The Mary Kingsland Mansion - 1026 Fifth Avenue

A delightful juliette balcony clings to the bowed bay.

Opened in October 1864, The Sheltering Arms received homeless children between 6 and 12 years old.  The older children were trained to make their way in the world as servants or by crafts like woodworking.  By the 1890's William M. Kingsland was its president.

In its October 1897 Annual Report the orphanage noted that "A delightful excitement was caused in September by the gift of one hundred dollars from Mr. and Mrs. William M. Kingsland to celebrate their Golden Wedding.  First a feast of ice cream and cake was in order on the 16th, the wedding-day itself; afterwards each family of children made an excursion, the destination whereof was left to their own choice."

The $100 gesture was, of course, not the only celebration for the wealthy couple's 50th anniversary; yet there seems to have been no lavish entertainment.  While they summered in Newport or in their country estates (Belaire was outside of Lenox, Massachusetts, and Incleuberg was near Scarborough-on-the-Hudson, New York), spent months abroad and hobnobbed with the socially elite; they apparently led relatively quiet lives.

Mary J. Macy was the daughter of William H. Macy, the president of the Leather Manufacturers' National bank and vice-president of the United States Trust Company.   Her husband's ancestors had arrived from England around 1665.  His uncle, Ambrose C. Kingsland, had been mayor of New York City from 1851 to 1853, and was a partner with William's father, Daniel C. Kingsland, in the importing firm of D. A. Kingsland & Co. (later D. A. Kingsland & Sutton).  The company did "a large business with England, china and the East Indies, the firm's vessels being constantly employed between those countries and the United States," according to the Portrait Gallery of the Chamber of Commerce years later, in 1890.

William M. Kingsland was a trustee of the Seamen's Bank and the Leather Manufacturers' Savings Bank.  His social position and interests were reflected in his memberships, including the Metropolitan, Union and Knollwood Clubs, the New York Yacht Club and the St. Augustine Yacht Clubs, the Ardsley Club and the Newport Casino.  He was also a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Gardens, the American Geographical Society and the St. Nicolas Society.

The Kingslands lived at No. 116 Fifth Avenue at the corner of 17th Street, in what for decades had been one of Manhattan's most exclusive neighborhoods.  The mansion had been in the Kingsland family since 1848.  But as the turn of the century arrived, commerce was infiltrating the blocks of brownstone and brick mansions, prompting moneyed families to move further north.

In June 1902 speculator Benjamin W. Williams purchased the two empty lots at Nos. 1026 and 1027 Fifth Avenue from John W. Simpson.  He commissioned the architectural firm of Van Vleck & Goldsmith to design two Beaux Arts-style mansions on the plots.  Completed in 1903, they formed a striking ensemble with the other residences on the block, especially the Jonathan Thorne mansion on the northern corner, at No. 1028, designed by C. P. H. Gilbert and constructed concurrently.

No. 1026 (right) was the stepsister of sorts to the marble-fronted No. 1027.  With the Thorne mansion (left) which faced the side street., the homes formed a striking grouping.

Viewed separately, No. 1026 presented a majestic bearing.  Faced in limestone, it featured a two-story bowed bay that sprouted a charming cast iron balcony.  Three tightly-grouped dormers punched through the copper-clad mansard.   But Williams had focused more money and attention on its sister house.   No. 1027 was faced in white marble and at 40-feet was wider by about four feet.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide called No. 1027 "the finest dwelling house ever erected in this city."

All this, coupled with the Financial Panic of 1903, caused No. 1026 to sit vacant for nearly three years.  Finally, on February 7, 1906, it was announced that the Kingsland had purchased the mansion.  The Record & Guide quoted the sale price at $510,000," or about $14.3 million today.

The couple sold No. 116 on February 21 and moved into their sumptuous new home.  William would not enjoy it for long.  Three months later, on May 30, he died at Incleuberg at the age of 86.  His funeral was held at St. Mary's Chapel in Scarsborough, New York, three days later.

