The William C. and Emma Orr House - 50 West 76th Street

 

Real estate developer Leonard Beeckman embarked on an ambitious project in 1887 by breaking ground for nine, 19-feet-wide rowhouses on West 76th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (renamed Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, respectively, in 1890).  Designed by George M. Walgrove, the homes were completed in 1889.  

(Walgrove, incidentally, would be appointed a Parks Commissioner in January 1906, only to be forced to resign that November for using his post "for political purposes," according to Mayor George B. McClellan.)

Among the most striking of the homes was 50 West 76th Street.  Above the doglegged box stoop, Walgrove striated the parlor floor by alternating wide dressed stone with narrow rough cut strips.  Elegant Renaissance-style pediments crowned the center windows of the second and third floors.  The other openings sat within multi-layered, stepped architraves topped with molded cornices.

The house was briefly owned by Reverend Dr. Edmund Guilbert.  Born in 1837, he was rector of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit on Madison Avenue.

Rev. Dr. Edmund Guilbert, Annals of an Old Parish Historical Sketches of Trinity Church Southport Connecticut 1725 to 1898 by Rev. Edmund Gilbert D. D.(copyright expired)

Rev. Guilbert was the victim of two "rogues," as described by the New York Herald in the summer of 1891.  On July 1, the Waterbury, Connecticut Evening Democrat explained that one "well dressed young man" would board a boat heading from New York to summer communities.  He would find an unaccompanied valise on the deck and, just before the gangplank was raised, his accomplice on the pier would wave frantically as if there were an emergency.  The first man would grab the valise and rush off the boat.  The Evening Democrat said, "So frequent had these thefts become, that...policemen were detailed to watch."  

Like most wealthy Manhattan churches, the Church of the Holy Spirit closed during the hot summer months while their congregants abandoned the city for their summer estates or fashionable resorts.  On July 22, Rev. Guilbert boarded the Monmouth to Sandy Hook.  The Evening World reported that just as the ship's whistle blew, a "well dressed young man" hurried to the pier with a valise.  Police caught Henry Hamilton, whose story "was all knocked in the head when the rightful owner of the valise, Rev. Dr. Edmund Guilbert...appeared on the scene and told how he had left the valise for a moment in the saloon."  The Evening Democrat said that among the contents were stocks, the value of which "has been placed at thousands of dollars."

At the time of the incident, Rev. Guilbert had already tendered his resignation from the Church of the Holy Spirit.  In 1890 he accepted the position of rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Southport, Connecticut.  On November 7, 1891, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that Edmund Guilbert had sold 50 West 76th Street to William C. Orr and his wife, the former Emma Philbin.

Born in Brooklyn, Orr graduated from St. Francis Xavier College in 1868 and received his M. A. degree the following year.  A specialist in real estate law, he was counsel for the Fifth Avenue Bank, the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, and the Home for the Aged of the Little Sisters of Poor.

William and Emma had three sons--Philbin, Sherwood and William Jr.--and three daughters--Constance Philbin, Jeannette, and Florence.

The Orrs apparently took in a boarder and in 1896 a "Mrs. Nickerson" listed her address here.  She was a daughter of John Forman of Asbury Park, New Jersey and a sister of Laura Forman.  In May 1896, the women's widowed father remarried and Laura, who was unmarried, "became restive under the changed conditions," according to him.  To complicate the situation, George H. Lefferson began "paying attention" to Laura.  The New York Sun commented that John Forman "was not well disposed toward the young man."

In July 1896, Laura came to New York to visit her sister.  Suddenly, on July 16, a carriage stopped in front of 50 West 76th Street and several men got out.  They forcibly put Laura into the vehicle, and took her to the House of Mercy in Inwood.  Her father had arranged to have her incarcerated there.  The New York Sun reported, "Her father paid her board there, although most of the inmates are supported by the institution."

Constance Philbin Orr died "after a short illness," according to The New York Times, on July 9, 1910.  Somewhat surprisingly, her funeral was not held in the house, but at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament on Broadway and 71st Street.

Within three years, the Orrs left 50 West 76th Street and they leased the the home to the Daniel O'Connell family.  Like his landlord, O'Connell was an attorney.  Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he graduated from De La Salle College in Toronto and earned his law degree from the New York Law School.  He and his wife, the former Marcella Harlin, had two sons and three daughters.  

President Grover Cleveland appointed O'Connell an Assistant United States District Attorney.  He was, as well, president of the McNab & Harlin Manufacturing Company.

On the afternoon of March 14, 1916, Daniel and Marcella O'Connell took in the matinee at the New York Theatre on Broadway and 44th Street.  At 4:30, Daniel O'Connell, as reported by the New-York Tribune, he fell "unconscious while in the theatre."  The 61-year-old had suffered "an attack of apoplexy," as reported by The New York Times.  (The term most often refers to a stroke today.)  He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

Daniel O'Connell's funeral was held in the parlor of 50 West 76th Street on March 17, followed by a mass at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle on Columbus Avenue and 59th Street.  

