The Howard Gardiner Cushing House - 121 East 70th

In 1862 Sarah Mitchell began construction on a row of five homes at Nos. 121 through 129 East 70th Street.  Completed the following year, they were especially charming High Victorian Gothic houses.  But in 1910 the charm had faded and the increasingly upscale block saw vintage structures one-by-one remodeled or replaced by modern Edwardian homes.

Howard Gardiner Cushing was a well-established society portrait painter.  A 1891 graduate of Harvard College, he studied at the Academie Julien in Paris before establishing his New York City studio in 1898.  On November 7, 1904 he married Ethel Cochrane, a Boston debutante.   By the time Cushing purchased No. 121 East 70th Street from Winthrop L and Mary K. Rogers on April 1, 1910, he and Ethel had three children, Olivia, Howard, Jr., and Lily Dulany. 

Even while the transaction for the property was taking place, the Cushings were forging ahead with their plans.  The day after title was transferred the well-known architectural firm of Delano & Aldrich filed plans to replace the Victorian house with a a "five-story brick and stone dwelling."  The up-to-date residence would cost the Cushings the equivalent of $532,000 today. 

Completed within the year, it was designed in the highly popular neo-Federal style (although the New-York Tribune preferred to call it "in the Colonial style").   Its entrance featured a rusticated frame and arched pediment.  The understated service door to the side tried not to attract attention.

The house replaced by No. 121 was identical to the one at the far right.  Between them is the home of architect Samuel Towbridge from the collection of the New York Public Library

The second floor windows were crowned by tympana formed of header bricks and paneled keystones.  Delano & Aldrich cleverly overlapped the sills of the third floor windows onto the stone bandcourse, creating additional dimension and interest.  Below the cornice a stone frieze was carved with a complex Greek key design.

Cushing's style of portraiture was influenced by the Art Nouveau and Orientalist movements.  His close friendship with James McNeill Whistler sometimes resulted in striking similarities in their works.  The flame-haired Ethel was her husband's favorite model.  He produced portrait after portrait of the lithe socialite.  Ethel often appeared in portraits garbed in Japanese kimonos or other Asian influenced garments, her skin always albaster-white and her hair fiery red.

Ethel posed for The Mandarin Coat in 1904.  from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

The Cushing family spent much of their time at their 35-acre Newport estate, The Ledges, built by Cushing's father, Robert M. Cushing, and in Europe.  Their long absences from New York City often resulted in their leasing of the 70th Street house.

The Cushings' tenants in the winter season of 1912-13 were David and Gwendolyn Dows.  On the evening of December 12, 1912 the christening of little Evelyn Byrd Dows was held in the house.  The infant had been named for her maternal grandmother, the wife of millionaire I. Townsend Burden.

Three months later David Dows appeared in newspapers for a far less reputable incident.  It all started when Dows attended the Barnum & Bailey's Circus at Madison Square Garden in March 1913.  A trick mule was brought out and volunteers from the audience were challenged to try to ride it.  Dows, wearing "evening clothes and a high hat" was a good sport and stepped into the ring.

After a few tries, Dows managed to mount the cantankerous mule.  The New York Times said "Then suddenly the animal gathered itself and bucked with a convulsive shudder, depositing the rider neatly on the tanbark.  The latter picked himself up, brushed off his clothes, and retired to his box, to the applause and laughter of the crowd."

It should have ended there.  But Alva Johnston, a reporter for The Times, decided to follow up on the story.  He called the house very late on the night of March 23.  An irritated Dows said he refused to be interviewed on the phone and if Johnston wanted a story, he would have to come to the house.  Dows, no doubt, did not mean to come immediately.

Just after midnight Johnston rang the bell at No. 121 East 70th Street.  After a while a man in pajamas poked his head from the third floor window and asked who was there.   After a few minutes the door opened.  Johnston was invited in to the dark house.  As he was ushered into a room off the hallway, another man threw a blanket over his head and the reporter was lifted off his feet.

Unable to struggle free, the Johnston was carried to the back door and deposited in the yard.  The door was barred from within.   He shouted and banged on the door, and then tried several means of escape, finally clambering over the tall wooden fences from one yard to the next, hollering for help all the while.

Johnston was finally rescued by two patrolmen who quite understandably, assumed he was a burglar.  He was taken back to No. 121 where Dow insisted he be arrested.  After leaving the house, Johnston recounted how he came to be prisoner in the backyard.  "I thought it was something of that kind," said the policeman.  "Forget it."

Johnston did not forget it.  The story appeared in detail in The Times the following day.   When Dows was called by police to explain himself, he said he had been "pestered by reporters" since the mule incident.  Police Captain Henry marveled that Johnston had not been killed.  "He is very lucky to have escaped death, for it was after midnight, and dark, and there was burglary in the air."

David Dow was arrested and summoned to appear in court on charges of assault.  His attorney downplayed the situation, saying "The charge is purely a technical one, which at its worst is based only on a practical joke, having no serious consequences."

Dow was convicted of assault in the third degree, but his sentence was suspended.  Alva Johnston was not about to let him get away scot free.  In June he filed a civil law suit for $25,000 damages for "false imprisonment, aggravated assault and battery."

The Cushings were back in the 70th Street house later that year.  Their fourth child, Alexander Cochrane "Alex" Cushing born on November 18, 1913.

Cushing's Interior at Newport featured Ethel and one of the children in The Ledges.  It hangs in the Cushing Memorial Gallery in Newport.

