The Arthur and Anna Eisemann House - 212 East 31st Street

 

photograph by the author

A long row of modest houses on the south side of East 31st Street between Second and Third Avenues was completed around 1867.  Above rusticated brownstone basements, their upper three stories were faced in red brick.  At 20-feet wide, their stripped-down take on the popular Italianate style included a surprising vermiculated band below the parlor level (an unnecessary cost to the builder), floor-to-ceiling parlor windows, and individual bracketed cornices.

No. 212 East 31st Street was apparently leased, initially.  Adolphus Sinsheimer, an "agent," and his family lived here from 1868 to 1869, followed by Abraham Levy.  The clothier had two shops on the Bowery.  He and his family remained through 1874.

The residence next became a boarding house.  The small number of tenants reflected its high-end status.  Living here in 1876 were Edward S. Dex, Bartholomew and Felix Smith, and Catharine A. McLean, none of whom listed professions.  Catharine was the widow of Laughlin McLean, and it was possibly she who placed an advertisement in the New York Herald in March that year:

A young lady will give instruction on piano for $10 per quarter, with privilege of practice daily.  212 East 31st st.

The advertisements appeared routinely through 1879.  Bartholomew and Felix Smith were listed at the address through 1880.

Alice J. Bolmer, a widow, purchased 212 East 31st Street in August 1882, but she did not retain possession for long.  She placed an advertisement in the New York Herald on July 8, 1885:

A great sacrifice will be made if sold at once; must be sold, as the owner is going West; three story high stoop, all improvements, 20x45x100, 212 East 31st st.; this house is the most perfect home in the city; do not fail to examine at once.

Alice Bolmer sold the house to Jacob and Margaret Sauter for $13,000--about $438,000 in 2026.  It appears that the couple operated it again as a boarding house.  Among their boarders in 1886 was Mary Leonard, who abruptly moved out in September.  Soon afterward, men arrived at 212 East 31st Street to repossess a large amount of furniture.

Calling her "quite a business woman," the New York Herald explained on November 22, 1886 that Mary Leonard "at various times called herself Fanny Walsh, Duane, Stanley, Kelly and Lee, and that a large number of furniture dealers have made her acquaintance at considerable loss to themselves."

Mary Leonard had gone to several furniture dealers, telling them "she was honest, and had to have furniture because she was trying to support her four fatherless children by starting a boarding house."  She managed to purchase $190 worth of furniture from Thoesen & Uhl, a piano worth the same amount from Samuel Parsons, and $200 worth of furniture from George Reubel.  She had placed small amounts of money on credit and had the goods shipped to 212 East 31st Street.  She then waited on the sidewalk and when the deliverymen arrived, redirected them to an alternate address.  She was long gone before the dealers began looking for the unpaid goods.

Jacob Sauter died in 1887 and Margaret tried to hold on to the property, taking out a second mortgage in 1888.  She was not successful and the house was sold at auction on June 20, 1890 for $12,650.  It was sold again in 1892 to Lisette and Adolph Starke, who resold it in 1897 to Mary J. Mitchell.

The house finally returned to a single-family home in May 1903 when Martin L. Campbell purchased it from Mary Mitchell.  Campbell was a civil servant, working as a "tapper" in the Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity.  

In the spring of 1909, a proposal was bandied about to change the title of "assistant tapper" to simply "tapper."  Campbell was not entirely on board with the move, and in April he and Thomas F. McCormick sent a letter to the department.  It pointed out that they were "the only persons registered as Tappers in the Boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx," and, while they did not oppose the change, "they would like to be protected in their higher position by a title such as Superintendent, Supervising or Foreman Topper, etc."  (It is unclear whether the proposal was accepted.)

In 1940, the rustication of the basement and its vermiculated band, along with the original floor-to-ceiling parlor windows survived.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Campbell remained at 212 East 31st Street until 1912, when he sold the house that December to Anna and Arthur Eisemann.  A graduate of Cooper Union, Arthur was an architect and independent contractor.  He and Anna had two daughters, Alma and Bertha.

His work drew important clients.  On September 17, 1921, for instance, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that John D. Rockefeller, Jr. had commissioned him to make "alterations" to the four-story residence at 24 West 54th Street.  Eisemann was, as well, the president of the Society of Painting and Decorative Trades.

Anna Eisemann died on May 27, 1927.  Arthur moved permanently to Elmhurst, New York and the East 31st Street house was rented by Anna's estate.  Her will directed, "Income from the property at 212 East Thirty-first street, Manhattan, is to be divided among the children equally."

The house was converted to apartments in 1946.  A subsequent renovation completed in 1959 resulted in a duplex in the basement and parlor level, one apartment on the second floor and two on the third.  During one of those renovations, the rustication and vermiculated band of the basement were erased and the parlor windows shortened.