The Orrs continued to lease the house to well-to-do tenants until William C. Orr's death in 1926.  It was purchased by Hannah Marshall who operated it as unofficial apartments.

In 1940, 50 West 76th Street looked no different than it does today.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Living here in 1932 were Henry Ritter and his wife, Anna.  Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1874, Henry was an inventor.  For several years he had been paralyzed from the waist down.  On May 23, Anna went out after getting Henry settled into a chair.  He was reading his newspaper and smoking a cigar when the newspaper caught fire.  Unable to get up, the fire spread to his clothing.  Another resident, Joseph Babalco, smelled smoke and entered the apartment.  The New York Times reported that he "found Mr. Ritter's clothing still burning."  He beat out the fire and called for an ambulance, but Ritter was dead by the time it arrived.

Gershon Legman rented an apartment here in 1937.  According to Mikita Brottman in her 2004 Funny Peculiar, Gershon Legman and the Psychopathology of Humor, "Legman's main personal interest at this time, and his first publication, was Oragenitalism, a small volume of 'Oral Techniques in Genital Excitation for Gentlemen."  

Gershon Legman, from the collection of Judith Legman

Born on November 2, 1917, Legman was educated at the University of Michigan.  He would become the editor of the magazine Neurotica in the 1940s and a folklorist and critic.  His The Horn Book: Studies in Erotic Folklore and Bibliography and The Rationale of the Dirty Joke would be published in 1964 and 1968 respectively.

In 1967, 50 West 76th Street was converted to apartments.  Then, a renovation completed in 2013 returned it to a single-family home.  

photographs by the author

The Haworth - 239 West 103rd Street

 

photograph by Anthony Bellov

Clarence Fagan True opened his architectural practice in 1889.  He would design at least 270 rowhomes on the Upper West Side before the turn of the century, earning him the moniker "the Face of the Upper West Side." In 1898, developer Lawrence Buckley gave True a rare commission--that of designing an apartment building on 103rd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue, rather than a row of townhomes.

Completed in 1899 at a cost of $60,000 (about $2.4 million in 2026), the six-story-and-basement Haworth was faced in beige Roman brick and trimmed in limestone.  Above a short stoop, the arched entrance sat within an impressive portico with Scamozzi columns, a wide entablature decorated with Renaissance designs and a carved ornament.  

photograph by Anthony Bellov

True outlined the lower and midsection with stone quoins and placed the windows within Gibbs surrounds.  The elegant stone-faced top floor sat below an overhanging roof.  Its round-arched openings were separated by paired, engaged Scammozi columns.

An advertisement on March 11, 1899 warned potential renters, "six Apartments only remaining unleased."  It described the apartments as being "fully decorated, tiled bathroom, &c., &c."  The advertisement boasted an electric elevator, electric lights, and steam heat.  It said that the Haworth offered "full attendance," meaning that the building's staff included uniformed "hall boys" would be on call to carry packages, deliver mail, and such; and an elevator operator.  Rent for the seven-room apartments was $70, or $2,800 per month today.

The tenants maintained small domestic staffs, and in 1899 help-wanted ads appeared in newspapers seeking maids, cooks and laundresses.  

Among the initial residents was William McKinley Forbes.  Born in Scotland in 1814, he arrived in America in the 1830s.  He operated a dry goods business in Brooklyn before retiring around 1879.  Sadly, the 85-year-old widower would not enjoy his new apartment for long.  On May 3, 1899, just weeks after moving in, he died here.

Another distinguished tenant at the time was Samuel Reeve.  He descended from eight generations of American Reeves, the first of whom settled in Long Island.  Born in 1807, Samuel Reeve came to New York City at the age of 15.  The New-York Tribune remarked that he "cast his first vote for John Quincy Adams for President."  Like William Forbes, he was retired and a widower.  (His late wife was Ann Amelia Caroline Remsen.)  For years he had operated a merchant tailoring establishment in the St. Nicholas Hotel.  He died in his apartment on December 22, 1903 at the age of 96 and his funeral was held in the parlor the next day.

Actor Charles Abbott (whose stage name was Charles Abbott Mace) and his wife, Margaret Julia Mitchell, known to audiences as Maggie Mitchell, were also initial residents.  Maggie first appeared on stage at the Chambers Street Theatre in the role of  Julia in The Soldier's Daughter in 1851.  She was an intimate friend of actor John Wilkes Booth.  Ironically, one of her fans was President Abraham Lincoln, who attended her performances at Ford's Theatre.  At one point, Mary Todd Lincoln and the President invited her to tea at the White House.

