The Elijah B. Middlebrook House - 121 East 78th Street

 

photograph by the author

Development of the Upper East and Upper West Sides began in earnest following the Civil War.  Around 1871 Nicholas McCool erected a row of identical Italianate-style homes on the north side of East 78th Street, between Lexington and Fourth Avenues (renamed Park Avenue in 1888).  Three bays wide and three stories tall above high English basements, they were intended for affluent families.

Beefy cast iron railings and newels protected the areaways and stoops.  Like the others, the arched entrance of 121 East 78th Street sat below a prominent triangular pediment upheld by foliate, scrolled corbels.  Smaller versions embellished the parlor windows.  The upper floor windows sat within molded architraves with cornices.

121 East 78th Street was originally identical to No. 127, seen here around 1912.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

McCool advertised 121 East 78th Street and two others on September 17, 1872:

Three high stoop brown stone houses, 119 and 121 East Seventy-eighth street, also 121 East Seventy-ninth street, within two blocks of Central Park, all of which will be sold cheap to prompt buyers.

The ad was answered by Dr. Elijah B. Middlebrook, who had just relocated to New York City from Connecticut.  Middlebrook owned "large blocks of real estate" in Bridgeport, Connecticut, according to The Evening World, which added that he was "considered a wealthy man."  

Born at "Long Hill," in Trumbull, Connecticut, Middlebrook was a graduate of Yale College.  His resume was not restricted to medicine.  At the age of 36 he owned a carriage factory and a large livery stable in Bridgeport.  He was as well, according to the New York Herald, "a farmer and a dealer in real estate."

Middlebrook was not living in New York by his own choice, however.  Shortly before purchasing 121 East 78th Street, he was embroiled in a court battle in Connecticut.  He assaulted attorney W. K. Seller in the courtroom and openly called him a liar.  Although Middlebrook paid a $600 fine (a significant $16,900 in 2026), the New York Herald reported that he "exiled himself from Bridgeport rather than endure the ignominy of imprisonment."  The Evening World said, "Dr. Middlebrook was compelled to remain out of the State or go to jail to serve out a sentence for contempt of Court."

Moving into the new house with her father was Annie A. Sewell.  It is unclear whether she was a young widow, or if her husband lived here as well.  However, when Annie died a year later on March 16, 1873 at the age of 30, her husband was not mentioned in her obituary.  Her funeral was held in the parlor on March 19.

Interestingly, when Middlebrook moved into 121 East 78th Street, he listed his profession as "physician."  In 1876, he changed it to "veterinarian surgeon."  And in 1879, he listed both: "physician" at 170 East 78th Street and "veterinarian surgeon" at 169 East 77th Street.

Among Middlebrook's servants in 1881 was Mary Lynch.  On the afternoon of January 18, she caught 13-year-old George Leonard slipping out of the house.  She alerted Dr. Middlebrook who had the teen arrested.  The New York Herald reported, "Nothing was stolen from the premises.  In the boy's pocket was found a night key."  Leonard was held in jail until it could be discerned if the key would open the locks of the Middlebrook house.

By 1884, Mary J. Perkins and her adult nephew, Frederick B. Sewell, lived in the house with Elijah Middlebrook.  It is unclear what their relationship, if any, was.  

Interestingly, on May 3, 1884 The American Architect and Building News reported that Middlebrook was erecting a two-story brick stable at 164-170 Eat 78th Street at a cost of $3,000 (just under $100,000 in 2026).  The plans named F. B. Sewell as the architect.

Dr. Elijah B. Middlebrook died in the East 78th Street house on April 1, 1889.  In reporting his death, a Bridgeport newspaper could not restrain from pointing out that he "fled from this city seventeen years ago after assaulting Lawyer W. K. Seeler in the court-room."

Mary J. Perkins inherited 121 East 78th Street.  She maintained a 133-acre country home in Westchester County.  She took in a boarder, Dr. Samuel F. Howland, who was a dentist.  Howland, who was a bachelor, lived here until his death on March 3, 1914.   His will was probated on July 30, and the New York Herald reported that he left $77,026, "of which he gave $50,000 to Mary J. Perkins, who was not related to him."  (The remainder went to the Moody Schools of Northfield, Massachusetts.)

Mary J. Perkins died on April 13, 1918.  She left the equivalent of $2 million today to Frederick B. Sewell and the East 78th Street house.  Sewell was now living in Mount Vernon, New York and exactly a year later, on April 19, 1919, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that he had leased the house to Dr. William B. Boyd.  Boyd was a vice president of the Columbia University Biochemical Association and a member of the Presbyterian Hospital staff.  