The Francis G. Lloyd House - 157 East 71st Street

 

The contracting firm of Breen & Mason was composed of James R. Breen and Alfred G. Mason.  In 1881, they acquired the 40-foot-wide wooden structure at 155-157 East 71st Street.  The partners acted as their own architects for this project, designing two four-story-and-basement, neo-Grec-style homes on the property.  Completed in December 1881, the high-stooped brownstones were distinguished by the windows, which sat within shallow architraves atop paneled spandrels and capped with prominent cornices.

The James R. Breene family moved into 157 East 71st Street just in time for a wedding.  On December 8, 1881, the New-York Tribune reported, "James R. Breene's daughter, Ariana A., was married yesterday at 7 p.m. in her father's house, No. 157 East Seventy-first-st., to John H. Bellamy."  

By 1890, Charles Brenneman and his family occupied the house.  He and his wife, Elizabeth, had a daughter, Emma.  On February 3, 1903, Emma's engagement to William Thomas Fritte was announced.  Four weeks earlier, on January 25, The New York Times reported that Brenneman had sold 155 and 157 East 71st Street.

The buyer, Dr. Andrew J. McCosh, resold 157 East 71st Street to Otto and Carrie Strack in the spring of 1904.  The couple's residency would be short-lived and tragic.  The family had not fully settled in when, on May 18, 1904, five-year-old Walker Strack died in the house.

A year later, on June 22, 1905, The New York Times reported that Otto Strack had sold the house to John L. Martin.  His ownership, too, would be short.  

Frank Guerin Lloyd purchased 155 and 157 East 71st Street in March 1907.  In October, he commissioned the architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston to update the residences.  No. 155 would be used as rental income and 157 East 71st Street would become the Lloyds' home. 

The architects' plans for 157 East 71st Street included new plumbing, windows and a "one-story partition."  The New-York Tribune said that the "making over" of the house would transform it "into an American basement dwelling house."  The plans included "remodeling the interior."  American basement houses differed from English basement houses in their lack of stoops.  While Trowbridge & Livingston left the upper floors untouched, the entrance was now slightly below grade.  Now fronting the second floor, or piano nobile, was a trio of French windows fronted by an iron railing.  The renovations, completed in April 1908, cost Lloyd $15,000, or about $517,000 in 2026.

via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Francis Guerin Lloyd was born in New Jersey in 1848.  He married Matilda Hedenberg Herbert on August 9, 1875.  The couple had two surviving children. (Two others had died in childhood.)

Lloyd was hired by Brooks Brothers, the men's clothing firm, when he was 14 years old.  He worked his way up, and in 1879 was made a partner.  Upon the death of John E. Brooks in 1896, Lloyd became senior partner.  By the time he purchased 157 East 71st Street, he was president of Brooks Brothers.  The family's country home was in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Moving into the house with the Lloyds was their daughter-in-law, Julia A. Trowbridge Lloyd.  Daniel Herbert Lloyd died in 1907, a year after the couple's marriage.  According to the New-York Tribune, when Julia's father, who was a physician, died, he "left his daughters independent fortunes."  Additionally, said the newspaper, Daniel Lloyd, "left a large estate."  Julia maintained her own country home, Driftwood, in Noroton, Connecticut.

Near Driftwood was the summer home of Thomas Crimmins, son of millionaire John D. Crimmins.  The properties were, apparently, close enough for a romance to blossom.  On February 12, 1910, the New-York Tribune reported that the pair had been quietly married in Augusta, Georgia.

Now sharing the house with Francis and Matilda were James Henry McKinley, a "well known tenor and teacher of singing," and his wife, the former Laura Celestine Fiske.  The relationship between the two families is unclear, but they would live together in the East 71st Street house for years.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the Lloyds did not routinely entertain.  An exception came on April 3, 1915.  Matilda's niece, Emilie Mathilde Roe, was married to Duncan MacIntosh Hay in St. Thomas's Church that day.  The New York Times reported that the ceremony was "followed by a breakfast at the home of Mrs. Francis G. Lloyd, 157 East Seventy-first Street."

On the morning of October 6, 1920, Francis Lloyd left the house, heading to his office.  On the way, the 72-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack.  

Matilda H. Lloyd moved permanently to the Bernardsville estate where she died on October 25, 1945.  The McKinleys remained at 157 East 71st Street.  Laura's uncle, Alexander P. Fiske, moved in with the couple.  He died at the age of 89 on May 30, 1922 and his funeral was held in the parlor the following day.

On August 18, 1928, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that James and Laura McKinley had purchased a brownstone at 626 West End Avenue.  The article mentioned that they had "resided at 157 West 71st St. for the past 25 years."

When the house was sold in August 1941, The New York Times reported that the buyer, Inez C. Robb, president of the Callaway Holding Corporation, had hired architect John S. Burrell to covert "the old residence into a modern apartment building for ten families."

