The Lost Wm. B. Leeds Mansion - 987 Fifth Avenue

photo from Fifth Avenue New York City, 1911 (copyright expired)

William W. and Thomas M. Hall were prolific developers at the turn of the last century.  At a time when millionaires were lining Fifth Avenue across from Central Park with lavish palaces, the brothers joined the trend with speculative residences that held their own among the custom-designed mansions.

In 1899 they purchased the plot at 987 Fifth Avenue, just south of 80th Street, and commissioned the firm of Welch, Smith & Provot to design an opulent townhouse.  The $86,000 purchase price of the lot was evidence of the exclusive nature of the neighborhood.  It would equal about $2.6 million today.

In the meantime, a remarkable story had played out in the Midwest.  William B. Leeds was born in Indiana in 1856.  The New-York Tribune would later say of him, "His parents were poor and he made his first business venture in a very humble role--that of florist in his native town of Richmond."   In 1883, following his marriage to Jeanette Irene Gaar, the daughter of a Richmond banker, he was given a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad by a relative of his new wife.

In an astonishing Horatio Alger-worthy story, while working as a train conductor Leeds met and became friends with Daniel G. Reid who had a similar job on the railroad.   Within a few years the two young men left the railroad, pooled their savings, and purchased the controlling interest in a small tin plate mill in Richmond.  Energetic, ambitious and resourceful, they grew their business, acquiring more and more mills until they had formed the American Tin Plate Company which dominated the industry.

In 1901, the partners sold their corporation to the United States Steel Company for $46 million (about $1.3 billion today).   Leeds and Reid both returned to the railroads--now as controlling owners and executives of several lines.

Like his partner, William B. Leeds moved to New York City.  He had obtained a divorce in 1900 and, as reported by the New-York Tribune, "soon after Mr. Leeds married Mrs. Nannie May Stewart Worthing, also of Richmond, who had obtained a divorce from her husband, George Worthington."  The implication of extra-marital dalliance was clear.  His son by his first marriage, Rudolph, was sent off to the exclusive Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts.

Now William shopped for a new home, what The Virginia Enterprise deemed on April 19, 1901 "a gift for his bride."  That gift was No. 987 Fifth Avenue.   In March he paid W. W. & T. M. Hall $260,000 for the new mansion--more than $7.5 million in today's dollars.   The architects had produced a five story bowed-front confection of brick and limestone.  Its Beaux Arts facade was frosted with fussy French inspired decorations--broken pediments, garlanded cartouches, and iron window railings.  A stone balcony with wrought iron railings girded the fifth floor.  It along with the heavy bracketed cornice and crown-like balustrade gave the mansion a somewhat top-heavy appearance.

Rather surprising to some society columnists, Nonnie (familiarly known as Nancy) managed to slip into fashionable circles rather quickly.   On December 10, 1903 The Saint Paul Globe rather meanly wrote "Another member has been admitted to the ultra-fashionable set.  The newest 'arrival' is Mrs. William B. Leeds, the wife of the tinplate millionaire.  Mrs. Leeds forced her entry through the Long Island set, and, thanks to the Belmont family, she was introduced to every one worth while...Two years ago the second Mrs. Leeds did not exist for the New York set.  When Mr. and Mrs. Leeds settled in the house in No. 987 Fifth avenue, her neighbors said: 'Who, pray, is Mrs. Leeds, anyway?'

Nonnie "Nancy" Leeds - original source unknown

The catty columnist continued, "But Mrs. Leeds did not unbend and the neighbors saw a correctly gowned and graceful young woman going to and from her splendid victoria.  In Palm Beach last spring she put forth her claim as candidate for the right set.  Her husband is said to be worth $30,000,000 and this was her passport."

The neighbors included Hugh A. Murray (left), William J. Curtis next door, and the twin mansions of brothers Irving and Horace Brokaw.  from Fifth Avenue New York City, 1911 (copyright expired)

Nancy entertained lavishly in her new home and in the summer estate William leased on Long Island.  Her charm won over socially important women like Mrs. George Gould, Mrs. Henry H. Flagler and Mrs. Perry Belmont.  The Saint Paul Globe said "soon Mrs. Leeds was seen motoring with Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt Jr., and coaching with the Whitneys."

The Indianapolis Journal described her as "petite, with very delicate features.  She dresses remarkably well, prefers tints rather than colors, and is an extremely dainty figure in organdie or any light fabrics."

While Nancy was busy edging her way into high society, her husband focused on spending money.  On February 10, 1902 he launched his new 261-foot yacht the Norma, named for Nonnie.  The vessel, which cost him $500,000, had electric lighting and heating, and telegraph.