Moving into the house with him was his sister, Virginia.  A self-reliant woman, she was a graduate of Barnard College and during World War I she traveled overseas "with a Y.M.C.A. canteen."  She was originally in charge of "a Barnard unit" there.  Virginia was eventually promoted to inspector in charge of all units in one sector.

The New York Times noted, "Since the war she has been engaged in business management and accountancy."  When she and her brother moved into 121 East 78th Street she was controller of the Kent Place School for Girls in Summit, New Jersey.  Virginia Boyd resigned from the girls' school in June 1925.  Two months later she boarded the Leviathan "for an indefinite stay in France," according to The New York Times.

Virginia's independent and intrepid nature resulted, in part, in a horrifying incident.  On September 22, 1925, Dr. Boyd explained to a reporter that she "had planned to visit friends and to take a walking trip through the chateau region.  One of the points she was to visit was Blois."  Two days earlier, Virginia was on that "walking trip" while between Blois and Chambord when a man attacked her.  A wire from Paris said, "After fighting bravely Miss Boyd was about to be overcome by her assailant, when passing automobilists put him to flight."

French officials took the attack seriously.  The New York Times reported, "Armed posses are scouring the countryside today in a search for the assailant of Miss Boyd."

Frederick B. Sewell, described by The Carpet and Upholstery Trade Review as "a retired interior decorator," died in his Mount Vernon home in 1933.  On May 25, The New York Times reported that his estate had sold 121 East 78th Street to R. Keith Kane.  The article noted it "will be altered at a cost of $10,000."  

The costly renovations (equal to a quarter of a million today) included removing the stoop and lowering the entrance to below grade, converting the original entrance to a window, and adding a new floor.  Astoundingly, the architect deftly matched the former entrance with the existing parlor openings, copied the original architraves for the top floor windows, and reinstalled the 1871 cornice.

Only the unimpressive basement level hinted that renovations had been made.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Born on July 3, 1900, attorney Richmond Keith Kane (who went by his first initial) was a 1926 graduate of Harvard Law School.  He attended Oxford where (as he had been in Harvard) he was on the rowing team.  The year before purchasing 121 East 78th Street, he joined the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.  He and his wife, the former Amanda Stewart Bryan, had four daughters: Shelah, Anne Tennant, Hope Stewart and Constance H.  Their country home was in Wickford, Rhode Island.

Amanda was highly involved in civic and social affairs.  On March 23, 1936, for instance, The New York Times reported that she hosted the "first in a series of meetings in behalf of the work of the Vocational Service for Juniors."  And on January 18, 1939, the newspaper announced, "Mrs. R. Keith Kane, president of the Smith College Club of New York, will give a luncheon today."

The family moved to Washington D.C. in 1940 after Kane became special assistant to the United States Attorney General "in the enforcement of new foreign-registration laws," according to The New York Times.  In September that year, the newspaper reported that Kane had leased the house furnished to "Viscount Jacques d'Aumale, Minister in charge of the French Consulate General in New York."

The New York Police Department's bomb square responded to 121 East 78th Street on March 3, 1941 "to investigate an explosion," according to The New York Times.  The detectives, however, found only "a slightly damaged tin can with white powder spread over the outside of the street door."  The exploding canister was deemed a prank.

With relations between the French Vichy Government and America strained, the following year the consul left East 78th Street and No. 121 was leased to Frederick S. Bailey and his family.  He told The New York Times on November 11, 1942 that he and his family "were greatly disturbed lest any demonstration intended for [d'Aumale] should be addressed to them."

In the meantime, R. Keith Kane was appointed assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in 1943 and in 1945 was an advisor to the United States delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization.

The family was back in the East 78th Street home at midcentury.  Shelah Kane was introduced to society in 1950.  She had graduated from the Brearley School and studied at Smith College.  She was married to Ensign James H. Scott, Jr. of the U.S. Coast Guard in St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church in Wickford, Rhode Island on August 18, 1952.

Anne Tennant Kane also attended the Brearly School.  She graduated from the Foxcroft School and Smith College.  Four years after Shelah's wedding, on December 22, 1956, Anne Tennant Kane was married in the Church of the Resurrection to Lockhart Bemiss McGuire.  

Adding to his impressive resume, in 1968 R. Keith Kane was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame.  And in 1971 Harvard gave him an honorary law doctorate.

Kane retired in December 1973 and he and Amanda relocated to Charlottesville, Virginia.  He died there five months later, on May 30, 1974, at the age of 73.

Former securities executive Aftab Islam, and his wife, Theresa Havell, lived here as early as 1999 with their six children and a live-in nanny.  The couple was married in 1979.  Theresa was described by The New York Post as "a Wall Street wizard."  She was the founder "of the highly successful Havell Capital Management," according to the newspaper.  Islam, on the other hand, called himself a "house husband" and had not worked since 1990.  

