai Club of New York, signed a declaration that began, "We affirm our loyalty to this country and faith in its ideals."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The Japanese Methodist Church and Institute weathered the war.  The rampant anti-Japanese sentiment in America, however, did not end with peace.  On November 29, 1946, The New York Times reported on Rev. Alfred S. Akamatsu's sermon the previous day.  He, "declared that our nation had not yet attained the goals of 'cultural and racial democracy,'" said the article, which added, "Declaring that a 'fearful racial tension' exists in America today, Mr. Akamatsu said 'God calls upon us not only to assist other peoples but to show the way to truly democratic living."

In 1953 the Japanese Methodist Church and Institute merged with the Japanese Christian Mission and the Japanese Christian Association.  No. 323 West 108th Street became headquarters of the United Church of Christ Japanese-American.  The New York Times, on August 19, 1963, explained that it "is a federation of Christians of Japanese descent and it comprises most Protestant denominations."

In 1967, the group renovated a three-story commercial building on lower Seventh Avenue as its "first adequate home," as worded by The New York Times on April 30.  Four years later, 323 West 108th Street was acquired by the Bloomingdale School of Music, a non-profit institution.  On October 22, 1972, The Times reported, "The Bloomingdale House of Music...now in its ninth year of operation, has finally been able to move into its own building at 323 West 108th Street.

The school continues to occupy the former Scheer mansion.  Working with public schools, it offers weekly music lessons to 500.  It also holds concerts in the facility.

Other than its modern, industrial grade security gates, the Scheer house remains remarkably intact.

photographs by the author.

The 1902 Victor Herbert House - 321 West 108th Street

 

Born in London in 1844, Thomas Graham attended public schools in New York City.  His father was a builder and, upon coming to America, a staunch abolitionist.  Thomas set out on a career in architecture, studying in the office of Jardine & Thompson.  But he left at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve with the First New York Engineers.  Upon his return to New York, he learned the cabinet making and stair building trades, but switched careers again in 1870 when he again took up architecture and building.

In 1898, Leslie's History of the Greater New York noted, "He now has his son, William Van Wyck Graham, associated with him in various building operations."  William was 25 years old at the time and he and his father had just embarked on a new project--seven upscale row houses on West 108th Street between Riverside Drive and  Broadway.  Thomas acted as architect while William was the owner and builder of record.

By the fall of 1899 the houses, stretching from 317 to 329 West 108th Street, were taking shape.  On November 4, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported on the homes, which Thomas Graham described as "the finest and best equipped American basement residences ever offered to the public for sale in this city."  The article noted, "They are all built, finished and fitted in the most approved style of modern domestic construction, with hard woods, tiles, mosaics, sanitary plumbing, and the closest attention to the necessity of producing large, airy apartments, rich in appearance and containing all the requirements of elegance and comfort."  Although the row was nearly a year from completion, William Van Wyck Graham had "prepared elegant books containing elevations and floor plans" for potential buyers.

Thomas Graham's rendering depicted a street filled with well-to-do pedestrians.  No. 321 is third from right.  Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, November 4, 1899 (copyright expired)

Successful and engaged to be married, young William Van Wyck Graham seemed to be leading an enviable life.  But on September 1, 1900 The Sun reported, "William Van Wyck Graham, 25 years old, son of Thomas Graham, a New York architect, committed suicide late last night on the lawn in front of the New York Infant Asylum by drinking enough carbolic acid to kill a dozen men."  The article noted, "Graham was engaged to be married and a letter from the young woman dated Aug. 20 was found in his pocket.  It was evident that he had visited her while he was drinking and that they had quarreled."

Devastated, Thomas Graham stopped work on the West 108th Street project.  The property changed hands twice and the final owner, Hugh J. Gallagher, commissioned the architectural firm of Horgan & Slattery to complete the houses.  The row was completed in 1902, four years after ground was broken.

On May 10, 1902, the Record & Guide reported that Jacob D. Butler (Hugh J. Gallagher, it turned out, was a pseudonym used at the time of the property's purchase) had sold 329 West 108th Street, "an American basement dwelling on lot 30x65."  The handsome, Renaissance Revival-style mansion was faced in gray brick above a limestone base.  The full-width, faceted oriel of the second and third floors was enhanced with Corinthian pilasters carved with elaborate Renaissance designs.  The openings of the fourth and fifth floors sat within a single frame, its spandrel panel intricately carved.