The Evening World reported that each of the vessel's eight state rooms had its own bath.  "A very elegant library extends the full width of the ship.  Galley, pantry, dining-room and smoking-room are situated in the main deck-house.  The women's sitting room is on the shade deck."  Leeds "elegant quarters" included a private office, state-room and bath.

Even though Leeds already owned a country home in Lakewood, New Jersey, in February 1902 he paid Thomas F. Young $200,000 for 400-acres near Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, Long Island.  The Evening World reported "Mr. Leeds intends to build a large country place in the fashionable colony."  

The Music Room is pictured above.  Below is the Dining Room with its stained glass windows, beamed ceiling and highly unusual marble mantel.  photographer unknown from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In the meantime, young Reginald had managed to spark a news story that was reported across the country.  In the fall of 1902 both William and Nancy were ill.  While she rested in the Fifth Avenue mansion, William went to Hot Springs, Arkansas late in September to recuperate.

Sixteen-year old Rudolph read with interest the reports on the ongoing coup in Columbia.  In mid September he slipped away from his prep school "to help General Uribe-Uribe overthrow the government there," according to the Iowa newspaper the Evening Times-Republican.

The teen managed to get to Colon, where he purchased a ticket for Panama.  But by now his father had learned of his adventure.  Leeds contacted the American Consul General at Panama, H. A. Gudger, who was waiting when the train arrived.

"So when Mr. Leeds, full of martial enthusiasm, left the train and approached the first native who looked like a rebel, asking to be directed to the nearest camp, he was promptly captured by Mr. Gudger."  Reginald was packed onto the next steamship to New York.

William's masculine library (above) was a contrast to Nancy's very French "salon."   photographer unknown from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Reginald had a new half brother at the time.  William B. Leeds, Jr. was born on September 19, 1902.  Nancy redid one room of the mansion into a "playroom," a boy-cave that would make even an Astor or Vanderbilt child envious.

One end of little William's playroom shows shelves for toys which, when carefully put away, could be hidden behind curtains.    photographer unknown from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

A large staff of servants meant that motherhood did not interrupt Nancy's social calendar.   In February 1903 she took a risk which was sure to make the social columns when she planned a benefit "winter garden party" on Lincoln's Birthday at the Lakewood estate.  The New-York Tribune, on February 8, asked "What will happen in the event that a blizzard should chance to come, is of course a question, but the plan is to have a corps of young women in summer gowns and shade hats serve at tea tables among the trees on the lawn, while other summery young ladies wander about among the throng selling home-made candy, cake and valentines, and fancy and useful articles."
 
That summer, while the Oyster Bay house was being constructed, the Leeds summered in fashionable Saratoga.  The Indianapolis Journal noted that Nancy "has already made many friends at Saratoga...among her friends are Mrs. Sydney Smith, Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Oliver H. P. Belmont."

William Leeds was operated on for appendicitis that year.  He seemed to have come through the procedure with no problems; but then on December 3, 1905 The New York Times reported that he "is suffering from partial paralysis as a result of an operation for appendicitis performed two years ago."  The newspaper insisted, however, that "his condition was not serious and he was not even confined to his bed."  Leeds recovered, but it was obvious that the paralysis was not a result of his operation, but a stroke.

William and Nancy continued to broaden their social horizons, including buying the former Frederick W. Vanderbilt cottage, Rough Point, in Newport for half a million dollars.  But Leeds's health problems continued.  Towards the end of 1906 he suffered another stroke which again resulted in partial paralysis.  He traveled to Paris to consult a specialist.  (While her husband recuperated, Nancy went shopping, spending $340,000 on pearls at the Paris jewelry shop of Bernard Citroen.)

After about a year in France, the Leeds returned to New York in November 1907.  Two weeks later William suffered yet another stroke.  Once again his condition was downplayed in the press.  The New-York Tribune, on November 24, assured "The physicians who attended Mr. Leeds said that quiet and rest for a few days would put him in shape again."

William, Nancy and little William returned to Paris.  On the morning of June 23, 1908 the 52-year old died in their suite in the Hotel Ritz.  The New-York Tribune mentioned "Intimate friends in Paris to-day estimated his wealth at $35,000,000.

Four days later a funeral was held in Holy Trinity Church, "the American Church in Paris," according to the New-York Tribune.  The newspaper noted "Many prominent Americans were present."

On July 1 Leeds's casket was taken aboard the German steamship Kronprinz Wilhelm.  It arrived in New York on July 7 and the following afternoon a second funeral was held in the Fifth Avenue mansion.