By 1999, things were not going smoothly within the marriage.  According to The New York Post, they slept in separate bedrooms.  Before going to bed on April 21, Theresa told Aftab that she wanted a divorce.  According to The New York Times, "She awoke just before 5 A.M. as Mr. Islam began beating her with a barbell he used to work out in their home at 121 East 78th Street." 

Saying that the attack came after "years of physical and mental abuse," Women's eNews reported, "After Havell's screams brought three of the couple's six children into her room, Islam continued his attack on the wife."  He told them that he had killed their mother, said the article.  Theresa was hospitalized with a fractured skull.  Islam was taken away by the police.

Charged with attempted murder, on August 11, 2000 Aftab Islam faced a judge.  Calling himself a "pacifist," he admitted hitting his wife with the 10-pound dumbbell.  But he explained his actions, saying that after he had sneaked into her room at 5 a.m. and "affectionately stroked her face...She bit my finger."

Islam continued, "I picked up the barbell she uses to exercise with and hit her with it."  He defended himself saying, "I only hit her four or five times and not very hard."

Islam was sentenced to eight years in prison.  While there, he attempted to retain 40 percent of the couple's assets in the divorce proceedings.  That did not happen.  The court (a subsequent appellate judge) ruled that Havell deserved the couple's entire assets, "valued at $17 million," according to Women's eNews.  The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court called his assault on Theresa "so egregious as to shock the conscience."

photograph by the author

New owners had renovations done in 2002.  It was most likely during this remodeling that architectural elements of the ground floor, faithful reproductions of the 1871 versions, and a charming bay window were installed.

The Al Hirschfeld House - 122 East 95th Street

 

Developers William J. and John P. Walsh often turned to the architectural firm of C. Abbott French & Co. in designing their projects.  On February 19, 1887, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that they had teamed up again for a row of 12 "Queen Anne private residences" on East 95th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.  Completed in 1888, each of the three-story residences would cost about $490,000 in 2026 money to erect.

Among the most eye-catching was 122 East 95th Street, the yellow brick facade of which was contrasted by ruddy terra cotta.  A dog-legged box stoop rose to the entrance.  The upper sashes of the grouped parlor windows contained myriad small panes--typical of the Queen Anne style.  They were reflected in the multiple square panels of the double entrance doors.  C. Abbott French & Co. united the parlor floor openings with a single arched terra cotta lintel filled with crisp, swirling foliate forms.

A projecting metal oriel dominated the second floor and the three windows of the third floor were capped by a triangular pediment filled with elaborate terra cotta ornaments.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

Real estate operator Lewis Coon purchased 120 and 122 East 95th Street, painted and wallpapered the interiors, and then put them back on the market in September 1889.  His advertisement described them as "two of the most comfortable and well built new 20 foot, three story and basement private dwellings in restricted block."  Asking $20,000 each for the properties, Coon said buyers would find "no equal for the money on the island."  Calling the houses "strictly first class in every respect," he noted they were "elegantly trimmed in cabinet style; handsomely decorated and papered."

Lewis Coon sold 122 East 95th Street to Elias Einstein in July 1890.  The sale price would translate to about $730,000 today.  Born in 1830, Einstein was the head of a cloak manufacturing firm at 392 Broadway.  He and his wife had two adult daughters, Ida and Hannah, both of whom were married.

Elias Einstein (original source unknown)

In 1893, the Einsteins' eldest daughter, Ida, moved in along with her nine-year-old twin children Helen and David.  Ida had married Jacob Rothschild in 1883.  The New York Herald said he held "a post of trust in a large mercantile house and drew a large salary."  But then, he "became dissipated."  (The term most often referred to alcoholism.)   Rothschild lost his job and, finally, Ida "went back to her father, who contributed to Rothschild's support as well as hers," according to the New York Herald.

Initially, Jacob Rothschild visited 122 East 95th Street to see Ida and the twins.  "Of late, however, his family saw little of him," reported the New York Herald in 1895.

At around 7:30 on the morning of May 19, 1895, a servant heard a noise in the vestibule.  He found Jacob Rothschild lying on the floor and called for Elias Einstein.  The New York Herald said that Rothschild was "breathing laboriously and in his hand was a small bottle partly filled with some liquid."  He looked up at Einstein and mumbled, "You won't have any more trouble on my account.  I have taken this poison, and I came here to die."

The 45-year-old was brought into the parlor and Dr. Louis Cohn, who lived nearby at 139 East 95th Street, was summoned.  Rothschild was unconscious when the doctor arrived and he died shortly afterward.

The following year, in June 1896, the Einsteins sold 122 East 95th Street to Solomon Baerlein and his wife, the former Lottie Kohner.  Solomon was a "special partner" with Lyman G. and Joseph B. Bloomingdale in the Bloomingdale department store.  