The wall painting in the 70th Street house above was notably similar to that at The Ledges. The American Architect, March 10, 1915 (copyright expired)

A popular method of fund raising among society was the presentation of tableaux.   Dressed in period costumes, wealthy participants would recreate familiar paintings.  On the night of April 25, 1916 Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt hosted a benefit for Venetian victims of World War I.   Guests seated in her ballroom that night paid $25 to see "twelve paintings of the Venetian school posed with skill," according to The Times.

Howard had been ill for several days, and although he felt well enough to work in his studio that afternoon, he stayed home.  Ethel went on to the Vanderbilt mansion, where she posed in Al Fresco at the Villa Marana.  The Times said she was "brilliantly costumed...showing her red-gold hair."

When Ethel returned home, she did not disturb her husband, but went directly to bed.  The following morning she found him dead in his bed.  He was just 47 years old.  The artist's entire estate was inherited by his wife.

The wood-paneled library.  The American Architect, March 10, 1915 (copyright expired)

Ethel continued to spend much time at The Ledges and in Europe; still leasing her furnished house during prolonged absences.  On January 10, 1923, for instance, The Times noted that "Mrs. Lewis S. Morris of Tuxedo Park has taken Mrs. Howard G. Cushing's place at 121 East Seventieth street for the remainder of the season."

On June 4, 1925 Ethel quietly married James Denison Sawyer in the home of friends in Boston.  The groom was a partner in the New York Stock Exchange firm of Eastman, Dillon & Co.  The following year Ethel turned her attentions to the debut of Lily.  On December 24, 1926 The New York Times remarked on the dinner and dancing in the ballroom of the Park Lane, saying "The guests, more than three hundred in number, were seated at separate tables and danced during the progress of the dinner."  Those guests had names like Vanderbilt, Burden, Bliss and Whitney.

Leasing the 70th Street house at the time was Marie Manice Edgar, widow of Newbold LeRoy Edgar.  In July that year she had been decorated by the President of France while in her Paris apartment on the Rue de Lubeck.  The Cross of the Legion of Honor recognized her as "a patron of French artists and libraries" and for paying for the restoration of the organ of St. Saveur.

A remarkably graceful staircase spiraled through the house. The American Architect, March 10, 1915 (copyright expired)

The first hint that Marie would not be staying much longer at No. 121 came that sane year when she purchased a house in Paris.  Then, on December 8 The Times reported that she "will be married next week in Paris to Count Marcati of Greece."  The article noted "Her home is at 121 East Seventieth Street.  She also has a place at Tuxedo Park, to which she and the Count will go upon their arrival in this country."

Ethel and her family were back in the 70th Street house in 1929 when Howard's engagement to Mary Callender Ames was announced in January, followed by Lily's engagement to George Crawford Clark, Jr. on April 9.

Two weeks after Lily's announcement, newspapers reported that Howard's engagement "has been broken by mutual agreement."  Another mutual agreement came to pass the following January when Howard and Mary had patched things up and obtained their marriage licence at the Municipal Building.

Lily's marriage did not last long.  Following her divorce in March 1932, she took temporarily back her maiden name.   Her wedding to William T. Emmet took place in the 70th Street house on May 1.  It was an understated affair with only family members present and a mention in society columns that "There will be no reception."

As had been the case from the beginning, the house was repeatedly leased as the Sawyers traveled.  The winter season of 1933 saw Robert L. Fowler, Jr. living here; and in November 1936 Ethel leased the house to stock broker Dewess W. Dilworth.  He and his wife were still here the following year when The Times noted on November 24 "Mrs. John A. Logan, after passing several months at the Savoy-Plaza, has joined her daughter, Mrs. Dewess W. Dilworth, at 121 East Seventhieth street for the Winter."

In September 1943 James Denison Sawyer died at the age of 68.  Within the decade the 70th Street house became home to the James Lehrer family.

Ruth Lehrer's daughter, Louise, was from her former marriage to Herman N. Liberman, Jr.  She enjoyed a life of privilege, attending the exclusive Spence School before going on to Briarcliff College.  Her debutante season of 1959 started off with a cocktail party and buffet dinner on Christmas Day in the St. Regis roof.

The Federal motif of the facade was carried on in fluted pilasters and reproduction mantel inside. The American Architect, March 10, 1915 (copyright expired)

In announcing her coming out, The Times outlined her busy schedule.  "The debutante attended the Debutante Ball of the New York Junior League on Nov. 25 and the Grosvenor Ball three days later.  She will attend the Mistletoe Ball, the International Debutante Ball and the Mayfair Assembly during the Christmas holidays."

After leaving school Louise landed a job as editorial assistant with Vogue magazine.  On November 10, 1961 she was married to tennis champion Richard Savitt in the 70th Street house.

Almost immediately after Louise's marriage, the Lehrer's left No. 121.  It became home to antiques dealers Neil and June Sellin, who founded Wellington Antiques here.   The fine art gallery catered to clients like John Paul Getty, Jacob Rothchild and Henry Block, according to its website.

The Cushing house remains a single-family home today, its patrician facade essentially unchanged since the artist and his family moved in in 1910.

photographs by the author

The Lost Marshall Field Mansion - 4-8 East 70th Street

 

Town & Country magazine, 1927 

On May 24, 1921 The New York Times reported, "Four private houses in the Lenox Hill residential section have been purchased by a wealthy New Yorker, who is carefully preventing his name from becoming known."  The properties involved were 3 and 5 East 69th Street and the mansions to the rear at 4 and 6 East 70th Street.  According to real estate reports, said the article, "the new owner contemplates the demolition of the present houses on the site for the purpose of erecting a palatial home."