William B. Leeds A National Register of the Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 1902 (copyright expired)

William's will left nearly his entire estate to Nancy and William, Jr.  Rudolph, now 22 years old and married, received $1 million--a relative sliver of the total which prompted The Richmond Palladium to opine "It would surprise none of Mr. Leeds' friends if the proceedings for probate were followed by a spirited contest."

But Rudolph accepted his father's decision, saying "The will of my father has been read and I am perfectly familiar with its contents.  The provisions of this will are entirely satisfactory to me."

Following her period of mourning, Nancy resumed her social life.  She sent William Jr. to the New Jersey estate where he attended the Montclair Academy.  He was reportedly surrounded by a staff of 20 servants and was escorted everywhere by two private detectives.   The six-year old had his own chauffeur and footman.

Nancy spent less and less time at No. 987 Fifth Avenue.  On January 1, 1911 The Sun reported "Mrs. William B. Leeds now has a home in London.  Few American hostesses have entertained so elaborately as she since the end of her period of mourning allowed her to give parties.  She has been welcomed there with a cordiality that indicates that she will probably find it to her taste to live there permanently."

Later that year, in July, The Sun mentioned that Rough Point "has been closed most of the time."  But it was rumored that Nancy would make a brief appearance in Newport.  "The expectation is now that Mrs. William B. Leeds will spend a few weeks at the resort.  She has a home in London and has taken a place in Scotland."

By the time of that article Nancy had sold No. 987 to Walter Lewisohn.  In reporting on the sale the Record & Guide pointed out that the Leeds had spent about $70,000 in "interior decorations and alterations."  The New York Times added "Although the house was magnificently fitted up by the Halls, Mr. Leeds added a marble hall and staircase and refitted the interior."  Included in the $350,000 sale price was "a portion of the furniture collected abroad by Mr. Leeds," said the Record & Guide.

photographer unknown, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

As a side note, Nancy married Prince Christopher of Greece in 1920, becoming Princess Anastasia of Greece and Denmark.  While visiting his mother the following year William met the 17-year old Princess Xenia of Greece.  Within 24 hours they were engaged, causing Nancy to weep for three days and nights, according to reports.

Walter Lewisohn and his wife, the former Selma Kraus, had one son, Walter, Jr.  Lewisohn was 31 years old when he purchased No. 987.  The Yale-educated broker was also vice-president and director of the Salt Lake Copper Co., an officer in the Tennessee Copper Co. and the Lewisohn Exploration & Mining Co., and a partner in the firm of banking firm Lewisohn Brothers.

The Lewisohns maintained a summer estate new Eatontown, New Jersey.  Selma's entertainments in the Fifth Avenue house were often grand, like the dance and supper she gave on Tuesday, January 27, 1914.

The entrance hall (above) and the first floor landing   photographer unknown from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Walter and Selma were drawn into a murder investigation in 1920.  They had dinner with Joseph Bowne Elwell and Selma's sister, Viola Kraus, on June 10 at the Ritz-Carlton Roof, then attended the midnight show at the New Amsterdam Theatre.  After the show everyone went their separate ways.

The following morning Elwell was found in the front hall of his home with a bullet hole in his head.  On June 14 the Lewisohns, Viola and her estranged husband were taken to the Elwell house for questioning.  The were released without suspicion; however the taint of the investigation remained for years.  The case was  never solved.

Shortly afterward Lewisohn suffered heavy losses in the stock market.  It was all too much for him to handle and on May 22, 1923 Selma committed him to the Blythewood Sanitarium for the Insane in Greenwich, Connecticut.

With her income gone and the Lewisohn fortune greatly depleted, Selma took to the operatic concert stage as Mme. Marie Selma.  She sold No. 987 to Elizabeth Carmichael in 1920 for $375,000.   Carmichael leased the furnished house to wealthy tenants like Colonel John F. Daniell, charging $40,000 a year.  But following the Stock Market crash, she lost it in foreclosure to the Franklin Savings Bank in May 1933.

After it sat vacant for more than five years, the bank sold the mansion in December 1939.  Writing in The New York Times, Lee E. Cooper said the old residence "has joined the long list of fine old Manhattan homes which are marked for early demolition."  But it received a reprieve of sorts, instead being converted to three- and four-room apartments within the year.

By the time No. 987 was sold again in 1959 the balustrade was gone and a sixth floor had appeared, set back on the roof.  Rather surprisingly it survived for nearly a decade.  Then, on January 31, 1968 The Times announced that the three old mansions at Nos. 985, 986 and 987 Fifth Avenue had been purchased by developer Bernard Spitzer.