This portrait of Maggie Mitchell was taken in 1899, the year she moved into the Haworth.  Players of the Present, 1899 (copyright expired)

Maggie and Charles were married in 1889, while co-starring in Boston.  The San Antonio Light would remark about Maggie's personal wealth later, saying, "The stage brought not only fame, but fortune to Maggie Mitchell.  She owned apartment buildings on Manhattan Island and had a [summer] home in the theatrical colony at Long Branch."

Among the hall boys who worked in the Haworth in 1901 was Clinton Ward, who was a favorite of Maggie Mitchell.  On March 12, The Morning Telegraph reported that Ward went "to the St. Andrew Apartments, 102 West End avenue, to call on his friend, Robert Daniel, a hall boy there."  Daniel was out to lunch, and Clinton Ward, "it is alleged, borrowed his overcoat, which was hanging in the hall."  Robert Daniel notified the police and Clinton Ward was arrested for theft.  The Morning Telegraph titled its article, "Maggie Mitchell Weeps / Aged Actress Learns Her Pet Hallboy, Clinton Word [sic], Is Under Arrest."

The family of Daniel Thompson Pierce Jr. lived here as early as 1904.  Born in Washington, D. C. in 1875, Pierce earned his law degree in 1894 but turned to journalism.  The next year he became editor of Public Opinion and contributed articles on political and social subjects to various newspapers and magazines.  Pierce married Hadassah Hamilton Hellen, known as Dessie, in 1896.  They had a daughter, Hellen Hadassah, born in 1897.  A son, Daniel Pierce III, would be born here in 1907.

Another resident with an impressive pedigree was Smith Thompson.  A lawyer and agent for the Mutual Life Insurance Company, he was born in 1857.  His maternal great-grandfather was Daniel D. Tompkins, a United States Supreme Court Justice, Vice President of the United States under James Monroe, and Governor of New York.  Thompson's paternal grandfather, also named Smith Thompson, was James Monroe's Secretary of the Navy from 1819 to 1823, and, like his father-in-law, was a United States Supreme Court Justice.

The Haworth continued to attract respected figures, like Harvey Mark Thomas, founder of the Thomas Publishing Company and editor of Industry Equipment News; Deputy Assistant District Attorney Edwin Benedict McGuire, here as early as 1926; and retired attorney William Lewis Barnes.

Barnes was born in 1842 and was a widower.  In the spring of 1926, he went to a mountain resort at Wernersville, Pennsylvania.  The 84-year-old became ill in the early part of May.  About two weeks later, on May 25, other visitors got a gruesome shock.  The New York Times reported, "His body was found hanging by other guests, apparently only a few hours after death."

At the fifth floor were Gibbs surrounds, which drew from 18th century English prototypes.  They coexisted with Renaissance inspired detailing at the sixth.  photograph by Anthony Bellov

Even during the Depression years, residents of 239 West 103rd Street were affluent, like the Francis S. McDonnell family, who owned at least one automobile and a 35-foot motor cruiser, the Alice Bee.  

Son John McDonnell was driving through Dobbs Ferry on May 27, 1929, when he ran out of gas.  He and his passenger broke two locks and disconnected the gas line on the village's steam roller and started siphoning gas.  And then Patrolman Edward Doyle showed up.  The Yonkers New York Statesman said that "the desire to get just a few cents worth to carry his car to New York cost John McDonnell...$25 in a fine."  McDonnell left his car as security until he could acquire the money.

On August 21, 1934, Francis S. McDonnell took a party of eight men up the Hudson River on the Alice Bee.  They sailed past Yonkers and were on the way back when Thomas Keane "lost his balance and fell overboard," as reported by The New York Times.  George McDonnell and another passenger, George Amey, dived in after him.  The article said, "They got him back aboard the boat unconscious."  Unfortunately, the 35-year-old married father of two died on the dock.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Significant change came to 239 West 103rd Street in 1940 when it was converted to a single-room-occupancy hotel.  Where once well-heeled residents enjoyed seven-room suites, there were now 13 furnished rooms per floor.