The identity of the buyer was confirmed four months later when The New York Times announced, "Mrs. Marshall Field has leased the large five-story American dwelling at 4 East 70th Street with furnishings to Alphonzo Gomez-Mena, banker of Havana Cuba."  The article noted, "The house is one of the four properties purchased recently by Mrs. Field as a site for her new residence, others being 6 East Seventieth Street, and 3 and 5 East Sixty-ninth Street, directly in the rear."

Mrs. Marshall Field was the former Evelyn Marshall, the wife of Marshall Field III.  Born in 1893, Field was the grandson of department store founder Marshall Field and heir to that vast fortune.  He had inherited $40 million while still in school and would inherit another $140 million when he turned 50 in 1943.  He and Evelyn had been married in 1915.  Evelyn, according to The New York Times in 1923, "is wealthy in her own right."  She was "a member of an old New York family," said the newspaper.

Marshall Field around 1919.  from the collection of the Illinois National Guard

Perhaps unexpectedly, Field had not followed in the family business, but after serving in World War I, turned to finance.  He and Evelyn had three children--Marshall IV, Barbara and Bettine.

The first hint of the much anticipated Field mansion came in March 1, 1922 when architect David Adler filed plans for "three-and-four-story dwellings" at 4-6 East 70th Street and 3-5 West 69th Street.  He placed the cost of construction at $225,000, or about $3.47 million today.  

The New York Herald explained that there would be two separate houses, connected by a "two story structure in which where will be a court with a gallery on one side, with car room above."  The four-story 69th Street structure would house "a ball room, breakfast and dining rooms and guest rooms," said the article.  "The house on Seventieth street will be three stories high...It will contain a library, Mrs. Field's bed room, a nursery and a play room on the roof."  There was no mention of Marshall Field's bedroom.

As it turned out, the plans were greatly altered and only the 70th Street house, now five-and-a-half stories, was completed.  Adler's dignified neo-Georgian design was executed in red brick and trimmed in limestone.  Behind was a formal garden flanked by sheltering colonnades.

Carved busts sit within oval niches on the rear façade.  (original source unknown)

Evelyn Field was a shrewd operator when it came to finances.  In 1923 she took out a $2 million life insurance policy, the largest ever written for a woman in the United States.  On June 8 The New York Times explained, "The policy is said to have been taken out to take care of the inheritance tax, which in New York runs into huge amounts on large fortunes."

The article added, "Two years ago she negotiated a deal whereby she acquired a $2,000,000 estate at Lloyd's Neck, L.I., and recently completed one of the most luxurious country places in America, a main house containing approximately 200 rooms surrounded by some twenty-eight other buildings."  When Evelyn added to the property in July 1924, the New York Evening Post noted, "Mrs. Field's country estate is said to have the largest acreage of any private estate within commuting distance of New York City."

The Field country home.  from the collection of the Library of Congress.

Strangely enough, the Fields' new townhouse was rarely the scene of large entertaining.  But that may have had to do with worsening tensions between Marshall and Evelyn.  In February 1928 rumors flew of a "matrimonial rift," according to the Daily News.  The newspaper reported that the couple "issued a statement flatly denying the report."

Daily News, March 18, 1930

But when Evelyn leased a house for $700 a month in Reno, Nevada early in 1930, that rift seemed confirmed.  On March 18, 1930 the Daily News wrote, "When reached through her secretary at her town home, 4 East 70th st., Mrs. Field made no denial that the divorce soon will be launched."  Other than that, the secretary said, "she has no comment to make."

When a Daily News reporter tried to track down Evelyn or Marshall at the Long Island estate, a servant said that Evelyn was out of town.  As for Mr. Field, "He does not make his home here any longer, you know.  Oh, yes, Mrs. Field does."

The following year, on August 5, 1930, The New York Times reported that Evelyn had obtained a divorce "with every precaution possible in the Reno courts to insure secrecy."  Her petition charged "that her husband left her more than a year ago and that they have lived separately since that time."  The article said she would receive $1 million annually "for the care of herself and the children."

Rumors that Marshall Field was "paying attentions" to Audrey James Coats, "the daughter of a popular London hostess," prompted a reporter from The New York Times to undiplomatically ask Evelyn if they were true.  The newspaper said, "Mrs. Field refused to comment upon the report, merely stating that she knew nothing of her husband's plans."

Those rumors were put to rest four weeks after the divorce when Marshall married Audrey Coats.  The new Mrs. Field was the  goddaughter of King Edward VII and the widow of a British Army captain.  (Their marriage would be short-lived, ending in divorce in 1934.)

The title to the East 70th Street mansion had always been in Evelyn's name, and she continued using it as her Manhattan residence, at least temporarily.  On May 1, 1932 The New York Times reported on a benefit luncheon she hosted in the residence for the Maternity Centre Association.

It would be, perhaps, the last entertainment Evelyn would give in the mansion.  She sold it shortly afterward to a group that intended to form an elite social club.  On October 22 the Daily News announced, "The very exclusive River Club is to have an imitator and a probable rival in the Intown Country Club which is to occupy the several million dollar mansion at 4 East 70th St., formerly the home of Mrs. Evelyn Marshall Field."

"When Mrs. Field sold her gorgeous home last Spring, it was intimated that such a club would occupy it," said the article.  "The formal garden, which continues through to 69th St., is to be used as the site of an athletic building for use of club members.  And the mansions' twenty-eight master bedrooms (and baths) will be available for members stranded in town with no place else to go."  