The initial owner's residency was short lived.  In 1904, composer, conductor and cellist Victor Herbert and his wife, the former operatic soprano Theresa Förster, purchased the house.  The couple had two children, Ella Victoria and Clifford Victor.

The Herberts' new home is third from the right.

Born in Ireland on February 1, 1859, Herbert began his musical career as a cellist in Vienna and Stuttgart.  He met Theresa in 1885 while she was a member of the Stuttgart court opera and he was part of the court orchestra.  They married in August 1886 and moved to America two months later.

Victor Herbert's Babes In Toyland had opened at the Majestic Theatre a few months before the family moved into the West 108th Street house.  Starting in 1904, Herbert gave weekly concerts at the venue, The New York Times saying on December 4 that year, "The popularity of the Victor Herbert Sunday night concerts at the Majestic Theatre was demonstrated again last evening by an audience that filled the house."

Herbert converted the fifth floor of the residence to his studio.  Here, and in the family's country home, Camp Joyland at Lake Placid, he wrote his operettas and other scores.  According to the composer, he worked in his studio in the mornings, took a brisk walk, then attended to business downtown.  But soon after moving into the West 108th Street house, his morning quietude was shattered.

Living next door at 323 West 108th Street was a family whose teenaged daughter played piano.  Neil Gould, in his A Theatrical Life-Victor Herbert, explains,

The young lady was accustomed to practicing her Czerny [piano exercises] for three hours each morning--about the same time that Herbert loved to compose...The young lady's music penetrated the wall of Herbert's studio and disturbed his routine.

Theresa solved the matter.  She went next door, introduced herself and explained the problem--the famous composer could neither think nor write.  A compromise was reached and the young pianist practiced in the afternoons and the tranquility of Herbert's morning hours was restored.

Ella's introduction to society came in 1907 and she quickly flexed her social wings.  On October 29, 1908, The New York Times reported, "Miss Ella Herbert, the daughter of Victor Herbert, the composer and orchestra leader, gave a party at the home of her father, 321 West 108th Street, last night in the form of a double celebration, it being Miss Herbert's nineteenth birthday and the wedding day of her friend, Miss May O'Gorman, daughter of Supreme Court Justice O'Gorman, to Dudley Malone."

On January 27, 1911, the newspaper reported that Ella "gave a small luncheon at her house yesterday in honor of Miss Eva Ingersoll-Brown, a debutante.  Afterward Miss Herbert took her guests to a theatre."

Victor Herbert, from the collection of the Library of Congress

Later that year, on September 30, Victor Herbert was involved in a bizarre accident.  His chauffeur, Frank Sabefe, was taking him to the Knickerbocker Theatre.  They had nearly arrived there when Sabefe slowed the automobile "to fall in behind a street car bound in the same direction," according to The Sun.  As he did so, a wagon owned by the New Amsterdam Gas Company slammed into the car.  The article said, "The horse climbed into the front of Mr. Herbert's automobile and damaged the car to the extent of $200."  No one was hurt and Herbert did not press charges, although he directed his attorney to "settle the question of damages with [the] company."

The truce with the family next door remained in effect until 1911 when Herbert's peace was once again shattered.  That family moved away and Dr. Fery Lulek established his Conservatory of Music in the house.  Moving in with Lulek, writes Neil Gould, were "a violiniste and two pianistes as female artists were then known...eight vocalists, and, together with Mrs. Mary Turner as chaperone, and her daughter 'Miss Jean' as piano coach."  He adds, "As Victor and Theresa watched in disbelief, in they came: eight chirping sopranos, four Steinway pianos (one for each floor) and a pubescent Paganini."

The New York Herald explained on October 23, 1912, the conservatory moved in "a few months ago, while [Herbert] was whipping his new composition, 'The Lady of the Slipper,' into shape."  The article said, "No muse, no matter how domestic, would abide amid such clanging and banging, and the composer's inspiration fled."

Once again Theresa went next door.  Mary Turner agreed to move the pianos to the west wall, away from the Herbert side, and remove the piano from the fifth floor.  It did not work.  Theresa returned, this time suggesting that the conservatory might move.  Expectedly, that was not acceptable and the neighbors ended up in court, with the Herberts charging the conservatory with "disorderly conduct."