Kingsland's death resulted in a feeding frenzy of relatives.  When his father died in 1873, he left his $3 million estate to William "for his lifetime."   Now that that lifetime was over, "his will was declared invalid," according to the New-York Tribune.  A court battle ensued that dragged on until January 21, 1910.

The following day the New-York Tribune reported "There will be divided at once among 147 beneficiaries $2,000,000."  Mary, it explained, "inherits no part of the estate outright, but throughout her life will receive an income of $8,000 a year."   The yearly stipend, worth about $213,000 today, added to Mary's own fortune and the substantial inheritance she had received from William directly.

Like her husband, Mary held memberships in exclusive organizations.  She belonged to the Colonial Dames and the Mayflower Descendants' Club, for instance.  While the aging widow continued her philanthropic activities, she lived quietly within the 32 rooms and 9 baths of the spacious Fifth Avenue mansion.  She continued to spend her summers at her country estates.

It was at Belair on August 10, 1919 that Mary died at the age of 91.  Her friendly relationship with her next door neighbor, George C. Clark at No. 1027, was evidenced in his being named the executor of her estate.  But when he died on February 24, just six months before Mary, turmoil ensued.

Mary's estate was valued at just under $10.6 million.  The Sun reported on November 25 "Soon after her death last August certain cousins filed objections to her will."  While Mary had named "relatives, friends and old family retainers" in the will, she had overlooked two grand-nephews, Oliver J. Macy and T. Ridgeway Macy.  They alleged that they "are entitled to a share in the estate."

Even while the estate was tied up in court, an attempt was made to sell mansion directly.  The price was $10,000 less than the Kingslands had originally paid. New York Herald, March 14, 1920 (copyright expired) 

The battle was finally settled in July 1922, with the disgruntled nephews unsuccessful.  The original bequests went to specifically-named relatives, and large amounts went to institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Association for the Blind, and the Society for the Relief of Ruptured and Crippled.  Interestingly, The Evening World pointed out that "The furnishings of Mrs. Kingsland's home at No. 1026 Fifth Avenue were valued at $52,741"--more than three quarters of a million dollars today.

In the meantime, in order to liquidate the estate's assets the Fifth Avenue mansion was sold at auction on June 17, 1920.  While the heirs hoped to realize half a million dollars, it sold for what was most likely a disappointing $351,000.

The buyer, Dunlevy Milbank, was a member of the law firm Masten & Nichols.  The son of Joseph and Ella Dunlevy Milbank, his family's fortune came from railroads and the dairy industry (his grandfather was a founder of the Borden company), and from banking.

Dunlevy was a chief supporter of the Children's Aid Society.  His wife, the former Katherine Fowler, was a patron of the musical arts and a benefactor of young working women.  Prior to moving into No. 1026, the family had lived at No. 39 East 68th Street, a wedding president from Katharine's parents in 1876.  The couple had two children, Thomas and Ella.

Many of the entertainments in the Milbank house centered around music.  On November 26, 1922, for instance, The New York Herald reported that Katharine would be hosting the a "lecture-recital, 'La Musique Russe'" given by Jeanne de Mare in the house the following Tuesday.

The vocalist was back three years later.  On November 16, 1924 The New York Times reported "The first of a series of lecture musicals now being arrange for the Winter will be held early in January at the home of Mrs. Dunlevy Milbank, who has just returned to 1,026 Fifth Avenue, after having spent most of the Summer at Ridgelands, her country place at Port Chester.  Jeanne de Mare will speak on modernist music."

When The People's Chorus of New York was organized in 1927, Katharine became its first chairman.  The organization provided vocal training for the poor.  She was a supporter of the summer outdoor Stadium Concerts, as well.  But music would take backstage to debutante entertainments in the winter season of 1931-32.  Ella had attended the exclusive Chapin School in New York City and the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut, before spending a year in Paris studying sculpture.  Among her coming out fetes was a dinner dance at the Ritz-Carlton.