Two months later, in its December 6, 1932 issue, Variety wrote, "Mrs. E. Marshall Field's town house at 4 East 70th street, New York, becomes a snooty club next spring...Among the plans for the club will be the conversion of the formal garden...into a Florida-temperature, all-year-round swimming pool.  It will be known as the Intown Country Club."  The house proper, said the article, "will be reconverted for spacious dining, lounge and play rooms."  Although the club was "chiefly Park avenue in its social promotion," Variety noted, "but Cole Porter, Freda Innescourt and Louise Trussing are among the theatrical personages interested."

As it turned out the Intown Country Club never got off the ground, the grandiose plans were not carried out, and the club never moved in.  Instead, on August 7, 1937 The New York Times reported, "Housewreckers began yesterday the task of razing the Marshall Field mansion at 4-8 East Seventieth Street, which several months ago was sold to a syndicate for two twelve-story apartment buildings."

The article lamented:

Many of the rooms are paneled with white pine and maple, in natural finish, which it is feared cannot be removed in such condition as to permit its use elsewhere.  In the library carved oak paneling was used, even in the ceiling, and the book stacks were of special design, only the uprights being permanently fixed.  The building was erected about eleven years ago at a cost of $400,000.

The 13-story replacement apartment building designed by Sylvan Bien survives.

photo via cityrealty.com

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The Lost Walter B. James Mansion - 7 East 70th Street

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

In 1818 Robert Lenox paid the Corporation of the City of New York $6,920 (about $176,000 in 2025) for 30 acres of land far north of the city.  He named his summer estate Lenox Farm.  In his will dated May 23, 1829, he admonished that his son should keep "the property from being sold."  James Lenox did (mostly) keep the property intact throughout his lifetime.  But in January 1870, he donated the Fifth Avenue blockfront between 70th and 71st Street for the site of a library--the Lenox Library.

In March 1895, the Lenox, Tilden, and Astor Libraries were consolidated, creating the New York Public Library.  Even before after its palatial building on Fifth Avenue was completed in 1911, plots within what the Record & Guide called "the Lenox Library block" were being sold.  The Sun mentioned, "The instructions of the trustees were that sales could only be made to parties who would improve for their own resident purposes."  (In other words, buyers could build only homes for their own occupancy on the plots.)

Industrialist Henry C. Frick was early to the party, purchasing the entire Fifth Avenue blockfront in 1907 in anticipation of his sprawling mansion.  In 1910, Cornelius Luyster Jr. completed a sumptuous residence on 70th Street, directly behind the Frick site.  On March 10 that year, The New York Times said a "half dozen" others were under construction on the block.

In 1913, a glimpse of the Frick mansion can be seen.  Between the Luyster and Walter Jennings mansions sits the last vacant lot.  from the collection of the New York Public Library.

On February 26, 1914, the Engineering News reported that Trowbridge & Livingston had completed plans for "a six-story brick and limestone residence at 9 East 70th St., for Mrs. Helen I. James."  (The confusing numbering on the block--including the skipping of numbers--was soon corrected giving the James plot the address of 7.)  The Record & Guide said it would contain "21 bed rooms, 2 elevators, to cost $100,000."  (The construction cost would translate to about $32.4 million today.)

Helen Goodsell James was the wife of Dr. Walter Belknap James.  (It was common among affluent couples to place the titles of their domestic real estate in the names of the wives.  The owner of record, therefore, was Helen.)  

Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1858, James graduated from Yale in 1879 and from the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1883.  He immediately became a clinical lecturer at Columbia.  Walter and Helen had three children, Eunice Coe, Helen G., and Oliver Burr. 

As construction neared completion on May 8, 1915, the Record & Guide called the James mansion, "one of the largest private houses in the city," and said, 

This house is seven stories in height, with basement and attic, and in height is second only to John D. Rockefeller's house in West 54th street...The building itself occupies a plot 41 by 90 feet.  Its facade is of granite and limestone, elaborately carved.

Trowbridge & Livingston produced a dignified Renaissance Revival-style mansion.  Above the trio of fully arched ground floor openings, the windows of the second floor (or piano nobile) were fronted with stone balustrades and capped with Renaissance-inspired triangular pediments.  The two top floors, behind a stone balustrade, formed a steep mansard.  The windows of the fifth floor were capped with arched pediments.

The James family maintained a sprawling country estate in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island.  

This aerial view of the James estate and mansion in Cold Springs Harbor was taken on March 16, 1947.  from the collection of the New York State Archives.

The winter social season of 1916-17 saw daughter Helen's introduction to society.  Debutante entertainments often continued for weeks and on February 17, 1917 The New York Times reported, "Mrs. Walter B. James gave a small dance at her residence, 7 East Seventieth Street, for her debutante daughter, Miss Helen James, guests being chiefly debutantes of the season and the young dancing men."

Focus turned to Oliver later that year.  On November 22, The Evening Post reported that invitations had been issued to the wedding of Oliver B. James to Angeline J. Krech.  The article mentioned, "Mr. James is training with the aviation section of the Signal Corps."  The ceremony took place in St. Bartholomew's Church on November 28 and the couple moved into the East 70th Street mansion.

from left to right are the Frick, Luyster and James mansions.  Real Estate Record & Guide, May 8, 1915 (copyright expired)

By then, Helen James had been highly involved in war relief efforts for months.  On January 1, 1917, The New York Times reported, "Many prominent people filled the ballroom in the house of Mrs. Walter B. James, at 7 East Seventieth Street, yesterday, in the interest of the Comité Franco-Americain pour la Protection des Enfants de la Frontière, with headquarters in Paris."  The article said, "Appeals for little children of France made orphans and homeless by the war induced a small group of women to offer to support fifty children for one year."