Although the couple had no children, their new house was well filled.  Moving in with them were Lottie's parents, Marcus and Hildegart Kohner, and Solomon's mother, Elise (known as Elsie).  Their advanced ages resulted in a series of funerals in the parlor starting with Hildegart Kohner's death on February 21, 1907 at the age of 70.  Nine months later, on November 7, Marcus Kohner passed away at the age of 76, and Elise Baerlein died at the age of 81 on June 21, 1908.

The parlor was the scene of a more joyous event in 1913.  On December 7, The New York Times reported that Rena Goldstein would be married to Arthur H. Schweizer "on Wednesday in the home of the bride's uncle, Solomon Baerlein, 122 East Ninety-fifth Street."

Starting in 1914, the Baerleins leased the house.  A series of well-to-do families occupied it until Solomon Baerlein's death in November 1924.  His estate sold 122 East 95th Street to the Empire State Holding Corporation in October the following year.  The house continued to be leased to a series of tenants until December 1947 when it was sold "to Albert Hirschfeld, the artist," according to The New York Times.

Better known to readers of The New York Times Drama Section as Al Hirschfeld, he was born in 1903.  He became the newspaper's caricaturist in 1929.  Dolly Hass Hirschfeld was his second wife.  They were married in 1943 and had a daughter, Nina.  Nina's name was always hidden in capital letters within her father's caricatures and finding them became a Sunday morning quest for readers of The New York Times for decades.

This self portrait contains two NINAs.

On January 31, 1948, The New York Times reported, "Plans for altering the three-story brick dwelling at 122 East Ninety-fifth Street for studio and residence were announced."  The years-long renovation resulted in the stoop being removed and the entrance lowered to below grade.  It was deftly replaced by paired windows that matched the originals on that level.  In order to create Hirschfeld's studio, the three third-floor windows were replaced with a large opening.  Hirschfeld had the yellow brick and terra cotta painted a cheery pink.

In addition to his top-story studio, the renovations resulted in five bedrooms and five baths.

For decades Hirschfeld would sit in theaters with his sketch pad, then return to his third-floor studio to create his final images.  According to The Wall Street Journal later, he would sometimes keep "his notepad in his pocket while drawing to avoid disturbing other theatergoers."

Some of the artworks found their way into the interiors of the house.  According to The Wall Street Journal, he commissioned "hand-painted fireplace tiles in Mr. Hirschfeld's unique caricature style," and at some point he had selected caricatures enlarged and printed on wallpaper panels for the second floor.  They included portraits of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe among other stars.

Al Hirschfeld at the piano on the second floor with his custom wallpaper in the background.  photograph by Jill Krementz, December 4, 1971

Dolly Haas Hirschfeld died in 1994.  Two years later, Al Hirschfeld married theater historian Louise Kerz. 

On January 21, 2003, the Fredericksburg, Virginia newspaper The Free Lance-Star reported, "Al Hischfeld, whose graceful fluid caricatures captured the essence of performers from Charlie Chaplin to Jerry Seinfeld, died yesterday.  He was 99."  Newspapers nationwide mourned him as a national treasure.

Eight years later, in February 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported, "The townhouse where the artist Al Hirschfeld drew his theatrical caricatures for more than half a century was sold for more than the $5.3 million asking price, after a bidding war."  (Louise Kerz Hirschfeld had married Lewis B. Cullman two months earlier.)

Anne Snee, the broker from the Corcoran Group, told the journal that the buyers, Paul and Denise Lachman, "plan to completely renovate and restore the house, but will protect and preserve large panels of Hirschfeld wallpaper by covering them with plastic panels."

The Lachmans sold the house in 2015 to Phyllis E. Battista.  The Real Deal commented on May 3, 2026 that she "is the ex-wife of Ben Odierno, the landlord who made headlines back in 2005 when he killed his second wife."

No. 122 East 95th Street still sports the pink paint chosen by one of America's most beloved caricaturists, and it continues to be a standout among C. Abbott French & Co.'s picturesque row.

photographs by the author

The Joseph H. Choate Jr. House - 158 East 71st Street

 

Born in Germany in 1823, Henry Elias earned his fortune in beer.  The founder and president of the Henry Elias Brewing Company, in 1873 he added to his resume with a membership to the Produce Exchange.  By the early 1880s, he and his family lived at 158 East 71st Street, one of seven identical houses built in 1871 by Andrew Barry and Ira G. Lane.  

Designed by Irish-born William O'Gorman, the 20-foot-wide house was three stories tall above a high English basement.  Faced in brownstone, its Italianate design included an arched entrance under a peaked pediment supported by scrolled, foliate brackets.  The parlor windows wore triangular pediments, while the upper floor openings sat within architraves with molded sills and cornices.