The demolition of No. 1025 Fifth Avenue revealed the depth of the Kingsland mansion.

Ella slipped into hostess mode along with her mother.  On December 2, 1937 she opened the mansion for  a tea for "a large group of the season's debutantes."  Ella was chairman of the debutante committee for the annual December Ball at the Ritz-Carlton and her guests would be assisting in the arrangement for the event.

The heiress and her mother had other things on their mind at the time.  On December 14 Ella's engagement to William Ward Foshay was announced.  The wedding took place in the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas on Fifth Avenue at 48th Street on February 24, 1938.

Katharine's entertainments continued to surround music.  In December 1938 she hosted a reception and tea for Metropolitan Opera soprano Muriel Dickson.

In 1926, six years after the Milbanks purchased No. 1026, the former Thorne mansion was sold to the newly-founded Marymount School of New York.  In 1935 the institution purchased No. 1027.

Dunlevy and Katharine lived on at No. 1026 until 1950, when they, too, sold to the Marymount School.  Interestingly, they moved back to No. 39 East 68th Street where they had started out their married lives.  Dunlevy died in 1959 and Katharine in April 1967 at the age of 82.

As the Fifth Avenue palaces fell to be replaced by modern apartment buildings, the Marymount School properties survived as a stunning slice of Gilded Age New York.

photographs by the author

The Max Richter House - 22 East 94th Street

Perhaps Benjamin A. Williams understood that Andrew Carnegie's intentions to build a massive home engulfing the Fifth Avenue blockfront between 90th and 91st Street would create a fashionable new neighborhood (and subsequently higher property values).  At the time the established mansion district was still blocks to the south.

In 1899, the same year that Carnegie's architects Babb, Cook & Willard filed plans, Williams commissioned the firm of Van Vleck and Goldsmith to design four high-end rowhouses at Nos. 18 through 24 East 94th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenues.  The plans, filed on April 21, called for "four 5-story brick and limestone or marble private houses" to cost $120,000--about $850,000 each today.

The row was completed in December 1900.  Each of the Beaux Arts residences was individually designed; yet common elements unified them as a group.  No. 22, like No. 18, was fully-faced in limestone, while the other two were clad in red brick.  Each had a rusticated stone base and matching French ironwork.

On February 23, 1901 Williams sold No. 22 to Maximilian Richter, Jr., known as Max.  A wealthy silk merchant, he and his wife, Reba, were best known for their support of political, social and educational causes.  Reba was a member of the Council of Jewish Woman and Max was actively involved in Democratic politics.

Four years after moving into the mansion Max invested $80,000 in the Joseph and Leo Skolny's clothing firm, J. Skolny & Co.  Essentially a loan, the five-and-a-half year venture earned him the title of "special partner."  But serious discord erupted on January 5, 1909 when Richter lured sales manager L. E. Remington and credit manager David M. Sinclair away to form a competing firm, L. E. Remington & Co.

The Skolny brothers were understandably outraged at what appeared to them and the clothing industry in general as treachery.   Their suit against Richter ended in a bitter court case which The New York Times on February 6, 1910 said was "was bitterly fought."

Richter contended that as a special partner, he was not bound by the law that prohibited general partners from being "interested in two rival businesses."  Supreme Court Justice O'Gorman did not agree.   He ruled in favor of the brothers, much to the delight of other apparel merchants.  The Times reported "The office of J. Skolny & Co. was decorated yesterday with floral offerings sent in honor of their victory."

Despite that unfortunate press, the Richters continued their comfortable lifestyles.  On September 22, 1912, for instance, The New York Times reported that the couple, along with daughter Helen, had checked into the ultra-fashionable Carlton Hotel in London.

Reba was among the supporters of the Bezalel School, established in Palestine in 1906.   A trade school of sorts, it focused on teaching "carpet weaving, tapestry, filigree work, wood carving, copper work, ivory carving, beaten metal work, lace embroidery," as well as drawing, painting and sculpture.  She was among the wealthy patronesses of the first American exhibition of the school's arts and crafts, which took place in Madison Square Garden in January 1914.