Teresa complained in court, "Such technique, such awful method, such attack, such rendition of scales!  It is terrible.  Never have I heard such singing."  

Mrs. Turner then took the stand to defend her students.  "We are sorry if we annoy the Herberts, but what can we do?  We have moved the pianos.  We do not practice all the pianos at one time, as Mrs. Herbert said.  No doubt the Herberts do not enjoy the music.  It is quite likely they do not appreciate our music.  Thank heaven, it isn't the kind of music Mr. Herbert writes.  We play classical music!"

The Herberts lost their case and so Theresa sued again, this time saying the music was a "public nuisance."  But since the law defined a "public nuisance" as affecting "more than one household," her suit was dismissed.  In desperation, Herbert contracted the American Gypsum Company to soundproof his studio.

The New York Herald explained, "He understood that they would make a padded cell of it, so that he could wrestle with the piano to his heart's content and not be disturbed by intramural harmonies.  The walls, ceiling and floor of the room were padded and lined and then the company sent in its bill for $220.55."

The New York Herald, October 23, 1912 (copyright expired)

To celebrate Herbert's 54th birthday, he and Theresa held a dinner party on February 1, 1913.  A few of the guests included tenor Enrico Caruso, Senator James O'Gorman and his wife, producer Joseph Grismer, librettist Otto Hauerbach and "Nathan Burkan, a lawyer, who recently convinced the courts that Mr. Herbert's alleged soundproof studio isn't any such thing."  (The padded room was a failure.)  During the evening a string quartet "played selections from Mr. Herbert's operas and his pieces de salon."

Victor Herbert's morning strolls were soon derailed by malodorous fumes wafting across the Hudson River.  He testified before the State Board of Health on April 29, 1918 about "the evil odors that emanate from chemical plants on the New Jersey side of the river."  He told the commissioners, "It is positively the worst nuisance in the world, and unless something is done to stop it it will mean a serious risk to health to live in the vicinity of Riverside Drive."

The New York Times recounted, "Mr. Herbert said he spent much time composing at home, and was accustomed to indulge in strolls for exercise.  He said he was accustomed as soon as his nose sniffed the presence of an odor not particularly harmonious to avoid it by walking in the opposite direction."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

On the morning of May 26, 1924, as reported by the Musical Observer, Herbert "left his home, No. 321 West 108th Street, New York, at 11 o'clock in the morning...apparently in the full vigor of health."  Ella drove him downtown.  He worked with his publisher, Harms, Inc., then had lunch at the Lambs.  Shortly afterward, he felt ill and headed to the office of his physician, Dr. Emmanuel Baruch.  Rather coldly, Variety reported that as he was climbing the stairs, "America's foremost composer and one of the most skilled musicians who ever adapted his talent to the theatre dropped dead."

Newspapers filled his obituary with lists of his works: operettas, a grand opera, an oratorio and a cantata, and motion picture scores.  His funeral was held on May 28 at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church.  Variety noted that among the honorary pallbearers were John Philip Sousa, Jerome Kern, Nahan Franko, Senator James A. O'Gorman, and Charles M. Schwab.

Herbert left the 108th Street house to Theresa.  Other than $10,000, which went to Clifford, she and the children shared equally with the rest of the estate, including Camp Joyland.

On August 23, a three-day auction "of the furniture and appointments" of 321 West 108th Street began.  The New York Times reported, "Much of the furniture, rugs and belongings were purchased by the new owner of the house, Captain Damer of Buffalo.  (Various newspapers spelled his name Demar and Dammer, as well.)  Variety mentioned, "The composer's widow and daughter have taken a Park avenue apartment as their city residence."  (Instead, Therese and Ella moved into 1010 Fifth Avenue where Theresa died on February 24, 1927.)