Within the year the once elegant homes were gone, replaced by the 25-story 985 Fifth Avenue.  Among the building's most visible residents was the builder's son, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

The Alfred Hess House -- No. 16 West 86th Street

Brothers William and Thomas Hall made their mark on Manhattan real estate as the 19^th century turned into the 20^th by erecting high-end speculative residences intended for wealthy homeowners.  In 1910 architect Alexander Welch worked for the Halls in designing a row mansions on the south side West 86^th Street, off Central Park.  The completed homes were surprisingly different.  Welch designed No. 14 in the Neo-Renaissance style, for instance, and No. 16 in the recently popular Neo-Georgian.

Nos. 14 and 16, constructed simultaneously, were architecturally diverse.

Elegant and up-to-date as they were, the sale of the mansions did not come quickly.  It was not until February 23, 1913 that The New York Times reported that W. W. and T. M. Hall had sold No. 16 in “a good residential deal on the West Side near Central Park.”  The newspaper noted “The house is one of a row which was erected by the sellers two or three years ago” and said it “is among the best constructed dwellings on the West Side, containing an elevator and the latest improvements.”

The three story brick-faced central section sat on a limestone base.  The red brick was contrasted by splayed limestone lintels, sills and bandcourses.  A steep copper mansard featured two tall dormers with classical pediments.

The elegant doorway brought early 19th century elements into the Edwardian age.

The purchasers were the eminent Dr. Alfred Fabian Hess and his wife, Sara, whose parents, Isador and Ida Straus, had been lost in the HMS Titanic sinking the year before.  Isador Straus had been the co-owner of the Macy Department Store.

The Hess family had been living at No. 154 West 72^nd Street.  The title to the mansion was, as was commonly done, put in Sara’s name.  Among the first events held in the new house was a wedding—interestingly enough not a Hess nor Straus marriage.

On October that year the parlor was filled with wealthy well wishers with names like Gimbel, Morganthau and Gildersleeve who witnessed the marriage of Martha Ornstein to Dr. Jacob B. Brenner.  The groom was the director of the research laboratories of the West Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh.  It was most likely Alfred Hess’s association with the respected researcher that led to ceremony's being held here.

There would be no scandal or gossip surrounding the Hess family throughout their years here.  The couple was involved with charitable causes like The Home for Hebrew Infants.   Alfred Hess garnered increased fame and respect for his research into child diseases, particularly rickets.  His published findings included the 1917 article “Prophylaxis of Rickets,” for the American Medical Association;  “The Cure of Infantile Rickets by Sunlight” in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1921 and a year later “Newer Aspects of the Rickets Problem.”

There was a bit of trouble, however, in 1916 when a man and woman were arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut on charges or attempting to pass forged checks.  It was then discovered that they were wanted in New York City for obtaining merchandise from merchants on false pretenses.  The man gave his name as Dr. J. E. Pareant and identified his wife as Jennie.

“Some medical apparatus was found in the possession of the man, who said he has a physician’s office at 16 West Eighty-sixth Street,” reported The New York Times on October 24, 1916.  Of particular interest to authorities was that the couple had with them a 13-year old girl, whom they introduced as their daughter.  They had taken the girl from the home of her parents on the promise to pay her for taking care of their baby.  “Police found no infant in their rooms,” said the newspaper.

Police Inspector Faurot cleared Alfred Hess of any involvement.  He told reporters “The man, it seems, never lived or practiced medicine at 16 West Eighty-sixth Street.  One of the leading physicians of the city resides there, and has occupied the house since it was built.  He says he never heard of Pareant until Saturday, when the attorney from Providence called and asked about the man.”

Sara Hess’s entertainments in the mansion seem to have often revolved around political and social causes.  On February 20, 1924 James W. Gerald addressed the Women’s Democratic Union here, speaking in praise of the late President Woodrow Wilson.

“Woodrow Wilson was the greatest idealist the world has ever seen,” he told the women.  “He gave an extraordinary opportunity to the world, which was not grasped either here or abroad.”

Living next door at No. 14 at this time, interestingly, was the Joseph Saks family--another department store connection.

By now the Hess daughters were growing up.  In 1926 Eleanor graduated from Byrn Mawr and two years later her parents announced her engagement to Harold Kurzman.  On April 24, 1928 the wedding took place in the Hess mansion, with Eleanor’s sister, Margaret, acting as maid of honor.

Three years later it would be Margaret’s turn to be married.