The renovation resulted in two apartments per floor.  Among the residents was the building's owner, Inez C. Robb.  An advertisement in The New York Sun on March 13, 1942 described the one-room, kitchen and bath apartment 2-E saying, "Decorator will lease beautifully furnished, comfortable, large living-bedroom.  Full-sized kitchen, bath, wood burning fireplace.  Fully equipped."

Robb sold the building in September 1956.  It was updated in 1982, while preserving the configuration of two apartments per floor.

Then, in September 2000, Todd Romano Antiques & Decorations opened in the ground floor.  The New York Times said it, "offers furnishings from 18th-century French to 1970's Lucite, with upholstered pieces of his design."  Romano later moved his operation to East 59th Street.

On the exterior, little has changed to 157 East 71st Street since Trowbridge & Livingston remodeled it nearly 120 years ago.

photographs by the author

The Arnet Seaman House - 51 Charles Street

 

photograph by the author

Sir Peter Warren's country estate engulfed 300 acres in the 18th century.  By the time Abraham Van Nest died in the former Warren house, known as "The Manse," in 1864, the mansion sat within just a single city block, bounded by Bleecker, Charles, Perry and West Fourth Streets.

Developers quickly swooped in.  The Van Nest block was leveled, building lots plotted, and houses erected.  Oddly, in a nod to the respected Van Nest family, the northern side of Charles Street between West Fourth and Bleecker Streets was named Van Nest Place.  (Adding to the confusion of only the northern side of the block being so named, it was routinely spelled Vannest, Vanness or Van Ness Place.)

In 1866, George Starr began construction of a brick-faced mansion at the northwest corner of West Fourth Street and Van Nest Place.  Completed in 1867, the Italianate-style home was three bays wide and three stories tall above a brownstone basement.  A stone stoop rose to the parlor floor where, most likely, a cast iron balcony fronted the floor-to-ceiling windows.  The elliptically arched openings originally wore molded eyebrows and the doorway would have been impressive--adorned with scrolled brackets and a pediment or similar treatment.

Arnet Seaman and his wife, the former Mary Anna Rhodes Riffey, purchased 1 Van Nest Place.  Arnet, who operated a brick business, was born in 1814 and Mary in 1821.  The couple had surviving children: John Henry and Ambrose.  A daughter, Jenny, had died in childhood and the eldest son, William A., had died at the age of 24 in 1866--the year before his parents bought the Van Nest Place.  The family maintained a country home in Tarrytown, New York.

Even affluent families leased unneeded space in their homes and shortly after moving in, on February 22, 1867, the Seamans advertised:

A very pleasant room and bedroom to let, separately or together, to gentlemen or gentleman and wife, with Board; house new, with every convenience.

"Every convenience" in 1867 would have included gas lighting and indoor plumbing.

By 1873, John Henry, who was now 24 years old, had joined his father's business.  It had expanded and now offered "masons' building materials" with at least two locations.

The Real Estate Record, March 13, 1880 (copyright expired)

Ambrose, most likely, would have joined them.  But on August 31, 1875, the 19-year-old died "suddenly," as worded by the New York Herald.  The term implied an accident.  Ambrose's funeral was held in the parlor, and his body interred at Tarrytown.

Arnet and Mary Seaman moved permanently to Tarrytown around 1887.  When he died there on October 23, 1893, the New-York Tribune remarked, "His estate is estimated at $500,000."  The figure would translate to about $18 million in 2026.

No. 1 Van Nest Place became home to the family of Alderman John Cavanagh.  His wife and young adult children were terrified by an incident that took place on the night of December 18, 1888 while Cavanagh was not home.

At around 8:30, a man climbed the stoop and "rang the door-bell repeatedly," as reported by The Evening Post.  Mrs. Cavanagh looked out of a window and did not recognize the stranger.  "He shouted to her to open the door, and when she ordered him to leave, he used bad language and kicked at the door," said the article.

He then descended the stoop and went to the basement door, kicking it so hard that one of the panels caved in.  As he was doing so, the Cavanagh's daughter hurried down the stoop to find a policeman.  She was seen, however.  The intruder ordered her to stop and chased after her.  The terrified girl ran into Policeman Nash at Perry and Greenwich Streets, who arrested Oscar Hatfield.  At the station house he asserted that he was "the United States Consul at Batavia, Java."

The next morning Hatfield told the court that he was very sorry, saying that "he drank three bottles of porter [ale] yesterday afternoon, and did not have the slightest recollection of what he did last evening."  The Cavanagh's son told the judge "that his mother was ill at home from the fright she received last night."  Hatfield was jailed for a month.  

The Cavanagh family left in 1883, and on October 16 that year, The World reported, "The new club-house of the recently organized United States Navy Club, at No. 1 Van Nest place, was thronged yesterday with blue-jackets who are on shore leave, and who are keen to appreciate the social advantage offered by the new organization."