Henry Elias arrived in America in 1850 and started his first brewery in 1855.  Katharina Elias was Henry's second wife.  His previous marriage to Ernestine Schmidt ended in divorce.  Moving into the house with Henry and Katharina were their children, William, Elsa, and Katie; and Henry's son, Henry Jr., from his previous marriage.

In 1885, daughter Elsa was sent to Cassel, Germany (today's Kassel) for schooling.  The Evening World described the 16-year-old as "not over-bright but rather pretty."  Henry and Katharina visited her in the winter of 1887 and Henry died there on February 27, 1888.

His will directed that his stock in the Henry Elias Brewery Company (valued at $300,000, or about $10.5 million in 2026) be held in trust for his children.  Obviously embittered even in death, Elias mentioned his former wife, Ernestine, in the will.  It directed that his heirs "must never give her anything and that they shall receive nothing from him if they do."

What no one knew at the time of Henry's death was that Elsa had become the lover of Oscar Moeller, a "bald-headed, middle-aged man," as described by The Evening World, who ran a store in Cassel.  Following the settlement of her father's will, the two ran off.  In a sensational chain of events, the couple was captured and Moeller was arrested for abduction.  He escaped and, using a fraudulent passport, fled to England with Elsa, and then to Queensland, Australia.  They were recaptured there.  On August 7, 1888, The Evening World reported that Moeller "whines that he is not an abductor, but was being abducted by the giddy heiress."  The New-York Tribune said the scandal "has created quite a sensation in German society circles in this city."

In 1891, Katharina Elias leased 158 East 71st Street to Solomon and Doris Landsberger.  (Frustratingly, their name was often spelled as Landsberg.)  Landsberger was described by The New York Times as "a wealthy jeweler."  The couple had five children: Sadie, Jacob, Monte, Estelle and Madeleine.  

Solomon Landsberger died in the house on April 1, 1897.  His funeral was held in the house three days later.  

The following year, on December 18, 1898, Doris announced Sadie's engagement to Samuel G. Isaacs.  The wedding took place on March 12, 1899 and the reception was held in Carnegie Hall.  The New York Times noted, "Over 200 invitations have been issued."

The event was, perhaps, somewhat tarnished by Doris's arrest two months earlier.  For some time, Anna Coulter, a store detective in a Grand Street establishment, had been suspicious of Doris, going so far as to following her home to ascertain her address.  On January 13, 1899, Doris entered the store and Coulter "decided to watch her."  According to her, "I disguised myself as an old woman and followed her from counter to counter."  When Doris attempted to leave the store, Coulter detained her.  She was arrested for shoplifting and at the station house gave name as Mrs. S. Solomon.  Coulter, however, had done her homework and gave the detectives her true identity.

Doris's lawyer, Hyman Rosenheim, told The New York Times that his client was "a wealthy widow," saying she "possesses a fortune of over $175,000."  He surmised that she was suffering from kleptomania.  Happily for Doris, her case was dismissed after she appeared before the Grand Jury "and made a satisfactory explanation."

In May 1903, Katharina Elias sold 158 East 71st Street to Joseph Hodges Choate Jr.  It would become the home of him and his bride, Cora Lyman Oliver.  The couple were married the following month, on June 7 in Albany.  The New-York Tribune called the ceremony, "an assemblage representative of the society of New-York, Albany and other centres."

Choate was the son of Joseph H. Choate, Ambassador to Great Britain, and Cora was the daughter of General Robert Shaw Oliver.  On May 30, 1903, Automobile Topics reported, "A ten-day automobile trip will be a feature of the wedding journey and will be supplemented by a trip to England...Upon their return to America, in September, they will reside at 158 east 71st street, New York."

Joseph Choate as he appeared in 1897 and in 1922.  Harvard College Class of 1897, 1922 (copyright expired)

Born in 1876, Choate worked as a private secretary in the London Embassy until 1900 when he returned to law school.  When he and Cora married, he was a member of the law firm Evarts, Choate & Sherman.  

While the couple was on their honeymoon, architect George B. de Gersdorff made interior updates to the house.  (The renovations cost the Choates the equivalent of $113,000 today.)

The population of 158 East 71st Street gradually increased.  Marion was born on February 1, 1905, and Helen arrived on November 21, 1906.  Two years later, on December 22, 1908, Priscilla would be born, and Joseph 3d on February 22, 1912.

Cora survived a terrifying incident on November 7, 1906.  She and Mrs. Samuel A. Tucker and her children went on a ride in Central Park.  Suddenly the horse bolted and the driver lost all control.  A mounted officer saw the runaway and galloped after it.  "At Ninety-sixth Street the policeman overtook the runaway and, leaning over from his saddle, caught the bridle of the frightened horse," reported The New York Times.  Officer Daly was "dragged to Ninety-seventh Street before he brought the runaway to a standstill."  The article said the women and children were "frightened, but were not injured."