For years it was tradition that Dr. Alfred F. Hess present the diplomas to the graduating nurses at the Hebrew Home for Infants, and to deliver the commencement address.  On December 6, 1933, he did so again.  Then, as he reached his car following the ceremony, the 58-year old physician was stricken with a fatal heart attack.  He died in the parking lot inside his automobile.

In reporting on the extensive contributions to children’s medicine Hess had made throughout his career, The New York Times said “Thousands of children have been saved from deformities by the discoveries of Dr. Hess.”

On December 8 “a simple, private funeral service” was held in the 86^th Street mansion.  The Times reported that “More than 200 persons, among them scientists and prominent physicians, attended the funeral.”

The family retained possession of the house; but by now West 86^th Street had drastically changed.  Most of the great mansions of the avenue-wide street had been razed for modern apartments.  In 1935 the family commissioned architect John Harold Barry to convert the house into apartments – just two per floor.

Sara Straus Hess finally sold "for cash" the mansion where she had lived with her famous husband for 35 years in 1948.  In 1967 it received another interior make-over resulting in, perhaps appropriately, the installation of a doctor’s office on the first floor.

When Gary and Patricia Nave purchased the building in 1979 for $350,000, it was sadly neglected.  According to the Naves, pieces of the ceiling were falling.  They did a “restoration;” but preservationists would agree that the better term would be “renovation.”

In 2010 the residence, still broken into apartments, was offered for sale at $8.95 million.  Still waiting for an owner who will return to the mansion to its 1910 glory; it nevertheless survives as a scarce reminder of the earliest days of West 86^th Street.

photographs by the author

The Gardiner-Saks Mansion -- 14 West 86th Street

In the spring of 1910 The Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide reported that architect Alexander M. Welch had designed “a row of 3 five-story American basement dwellings for W.W. & T. M. Hall on south side of West 86th street.”  Completed the same year, the mansions, Nos. 12, 14 and 16, were distinctively different in style.  It was a somewhat unusual move.  Architects designing rows of speculative rowhouses on the Upper West Side tended to create a harmonious flow--a sort of unit.  Welch opted instead for architectural individuality.

The architect had been hired by brothers William and Thomas Hall, known for erecting lavish, speculative homes targeted for Manhattan’s wealthy upper class.  The 86^th Street mansions were the last word in modern conveniences, like elevators, but the Financial Panic of 1907 made selling the homes a challenge.  Neither 14 nor No. 16 was not sold until 1913.

Nos. 14 and 16, the survivors of the row, were distinctly different in design.

No 14, a handsome Neo-Renaissance home, sat on a rusticated limestone base with the entrance a few steps off the sidewalk.  Three stories of muddy-red brick were highlighted by heavy limestone window surrounds and bandcourses; and capped by a steep tiled mansard and two dormers joined by a single roof.

While the house rose, the family of Alfred P. Gardiner was living at No. 272 West 90^th Street.  Gardiner was President of the Radway Chemical Company.  Mrs. Gardiner was the former Adele Troup, whose uncle had founded the firm.  The Gardiners would move into the West 86^th Street house, but the purchase was, perhaps, delayed because of the embarrassing legal problems that filled the newspapers.

Adele and her only sister, Kate Barnes, had inherited $250,000 each from the estate of their aunt, Mary Jane Radway.  Ignorant in business and finance, Kate turned over her money to Alfred Gardiner to invest, agreeing to pay him $1,000 a year for his services.  But in 1912 she sued, charging him with “fraudulent dealings” and saying that he had sold off some of her investments at cheap prices to his wife, or even to himself; and that he purchased other investments as prices she felt were “excessive.”

The Gardiners, possibly, felt that the purchase of a new mansion at this sensitive time would be unseemly.

But by late 1913 they had moved into the 86^th Street house and on January 4, 1914 were ready to entertain.   That day both The New York Times and The Sun reported that invitations had been sent out for a reception and dance the following Saturday “at their new home.” 

Adele, like all moneyed socialites, was involved with charities; but a few days after Christmas the following year, she went beyond the norm.  The New York Times noted on December 26 that “Mrs. A. P. Gardiner will entertain fifty children with private theatricals at her home…on Wednesday.”

Burglars found the mansions of Manhattan tempting targets during the summer months, when they knew the residents were off at country estates or resorts, and the city houses were thinly staffed.  But in 1917 thieves chose the cold winter months to hit.  On February 5 The Sun reported “Thieves skillful and petty, who have flocked to New York and given police the hardest work in years to keep down the rising tide of burglaries from homes to stores, made a large cleanup in January…Entrance to the homes has been obtained by posing as servants.  Others have used the dumbwaiters and the elevators, and in many instances on the Upper West Side the burglars have simply gone up the fire escapes and rifled the apartments at their leisure, often several at a time in the same house.”