Five months later, on May 16, The Times reported, "Sixty-one orphans of the battle of the Marne found foster-parents at the home of Mrs. Walter B. James...when each member of the New York Committee of the Fatherless Children of France pledged herself to 'adopt' one more fatherless children."  (The adoptions were financial, rather than actual.)

Eunice was introduced to society during the winter season of 1919-20.  On November 26, 1919, her parents hosted a dance for her in the house.  The Sun reported, "There was general dancing during the evening, and at midnight supper was served.  The guests, about 500 in number, included young married couples, debutantes, and young men in society."  The article listed among the guests some of New York's most socially illustrious names, including Grace and Cornelia Vanderbilt, Emily Sloane Hammond, Katharine Mackay, M. Millicent Rogers, Katherine Bliss, and A. Routh Ogden.

Even with the war over, Helen continued her relief efforts.  She could, however, begin hosting solely social gatherings.  On January 7, 1920, for instance, the New-York Tribune announced, "Mrs. Walter B. James will give an afternoon musicale to-day at her home, 7 East Seventieth Street."

On November 16, 1922, Walter and Helen announced Eunice's engagement to Henry E. Coe, Jr. and Katherine's engagement to Herman D. Boker.  (Katherine's wedding to Boker would not come to pass.  She later married Henry Burrill Anderson.)

Eunice and Henry Coe, Jr. were married in the mansion on April 19, 1923.  An at-home wedding did not imply a small affair.  The New York Times reported that Eunice had "eighteen young people" as her attendants.  The article noted, "Mr. and Mrs. Coe are sailing shortly and will travel in Europe for several months."

Years after the end of World War I, Helen James was still working for the benefit of French victims.  On January 12, 1923, for instance, The New York Times reported that she had sponsored the exhibition and sale of articles "made by French people who have been deprived of their means of support through the war." 

Dr. Walter Belnap James.  from the collection of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Walter James occasionally had private time.  On January 11, 1924, The New York Evening Post reported, "Dr. Walter B. James will leave this week for Jekyl [sic] Island, Ga."  Jekyll Island was purchased in 1886 by the male-only Jekyll Island Club, which Munsey's Magazine deemed, "the richest, the most exclusive, the most inaccessible club in the world."  At the time of the Evening Post article, James was president of the club.

In March 1927, James suffered a heart attack while at Jekyll Island.  The New York Times reported, "His relatives were summoned to the club but he improved sufficiently to be removed to his home here."  He died in the mansion on April 6.  

The estate of Dr. Walter B. James was reported as being "about $2,000,000," according to The New York Times (around 18 times that much in today's money).  On April 19, The Times said his will, "makes substantial bequests to three colleges, a sanitarium and a biological association."  Helen received all the real estate, personal effects like furniture, jewelry, etc., and one half of the remaining estate.  The three children shared equally in the other half.

Oliver and his family were still in residence with his mother at the time.  He and Angeline would have five children, Angeline Pool, Helen, Walter Belnap, Oliver Jr., and R. Campbell (known familiarly as Zup). 

In 1930, Helen purchased a second lavish summer home, Aspen Hall, on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island from John Aspegrens and his wife.  Helen renamed it Rockhurst.

Rockhurst.  from the collection of the DeGolyer Library of the Southern Methodist University.

Helen Jennings James died in the 70th Street mansion on August 15, 1946 at the age of 86.  In reporting her death, The New York Times recalled that she was the niece of William Rockefeller and a descendant of Isaac Jennings, a settler of Hartford, Connecticut.  

At the time of Helen's death, the Frick mansion had been operating as a museum--the Frick Collection--for eleven years.  In 1940 the museum purchased 9 East 70th Street "and converted it to a wartime storage area," according to The New York Times, and following Helen James's death, it purchased 7 East 70th Street.  The museum leased it to The Asia Institute.

Founded in 1928 as the Iranian Institute, the organization was formed with the goal of "furthering the knowledge of Oriental culture and civilization."  On September 21, 1947, The New York Times reported that the institute "will move to larger quarters at 7 East Seventieth Street in time for registration for the fall semester."  The Asia Institute could now boast "the largest faculty on Chinese studies in the United States and one of the largest in the world."

In 1941, East 70th Street was lined with sumptuous mansions.  The Frick mansion is the short structure at the left, and the James residence is two doors away, behind the automobile.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

The institute opened in December 1947.  Asian art was displayed on the ground floor, including "Gandhara and Khmer sculpture, Chinese and Indian rugs, Persian carpets, miniatures and ceramics," according to The Times on December 9.  The second floor housed the library and a gallery of Persian art.  The New York Times reported, "The third floor houses the art of India, Indonesia and the Zimmer Memorial Library."  The upper floors held classrooms, "each decorated in the style of the region to be studied," and the administrative offices.

On November 23, 1949, Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, the Shah of Iran, opened "an impressive exhibit of Persian art treasure" here, as described by The New York Times.  The Shah was accompanied by "an entourage of fifteen persons."

At the time of the exhibition, The Asia Institute was in serious financial trouble.  On February 23, 1950, The Times reported, "Unless $50,000 is raised by Wednesday, the Asia Institute at 7 East Seventieth Street...will go out of existence."  While the institute managed to survive, it was forced to leave the former James mansion.

In 1952, the Frick Collection demolished the structure "for an expanded service area," according to The New York Times.  Just over a decade later, in 1973, the site of the James mansion became part of the museum's plan to create a 100-foot-square garden and terrace.

photo by Navid Baraty, from the collection of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

The Lost Marion P. Brookman Mansion - 5 East 70th Street

 

By the time of this photograph, the upper two floors had been remodeled.  from the collection of the Library of Congress

In 1900, ground was broken for the New York Public Library building on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets.  It would make the Lenox Library, on Fifth Avenue between 70th and 71st Streets, obsolete.  As early as 1907 plots on what was called "the Lenox Block" were being purchased.