The United States Navy Club, said the article, was the only club for enlisted men in the country.  It said, "The club-house is a four-story brick high-stoop house, and it is well furnished throughout."  Calling it "a handsome house," the New York Herald said it was "right in the heart of the 'old Greenwich village.'"  It explained that in addition to club activities, the house would be the "residence and home for enlisted men serving on board ships of the United States Navy."

It would be a short-lived venture here.  By March 1894, the club had rented and moved into a house on Sands Street in Brooklyn.  

No. 1 Van Nest Place was leased that year and again in 1897.  The latest lessee, W. D. Phillips, rented it as an income property.  His first tenant was Frank Rosevelt Starr.

Born in 1866, Starr was in the real estate brokerage business with his brother, Edward Seaman Starr.  Despite his relatively young age, Frank Starr was suffering from rheumatism and was being treated by a Dr. Ormsby.

On April 7, 1897, the doctor visited the house.  He found Starr's bedroom "full of gas and the man dead," as reported by the New York Journal and Advertiser.  The newspaper titled the article, "Gas Ends a Broker's Life."  His funeral was held in the parlor on April 9.

Starr was followed in the house by the family of Frank Williams.  The family's country home was in Richmond, Maine.  Their affluence was reflected in the wedding of their only daughter, Florence Irene, to I. Latimer Lawrence in the First Presbyterian Church on January 15, 1902.  The New York Times reported, "Over 500 guests were invited."

The property was sold at auction in November 17, 1912.  The announcement in The Sun described it as, "N.W. Cor. West 4th & Charles Sts. (Known as 1 Van Nest Place)" for sale.  It detailed it as "a 3 story and basement brick and brownstone private dwelling containing 10 rooms, 1 bath and 2 toilets."  In reporting on the sale, The New York Times commented on the confusing address, saying that the city had already given up on Van Nest Place:

The name still remains in the city directory among the list of streets, but it has been discarded by the city officials and the Tax Department, instead of recognizing the row of old-fashioned homes on the north side of Charles Street as 1 to 18 Van Nest Place, acknowledges their existence for taxable purposes as 55 to 89 Charles Street.

The owners and residents of 1 Van Nest Place, however, continued to use that address.  When Elena E. Goodale sold it to William E. Mullholland in November 21, it was still described as a "three-story dwelling."  But within two years, it had been converted to unofficial apartments.  An advertisement in The New York Times on October 5, 1923 offered three apartments.  One of them was described as "2 rooms and bath, studio, all improvements, private street entrance."  (Two entrances were carved into the West Fourth Street side.)  The two others were described: "5 rooms and bath, housekeeping and non-housekeeping; housekeeping suitable for doctor or dentist."  The term, "housekeeping," meant the apartment had a kitchen.

A subsequent alteration in 1933 removed the stoop and lowered the front entrance, now with a Greek Revival inspired frame, to below grade.  There were now four floor-through apartments in the building.

The original high stoop and entrance details of 1 Van Nest Place would have been similar to others further down the block.  The New York Times June 7, 1936

Finally, after the grumbling of local residents, letter carriers and delivery men, and the city's indifference to the name, on June 7, 1936, The New York Times reported, "The nomenclature Van Next Place will be eliminated; Charles Street incorporating same."  The corner structure was renumbered 51 Charles Street.

Among the more colorful tenants over the subsequent decades was Marion Abt Bachrach.  Starting in 1947, she was the public relations director of the Communist Party of the United States.  Like most visible Communist Party members, she was a target of the Government's campaign known commonly as the Red Scare.  In 1951, she was indicted with 20 other "second-string" Communist leaders.  However, when it was revealed that she was suffering from cancer, her trial was canceled.  

Marion Abt Bachrach's 1951 FBI mugshot.

When Marion Abt Bachrach did not die, Congress appointed a physician to examine her.  In 1955, he deemed her condition "satisfactory" to stand trial, although, according to The New York Times, "others disagreed."  She was tried in Federal Court in New York City on "charges of conspiring to teach and advocate the overthrow of the Government by force and violence."  Perhaps surprisingly, she was acquitted in 1956.  She was still living at 51 Charles Street on October 17, 1957 when she succumbed to cancer in the Manhattan General Hospital at the age of 57.

Bachrach's landlord had been Norma Starobin.  After owning and living in 51 Charles Street "for many years," according to The New York Times, she sold it in August 1967 for $90,000--about $845,000 today.

Although the stoop was gone, the window lintels survived in 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

As some point after 1940, the details of the windows were shaved off.  Otherwise, little has changed outwardly to 51 Charles Street since the 1938 conversion.