Among the names of mansion owners who were struck in January was that of Adele R. Gardiner.

The Gardiners maintained a large summer estate, Hessian Hill, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York.   Then in November 1919 they began work on what The Sun described as “a large mountain home in the Adirondacks.”  The newspaper added, “The tract of land includes Pine Tree Lodge on the face of Big Crow Mountain, celebrated for its extensive view.”

Alfred and Adele Gardiner would remain on West 86^th Street until March of 1921, when, as reported by the New-York Tribune, they “will join the east side colony.”  The house was sold to Joseph Isadore Saks of the department store family.  Joseph’s father, Isadore, had founded Saks & Co. with his brother Andrew. 

With Joseph and his wife, Elsa, were their two daughters, Phyllis and Anne.  Among the staff was Helen Ness who had been with the family for three decades.  Helen’s many years of devoted service had earned her near-family member status.

Two years after Joseph and his family took over No. 14 West 86^th Street, following Andrew Saks’s death, Joseph’s cousin, Horace, merged Saks & Co. with Gimbels Brothers.  It would be the first step towards the end of the involvement of Joseph’s branch of the family in the department store.  In the spring of 1926, Isadore and his two sons Joseph and Walter “withdrew from the business bearing their family name,” according to The New York Times.

Within a year Joseph Saks was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange.  Elsa chose as one of her favorite charities the Josephine Home for Anemic and Undernourished Children.  She headed the ticket sales of a benefit performance of “Private Lives” in January 1931.  Noel Coward, who not only wrote the play but starred in it, offered his services as a benefit to the fund.

Rather than summering in Newport, Bar Harbor and Tuxedo Park; many of Manhattan’s wealthy Jewish families traveled to the Adirondacks or the Jersey Shore.  Isadore Saks’s summer estate, White Lodge, was in Elberon, New Jersey, for instance, and Joseph Saks’s country place was in nearby Long Branch.  It was at White Lodge that Isadore Saks died on September 13, 1933.

Joseph inherited one-third of his father’s substantial estate, along with his personal jewelry.  Elsa received $25,000—a significant $450,000 by today’s standards—and the couple’s two daughters, Anne and Phyllis each received $20,000.

Three months later tragedy would strike the household again.  The family left West 86^th Street for a weekend in Long Branch on Friday December 1, 1933.  Helen Ness, of course, traveled with them.  Now 60 years old, the servant had undergone surgery and was despondent over her failing health.

On Sunday morning she left the Saks home and “waded into the sea,” as reported by The New York Times later that day.  “The body was recovered several hours later by the Coast Guard after it had been discovered by fishermen.”  After 40 years of serving the Saks family, Helen Ness had committed suicide, no longer able to bear her ill health.

The Saks family continued to live on at No. 14 West 86^th street for several more years; until moving to No. 111 Park Avenue not long before Joseph I. Saks’s death at the age of 62 on October 25, 1939.

photo http://www.corcoran.com/nyc/Listings/Display/1466920

In 1948, like so many of the handsome mansions of the day, No. 14 was converted to apartments.  A doctor’s office took up the ground floor.  Today apartments still fill the former Gardiner-Saks mansion, and the doctor’s office has been eliminated.  Rather surprisingly, some of Welch’s period interior details survive.  But the exterior of the imposing house remains essentially unchanged.

non-credited photographs by the author

The 1900 Alfred G. Jennings House -- No. 2 East 82nd Street

photo by Alice Lum

At the turn of the last century encroaching commerce pushed New York's millionaires northward up Fifth Avenue along Central Park.  Brothers William and Thomas Hall took full advantage of the lucrative opportunity.  Both contractors and developers, they bought up long swathes of real estate and built speculative high-end residences.

A generation earlier such developments would have appeared as long rows of identical or nearly-identical brownstone rowhouses.  The Halls were savvy enough to recognize that by now residents in this exclusive neighborhood wanted individuality in their homes.  They often worked with architect Alexander M. Welch of the firm Welch, Smith & Provot to achieve both harmony and individuality in their rows of mansions.

In 1898 construction was begun on adjoining mansions on Fifth Avenue between 81^st and 82^nd Streets, Nos. 1007, 1008 and 1009; as well as 2 East 82^nd Street around the corner.   No. 2 East 82^nd Street was completed in 1900 and, despite its ample size and commanding architecture, it was diminished by the sprawling No. 1009 FifthAvenue next door.