On March 10, 1910, The New York Times reported that Cornelius Luyster, Jr. had sold "the new six-story fireproof residence now nearing completion at 7 East Seventieth Street."  (The confusing numbering on the block, including some skipped numbers, was soon corrected and this mansion became 5 East 70th Street.)  Marion Prentice Brookman purchased the house for $275,000, or about $9.37 million in 2025.

Designed by Warren & Wetmore in the neo-Louis XV style, the mansion was faced in limestone.  Above the rusticated base, sturdy stone balconies fronted the tall French windows of the second floor, or piano nobile.  The top two floors took the form of a high, slate-shingled mansard with two arched dormers.

Marion Prentice Brookman was the widow of Henry D. Brookman, who died on February 19, 1895.  Born in New Hampshire in 1836, she was the daughter of John Hill Prentice and the former Sara Nichols Davis.  She and Henry had three children, Henry Prentice, Marion, and Sarah.

Moving into the mansion with Marion were daughter Marion and her husband, Amory Sibley Carhart, their 13-year-old son Amory Jr. and their 10-year-old daughter, Marion Renée.  Carhart was a director of the Union Trust Company of New York and the People's Trust Company of Brooklyn.  

The original appearance of the upper floors can be seen in this 1915 photograph.  Record & Guide, May 8, 1915 (copyright expired)

In 1912, Marion's six-year-old grandson, John Vanneck moved in.  John was the son of Sarah Brookman and John Torrance Vanneck.  Sarah died in Cannes, France in 1908 and John Torrance Vanneck died there on February 22, 1912.  Marion Prentice Brookman was made guardian of the little boy.

On May 12, 1912, The Sun reported that John Vanneck had inherited a $1 million trust fund from his father's estate.  He would receive one-fifth of the funds when he reached the age of 25, and would receive the income from the rest throughout his life.

Just a month after John Torrance Vanneck's death, on March 18, 1912 Amory Sibley Carhart died in the mansion at the age of 60.  In reporting his death, The New York Times remarked, "He was commander of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States and a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants.  He was also Lieutenant Governor of the Society of Colonial Wars."

Marion P. Brookman found herself the guardian of three youngsters in 1917.  Marion Brookman Carhart died here at the age of 52 on October 1, 1917.  Amory Carhart, Jr. and Marion Renée, along with John Venneck, were all now under her direct care.  

In May 1918, Marion hired architects Lord & Hewlett to make alterations to the mansion.  They remodeled the sloping, two-story mansard into two distinct levels--a vertical-faced fifth floor and a less dramatic mansard with dormers.

Amory S. Carhart, Jr. was married to Isadora Bliss on June 15, 1918.  The 21-year-old groom brought his bride back to 5 East 70th Street to live.

Amory Sibley Carhart, Jr. (original source unknown)

At the time, Marion Renée was 18.  She went out on the evening of March 11, 1918 wearing a pearl necklace valued at $5,000 (about $104,000 today).  A week later, she intended to wear it again, but found it missing.  The mystery seems to have never been solved.  The Sun reported, "In the Brookman home there are eight servants, but none of these is suspected, as all have been with the family for a number of years."

During the following winter season, Marion Brookman introduced her granddaughter to society.  The entertainments began with a reception in the mansion on December 9, 1919.  The New-York Tribune noted, "Since the death of her mother, Mrs. Amory S. Carhart, Miss Carhart and her brother and sister-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Amory Sibley Carhart, have made their home with Mrs. Brookman."  

Now officially an adult, Marion Renée embarked on an extensive trip to Europe.  On April 15, 1921, the New-York Tribune reported, "Mrs. Henry D. Brookman gave a luncheon and reception yesterday afternoon at her home, 5 East Seventieth Street, for her granddaughter, Miss Marion R. Carhart, who returned recently from Europe.  The guests included the debutantes of last winter and the usual dancing men."

Marion Prentice Brookman was 83 years old at the time, and among her domestic staff was Marie Gruner, her companion.  On July 18, 1921, Marie sued Adolph Levi for $25,000 for breach of promise.  She had waited two years for her intended husband to set a date and finally lost patience.

The Brookman mansion is on the left.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

On October 25, 1923, Marion announced Marion Renée's engagement to George S. Amory.  The 28-year-old groom-to-be graduated from Cornell in 1916 and served in the army during World War I.  The wedding took place in the East 70th Street mansion on January 12, 1924.  The New York Times reported, "After the wedding Mr. Amory and his bride will sail on Jan. 16 on the Paris to make their home in Copenhagen, Denmark."

Marion Prentice Brookman died in the mansion on June 20, 1925.  She left an estate of $5.4 million, or about $94 million today.  The New York Times reported, "Her house, valued at $261,700, including the furnishings, and a life estate of $2,119,020, were left to John Vanneck."  The 19-year-old had also inherited an annual income of $42,000 from the estate of his uncle, John U. Brookman in addition to the trust fund left to him by his parents.  The Times said he had "an income of more than $200,000 yearly."  That figure would translate to $3.5 million today.

Despite the social protocol that demanded a year-long period of mourning for his grandmother, five months after Marion's death, on November 14, 1925, The New York Times reported, "John Vanneck gave a dinner party last night at his home, 5 East Seventieth Street, for Miss Marie Louise McClellan and Thomas F. Joyce, Jr., whose engagement was recently announced."