The Juan and Emilia Sala House - 13 West 74th Street

 

In 1889, construction of five rowhouses began on West 74th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.  David T. Kennedy was the contractor and his wife, Carrie S. Kennedy, handled the business end of the project.  Designed by Daniel Burgess, the four-story-and-basement homes were completed in 1890.  A blend of neo-Grec and Queen Anne styles, they were clad in red brick and trimmed in brownstone.

The basement and parlor levels of No. 13 were faced in rough-cut brownstone.  An especially sumptuous, colorful stained-glass arched transom decorated the parlor window and an equally elegant fan of wrought and cast iron filled the tympanum of the entranceway.

A bowed oriel dominated the second floor and the stone-framed, elliptically arched third-floor windows were crowned with voussoirs.  Scrolled volutes introduced the stone gable that fronted the slate-shingled mansard level.  Its triangular pediment was filled with complex foliate carving.

The completed house quickly passed through several hands.  On October 13, 1890, The World reported that Carrie S. Kennedy had sold it to "A. V. Goodfellow for $44,500."   On November 1, the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that the house was sold to Thomas K. Egbert.  And two months later, on February 3, 1891, an advertisement appeared in the New York Herald:

The elegantly decorated four story extension house, No. 13 West 74th st.; parlors hung in tapestry; will be sold at a bargain, including handsome gas and grate fixtures if desired.  Apply on premises.

The buyers were Juan Sala and his wife, the former Emilia Chadric.  Born in Barcelona, Spain in 1834, Sala was taken to the West Indies as a boy.  There, according to The New York Times, "he established a large business both at St. Thomas and Puerto Rico."

Emilia was born in Curacao in 1854.  She and Juan had one child, Aurora, born in 1881.  The family moved to New York City in 1887, four years before buying 13 West 74th Street.

Upon arriving in New York, Juan Sala co-founded Sala, Hoheb & Co., export and commission merchants.  Upon Hoheb's retirement, the firm was renamed J. Sala & Co.  

Juan Sala (original source unknown)

Emilia quickly became part of Upper West Side society.  On January 29, 1893, for instance, The World reported, "Mrs. J. Sala, of No. 13 West Seventy-fourth street, gave a small dance on Friday evening."

Aurora's wedding to William Eadie Kotman was held in the parlor at 8:00 on the evening of November 17, 1893.  The World called the bride, "a very lovely girl of sixteen," while the New-York Tribune said she, "is only fifteen years old."  Her parents were, apparently, fudging on the facts.  Aurora Sala was just 12 years old.  Her husband was 21.  The World said, "The newly married couple will live in Mexico."

Emilia was the victim of a horrifying incident on April 10, 1895.  At around 8:45 that night, she and her niece, Anita Font, intended to visit Emilia's nephew at 89th Street near Columbus Avenue.  They hailed a cable car at 74th Street.  Emilia had just stepped onto the lower step when the conductor lunged ahead.  Anita, who had only one foot on the step, was left behind.

Emilia Chadric Sala (original source unknown)

Emilia ordered the conductor to stop and, according to her, "He shoved me gently inside the door, saying, 'Oh, she'll get the next car, and be right up after you.  I am behind time now, and can't be stopping and starting every second."  At 89th Street, Emilia rose to leave the car.  She later explained:

I am somewhat stout, as you can see, and may have been rather slow in my movements.  At any rate, the conductor bawled out at me, 'Come, hurry up!'...I took care in stepping from the platform to the step, and had just placed one foot on the ground, when I heard the signal bell ring.

Before Emilia could completely disembark, the cable car jerked forward and left her lying upon the avenue pavement.  A crowd assembled around her and two men "half led and half carried me to my nephew's home," she said later.  Two doctors arrived.  "They found that my left arm had been broken in two places.  I was also cut and bruised about the head and face," she said.  The angry socialite added, "Of course, I intend to sue the company, if only to teach them a lesson."

It appears that around the time of the unfortunate incident Aurora's marriage had failed.  She was back in the West 74th Street house and in the Salas' Long Island summer estate by 1896.  An ardent horsewoman, she exhibited in the annual National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden.  That year her trainer showed Fanny Fern and American Fashion.  (The New York Herald explained, "Unfortunately, it is not considered good form for ladies to appear in the ring of the Madison Square Garden.")

It seemed that the Sala family would be returning permanently to the West Indies in 1898.  When the United States declared war on Spain following the sinking of the USS. Maine in Havana Harbor in February that year, "Sala took the matter very much to heart," according to The New York Times.  However, said the newspaper, "his friends remonstrated with him, and finally induced him to remain."

Whether the stress of the Spanish-American War affected Sala's health is unknown.  But he died in the house on June 17, 1898 at the age of 61.  His funeral was held in the parlor on June 19.

By then, Aurora Sala Kortman was divorced from her husband.  Interestingly, Aurora, rather than her mother, inherited the West 74th Street house.

Aurora married Thomas Joseph Regan in January 1905.  The groom was the secretary and treasurer of the Whitney Realty Company.  On the 22nd, the New-York Tribune reported that they were "among the bridal couples staying at the Lakewood Hotel this week."  