Welch simultaneously designed the three houses at Nos. 1007 through 1009 Fifth Avenue.  The corner mansion, No. 1009, would become home to Benjamin Duke. photo NYPL Collection 

Welch used matching materials—red brick and white limestone—to complement the two residences.  The rusticated bases were in near perfect alignment, the cornice of No. 1009 flowed smoothly into the fifth floor balcony of No. 2, and the iron railings of that balcony visually coursed into the stone balustrade next door.  The handsome and dignified No. 2 East 82nd Street with its tall iron fence held its own beside its massive big brother next door.

Four years before construction began on the homes, wealthy Brooklynite Albert Gould Jennings was married to the daughter of wealthier John D. Crimmins.  Suzanne Beatrix Crimmins, 22 years old, was described by The New York Times as “a handsome blonde.”  Susie, as she was known, had grown up amid luxury in a mansion at No. 40 East 68^th Street. The 25-year old groom was the son of the founder of the Jennings Lace Works and had graduated from Princeton in 1890.  The New York Times noted that “He is the owner of a handsome brownstone residence 313 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn.”

The wedding was held in the Crimmins country home, Collender’s Point, in Darien, Connecticut.  The ceremony was officiated by Archbishop Corrigan, assisted by Bishop Tierney of Harford, Father Rogers of Stamford, “and a number of priests from that diocese,” said The Times.  “The ceremony closed with the Papal benediction.”

The seeming overkill of priests may have been John Crimmins’ way of making a statement.  The fervently Roman Catholic Crimmins was allowing his daughter to marry a Presbyterian.  The Times said “in order to have the ceremony performed under the rites of the Catholic Church [Jennings] had to promise that his wife should have the full freedom of practicing her religious faith, and to allow his children to be reared in the Roman Catholic faith.”

Although Jennings’ business was in Brooklyn, life in the outer borough apparently did not appeal to his new wife.  The couple purchased No. 2 East 82^nd Street while the mansion was still under construction.  It was completed in 1900 and entertainments—often involving Crimmins family members—began.

The American Architect printed a photograph of the Jennings House in 1903.  A servant waits on the sidewalk for a carriage and greenery is planted on the 2nd floor balcony.  The periodical got the architect's name wrong, citing Ernest Flagg.  (copyright expired)

Susie’s sister, Constance, was introduced to society In 1902.  On December 12 the Jennings hosted a dinner for her in the house.  It was followed the next day by a “coming out reception” in the Crimmins mansion.

The following year Susie threw a dinner party for her brother, John D. Crimmins, Jr., and his fiancée, Lillian Stokes Holmes, in anticipation of their upcoming wedding later in the week.   The entire wedding party was invited.

Unlike many wealthy New Yorkers who built sumptuous summer cottages and estates, the Jennings preferred to lease impressive quarters in different resorts.  With daughter Janice and son Albert Gould Jr. they summered in Tuxedo Park, Bar Harbor, Newport and Southampton.   In 1910 they arrived in Bar Harbor, having rented “Bowling Green” for the season.

Despite appearances, not all was happy within No. 2 East 82^nd Street.  Susie Crimmins Jennings was a modern woman, independent and opinionated.  Albert Gould Jennings had more old-fashioned ideas concerning a woman’s place in the home.  It all boiled over in July 1912.

As the summer season approached, Albert packed his bags and sailed to Paris.  He would not returned to New York a married man.  The New York Times reported that “He accused his wife of accepting invitations without consulting him and altogether showing a too independent spirit.”

Susie Jennings filed a counter-charge of incompatibility.   It would appear that John D. Crimmins used his substantial influence for, somewhat surprisingly considering the couple had two children, the marriage was annulled on October 22, 1913.

Apparently as part of the arrangement, four months earlier Suzanne Jennings sold the house on East 82^nd Street to the "recently formed" Roxanne Realty Company.   The new company was owned by Albert Gould Jennings.

Alfred returned to the house on East 82^nd Street and before very long married Marion Stoddard.  The marriage was, at least from a religious point of view, more compatible.  Marion was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Charles Augustus Stoddard, an author and distinguished Presbyterian clergyman.

In 1917 a son was born in the house, Wyllys Burr Jennings.  In the meantime, the infant’s step-brother, Albert Junior, served in the United States Navy during the war.  Upon returning he moved back into the 82^nd Street house with his father and stepmother.  Albert graduated from Princeton in 1919 and the athletic young man gained memberships to the Brook and Turf and Field, Racquet and Tennis Clubs.

Marion took the reins of social entertainments.  One again the house was the scene of receptions, teas and dinner parties.  On April 22, 1920 she gave a luncheon for Elizabeth Coleman who had recently become engaged to Marion’s relative Stoddard Hoffman.