Living here early in 1944 was Irving N. Kaufman.  Not wanting to pay for his long-distance telephone calls, the 25-year-old identified himself to the operator as E. J. Conroy, "head of the FBI here."  He insisted "that he was entitled to make a long-distance call without payment," reported The New York Times on February 21.  She turned the call over to her supervisor.  Kaufman threatened to have him arrested for a "violation of the Federal communications ruling," if his call was not put through charge-free.  Kaufman never made his telephone call.  Instead, he was arrested on charges of impersonating an FBI agent.

photograph by Anthony Bellov

In January 1960, Minnie Smith, the owner of 239 West 103rd Street, incurred "heavy fines" by the State Rent Administration, which described her as a "neglectful landlord."  Two months later, on March 25, The New York Times reported that numerous violations had resulted in "lengthy litigation" and the eviction of all tenants.  The City Housing Authority seized the building with plans "to repair the rooming house and reconvert the interiors to apartments for families."  Work was completed in 1963 as part of the Douglass Houses project.  There are now four apartments per floor in the building.

many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post

The Charles and Kate A. Katz House - 53 West 87th Street

 

In 1891, James Livingston broke ground for a row of upscale rowhouses on West 87th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.  Designed by Thom & Wilson in the Renaissance Revival style, they were completed the following year.  Among them was 53 West 87th Street.  Like the others, it was four stories tall above an English basement and faced in brownstone.  A dog-legged box stoop rose to the rusticated parlor level.  A rounded bay crowned by a stone balustrade dominated the second floor.  

Livingston retained possession of the house for years, finally selling it to Cornelius and Clarissa Outwater Doremus in March 1898 for $38,000 (about $1.4 million in 2026).  Born in 1842 and 1843, respectively, the couple had three children, Fred S., Myra, and Cornelia Adelaide (who went by her middle name).  

Doremus was president of the Germania Life Insurance Company, described by The Sun as "one of the largest insurance companies in New York."

Cornelius Doremus, Empire State Notables, 1914 (copyright expired)

Because Cornelia Adelaide had already been debuted in 1896, her name appeared next to her mother's when The New York Times reported on January 5, "Mrs. Cornelius Doremus and Miss Cornelia Doremus of 53 West Eighty-seventh Street have announced the first and third Wednesdays as their days for receiving."

That winter social season would be the last for the Doremus family in the house.  That year they sold it to Charles and Kate Anna Glatz.  The couple had two daughters, Elise Pauline and Henrietta Caroline.  (Henrietta had married Joseph Schauweker in 1893 and they lived in Cleveland.)  

Charles Glatz was born in Switzerland on June 29, 1836.  He was the founder and principal of the C. Glatz & Co., which manufactured watch cases, and he was highly involved in real estate operations.

Charles Glatz (original source unknown)

The Glatzes' new home was the scene of Elise's wedding to Harry Canfield on April 20, 1897.  The newlyweds moved to Brooklyn where their only child, Catherine Flavia, was born.

In 1904, Charles Glatz was taxed "as the possessor of personal property to the amount of $10,000," as reported by The New York Times.  Glatz protested, swearing "that all of his securities were in railroad stocks and bonds, which are exempt, as they pay taxes in other ways," explained the newspaper.  The assessment was canceled.  

The following year, the assessors, recalling the incident, did not charge Glatz any property tax.  On February 25, 1905, The New York Times reported, "President O'Donnell of the Tax Board is suffering from a severe nervous shock.  Something happened in his department yesterday the like of which he never dreamed of even in his rosiest moments."  Charles Glatz had stopped by the office to explain that he had disposed of some of his railroad stock "and now had $20,000 worth of personal property which should be taxed," said the article.  Glatz's commendable honesty cost him $300 in taxes--about $11,300 today.

Like many wealthy New Yorkers, the Glatzes sometimes spent their summer season in Europe.  That necessitated the closing of their townhouse and laying off the staff.  In such cases, employers would often attempt to help servants find positions.  On February 2, 1905, for instance, Kate Anna advertised, "A lady closing her home wishes to place a competent waitress to assist chamberwork; some time in her employ."  And an ad that appeared in the New-York Tribune on April 25, 1909 read, "A gentleman going abroad wishes a situation for his coachman, who has served him faithfully several years."

Harry Canfield died in 1909 at the age of 41 and Elise moved back to 53 West 87th Street, bringing along her daughter, Catherine.

Charles Glatz died in the West 87th Street house at the age of 83 on August 16, 1919.  His funeral was held in the drawing room on August 18.  

Kate Anna received Charles's estate, "estimated at more than $100,000," as reported by The New York Times.  (The common practice of releasing "more than" figures in reporting on estates cloaked the totals and protected the heirs' privacy.  Even at that, the $100,000 figure would translate to nearly $2 million today.)  Upon Kate Anna's death, the estate would be divided equally between Henrietta and Elise, explained the article.

On November 17, 1920, Elise announced Catherine Flavia Canfield's engagement to Leighton Elliott, who lived in Toronto.  In reporting the engagement, The New York Times noted, "During the war Mr. Elliott served as a First Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Field Artillery."  The couple was married in the Hotel Gotham on June 11, 1921.

Kate Anna Glatz died in the West 87th Street house on February 17, 1922 at the age of 80.  As had been the case with her husband, her funeral was held in the drawing room two days later.