In reporting on the exhibition The New York Times noted its goal was "to lift the poverty-sunken Jews in Palestine from dependence and beggary,"

Max relaxed by taking advantage of his home's proximity to Central Park where he rode horses.  He was a member of the Early Risers Riding Club and enjoyed early morning rides with other well-to-do men.  The group also worked to improve the bridle paths of the city's parks, and add to them.

Helen graduated from Byrn Mawr in 1913.  She was married on the afternoon of March 30, 1916 to Maximilian Elser, Jr.  The wedding took place in the Society for Ethical Culture on the corner of Central Park West and 64th Street.

Elser had graduated from Cornell University in 1907.  A week before the wedding he had been made manager of the newly-formed Metropolitan Musical Bureau, organized, according to The Music Magazine, to "manage concert engagements of Metropolitan Opera singers and other artists prominent in the concert field."  He was also active in theater and produced more than a dozen Broadway plays that year alone.

In 1928 Elser, by now president and owner of the Metropolitan Newspaper Service, scored a coup when he signed a contract with Famous Books and Plays and Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. to run the illustrated series "Tarzan of the Apes."

In the meantime Max Richter expanded his business interests.  As the Pal Mall Realty Corporation, in 1921 he and partner Lawrence S. Rolognino purchased the old Vogel Brothers building at the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.  They constructed the motion picture theater and business building, the Times Theater, on the site.  (It was replaced by the Port Authority Bus Terminal later.)

Max was a member of the National Democratic Club and a fervent Woodrow Wilson supporter.  In the spring of 1922 he contributed to the Woodrow Wilson Foundation; then decided that was not enough.  On May 7 The Times reported that he "increased a previous contribution of $100 to $250."

Reba shared her husband's support of Wilsonian principles, including the League of Nations.  On February 8, 1927 she hosted a meeting of the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association of Greater New York in the 94th Street house.   The featured speaker that afternoon was former Ambassador to Italy, Robert Underwood Johnson.

Both Max and Reba were initial members of the Lenox Hill Democratic Club, organized in 1934.  The Times explained it was "an outgrowth of the recent election and was formed as a permanent organization of Democrats who are dissatisfied with the elements at present in control of the Democratic party in New York City."  When the President's mother, Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt, visited the new clubhouse at No. 116 East 79th Street on February 17 that year, the Richters were there to greet her.

Reba continued to be actively involved in educational and political issues.  By 1937 she was a member of the League for Political Education.  But like her husband, she took time out for less serious outlets.  She was a member of the American Delphinium Society, as well.

Max Richter died on December 5, 1945.  His will reflected his and Reba's tradition of support of education.   He left $50,000 (more than $685,000 today) to the Byrn Mawr College to establish a trust, "to be known as the Maximilian and Reba E. Richter Scholarship Fund," and $25,000 for an identically-named trust at the University of Michigan.

In addition Max's will established the Richter Foundation, its substantial funds to be assigned to "colleges and universities that met high standards."   Reba carefully chose the beneficiaries.  Among them, in 1948, was Brandeis University.  She established an annual financial commitment to fund that university's first assured professorial salary, known as the Max Richter Professor of American Studies.

On March 29, 1951 The New York Times announced that Reba had sold No. 22, and mentioned it was "the first change of ownership of the property in more than fifty years."  The Richter's long ownership of the residence had allowed it to survive the decades of the 1920s through 1940s when many of the Upper East Side private mansions were either razed or converted to apartments.

Interior details survive after more than 117 years.  photos via corcoran.com

The Richter house remained a private home, with little change until, in 2009, an elevator was added.  Two years later it was gently updated, the owners carefully preserving the historic interiors.  It was recently sold for around $10.8 million.  It and the other homes of the 1900 row survive as a slice of turn-of-the-century domestic elegance preserved nearly as if in amber.

photographs by the author

The Clark-Pratt Mansion - 1027 Fifth Avenue

With its flanking neighbors, No. 1027 formed the centerpiece of a striking group.