The Choates brought back George B. de Gersdorff in 1908.  On July 23, The Evening Post reported that plans had been filed to enlarge the Choate house by adding a mansard level.  The article said it would "be used for sleeping quarters for servants, and will have two guests' chambers with baths and toilets."  

158 East 71st Street was now one-story taller than its neighbors.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The addition would not be the last time that George B. de Gersdorff and the Choates would work together.  In 1918, the couple purchased 10 and 12 East 94th Street and hired Gersdorff to convert the vintage brownstones to a single mansion.  As construction of 10 East 94th Street was nearing completion, on January 12, 1919 the New-York Tribune reported that the Choates had sold 158 East 71st Street.  The article said, "It will be occupied by the purchaser after slight alterations have been made."

The buyers were Lansing Parmalee Reed and his wife, the former Ruth Lawrence.  Born on April 2, 1882, Lansing Reed was a corporate attorney and a partner in the law firm of Davis, Polk, Wardwell, Gardiner & Reed.  Ruth was born in Boston in 1886, the daughter of Episcopal Bishop William Lawrence.  (Her brothers were Bishop Frederic Lawrence Lawrence and Bishop William Appleton Lawrence.)

When the Reeds moved in, they had four daughters, Ruth Lawrence, Julia Cunningham, Hester Lansing, and Mary Parmalee.  A fifth, Joan, would be born on December 11, 1927.  The family's country home, Windy Hill, was at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island.

As the daughters grew, their names gradually made their way into the society pages.  On September 7, 1935, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Miss Hester Lansing Reed...made her début tonight at a supper dance given by her parents at Windy Hill, their Summer home...The party was similar to those given for her sisters, Miss Julia Reed, last season, and the former Miss Ruth Reed, now Mrs. Samuel Hazard Gillespie Jr., during a previous Autumn."  The article noted, "The guests included about 250 members of the younger set."

Two years later, on February 23, 1937, The New York Evening Post reported, "Miss Hester Reed, the attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lansing Parmalee Reed...has been chosen by George Haines Weed of Savannah, Ga., to lead the Junior Promenade at Yale, this Friday night."

Around Thanksgiving that year, Lansing Parmalee Reed became ill.  His condition worsened to pneumonia and he died in the 71st Street house on December 2, 1937 at the age of 55.

Just five months later, in May 1938, Ruth Reed sold the house to editor Robert Littell and his wife, the former Anita Blaine Damrosch.  Born in Milwaukee on May 25, 1896, Robert was the grandson of Eliakim Littell, founder of The Living Age, and the son of Philip Littell, an editor on The Milwaukee Sentinel.  Robert started his career in 1922 as a staff member of The New Republic.   The same year that he and Anita purchased 158 East 71st Street, he joined The Reader's Digest.  He was the author of a novel, Candles in the Storm, and a play (with Sidney Howard), Gather Ye Rosebuds.

Anita was the granddaughter of Dr. Leopold Damrosch, founder of the Oratorio Society and introducer of German opera at the Metropolitan Opera, and daughter of Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra.  

The couple would have four children: Alisa, Walter, Philip and Blaine.  Their country home was in Tyringham, Massachusetts.

The family remained here until August 1952, when they sold the house to Janice Lowenstein.  Unlike most of its contemporaries on the block, 158 East 71st Street was never converted to apartments nor modernized on the exterior.

Other than replacement windows and stoop railings, the house looks little changed since the Choates added a stylish fourth floor.

photographs by the author

The 1887 Henry and Helen Hirsch House - 116 East 95th Street

 

In 1887 developer brothers William J. and John P. C. Walsh set out on an ambitious project of a row of 12 residences on the south side of the 95th Street block between Lexington and Park Avenues--numbers 116 to 138.  The steeply sloping site was known as Goat Hill.

The architectural firm of C. Abbott French & Co. turned to the popular Queen Anne style in designing the individual, yet harmonious homes.  Seen more frequently on the west side of Central Park, the often-whimsical style played with historic elements, materials, shapes and colors.

Like its neighbors, 116 East 95th Street was three stories tall above a brownstone fronted basement.  A dog-legged box stoop rose to the segmentally arched doorway, the terra cotta lintel of which connected that of the window creating a graceful wavelike effect.  A cast metal oriel, flanked by basketweave brick panels, dominated the second floor.  The openings of the third floor wore elaborate terra cotta decoration--the outer windows crowned with arches filled with sunbursts and mythical faces, and the central opening topped with a draped swans' head pediment.  Rather than a cornice, the house was completed by an arched brick parapet supported by a complex brick corbel table.