Henrietta and Elise sold the house nine months later to real estate operator Frederick Brown.  In reporting the transaction on November 7, 1922, the New-York Tribune mentioned, "The building contains fourteen rooms and two baths."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Brown resold 53 West 87th Street three months later for $45,000 (about $850,000 today).  The New York Times reported on February 8, 1923 that the house "will be altered into a five-story apartment house with four rooms and two baths on each floor."  The unnamed buyer, however, apparently changed his mind.  On June 19, the newspaper reported that James Bocalos had purchased it "for occupancy."

The Kusche family occupied 53 West 87th Street at midcentury.  In 1955, at a time when some teenagers were seen as delinquents, the teens on the West 87th Street block turned to neighborhood improvement.  On December 4, 1955, The New York Times reported, "Eleven youngsters on West Eighty-seventh Street became gardeners yesterday morning, when seventeen London plane trees were planted on their block."  The article said the teenagers wore "shiny, new green and yellow buttons signifying their membership on the junior committee of the Eighty-seventh Street park Block Association."

"The tree planting is the first project of the two-month-old block group," said the article.  "By spring, the association hopes to have planted ten more trees."  Willie Kusche was the junior committee chairman.  He explained that each tree would be assigned to a "patrol member" who was responsible for its care.

A renovation completed in 1970 resulted in two apartments per floor.  That configuration lasted until a remodeling in 1999-2000 returned 53 West 87th Street to a single family home.  

It became home to Tony Award winning actress Judith Ivey and her husband.  Born in 1951, Ivey won the Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play twice--for her 1981 role in Steaming, and her 1984 performance in Hurlyburly.  She was nominated for Best Actress in a Play for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard in 1992.  Her first film appearance was the female lead role in the 1984 The Lonely Guy.  She would go on to appear in numerous films, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Compromising Positions, and Women Talking.

In 2011, a year before Ivey would be nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the 2012 revival of The Heiress, Ivey sold 53 West 87th Street.  

Other than replacement windows, little has changed externally to the vintage house over its 135 years.

photographs by the author

The Lost William Fox House - 316 West 91st Street

This photograph of 316 West 91st Street and its mirror-image next door (left) was photographed in 1914.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

Charles P. H. Gilbert (known professionally as C. P. H. Gilbert) began his career as an architect in 1886 at just 25 years old.  Within a few years his upscale residential designs were in high demand and several developers commissioned him to design sumptuous homes in the Riverside Drive district.  In 1892, C. De H. Brower hired him to design two 20-foot-wide residences at 314 and 316 West 91st Street, just steps from Riverside Drive.

Gilbert produced two mirror-image, four-story houses in the Renaissance Revival style.  Their American basement plan placed each entrance atop a three-step stoop.  (The basement entrances were nestled under the stoops.)  Above a rusticated stone base, the upper floors were clad in light-colored brick and trimmed in sandstone.  The second floor windows were flanked by shallow pilasters and capped with Renaissance-style pediments.  Openings on the third floor sat within stone architraves capped with molded cornices, and those on the top floor were fully arched.

The purchaser of No. 316, a man named Ward, leased the house to stockbroker Alfred N. Benjamin and his bride, the former Eugenie S. Joyce.  The couple were married in December 1892.  Alfred had been a Wall Street broker since 1874 and his wife was described by The New York Sun as "a belle of Baltimore."  

The couple's romance had begun unexpectedly.  In 1891, Eugenie was spending the summer at Long Branch.  Although she was a competent swimmer, she ventured too far out and was caught in the undertow.  The New York Sun said, "Mr. Benjamin went to her rescue and brought her to the shore."  

The Benjamins filled the West 91st Street house with opulent furnishings and artworks.  An inventory included 72 "paintings by American and Continental artists" including George Inness and Jules Breton.  

Jules Breton's Le Repos hung in the Benjamin house.

The inventory also included "Louis XV gold drawing room furniture," a dinner service made by Cauldon China of England that The Sun said was "made to order at great cost," and "the largest Royal Sevres vase in this country."  That vase, said The Sun, was "formerly the property of the Comtesse de Kisleff of Homburg."  

The couple, who maintained a summer home in Short Hills, New Jersey, had a young son when they moved into 316 West 91st Street. 

The Benjamins' marital bliss was short-lived.  In 1895, the couple separated and Alfred moved into the Short Hills house.  He sent $60 to his wife each month (about $2,370 in 2026).

Eugenie soon showed a bitter and vengeful side.  When she saw Alfred's advertisement for a "good laundress," she hatched a scheme.  Agnes Trainor applied for the job and was hired.  The New York Press reported, 

She remained in his employ only one day and went away after leaving his linen hanging up to dry in the yard.  The cook had to go out and bring it in, and then the discovery was made that his five white shirts had been cut and slashed, most of them having the tails cut off, and his six collars and four nightgowns also had been made unfit for wear.