As was the case with Edward C. Clark, real estate was a diversification for Benjamin W. Williams.  Clark, who was responsible for extensive development of the Upper West Side, made his massive fortune in the Singer Sewing Machine Company.  Williams, who focused on the opposite side of Central Park, had grown wealthy in the marble trade.

And like Clark, Williams put his money into high-end speculative projects.  In June 1901 he purchased the two empty lots at Nos. 1026 and 1027 Fifth Avenue from John W. Simpson.   Within the month he had engaged the firm of Van Vleck & Goldsmith to design lavish mansions on the site.  Plans were filed in November.  The projected construction costs for the pair--more than $8.5 million today--promised that the speculative homes would hold their own, or surpass, their directly-commissioned counterparts.

Among the latter was the Beaux Arts town house being built concurrently at No. 1028 Fifth Avenue.   Jonathon Thorne's mansion, at the corner of 84th Street, was designed by C. P. H. Gilbert.  The successful architectural interaction of the completed group suggests that the architects may have cooperated in the designs.

Completed in 1903, No. 1027 was a commodious 40-feet wide.  Faced in marble, its rusticated base supported a substantial balcony at the second floor, or piano nobile.  The flush facade of the upper floors, flanked by the bowed bays of the Nos. 1026 and 1028, served to make this the centerpiece of the trio.  The shared cornice lines, harmonious mansards, and similar bays on the end homes combined to make the three mansions an especially elegant group.

photo from The Inland Architect and News Record, 1903 (copyright expired)

The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide did not hold back in its glowing opinion of the mansion.  On April 14, 1906, it reported "The finest dwelling house ever erected in this city, on speculation or for sale in the open market, was bought this week by George C. Clark, of Clark, Dodge & Co., bankers."  Clark had paid a staggering $540,000 for the mansion, just under $15 million today.  The article added "The interior is finished in a magnificent scale."

George Crawford Clark was also a director in the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. and other corporations.  Born in St. Louis in 1845, he and his wife, the former Harriet S. Averell, had five children, Julia Seymour, George, Jr., Edith Gilbert, Marian Averell, and James Averell.  The family's summer estate, Overdune, was in Southampton, Long Island, where the Clarks were listed as "prominent."

The mansion was the scene of Edith's wedding to Reginald Francke on January 16, 1909.  The impressive ceremony was officiated by Bishop William Croswell Doane of Albany, assisted by Rev. William R. Huntington of Grace Church.

The Clark family was out of town in October 1913 when extremely disturbing news arrived.  Among their Fifth Avenue staff was Augusta Kechman, who had been the family's cook for several years.  On October 12 none of the servants could find Augusta, who had been "despondent" for a few days.  A maid, Matilda Cleary, checked the basement.  There, in the trunk room, she found the 60-year old woman hanging by a rope from an overhead pipe.

Two years after war spread throughout Europe, New York socialites did their part to raise funds for relief.  Harriet opened her house in March 1916 to aid the War Relief Clearing House for France and Her Allies.  Herbert Ward, an English explorer, sculptor and artist, addressed a group, telling of "his experiences in the present war, dealing largely with the personal narratives that teemed with human interest, stories of acts of courage, deeds of daring and the loyal unselfish devotion of the French women to their cause," explained The Sun on March 7.  "He illustrated his talk with drawings made by him at the front."

At the time Marian had taken a career path that most likely went counter to her parents' expectations.  In the summer of 1915 she made her debut on stage as a professional singer.  While studying in Paris, she met Paul Doughtery, a Brooklyn native who, despite his family's hopes that he would become a lawyer, was "working there on his art," according to the New-York Tribune.

The couple was married in the Clark mansion on June 17, 1916.  "Only relatives and a few friends were present at the ceremony," reported the New-York Tribune.  There were no costly floral decorations and no joyous reception.  In fact, the brief article made the ceremony seem like a near-annoyance.  "Mr. and Mrs. Clark are at their summer home at Southampton, Long Island, for the summer, and opened their city home just for a few hours yesterday for the wedding."