The former mansion was operated as unofficial apartments in the subsequent decades.  Then, in 1965, it was converted to two apartments per floor.  Today there are five rental units in the building.  Happily, much of the interior details survive.

photographs by the author

The Hanford Twitchell House - 166 East 71st Street

 

166 East 71st Street (left) is one of a mirror image pair.

Born in London in 1844, Thomas Graham was the son of a builder.  He set out on a career in architecture, studying in the office of Jardine & Thompson, but left at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve with the First New York Engineers.  Upon his return to New York, he learned the cabinet making and stair building trade.  He switched careers again in 1870 when he again took up architecture and building.  Graham's projects were often a family affair.  His wife Jennie was sometimes the owner of record, while he did the designing and contracting.  And in 1898 the couple's son, William Van Wyck Graham would join his father's business.

In 1894 Jennie Graham purchased and demolished the 25-foot-wide wooden building at 164-166 East 71st Street.  Robert Graham designed two mirror-image brick-and-stone dwellings on the site.  Completed the following year, they were a handsome blend of Romanesque and Renaissance Revival styles.  The basement and parlor levels were faced in rough cut stone, while the three upper floors were clad in beige Roman brick and trimmed in limestone.  Graham gave the openings of each level successively less ornamentation.  The second floor windows sat on molded sills and their shared lintel was supported by foliate brackets.  The sills of the third floor were plain, and the single lintel had no brackets.  Finally, the windows of the top story were given understated sills and lintels.  Complex, ornate cornices crowned the structures.

No. 166 was originally home to the Decker family, who left in 1905.  It was next purchased as an investment by Charles H. Strong.  He leased it in 1907 to Francis Gordon Brown and his wife, the former Caroline Lawrence Bogert.  A banker with J. P. Morgan & Co., Brown had attended the exclusive Groton School and graduated from Yale University.  The couple was married in 1905 and had a one-year-old son, Francis Jr.  

Reeve Schley, the next to rent the house, was here by 1912.  An attorney with Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, he graduated from Yale University in 1903, and from Columbia in 1906.  He and Kate de Forest Prentice were married in 1907, and had two children, Reeve Jr., born on September 7, 1908, and Eleanor Prentice, born on July 17, 1911.

The Schleys' affluence was evidenced when Kate lost a piece of jewelry in the spring of 1916. Her notice in The Evening Telegram read:

Lost--Diamond and platinum horseshoe pin, on April 12, probably in front of Castles in the Air, West Forty-fourth Street. Return to Mrs. Reeve Schley, 166 East 71st St. Reward, $100.

The ample reward would translate to about $2,750 in 2023.

Two months later, on June 28, the New York Herald reported that the Schleys "have closed their home at No. 166 East Seventy-first street, and are at the Plaza for a short stay before going to their summer place, Meadowcroft, at Monmouth Beach, N.J." The family would not return to East 71st Street. Charles H. Strong leased the house that year to Marvyn Scudder and his wife.

The Scudders remained through 1927, after which 166 East 71st Street became home to Anna Elizabeth Martin Dew. Born in Georgia in 1858, she was the widow of James Harvie Dew who had died in 1914.

In October 1928 Anna announced the engagement of her niece, Bessie Dew Martin to Frederic Bowne, Jr. Both of Bessie's parents were deceased. The couple's marriage in St. Thomas' Church on January 18, 1929 was a social affair. The groom was a descendant of John Bowne, a founder of Flushing, New York and the builder of the historic 1661 Bowne House. Brooklyn Life noted that the bride "is a lineal descendant of Martin de Tours of France, who went to England and was made the Earl of Pembroke. Chief Justice John Marshall of Virginia, is another ancestor."

Having owned the house for more than three decades, Charles H. Strong sold it in April 1931. The new owner resold it in 1933 to Hanford Mead Twitchell and his wife, the former Gertrude Virginia Sterry.

The couple was married on May 31, 1924. When they moved into the East 71st Street house, they had a five-year-old son, Hanford Jr., a two-year-old daughter, Virginia, and a one-year-old, Sterry. Two more children would follow. Cleveland arrived in 1938, and Joan in 1940. The family's summer home was in the Hamptons.

Hanford had graduated from Lawrenceville School in 1916, and from Princeton University in 1920. Since 1925 he had been a broker with the real estate firm of Albert B. Ashforth.

Both Hanford and Gertrude came from socially prominent families, as was evidenced when they hosted a tea and reception on December 12, 1936 for their debutante niece, Prudence Cleveland Smith of Providence. Introducing the Rhode Island girl to Manhattan society was important. The New York Times noted, "Miss Smith will make her debut at a dinner dance to be given by her parents on Dec. 29 in Providence. Her grandmother, Mrs. Frederic Sterry, will give a luncheon for the debutante early next month at the Plaza here."