A search for Agnes Trainer found her in the basement of 316 West 91st Street.  Agnes was tried, but the judge decided there was not enough evidence to convict her.  The New York Press said that Eugenie, who had "been an interested witness of the trial," warmly congratulated Agnes upon the decision.

Eugenie obtained a divorce in July 1898 and took back her maiden name.  But she was not done with Alfred.  In May 1901, she sued him for $20,000 which she claimed he had borrowed and never repaid.  She won the suit.

Alfred and Eugenie as they faced off in court in May 1901.  The World, May 15, 1901 (copyright expired)

And, yet, Eugenie was still not done.  On June 25, 1902, The Press reported, "Alfred N. Benjamin's divorced wife, Eugenie S. Joyce, who has been seeking revenge on the Wall Street broker ever since she obtained her decree in July [sic] 1898, has scored heavily against him."  The article said she recently "learned that he was depositing $30,000 a year in trust for her son."  She sued again and won.  Eugenie successfully ruined her former husband.  Two years later, on October 21, 1904, The New York Sun reported that Alfred N. Benjamin had filed for bankruptcy.

In the meantime, Eugenie left 316 West 91st Street in September 1902.  Everything in the "Colonial Mansion," as described by the auctioneer--the paintings, the made-to-order china, the "massive silver chest, containing over 200 pieces of the designer's art sterling silver tea sets, &c.," bronze and marble sculptors, and such--was sold.

The Ward estate sold 316 West 91st Street in June 1906.  It was purchased by Dr. George La Breche Smith and his wife, the former Madeline O'Neill.  The couple had three children.

Born in Ottawa, Canada in 1865, Smith studied medicine at McGill and Lavelle Universities.  In 1893 he established his practice in New York City and was by now a noted eye, ear and nose specialist.  He was attached to the Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital of New York and was a visiting surgeon at St. Vincent's Hospital.

Early in 1908, Smith became "afflicted with stomach trouble of a serious nature," as described by The New York Sun.  He died in the house on June 13, 1908.  Interestingly, his funeral was not held in the residence, but, according to the New York Herald, "from Holy Trinity Church" on 82nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

Shortly afterward, Madeline Smith left 316 West 91st Street.  She first leased the mansion in October and continued to do so until selling it in March 1914 to General E. P. Meaney and his wife, Rosalie Behr.  The price was $40,000, or about $1.3 million today.  

Meaney was the general counsel for the New York Telephone Company.  The New York Times noted that he already owned the adjoining property, saying that he "will probably improve the site at some future date."  

Instead, the Meaneys leased the house to William Fox.  Born in January 1879 in Tolcsva, Zemplén, Hungary, Fox came to America in 1880 and married Eva Leo on December 31, 1899. They had two daughters, Caroline Leah and Isabella, known as Belle.

Fox had purchased a nickelodeon in 1904 and grew that business into a chain of motion picture theaters.  Two years after moving his family into 316 West 91st Street, he shocked old time society by converting the New York Academy of Music into a movie theater.  In 1914, he formed the Fox Film Corporation and began producing his own films.

The following year Fox hired what would be Fox Film's first major star--Theda Bara.  Her role in the 1915 A Fool There Was earned her the name "The Vamp" for audiences throughout the country.

On Christmas night 1916, Colonel Louis Annin Ames and his family, who lived a block away at 622 West End Avenue, went out for dinner.  When they returned, they saw a light inside.  Ames told his family to wait outside while he investigated.  Inside, he discovered a "short, heavily-built stranger with a candle in his hand," reported The New York Times.  The intruder dropped the candle and a "furious struggle" started in the dark.  At one point they wrestled to the top of the stairs and tumbled down.  The burglar ran down the stoop and disappeared.

Police arrived and "a passerby told them that he had seen a man hiding in the basement of 316 West Ninety-first Street," said The New York Times.  The Fox household was awakened to the sounds of a frenzied struggle.  Outnumbered, John Smoley was eventually overpowered and arrested.

In 1917, Fox signed another actor who would become a household name, Tom Mix.  The cowboy actor would star in Westerns for years.  By now, William Fox had amassed  a personal fortune estimated into the millions.

Fox was living at 316 West 91st Street when this photograph was taken in 1921.  Wid's Year Book 1921 (copyright expired)

On May 17, 1923, The New York Times reported, "The wedding of Miss Carolyn Leah Fox, daughter of William Fox, motion picture producer, to Douglas Nicholas Tauzig...will take place on Sunday, May 27 at the home of the bride, 316 West Ninety-first Street."  Tauzig was president of the Tauzig-Klingenstein Company.  Belle was her sister's maid of honor.  The next day, The Times reported, "A dinner for the families followed at the home of Mr. Fox."