The house had a rocky start.  Its original owner, James R. Cuming, lost it in foreclosure in 1891 to Daniel P. Mahoney.  He immediately sold it to Henry Wallach, who sold it to Irving and Mollie Hirschfeld in May 1895.  The couple paid $16,500 for the house, or about $636,000 in 2026.

The Hirschfelds, too, would not remain especially long.  On April 12, 1902, they announced the engagement of their daughter, Minnie, to Henry Cohen.  Before the end of the year, they had sold 116 East 95th Street to Henry Hirsch and his wife, the former Helen Ella Gattman.

Henry was born in 1839 and Helen around 1845.  They couple, who were married in 1864, had seven adult children.  In July 1903, only months after purchasing No. 116, the couple hired architect J. Berry to make the equivalent of $276,000 today in interior renovations. 

Helen Hirsch, of course, had a small domestic staff.  On March 29, 1906, for instance, she advertised, "A neat girl wanted as chambermaid, assist washing; small private family.  116 East 95th st."

Henry Hirsh died in the house at the age of 77 on May 26, 1916.  His succinct, two-line death notice said, "Interment private."

Four years later, on May 5, 1920, The New York Times reported that Helen Ella Hirsch had sold the 20-foot-wide house.  The buyers were Latham Gallup Reed and his wife, the former Mary Newbold Welsh.

An attorney, Reed was born in Albany on December 10, 1855.  His American pedigree was deep and he descended from members of the Plymouth Colony.  His father was an Episcopalian priest, Rev. Sylvanus Reed, and his mother, Caroline Gallup Reed, "maintained a fashionable girls' school," according to The New York Times later. He studied at Columbia before transferring to Cambridge University where he earned his law degree.

He and Mary were married in 1884.  Latham was 29 and his bride was 25.  The couple had a son, Latham Ralston, and a daughter, Elizabeth Eunice.  When they moved into 116 East 95th Street, Latham Reed had been retired for six years.  The family's country home was in Locust, New Jersey.

Elizabeth, who never married, lived with her parents.  She was, perhaps, more visible in society than her mother.  On October 30, 1928, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Miss Elizabeth Reed...gave a reception yesterday afternoon at the Junior League Club, 133 East Sixty-first Street, for the Countess de la Gabbe, who is here from Paris."

Mary Newbold Welsh Reed died in the East 95th Street house on November 26, 1943 at the age of 84.  Her funeral was held two days later in All Saints Memorial Church in Navesink, New Jersey.

The stained-glass transoms of the parlor level and the charming  multi-paned, Queen Anne-style sashes of the top floor were intact in 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

In 1945, Latham Gallup Reed fell ill.  He died "after a brief illness," according to The New York Times, on November 29 at the age of 89.  The newspaper described him as an "internationally known lawyer."

No. 116 East 95th Street was sold the following year in June to Colonel George Leonidovich Artamonoff and his wife, the former Jessie Downing.  Born in Kursk, Russia on April 21, 1902, Artamonoff's father was General Leonid Konstantinovich Artamonoff of the Imperial Russian Army.  George fought in the White Army in 1919 before fleeing to the United States in 1921.

At the outbreak of World War II, Artamonoff was commissioned a major in the United States Army.  The conflict would cut short the couple's residency here.  The New York Times reported that in 1947, he was made "director of the Tokyo office of the Marshall Plan."  He was charged with "restoring economic relations between Japan and countries of Southeast Asia."  The Artamonoffs leased the house until June 1949, when they sold it.  

The subsequent occupants of the residence continued to be affluent--albeit not always as upstanding as their predecessors.  Harold Von Maker lived here in 1968 when was one of eight men, "including Carmine Lombardozzi, the Mafia figure," according to The New York Times, who were arrested by the FBI.  They were charged for conspiracy to steal brokerage checks.

Five years later, on August 16, 1973, The East Hampton Star reported that "Steven H. Maltby, 22, of 116 East 95th Street, New York" had been arrested.  He was charged "with criminal possession of a dangerous drug in the sixth degree (LSD)."

The house, still a single-family home, was renovated in 2020.  It was most likely at this time, that the stained-glass in the parlor floor transoms were removed in the process of replacing the windows.  

photographs by the author

The Lost Henry Ammon James Mansion - 735 Park Avenue

 

from the collection of the New York Public Library

British-born architect Frederick Junius Sterner arrived in New York City in 1906.  He purchased an architecturally outdated brownstone on East 19th Street and transformed it into a Mediterranean-style villa with a stuccoed facade and red tile roof.  Within five years, he had remade numerous high-stooped brownstones around the city into modern mansions for numerous wealthy patrons.  