A year later, on October 1, 1926, The Times reported on Vanneck's engagement to Mary Atwell.  "The engagement is interesting as Mr. Venneck ranks as one of the wealthiest young bachelors in the United States," said the article.  The marriage would not come to be, however.  Two months later, Mary's father, George J. Atwell, announced that the engagement had been broken.  "Mr. Vanneck insisted upon an immediate marriage.  My daughter did not wish the wedding to take place until Mr. Vanneck becomes of age on January 15, and until her sister...who is now at the McLean School of Travel in Paris, and her brother, George J. Atwell Jr., a student at Oxford, could reach New York for the ceremony."  John Vanneck would not bend and the engagement was broken.

Eight months earlier, in April, John Vanneck sold 5 East 70th Street to George Dunton Widener, Jr. and his wife, the former Jessie Sloane Dodge.  Born in 1889, George came from the Widener family of Philadelphia, once ranked among the wealthiest families in America.  He and Jessie maintained a 450-acre summer estate, Erdenheim Farm, outside the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.

George Widener was a director of the Electric Storage Battery Company and of the Provident National Bank in Philadelphia.  His passion, however, was horse racing.  He raised thoroughbreds at Erdenheim Farm.  His horses won 1,243 races throughout his lifetime, earning more than $9 million in winnings.  

Jessie was the daughter of Henry T. Sloane and Jessie Robbins.  George was her second husband.  She was formerly married to William Earl Dodge IV, whom she divorced.  She and George were married in 1917.

The Wideners entertained regularly in the mansion.  On February 10, 1929, for instance, The New York Times reported, "Mr. and Mrs. George D. Widener gave a small dinner followed by a dance, to which additional guests came, last night, at 5 East Seventieth Street, for Miss Elsie Wilmerding, debutante daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Elbert F. Wilmerding."

George and Jessie Widener.  image via encyclpedia-titanic.org

The Wideners traveled to Florida each winter for the Hialeah horse racing season.  They were there in January 1968 when Jessie was hospitalized at the Miami Heart Institute.  She died there two weeks later, on March 11, at the age of 84.

George Widener continued to occupy the East 70th Street mansion and Erdenheim Farm attended to by his domestic staff.  He died at Erdenheim Farm on December 8, 1971 at the age of 82.  In reporting his death, the Detroit Free Press called him, "one of the foremost breeders and racers of thoroughbreds in America."

The Frick Collection, housed in the former Henry Clay Frick mansion since January 1935, purchased 5 East 70th Street.  On June 15, 1973, Carter B. Horsley, architectural critic of The New York Times, reported on the Frick Collection's plans to create a garden and terrace.  "The site of the garden includes the former George D. Widener House...which the museum acquired last year and plans to demolish."

The demolition was delayed by pleas from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which suggested that the Frick Collection repurpose the mansion as an extension of the museum.  Then, on July 9, Horsley reported that demolition was imminent.  On its site and the two adjacent lots, the Frick Collection's 100-square-foot garden was established.

The 1901 Theodore Luling House - 118 East 70th Street

Theodore W. Luling, born in 1875, was admitted to the banking firm of the Fifth Avenue Trust Co. in 1898.  He was, as well, a director in the large dry goods firm James H. Dunham & Co.   John H. Dunham was the father of Luling's wife, Grace Louise Lathrop Dunham.  The couple were living with the Dunhams in their comfortable rowhouse at No. 37 East 36th Street at the time.

It was most likely the arrival of their first child, Rosamund Elena, on November 23, 1899, that prompted the couple's search for a new home.  In June 1900 they purchased the old three-story brownstone house at No. 118 East 70th Street from the estate of David Babcock. 

The block between Lexington and Park Avenues had recently seen an influx of moneyed families; several of whom transformed the outdated Victorian houses into modern, upscale residences.  The price the Lulings paid for the property, about $660,000 in today's dollars, reflects the growing exclusivity of the block.   As was common at the time, the title was put in Grace's name.

The Lulings hired the architectural team of Trowbridge & Livingston to remodel the house--adding a floor, and expanding the building to the front and rear.  The extensive renovations would cause a standoff of sorts between the architects and the Department of Buildings.

According to the New-York Tribune, "The plans for the improvements were submitted to the Department, and as they called for the practical rebuilding of the structure the architect was told to file plans for a new building."   On September 15 the architects submitted the revised plans--now calling for a completely new structure.

It may be that the Lulings were reticent to advertise what they were paying for what had become an extremely expensive project; but for whatever reason when the Department official asked the Trowbridge & Livingston associate to insert the construction costs, which had been left blank, he refused.  The Tribune reported "He refused to fill in the cost at first, but on being told that his plans would otherwise be rejected he placed the cost at $100."  To this day the construction cost on record for No. 118 East 70th Street is a mere $100.

The 20-foot wide neo-Federal style residence was completed in 1901.  With no stoop hogging real estate, the architects could have pulled the facade to the property line, thereby increasing interior floor space.   Instead they used the former entrance to the basement as a fenced areaway which contributed to the stately tone of the house.

The entrance of the five-story residence sat with a planar limestone base.  Leaded sidelights flanking the single door and an over-sized fanlight admitted sunlight into the foyer.  A full-width iron balcony fronted the pair of French doors at the second floor, the tympana of which were decorated with delicate carved wreaths and ribbons.  Burned headers of the Flemish bond brickwork, splayed lintels and double keystones added to the colonial flavor of the style.  The top floor took the form of a steep mansard above a stone cornice.