Hanford was a vice president of Albert B. Ashforth, Inc. by 1951, when he resigned and formed a real estate appraising and consulting company, Hanford M. Twitchell. Among his clients were the U.S. Information Service of the United States Government, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and The Prudential Insurance Company of America.

The Twitchells remained at 166 East 71st Street through 1961, after which Hanford and Gertrude moved to Rio de Janeiro. Perhaps because of its narrow proportions, the house has never been converted to apartments. Other than a somewhat regrettable replacement door, it is little changed on the exterior since its completion in 1895.

photographs by the author

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The 1895 Henry Hesse House - 164 East 71st Street

 

The Hesse house (right) is a mirror-image of 166 East 71st Street

In March 1884 The Manufacturer and Builder reported that developer Moritz Bauer "intends to erect a first-class four-story and basement brown stone private dwelling" at 164 East 71st Street.  Bauer had already hired Hugo Kafka to design the upscale residence.

But something upset Bauer's plans.  A decade later two wooden dwellings still occupied the narrow plots at 164 and 166 East 71st Street.  That would change in 1894 when Thomas and Jennie Graham purchased the properties.  The couple were active in real estate within the neighborhood and made a successful team.  Jennie filled the position of developer and owner, while Thomas designed the structures.

They replaced the frame houses with two mirror-image, brick and stone rowhouses.  A handsome blend of Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival styles, their basement and parlor levels were faced in rough-cut stone.  Stone voussoirs took the place of decorative lintels at the parlor level.  A shared stone cornice with delicate dentils that capped the first floor terminated in foliate bosses.

Graham gave the second and third floor windows a common lintel--possibly to fool the eye and disguise the homes' narrow 12-foot-widths.  Complex pressed metal double cornices with elaborate friezes, dentils and foliate brackets completed the design.

In July 1895 Jennie Graham sold 164 East 71st Street to Henry Hesse, Jr.  A physician, he was 33 years old at the time, and his wife, the former Clara Lauterjung, was 22.  The population of the house was increased on September 21, 1896, when son Henry Rudolph was born, and again in 1898 with the birth of Margot Pauline.

Although he never served in a war--he was born the year the Civil War broke out--Henry was nonetheless highly patriotic and joined the volunteer 23rd Regiment as a teen.  When the Hesses moved from Brooklyn to the East 71st Street house he held the rank of second lieutenant and was Assistant Surgeon of Company B of that regiment.

Henry Rudolf was a bit slower to offer his services.  It is unclear how he managed to avoid his obligations during World War I, but it was not until 1919 (following the declaration of peace) that he registered for military service at the age of 23.

The Hesse family lived quietly in their narrow house, their names appearing in society pages only when the children married.  The East 71st Street house was the setting for Margot Pauline's wedding to Dr. Alfred G. Langmann on June 4, 1925.  In reporting on the ceremony, The New York Times mentioned, "The bride was graduated from Vassar in 1921."

Henry Rudolph would take his time in finding a wife.  When he married Hilda Poel on April 18, 1927, he was 31 years old.  Now empty-nesters, his parents sold their home of more than three decades to Dr. S. H. Shindell in August 1928.  The New York Evening Post remarked, "The purchaser will occupy the house as a residence and office."

Dr. Shindell's practice was quite different from that of his predecessor--he was a veterinarian.  He was called to assist in a birth at 62 Washington Square South in 1935 when H. E. Van Herwarth's cat went into labor.  Normally, cats give birth unattended, but Sakura Jane was a "world-famous prize seal-point Siamese," according to The New York Post on October 22.  Shindell was stunned when the kittens kept coming--finally numbering ten in all.  He told reporters it was "the largest litter of kittens of which he has ever heard."

Nature had not intended for Sakura Jane to give birth to ten offspring.  The New York Post explained, "With so many babies to feed, Sakura Jane has not enough milk to go around."  Shindell told Van Herwarth he would had to find a wet nurse cat--a daunting challenge.  The surrogate mother did not have to be a Siamese, but "she must have given birth within the last forty-eight hours."  (It is unclear if Van Herwarth ever found a feline wet nurse.)