Henry Ammon James would add his name to Sterner's client list in 1916.  On January 29, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that Sterner was designing renovations to the old brownstone at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and 71st Street.  The plans included the removal of walls and stairs, "rearrange [the] roof," creation of "new areas," and installing modern "plumbing, wiring and heating."  The remodeling would cost James $25,000, or about $756,000 in 2026 terms.

The vintage four-story-and-basement house, built in the 1870s, originally faced 71st Street.  Sterner reconfigured the layout, placing the entrance on Park Avenue.  The "new areas" in his plans included extending the building to the north.  Sterner transformed the high-stooped house into a modern Elizabethan Revival-style townhouse.  Two projecting, two-story bays distinguished the Park Avenue elevation, and multi-paned, leaded windows throughout gave the house a sense of antiquity.  The otherwise symmetrical design was upset by the peaked attic level with its disparate sized gables.  It stopped short of the northern extension.

Hemry Ammon James, Yale College Class of 1874, 1870-1912 (copyright expired)

Attorney Henry Ammon James was a widower.  Born in Baltimore on April 24, 1854, he was educated by a private tutor before entering Yale.  He married Laura Brevoort Sedgwick on September 21, 1891 and they had two children, Dorothy, born in 1892, and William Ellery Sedgwick, born in 1895.  Laura died on November 1, 1907.  

In addition to his law practice, James was the president of the East Hampton Electric Light Company.  The family's country home, which Henry and Laura built the year they were married, was in East Hampton, Long Island.  

A postcard depicts the James' sprawling, shingle-style summer house.

William Ellery Sedgwick James went by Ellery.  When the family moved into the remodeled mansion, he was attending Yale University.  He and Louise R. Hoadley were engaged to be married in Southampton in June 1917, but, as was the case with hundreds of couples across the country, the war in Europe changed their plans.  On April 14, 1917, The New York Times said, "as Mr. James has joined the officers' reserve corps of Yale University the date for the wedding has been advanced."  The couple was married in St. Bartholomew's Church on April 25.

The war did not interrupt Ellery's schooling and he graduated later that year.  But shortly afterward he left his bride at home and went overseas with the American Expeditionary Force.  He would see battle in France with the 324th Field Artillery.

Sterner placed the service entrance in the northern extension, directly under the conservatory.  The American Architect, December 12, 1916 (copyright expired.

Dorothy's engagement to George Griswold Haven was announced on February 2, 1925.  It would be an extremely short engagement.  Three days later, The New York Times reported that the couple had been married the previous morning in St. George's Church.  "When Mr. and Mrs. Haven return from a wedding trip they will live at 6 East Fifth-third Street, which has been Mr. Haven's home for many years," said the article.  George G. Haven was the president of the Metropolitan Opera House Real Estate Company and the senior member of the banking form of Strong, Sturgis & Co.  Dorothy was his second wife, his first having died a few years earlier.

Thousands of diamond shaped panes composed the openings.  The American Architect, December 12, 1916 (copyright expired)

Five months later, on July 21, 1925, George and Dorothy had breakfast in their East 53rd Street mansion at 8:00.  Afterward, Dorothy left to go shopping.  An old friend, Dr. E. Eliot, stopped by unannounced at around 10:30.  The butler informed him that George was in his room.  "I'll go up and see him," responded Eliot.  He entered the bedroom to find George's body on the bed.  The New York Times reported, "He had shot himself through the jaw.  The bullet had lodged in the brain, killing him instantly."

Henry Ammon James died at the East Hampton estate on the afternoon of August 2, 1929 "after a long illness," as reported by The New York Times.  The newspaper noted that he "was a member of the University, Century, Metropolitan, Maidstone, Garden City, National Golf and Jekyll Island clubs."

James left an estate, according to The New York Times, of $2,993,392, or about $57.7 million today.  The bulk of the estate was divided, essentially, equally between Dorothy and Ellery, although Ellery received the Park Avenue mansion and its contents.

Two months later, on October 1, The New York Times reported that Ellery had purchased the abutting house at 103 East 71st Street.  The move was potentially intended to protect the mansion from developers.  But if that were the case, James changed his mind.

In August 1930, he sold the corner properties to developer Michael E. Paterno.  The New York Times reported that he intended to erect an apartment building on the site.  

William Ellery Sedgwick James died at the age of 37 on November 26, 1932.  

Seven years later, the syndicate named 737 Park Avenue Corporation had acquired the additional properties necessary to go forward with the apartment building project.  On November 25, 1939, The New York Times reported that workers "started this week to demolish six old private residences to make way for an eighteen-story apartment house which will go up on that corner."  Designed by Sylvan Bien, the replacement structure was completed in 1940.

photo by Godsfriendchuck

many thanks to Doug Wheeler for suggesting this post