The Fox family would have to leave 316 West 91st Street before long.  In 1927 it and the properties at the corner of Riverside Drive and two on the drive were demolished.  In 1928 a high-rise apartment building replaced the sites.

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The William and Phebe Baldwin House - 53 West 74th Street

 

The firm of Colleran & Brother & Hughes acted as both architect and developer.  In 1889 it broke ground for a row of four high-end residences on the north side of West 74th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.  Completed the following year in an A-B-A-B configuration, the 20-foot-wide houses were four stories tall above high English basements and faced in brownstone.  

The deeply rusticated parlor and second floors of 53 West 74th Street were distinguished by a pronounced rounded bay.  A dog-legged box stoop meandered up to the arched doorway, which was protected by iron-and-glass doors and outlined by delicate rope molding.  A fearsome lion's head decorated its keystone.  Intricate Renaissance Revival panels embellished these levels and also appeared at the bases of the parlor openings.  

The architect switched gears, turning to neo-Grec for the planar faced upper floors.  The windows sat within elaborate carved architraves.  Equally ambitious was the pressed metal cornice with its paired, scrolled corbels and decorated fascia panels.

Max Weil purchased all four houses from Colleran & Brother & Hughes in January 1891.  When he sold them at auction on July 3, William Burnet Baldwin placed the winning bid of $43,900 for No. 53.  (The price would translate to just over $1.5 million in 2026.)

William Burnet Baldwin was born on November 27, 1850 to Jesse Baldwin Jr. and the former Phebe Ann Burnet.  He and his wife, Irene, had at least one son, William R.  Also moving into the house was Phebe Baldwin.  (Jesse had died in December 1881.)

Baldwin was a builder and just two months after moving into 53 West 74th Street he began construction on two two-story stables on West 76th Street near Amsterdam Avenue.  

Phebe Ann Baldwin died in the house at the age of 84 on April 13, 1894.  Her funeral was held in the parlor three days later.

Somewhat surprisingly, William and Irene sold 53 West 74th Street for a tidy profit to their son, William R. Baldwin (who was living in Illinois by now), in March 1896 for $47,250.  The transaction initiated a flurry of deed transfers.  The same day, William R. Baldwin transferred the title to Samuel F. Adams who sold it almost immediately to Jacques Richard Simon.

Born in San Francisco on April 9, 1859, Simon was the head of the silk importing firm J. R. Simon & Co.  His substantial concern maintained a buying office in Yokohama, Japan and employed representatives in China, Hong Kong and France.

Simon married Virginia (known as Jenny) Rosenbaum on April 2, 1889.  When they moved into 53 West 74th Street, they had three children: six-year-old Lloyd Nutenson, two-year-old Grace Mignon, and Albert Richard, who was an infant.  Two more children would be born in the house: Carolina in 1904 and Virginia Dorothy the following year.

Jacques Richard Simon (original source unknown)

Like all their neighbors, the Simons maintained a domestic staff.  Living with the family were the children's governess and three other servants.

On July 28, 1912, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described 19-year-old Amy A. Michaels as "among the very pretty girls of the younger set."  The article said, "She is to marry a Manhattan man, Lloyd N. Simon."  (Lloyd was now 22 years old.)

Among the Simons' domestic staff who did not live with the family, of course, was their chauffeur, Paul Kearney.  On the afternoon of April 23, 1915, he was driving Jacques Simon in Long Island City.  A group of boys were playing ball at Ninth Street and Jackson Avenue around 3:00.  The Brooklyn Daily Star reported, "One of the players knocked the ball out into the street, and Harrigan fielded it."  "Harrigan" was 18-year-old Dennis Harrigan.  In chasing the ball, he "stepped right in the path" of the Simon vehicle.

Kearny slammed on the brakes, but not quickly enough to avoid hitting the teen.  Although Harrigan was knocked to the pavement, Kearny's quick reaction resulted only in "contusions and lacerations."  Harrigan was taken by ambulance to a hospital where it was reported, "His condition is not serious."

Jacques R. Simon sold 53 West 74th Street to Robert Reed Moore on July 15, 1919.  He and Jennie moved to 300 West End Avenue where Jacques died two years later from arteriosclerosis.

Moore was president of the Commercial Trust Company and of the cotton brokerage firm of Robert Moore & Co.  (Moore's brother, Edward, was a partner in the latter.)  The family moved into 53 West 74th Street just in time to announce the engagement of E. Louise Moore to Theodore Guy Converse on October 7, 1920.  The prospective bride had made her debut two years earlier and the New-York Tribune said, "They both are popular members of society."

The family received a shock on June 14, 1921.  Kirk Moore was the son of Robert's brother, Edward.  The 26-year-old checked into the Hotel Pennsylvania at 11:30 that morning and ten minutes later threw himself from the window of his 17th-floor room.  