By 1940 the Thomas Bandes family lived at 164 East 71st Street.  He and his wife Mary had two sons, Gerald and Selwyn, who were 18 and 11 years old respectively at the time.  Living with them was a 28-year-old servant, Mercelina Gordeurn.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, 164 East 71st Street was home to the resourceful Carole Eppley.  She ran a "kitchen-bakeshop," as described by The New York Times on March 19, 1978, from the house.  The article said in part, "There may be nothing new about the Easter rabbits in general, but there is news in their delectably sweet and sprightly reincarnations as original and charming cookies."  The rabbit cookies were just part of Carole Eppley's Easter confections.  The article said she was "baking fluffy, coconut-furred lamb cakes ($10 each), egg-shaped petits fours decorated in pastels ($2 each), a dozen different barnyard animals $9 a dozen) and bird's nest cookies, which are really brown sugar cookies filled with green grass frosting and a rainbow assortment of jelly beans."

A charming built-in bench on a staircase hall landing survives, as do the intricately inlaid flooring.  image via compass.com

The former Hesse house was remodeled in 2013.  While much of the 1896 detailing was removed, some--like the main staircase and some mantels--survive.  The exterior is well preserved.

photographs by the author

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Campion House -- 327 and 329 West 108th Street

Born in London in 1844, Thomas Graham attended public schools in New York City.  His father was a builder and, upon coming to America, a staunch abolitionist.  Thomas set out on a career in architecture, studying in the office of Jardine & Thompson; but he left at the outbreak of the Civil War to serve with the First New York Engineers.  Upon his return to New York, he learned the cabinet making and stair building trade.  But he switched careers in 1870 again when he again took up architecture and building.

In 1898 Leslie's History of the Greater New York noted "He now has his son, William Van Wyck Graham, associated with him in various building operations."  William was 25 years old at the time and he and his father had just embarked on a new project--seven upscale row houses on West 108th Street, between Riverside Drive and  Broadway.  Thomas acted as architect while William was the owner and builder of record.

By the fall of 1899 the houses, stretching from No. 317 to 329 West 108th Street, were taking shape.  On November 4 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide remarked on the homes, which Thomas Graham described as "the finest and best equipped American basement residences ever offered to the public for sale in this city."  The Guide noted "They are all built, finished and fitting in the most approved style of modern domestic construction, with hard woods, tiles, mosaics, sanitary plumbing, and the closest attention to the necessity of producing large, airy apartments, rich in appearance and containing all the requirements of elegance and comfort."

Four of the homes were 18 feet wide, handsome but not atypical of the luxurious rowhouses rising throughout the Upper West Side.  The two western-most homes, however, Nos. 327 and 329, were nothing short of mansions.   No. 329 was lavish 40-feet wide and, because the Grahams had set aside a 10-foot swatch to the side, it was designed as a corner house with bay windows on the side and views of Riverside Park.

"The largest house, No. 329, is practically a corner of Riverside Drive," said the article, which added that the narrow "permanent easement" "gives it all the many advantages of a front on that famous thoroughfare.  It contains a fireproof shaft for an automatic elevator.  It is generously designed, and no expense has been spared to make it a perfect residence for an opulent family."

Although the row was nearly a year from completion, William Van Wyck Graham had "prepared elegant books containing elevations and floor plans" for potential buyers.

Thomas Graham's rendering included well-dressed pedestrians, ball-playing boys, and a nanny with her charge.  No. 329 was designed as a corner structure.  Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide, November 4, 1899 (copyright expired)

William Van Wyck Graham seemed to be leading an enviable life.  In addition to his successful business with his father, he was engaged to be married.  But things took a tragic turn in August 1900.   On September 1 The Sun reported "William Van Wyck Graham, 25 years old, son of Thomas Graham, a New York architect, committed suicide late last night on the lawn in front of the New York Infant Asylum by drinking enough carbolic acid to kill a dozen men."

The article noted "Graham was engaged to be married and a letter from the young woman dated Aug. 20 was found in his pocket.  It was evident that he had visited her while he was drinking and that they had quarreled."

Following the tragedy Thomas Graham stopped work on the 108th Street houses.  In December the unfinished row was sold at auction.  Emil Goldmark purchased the homes, but did nothing with them before they were lost in foreclosure in August 1902 to Hugh J. Gallagher.