Aurora Sala Kortman Regan (original source unknown)

The following month, on February 20, Emilia Chadric Sala died at the age of 50.  Aurora and Thomas remained in the West 74th Street house.  Their summer home was in Old Westbury, Long Island.  Still an ardent horsewoman, Aurora annually exhibited her thoroughbreds in the New York Horse Show.  She later acquired a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky where her thoroughbreds "achieved wide recognition," according to The New York Times.

The couple quickly filled their homes with children.  Tragically, their first, Thomas Jr., who was born in 1905, died in infancy.  But the next year, Constance was born, followed by Jean in 1908 and Gordon in 1913.

The Regans, of course, maintained a small domestic staff.  And in 1920, Aurora seems to have been having problems retaining a maid.  On December 22, she advertised, "Maid, French; must be pleasant, willing and obliging.  Mrs. Regan, 13 West 74th."  Seven months later, on June 25, 1921, she advertised again.  "Chambermaid, French, speaking no English preferred; must be willing, careful, and obliging."

In December 1924, the Regans applied with an employment agency for a butler.  Jack Archer came with sterling references, including one from Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt II.  Archer had been a footman for the Vanderbilts "and had given satisfaction there," according to The New York Times.

Regan, whom The Times described as "a tall, dapper Englishman who appeared to be a well-trained and trustworthy servant," started work in the Regan house at mid-December.  On Christmas Eve, a week after Regan moved in, the family returned home to find him gone.  They told police that the house "had been ransacked and everything of value that the thief could lay his hands on had been taken."

On December 27, The New York Times reported, "Mr. Regan and his family are most anxious to find the butler and they are even more eager to know the whereabouts of a collection of jewelry, including a pearl necklace and several pieces set with diamonds, some of which are valued as antiques and others for their sentimental as well as intrinsic value."  Also missing from the house were "fine linens and some choice pieces of porcelain."  The value was estimated by Regan as about $10,000--about $183,000 in 2026.

In attempting to find Jack Archer, the police went to extremes.  On the day of the article, the sailing of the White Star liner Cedric was delayed by 90 minutes as detectives searched the vessel.

Just over two weeks after the crime, on January 8, 1925, The Sun reported that Jack Archer, "the suave, efficient butler," had been arrested in Montreal after he attempted to sell some of Aurora Sala's jewelry.

Archer's crime slightly tarnished Constance Regan's debutante season.  Nevertheless, her entertainments continued and on January 30, 1925, her parents hosted a dinner party in her honor.

Jean Regan's photograph was published in The Spur on March 1, 1927.  The caption said that she was introduced to society "this winter."   (copyright expired)

The following winter season was Jean Regan's debut.  Like her mother, she was an accomplished horsewoman.  On October 10, 1931 before the first of her debutante entertainments, the New York Evening Post reported that she had won second prize in the jumping event at the Piping Rock Club's horse show.  

A marquee had been added over the doorway as early as 1940.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Several years before then, Aurora had sold the Kentucky farm and acquired another, Pilot Knob, near Nashville, Tennessee where she turned to breeding race horses.  Calling her an "internationally known horse breeder," The New York Times remarked, "In 1928, one of her yearlings brought the world record top price for a horse of that age, $75,000."  Her Pilot Knob farm stabled more than 100 thoroughbreds.

Aurora was at Pilot Knob on July 19, 1940 when she died at the age of 58.  Three years later, in January 1943, Thomas J. Regan sold 13 West 74th Street.

After having been home to one wealthy family for half a century, 13 West 74th Street became a rooming house, repeatedly sold and resold.  When Leon Schiffer and Sora Jalowsky purchased it from Sol Grobman in April 1952 and then resold it within the month, The New York Times described it as a "fourteen-family house."

A renovation completed in 1973 resulted in two apartments per floor in the basement through fourth floors, and one in the fifth.  The configuration lasted until 1982 when the basement and parlor were combined as a duplex.  Six years later, that apartment was expanded into a triplex.

Living here by 1990 was Tonne Goodman, vice president of advertising for Calvin Klein.  Starting out as a model, she had formerly worked with Diana Vreeland at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute, worked at The New York Times and as a stylist for LIFE magazine.  She would go on to join Anna Wintour at Vogue in 1999 as the magazine's fashion director.

Another renovation in 2010 resulted in two triplex apartments.  Although the brownstone has been painted, overall the exterior of 13 West 74th Street is remarkably intact.

photographs by the author

The Lost John and Ethel Hoyt Mansion - 900 Park Avenue

 

photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Born on July 29, 1869 to Alfred Miller Hoyt and his wife, the former Rosina Elizabeth Reese, John Sherman Hoyt was a great-nephew of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman.  He married 22-year-old Ethel Valentine Phelps Stokes on October 31, 1895.  The bride's parents were  Anson Phelps Stokes Sr. and Helen Louisa Phelps.  The Phelps and the Stokes families were among the wealthiest and most socially prominent in New York City.  