Doughtery, incidentally, went on to become a well-known marine artist, his paintings acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Chicago Art Institute and the Corcoran Art Gallery among others.

George and Harriet escaped the Manhattan winter of 1918-19 by going to Aiken, South Carolina.  George died there on Monday, February 24 at the age of 74.  Upon her return to New York, Harriet sold the Fifth Avenue mansion to Herbert Lee Pratt.

Pratt was the son of Charles Pratt, a founder of the Astral Oil Works, which became part of the Standard Oil Company.   By now Herbert was a vice president of Standard Oil.  He and his wife, Florence Balsdon Gibb, had five children, Edith, Herbert Jr., Harriet, Florence and Frederic.  The family had no shortage of country estates.

Herbert Lee Pratt -- from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1914 construction was completed on The Braes in Glen Cove.  Designed by James Brite, the neo-Jacobean style mansion was a Long Island showplace.  Good Hope was the family's plantation and hunting lodge in South Carolina; and Pine Tree Point, a Japanese-themed "camp" on Upper St. Regis Lake, New York, had formerly been the property of Frederick William Vanderbilt.

The Pratt's Long Island getaway, The Braes, took two years to build.  photograph by Webb bw

In addition to their moving into the Fifth Avenue mansion, 1919 was a socially significant year for the Pratts.  On November 20 Edith Gibb Pratt was married to Allan McLane, Jr.   Following the ceremony in St. James's Church on Madison Avenue, a reception was held in the house.  The Sun noted that "After their wedding trip Mr. McLane and his bride will live at 1027 Fifth avenue."

Edith Gibb Pratt's engagement photo.  The Evening World, August 20, 1919 (copyright expired)

Florence's focus quickly had to turn to Harriett's debut.  Three weeks later she hosted a luncheon for Harriet, and then, on New Year's Eve, Harriet was introduced to society with a dance in the mansion.

Harriet does not seem to have been in a great hurry to marry; but her social calendar was nonetheless full.  On the evening of November 14, 1922 both she and her parents were entertaining.  That night she invited "200 of her young friends" to the mansion for dinner and dancing.  While she was busy socializing at home, her parents gave a theater party for 50 of their friends.  The New York Herald mentioned that they "later will go to the dance."

It would be the last large entertainment in the house before Harriet and her parents left on November 21 for what The New York Herald termed "a trip around the world."  And indeed it would be.  After sailing through the Panama Canal, they visited Hawaii, Japan, China, India, and Europe.

In addition to her social obligations, Florence Gibb Pratt was an active suffragist.  photo from the collection of the Library of Congress.

On May 6, 1923 The New York Times announced "The season for fashionable country weddings has commenced, the largest of which will be that of Miss Harriet B. Pratt...and Lawrence Bell Van Ingen, at Glen Cove, L.I., on June 28, when four special trains will be used to convey the guests to this city to Glen Cove where the Pratts have their family estate."

The following winter season was Florence's turn in the social spotlight.  Her debutante entertainments culminated on April 3 1924 with a dance in the Fifth Avenue mansion.

1926 was another auspicious year for the Pratts.  In July Herbert Jr.'s engagement to Hope Winchester was announced, followed by Florence's engagement to Francis E. Powell, Jr. two months later.  Both were married in Grace Church; Herbert on November 4, and Florence on December 21.

That same year the newly-founded Marymount School of New York purchased the former Thorne house at No. 1028.  Following Florence's death in 1935 Herbert sold No. 1027 to the school, which then purchased No. 1026 in 1950.

photo by Jim Henderson

Marymount School's use of the combined properties resulted in their survival through the decades that saw Upper Fifth Avenue's palaces demolished for modern apartment buildings.  Much of the interior detailing has been preserved and the exteriors are almost perfectly intact, enabling the passerby to easily imagine carriages and limousines waiting for the Clarks and the Pratts at curbside.