Gallagher was obviously more aggressive in moving the high-end properties.  Two weeks after his purchase he sold Nos. 327 and 329 to Charles D. Wilder and George W. Wilder, respectively.  Both were officers in the Butterick Publishing Co.; George was its president and Charles its treasurer.  The two hired the architectural firm of Horgan & Slattery to complete the houses.  (It is no coincidence that the architects were simultaneously doing renovations to the building at No. 18 West 23rd Street for Butterick Publishing Co.)

George W. Wilder had paid $105,000 for No. 329--about $4.4 million today.  The cost to finish his house was about $35,000, $10,000 more than his brother's.  The plans called for "new retaining wall, shafts, tank &c."

It was no doubt George's highly visible and responsible position that prompted him to fib to the police when he was stopped for speeding in 1905.

Yonkers police had had enough of drivers flashing along the roadways at more than 8 miles per hour.  On April 9 they planned a sting.  Cops were stationed at quarter mile intervals.  When one cop would signal the next, he would set his timer.  Any car that traveled the quarter mile in less than one minute and 53 seconds was speeding.

The ploy worked and six drivers were pulled over, including Wilder.  The New-York Tribune noted "All of the cars were of the large touring kind and had parties of women aboard."  Flora Nichols Wilder and her companions waited outside of the police headquarters while her husband was processed inside.  When he was asked his profession, he said he was the chauffeur, no doubt hoping to avoid unflattering publicity.

No doubt when his name and address were printed in the newspapers along with "driver" as his occupation, Wilder suffered good natured ribbing at his clubs.

George and Flora purchased a winter home in 1910, a sprawling Spanish Colonial style residence in Redlands, California.

The George Wilders escaped the brutal New York winters in Redlands, California.  (copyright expired)

In May 1915 Charles sold No. 327 to J. Louis Schaefer and his wife, the former Susan Karsch.  Schaefer was treasurer of W. R. Grace & Co., president of the Grace National Bank, and a director in a score of other corporations.  The couple had four children, Bernard Karsch, J. Louis, Jr., Kathryn Christine and Susan Grace (she went by her middle name which was possibly a nod to William Russell Grace, founder of W. R. Grace & Co.).

Both of the Schaefer boys were enrolled in Princeton, but with war raging overseas, they both enlisted in the Army.  They both held the rank of private in 1916.

When the conflict first broke out their father had made a remarkable move.  He was in Italy in 1914 when he and scores of other wealthy Americans suddenly had no way to get home.  As reported in The Times, he "chartered the steamship Principessa Mafalda at Genoa, enabling many stranded Americans to return home."

Entwined dolphins surmount the vestibule window of No. 327.  Above, a cherub peers from behind a scroll in the elaborate cartouche, while the outstretched wings of an angel provide support for a window platform higher up.

When George Wilder put No. 329 on the market that year, J. Louis Schaefer purchased it for about $80,000.  He had no intentions of moving his family into the slightly larger home; but was most likely skittish because of the 13-story apartment building that had just been completed on the Riverside Drive corner.  (It was most likely that same building that prompted Wilder to sell.)  By maintaining ownership of No. 329 and the 10-foot easement, Schaefer could prevent a 50-foot wide building from going up next door to his mansion.  He leased house to moneyed families (giving him the opportunity to choose his next door neighbors).

Following the war J. Louis, Jr. joined W. R. Grace & Co. in its Domestic Credit Department.  Kathryn graduated from Barnard College in 1920.   The close ties between the Grace family and the Schaefers was evidenced when Bernard married Betsy Rice Lovejoy on  September 11, 1924.  Among his ushers was Russell Grace d' Oench, grandson of William Russell Grace.

Louis, Jr. was next to marry.  His wedding to Marguerita C. Sandbloom took place on January 5, 1926; followed by Kathryn's wedding on January 14, the following year.  In reporting on her marriage to Carl Norman Gerdau, The New York Times noted "Mr. Gerdau and his bride will sail today on the Colombo to pass several months in Spain."

Nineteen days later J. Louis Schaefer was dead.  On February 5 he walked to the garage on West 109th Street where he kept his car.   He, Susan and Grace were preparing to leave for a weekend at their country home in Neponsit, Long Island.  Just as he entered the car, he collapsed.  By the time a doctor arrived, he was dead.