Reporters came to the West 74th Street house for information.  Robert Moore said that "he could not understand why his nephew should want to take his own life as he was a most estimable young man and apparently was happy and had everything to live for."

Despite the tragedy, E. Louise's wedding took place as planned the following month, albeit much more subdued.  She and Theodore Guy Converse were married in Christ Church in Greenwich Connecticut on July 16.  The New York Times noted, "Owing to both families being in mourning, only relatives and intimate friends are to attend."  The New-York Tribune noted that the reception would be held "at the country home of the bride's parents."

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The Moores' residency at 53 West 74th Street would be short-lived.  They sold the house on August 3, 1922 to Dr. José Maria de Bermingham and his wife, the former Emily McElroy.

Born in Brooklyn on February 23, 1876, De Bermingham attended the St. John's Military School.  A medical prodigy, he graduated from the New York University Medical School at the age of 20 in 1896.  He served as assistant bacteriologist in the Pasteur Institute for a year before becoming the bacteriologist of the New York Nose and Throat Hospital in 1898.

Like most wives of prominent men, Emily was involved in charitable works.  A former English teacher, she was a founder of the Aytoun Society, which operated a day nursery.

When the couple purchased 53 West 74th Street, De Bermingham was already suffering from chronic nephritis (known only a generation earlier as Bright's Disease).  The 49-year-old physician died in the house on February 13, 1925.  One month later, on March 15, Emily McElroy de Bermingham died of pneumonia.

Emily's will was extremely generous to her long-time lady's maid, Pauline Lee.  On April 11, 1925, the Cleveland, Ohio newspaper The Gazette reported that she left Pauline $10,000.  The legacy would translate to $180,000 today.

The following month, on May 26, The New York Times reported that 53 West 74th Street had been sold for $50,000.  The buyer was Jeannette M. Thurber, known nationally as a patron of classical music.

Born in Delhi, New York to violinist Henry Meyers and Annamarie Coffin Price on January 29, 1850, Jeannette was educated at the Paris Conservatory.  Her husband, millionaire grocer Francis Beatty Thurber, died on July 4, 1907.  The couple had two daughters, Mariannne and Jeannette.

In 1884 Jeannette sponsored the city's first Wagner festival and the following year founded the National Conservatory of Music of America and the American Opera Company.  

Jeannette Meyer Thurber, photo by Bryon Company from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Two years after moving into 53 West 74th Street, Jeannette Thurber's name appeared in newsprint for a much different reason.  Her daughter, Jeannette, married Washington E. Connor in 1913.  Once a partner of Jay Gould, he had retired in 1910.  The younger Jeanette was described by The New York Times as "a member of an old, socially prominent family," and said she "was known as one of the foremost authorities on the history of Florida, where she owned the ruins of the old Franciscan mission at New Smyrna."

Jeannette Connor died on June 6, 1927 without a will.  Then, on September 6, Washington Connor discovered a will "at their Summer home at Onteora, New York," according to The Times.  Although Jeannette had voiced her intentions to leave her Florida estate to the Florida Historical Society, the newly found will left her entire estate to her husband.

Jeannette Thurber sued on November 4, 1927, charging her son-in-law with "duress and undue influence in the execution of the will."  She also charged that it "was not signed by Mrs. Connor in the presence of the attesting witnesses, nor did they sign it in the presence of each other. "

Jeannette prevailed and on February 27, 1928, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported that the "ancient Franciscan mission erected in 1696...will become the property of the Florida State Historical society...in compliance with the wishes of its owner, the late Jeannette Thurber Connor."

Jeannette M. Thurber leased the West 74th Street house in October 1930 to Ruth Guedalla and Annie Isaac.  At the end of their five-year lease, Jeannette rented it again.  And by the time she sold 53 West 74th Street to real estate operator James H. Cruikshank in February 1939, The New York Times described it as a "four-story rooming house containing eighteen rooms."

Among Cruikshank's earliest roomers was photographer Tet Arnold von Borsig.  He placed third in the Long Island Photograph contest with his photograph Piping Rock Horse Show in November 1941.  On July 2, 1944, The New York Times reported on the newly released Chinese Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Alan Priest.  The article noted that the illustrations were photographed by Tet Borsig.

An unknown photographer snapped this photo of Tet Arnold von Borsig in 1936.  from the collection of the Sprengel Museum.

And on October 25, 1946, the Northport Journal reported on a 34-picture exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum.  "All of the pictures were taken and arranged by Tet Borsig, 53 West 74th street," said the article.

A renovation completed in 1969 resulted in a duplex in the basement and parlor levels, and apartments and furnished rooms in the upper floors.  The configuration lasted until 1980 when the three upper floors were converted to two apartments each.

photographs by the author