Hoyt was a director of the American Car and Foundry Company, maker of railroad cars.  He and Ethel had five children (their first, John Jr., died in infancy in 1897).  The family's townhouse was on East 65th Street and their country home was on Contentment Island in Darien, Connecticut.

John Sherman Hoyt (original source unknown)

A one-line article in the New-York Tribune on April 24, 1915, read, "John Sherman Hoyt will erect a home costing $100,000 on the site he recently purchased at the northwest corner of Park av. and 79th st."  Not surprisingly, the Hoyts commissioned the architectural firm of Howells & Stokes to design the mansion.  Partner Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes was Ethel's brother and, although Howells & Stokes was the architect of record, Architecture magazine gave Stokes full credit for the design.

Construction costs rose to $150,000 (about $4.83 million in 2026).  The facade was faced in Pennsylvania granite and trimmed in limestone.  Stokes drew inspiration from Elizabethan manor houses.  The two-story entrance provided a commodious balcony at the third floor, sheltered by an overhanging roof.  The 16th century motif included projecting bays "fitted with English casement windows," as described by The New York Times, grouped openings with square-headed drip moldings, clustered chimneys and charming hooded dormers.

from the collection of the New York Public Library

Visitors entered into a "two-story hall with gallery," reported The New York Times.  "This with the drawing rooms occupies most of the ground floor," said the article.  Unexpectedly, the floors throughout the home were worthy of notice.  The floors on the ground level were of teak and oak, and those on the second floor, which included the large library, were of mahogany and oak.  The newspaper noted, "On the fourth floor there is a squash court and a large sun parlor."

A very young Ethel Valentine Stokes Hoyt (original source unknown)

Anson Phelps Stokes Hoyt and Sherman Reese Hoyt, were 20 and 17 years old, respectively, in 1918 when America entered World War I.  That year both were inducted into the army.  The privileged young men had, apparently, a greatly protective mother and grandmother.  On April 15, 1918, The Sun reported, "Mrs. Anson Phelps Stokes and Mrs. John Sherman Hoyt started for Chillicothe, Ohio, where members of their families are in training for war service."

The Hoyt family received disturbing news a year later, on April 3, 1919, when Anson's name was listed among the soldiers wounded in battle.  Happily, both sons returned home safely following the conflict.

John Sherman Hoyt's father had died in 1903 and on February 26, 1922, his mother, Rosina, died in the Hoyt mansion at 934 Fifth Avenue.  Half of her massive estate went to John's unmarried sister, Rosina Sherman Hoyt.  Each of John's and Ethel's children received $10,000 (about $187,000 today), and John was left one-quarter of the estate.  Rosina, who was now 48-years-old, moved into the Park Avenue mansion with the Hoyts.

Sherman Reese Hoyt was married to Hayes Blake on August 19, 1924 in New Haven, Connecticut.  Another wedding in the family four months later may have surprised high society.  On December 21, The New York Times reported that John and Ethel, "have sent to relatives and a few intimate friends invitations to the marriage of Mr. Hoyt's sister, Miss Rosina Sherman Hoyt, to Gerard Beekman Hoppin."  The wedding, which took place in St. Thomas's Church on December 27, was the first for bride and groom, who were 50 and 55 years old, respectively.

Anson was married the following year, on June 30, 1925, to Amy Jessup Moore.  He would be the last of the Hoyt children to marry while the family occupied the Park Avenue house.

On June 4, 1926, The Knickerbocker Press reported, "James A. Stillman has purchased for his home 900 Park avenue...a stone mansion designed for John Sherman Hoyt, the seller."  The article said that Stillman had paid $600,000 for the property, or about $10.6 million today.

James Alexander Stillman was Chairman of the National City Bank.  He married Ann Urquhart Potter (known as Fifi) in Grace Church in 1901.  The Evening World called it “a social event” and reported “about 2,000 invitations had been issued, and a fashionable assemblage was present.”  The couple moved into a 14-room apartment in the exclusive Hotel Marguery and maintained a "camp" in Grand Anse, Quebec and a country estate in Pleasantville, New York.

James and Ann Stillman, Daily News, May 4, 1921 (copyright expired)

Trouble had come in 1921 when James sued for divorce, suggesting that their youngest child, Guy, who was born in 1918, was the son of "a half-blood Indian guide from Quebec."  The lurid trial stretched on, with Ann charging James of fathering two illegitimate children with a chorus girl.  Then, in a surprising twist, in 1926 Stillman gave Ann a half-million dollar necklace and the two sailed off to Europe to receive marriage counseling from Carl Jung.