J. Louis, Jr. and his wife were living in Seattle and, of course, Kathryn was on her honeymoon.  Neither could be present at the funeral in St. Luke's Lutheran Church on West 46th Street on February 8.   The Times headline read "Throng Mourns J. Louis Schaefer" and reported that hundreds stood in the vestibule of the church, unable to be seated, and the street outside was crowded with those unable to get in.

Schaefer's estate was valued at just under $3 million, more in the neighborhood of $43 million today.  There were few bequests other than to Susan and other family members.  An exception was Lillian G. McEvoy, his secretary for two decades.  She received a lump amount of $19,000, along with a yearly annuity of $2,500 "in recognition of faithful service."  Schaefer apparently suspected she would generously give the inheritance to family members or others.  A clause stressed that she "use the $2,500 yearly for herself" and directed "that if she did not keep her agreement to do so the payments be discontinued."

J. Louis Schaefer had sold No. 329 to Jesuit organization The America Press in 1926.  Now called "Campion House," it housed the editorial offices of America, a Catholic weekly.  The priests who worked on the publication lived in the upper floors.  Susan and Grace remained in No. 327 until 1930 when they moved to Park Avenue and sold the house to the group.

The two mansions were internally connected, and a nearly seamless alteration of the facade transformed the doorway of No. 327 to a window.  On April 10, 1931 The New York Times reported "The editors of America, a Catholic weekly review, were hosts yesterday afternoon to 200 guests at an information reception marking the official opening of the periodical's new offices at 329 West 108th Street...Each editor has a private office and private living quarters."

Campion House soon had other groups under its roof.  A month after the official opening, the newly-formed Catholic Poetry Society of America moved its offices in.  And in November 1937 Spanish priests in the dioceses of New York, Brooklyn, Newark and Philadelphia organized the Spiritual Union of Spanish Priests in the United States.  They, too, opened their offices here.

The editor-in-chief of America was Father John LaFarge. The priest came from an artistic family.  He was the son of famous American artist, John LaFarge, the brother of architect Christopher Grant LaFarge, and novelist Oliver LaFarge was his nephew.   Father LaFarge, however, was not known for the arts, but for his work for human rights.

A crusader for racial equality and he was a visible force behind the Civil Rights Movement.
He founded the Catholic Interracial Council and in 1936 conducted the first course in interracial justice offered at the School of Catholic Action at Fordham University.  So fervid was he in his beliefs that he testified before the Senate Committee To Prohibit Discrimination in Employment in 1944.  He said in part:

These men are not enthusiasts, nor utopian idealists, nor revolutionaries, nor seekers of position and political influence.  They are hard, sober realists, in daily contact with the sordid facts of human existence...The question of racial discrimination in employment opportunity is a national question and must be treated on a national basis...If such legislation is not provided, such as is now laid before Congress, the door will be laid wide open for the worst type of revolutionary agitation.

On November 7, 1955, on the eve of his double jubilee as priest and Jesuit, the 75-year old commented on race relations in the United States.  He felt that there had been "extraordinary improvement" within the last ten or fifteen years, and predicted acceleration.

On November 6, 1963 The New York Times reported that the Society of Jesus had purchased the nine-story building at No. 106 West 56th Street.  "The Jesuits will move their editorial and magazine offices from 329 West 108th Street, where they have been for 37 years," said the article.

Eighteen days later Rev. John LaFarge died in the 108th Street house at the age of 83.  He had just completed another book, Reflections on Growing Old.  His other works, on the whole, were more pointed to his passion, with titles that included Interracial Justice, The Catholic Viewpoint on Race Relations and The Race Question and the Negro.

His obituary that engulfed half a page in The New York Times mentioned that he had been a founder of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.  It noted "What delighted him was that the movement produced affluent white farmers willing to fight for the rights of Mexican migrants, Puerto Rican laborers and Negro sharecroppers."

The 10-foot wide easement that once provided sunlight and air to No. 329, now acts as a service alley.

In 1984 Campion House was converted to apartments.  In stark contrast to the sympathetic architectural alterations that were made in 1931, the Thomas Graham's stately mansard roof was brutally butchered to provide an additional story.

photographs by the author