It appears that one of Grace's maids came up with a clever way of seeing the world; or at least of getting free passage on a liner.  On June 2, 1902 her advertisement appeared in the New-York Tribune:

Maid--A young, intelligent girl, going to Europe, desires position as maid to ladies or children while crossing.  Apply to H. Sullivan.  118 East 70th-st.

If Miss Sullivan was unsuccessful in finding children to tend to on the Atlantic, she would have had a newborn to take care of on 70th Street.  Theodore Dunham Luling was born on October 30, 1902.

Four months later the Lulings hired architect H. Davis Ives to design a two-story addition in the rear.  This time the architect and the Department of Buildings did not butt heads.  Ives filled in the construction costs at $5,000--around $145,000 today.

The Lulings had a summer estate in Ridgefield, Connecticut when the 70th Street house was constructed.  By 1905 they had a "villa" in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  And while they continued to maintain that home at least through 1908, on August 6, 1905 The New York Times reported that they were building in Lenox, as well.

"Theodore W. Luling of New York, who last season bought a fine building site on the Cone estate, is preparing to build a costly Summer residence.  Plans have already been prepared.  Mr. and Mrs. Luling are in Stockbridge for the Summer."

Interestingly, while Theodore and Grace were busy with  summer estates and garden parties, they appear to have been highly interested in the education of black children, as well.  At the time both were writing back and forth with Booker T. Washington.  While Washington enjoyed the patronage of several Manhattan philanthropists--John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and Collis Huntington among them--the relationship between him and the Lulings appears have been personal.

Following the formation of the Union of South Africa, E. B. Sargant was appointed South African Commissioner of Education by Lord Milner.  Charged with developing a "system of Public School education among the natives," he turned to Grace Luling to help in connecting with Washington for advice.  Grace enclosed a list of Sargant's questions in a letter to the author and educator, which he answered.   On February 12, 1909 she followed up, sending Washington a letter saying in part that "Mr. Sargant has successfully accomplished this work."

The Lulings sold No. 118 in September 1910 to Francis Leonard Kellogg and his wife, the former Emilie Baker.  The couple paid the equivalent of $1.3 million for the house.

The Kelloggs had three sons and a daughter; Alexander, John, F. Leonard Jr., and Virginia.  F. Leonard Kellogg had graduated from Princeton University in 1894 as an electrical engineer.  By now he managed the Electric Storage Battery Company, and was a member of the prestigious Ivy Club of Princeton, the Union Club and the University Club.

Emilie was an accomplished artist, having studied at the Art Students' League as a teenager.  She now immersed herself in charitable causes, like the vaudeville entertainment at Sherry's in December 1912 for the benefit of the Convalescent Home for Babies.

The Sun reported that one act, which involved children, also relied on Emilie's artistic bent.  "A series of Dickens tableaux in which young people will pose after illustrations of Cruikshank will be given under the direction of Mrs. F. Leonard Kellogg and will be accompanied by English glee songs."

On August 22, 1916 the funeral of Francis's widowed mother, Josephine Kellogg, was held in the house.  Five years later, in November 1921, it was the scene of the funeral of Emilie's father, William Edgar Baker.

Much happier events would come as the children neared adulthood.  The winter season of 1927 saw Virginia's debutante entertainments, the first of which was "a large luncheon," as described in The New York Times on December 9, at the Savoy-Plaza.  The extensive guest list inluded the daughters of some of Manhattan's most prominent families.

Virginia's education reflected her privileged upbringing.  She had graduated from the exclusive Spence School, and later studied at the Miss Sheldon and Miss Nixon's School in Florence, Italy.  Like most debutantes, she was a member of the Junior League.

On June 15, 1928 the house was the scene of a double wedding.  Virginia was a bridesmaid for her cousins Josephine Leonard Kellogg Reeve and Imogen Jewell Kellogg Reeve.  The engagements of sisters had been announced just weeks apart and now they were married together in the Kellogg house.

F. Leonard Kellogg retired in 1929 after two decades with Electric Storage Battery Company.  Two years later, on New Year's Day 1931, he and Emilie announced Virginia's engagement to William Kemble.  The New York Times noted "Both Miss Kellogg and her fiancé come of distinguished ancestry," reminding readers that her great-grandfather was Cornelius Baker, the philanthropist and founder of New York University.

Virginia's wedding took place in Bedford Village, New York, where the family maintained their country home.  It was there on December 20, 1941 that F. Leonard Kellogg died at the age of 74.

Francis L. Kellogg, Jr. would go on to an illustrious career.  He would serve as special assistant to two Secretaries of State, William P. Rogers and Henry A. Kissinger, earning him the title of Ambassador.  He was also chairman of the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and head of the United States Delegation to the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration in Geneva.

Emlie Kellogg sold the 70th Street house in the mid-1940's.  It was home to Mrs. Charlotte Coursay Kulka in 1948.   She was the victim of 38-year old George Feld, called the "Celluloid Burglar" by newspapers because he favored motion picture actresses as his targets.   He was arrested after breaking into the apartment of actress, comedienne and actress Gertrude Neison on October 16 that year and making off with $10,000 worth of jewelry.   The grand jury charged him at the same time with burglarizing the homes of actress Gene Tierney, Kay Long, and Charlotte Coursay Kulka.

While many of the mansions on the 70th Street block were converted to apartments in latter part of the 20th century, No. 118 remained a private house.  It was purchased by the multi-talented director, screen writer, actor and musician Woody Allen in 2005 for $22.62 million.

Outwardly, the home which the Theodore and Grace Luling never really intended to build essentially unchanged.

photographs by the author