Marion Jennings was a large stockholder in the Silver King Ginger Ale Company, presided over by State Senator James J. Walker.  Most likely through her influence, young Albert was made Secretary of the company.  A few years later Albert Junior struck out on his own, taking an apartment for himself at No. 146 East 49^th Street.

No one on New York society was more shocked than Albert and Marion Jennings to learn in the spring of 1925 that Albert Gould Jennings, Jr., had been surreptitiously  married.  “The secret marriage last Fall of Albert Gould Jennings Jr…a member of a family socially prominent in this city, to Mrs. Helen B. Rueping, a wealthy divorcee, was reported yesterday and it was said that the couple were planning to go abroad,” reported The Times on March 8, 1925.

“Mr. Jennings Sr. and Mrs. Jennings, stepmother of the young man, said last night they knew nothing of the marriage.”

Young Albert provided more gossip to New York drawing rooms when the marriage fell apart.  A Special Cable to The New York Times arrived from Paris on June 27, 1929.  It read in part “Mrs. Albert Gould Jennings…filed today a petition for divorce in Paris from her husband, who is a wealthy New York resident and is prominent in the American colony here.” 

By the spring of 1937 Alfred Gould Jennings, Sr. was apparently leasing the mansion.  Broker John F. Bowles, Jr. was living in the house when, on April 8, he married Jeannette Horlick Simmons in the chapel of Riverside Church.  Both wealthy in their own right, The New York Times announced that “After their wedding trip, the couple will divide their time between this city and Greenwich.”

The following year Albert Gould Jennings sold the house that had been his home for nearly four decades.  The unnamed buyers paid the $95,000 asking price in cash.  In reporting the sale The Times noted that the house “contains an elevator, and at the rear looks out upon a permanent garden on Eighty-first Street.”  The article mentioned the elite neighbors.  “Near by are the homes of Orlando F. Weber, Ogden H. Hammond and Angelica T. Gerry.  Recently Garardo Machado, former President of Cuba, purchased a private house across the street.”

Within three years the house would be converted to furnished apartments.

The Alfred and Marion Jennings were now living at No. 4 East 95^th Street and their son, Wyllys Burr Jennings became an Army pilot when the war in Europe broke out.  On August 26, 1944 the 27-year old navigator was shot down over Ludwigshafen, Germany.

In the late 1970s an apartment building was constructed at No. 1001 Fifth Avenue, extending down 81^st Street where the Jennings gardens had once been.  It created a problem with zoning restrictions.  On April 29, 1979 The Times reported that “In March, workmen began blocking up rear windows and the doors in two floors of vacant apartments in the converted townhouse at 2 East 82^nd Street.  This was in accordance with a requirement to bring the five-story building within the maximum allowable floor area for the site, which it shares with the recently constructed apartment house at 1001 Fifth Avenue.”

The windows of the upper floors of the mansion were sealed off with unsightly cinder blocks.  After several meetings between the construction company, the Buildings Department and the Planning Commission, an agreement was made whereby the blocks would be removed and curtains hung to block the windows.   It was a decidedly more attractive solution.

In 1982 the house was home to actress Meryl Streep’s character Brooke Reynolds in the psychological thriller film Still of the Night.   In the motion picture, Dr. Sam Rice, played by Roy Scheider, visited the house to discern if he could trust the mysterious woman.

Around half a century earlier Mother Joseph Butler of the Order of the Sacred Heart of Mary purchased the Jonathon Thorne mansion nearby at No. 1028 Fifth Avenue to be used as a “select school for girls in connection with Marymount College at Tarrytown-on-Hudson.”  In 1936 the school expanded by acquiring the mansion next door at No. 1027, and 14 years later purchased the adjoining house at No. 1026.

Now, in 1999, the Marymount School eyed the former Jennings house at No. 2 East 82^nd Street for use as its Middle School.  The school was especially taken with the intact interiors of the house, which complemented the Fifth Avenue mansions it already owned. The problem was that developer Peter S. Kalikow had already purchased the mansion with intentions of converting it into a garage for the new apartment building at No. 1001 Fifth Avenue.

After six months of negotiations, the school purchased the property for $9.5 million.  A $7 million renovation was initiated with careful attention to the preservation of the intact interior detailing—ornamental plasterwork, mantels and wood paneling.

The renovations were completed in 2003, earning Richard Ciccarelli, independent architecture and planning professional the Lucy G. Moses Award for NYC Landmarks Preservation.  The private school continues to operate in the building.