In reporting on their purchasing 900 Park Avenue, The New York Times explained that the Stillmans "were recently reconciled and went on what they termed a 'second honeymoon.'"

The couples' children were Ann, James Jr. (known as Bud), Alexander and Guy.  When the family moved into 900 Park Avenue, Bud was a senior at Princeton.  On October 7, 1926, he told reporters in his dorm room that he intended to marry Lena Wilson.  The 23-year-old had fallen in love with the girl from "the farm adjoining his mother's estate at Grand Anse."  Lena, who was 18, had worked in the Stillman estate as "mother's personal maid and housekeeper," explained Stillman.  She also, "acted as interpreter for mother when she wanted to give orders to the gardener or other servants who spoke only French-Canadian."

Bud Stillman inventoried his sweetheart's attributes, calling her "a girl of the outdoors who loves hunting and tramping."  Saying she was "different from ordinary girls," he said she "doesn't smoke and she doesn't Charleston...She prefers the old-fashioned steps, the waltzes and the square dance."  (She had taught Bud to square dance the previous summer.)  He continued, "she plays the accordion and the mouth organ.  Hunting, fishing and canoeing are the things at which Miss Wilson excels."  He told the reporters that her "first experience with pretty clothes will be when she comes to New York."

Perhaps surprisingly, Bud's parents were happy with his choice.  His mother, he said, "knows that social standing isn't so all important."  James not only said, "We are thoroughly happy about our son's coming marriage," but he and Ann picked out the engagement ring.  He quickly said it was "of moderate price" and that "Bud paid for it out of his own funds."

Ann Stillman accompanied Lena Wilson on the train from Quebec to Manhattan, arriving on December 1.  The New York Times reported that Lena would be the Stillmans' house guest until spring.  "While here she will gather together her trousseau."

Lena arrived just in time for a joyous moment within the Stillman family.  Daughter Ann had married Henry P. Davison two years earlier.  As was common among the upper class, in the final days of Ann's pregnancy, she and Henry moved temporarily into her parents' home in anticipation of the birth.  Their son was born in the mansion on December 14, 1926.

Bud and Lena were married on July 26, 1927 in the Wilson home in Quebec.  The New York Times reported, "there will be a fete to which the country folk will be invited."

Problems between James and Ann were first hinted in March 1929 when Fred Beauvais, the "Indian guide" who had played a prominent role in Stillman's 1921 divorce case, sued the banker for $500,000 damages, claiming "his good name has been held up to ridicule."  The Standard Union said, "Mrs. Stillman is now at camp, in Grande Anse, Quebec, while Mr. Stillman divides his time between his town residence, No. 900 Park avenue, and his country home in Pleasantville."

Ann obtained a divorce in Poughkeepsie in June 1931 and "a few hours after" it was granted she married Fowler McCormick, grandson of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.  Ann received the Pleasantville and Quebec properties in the divorce.  James purchased a winter home in Havana, Cuba.

Architecture magazine, June 1917 (copyright expired)

Stillman's legal battles continued in April 1932 when William Uhe, the engineer of his yacht, the Wenonah II, sued him for $50,000 damages.  An explosion occurred on the yacht on July  16, 1929 and Uhe "declared that his left leg was made crooked for life, his right leg broken and his body and face burned."

The embattled banker continued to live alone with his domestic staff until falling ill in January 1944.  He was taken to New York Hospital where he died on January 13 at the age of 70.  

Perhaps surprisingly, Ann and Fowler McCormick moved into the Park Avenue mansion.  Alexander Stillman was now a pilot with the U.S. Navy.  On August 8, 1945, The New York Times reported on his being "credited with destroying four Japanese cargo ships, a large whaling ship, a heavily armed patrol boat and two large fishing vessels."  The article said, "His mother, Mrs. Fowler McCormick, lives at 900 Park Avenue."

By 1949, the mansion was occupied by the Latin-American Institute.  On January 7, 1952, the Tarrytown, New York Daily News explained that among the courses offered by the school was "legal stenography, which includes court reporting."

The mansion next became the Egyptian Consulate.  It was several times the setting of controversy.  On April 14, 1956, for instance, The New York Times reported that the consulate "was the unexpected setting yesterday for Jewish memorial services for Israelis killed recently by Egyptian raiders.  Twenty-two young Jews forced their way into the building at 900 Park Avenue...at 10:30 A.M., and remained praying for more than an hour."

Now the United Arab Republic's United Nations Mission, in  September 1960 it was the setting for the U.A.R.'s President Gamal Abdel Nasser's meetings with India's Prime Minister Jawaharial Nehru and Yugoslav President Tito.

On February 5, 1972, The New York Times reported, "A 132-unit cooperative apartment house will be built at 900 Park Avenue...the former site of the Egyptian Embassy.  The 25-story building, called The Park 900 and designed by Philip Bimbaum, was completed in 1973.

image via cityrealty.com