A House with a Past -- No. 266 West End Avenue



photo trulia.com

As French chateaux and Italian palazzi rose on the east side of Central Park in the 1890s, the west side was filling with whimsical Queen Anne row houses overflowing with gables, turrets and stained glass bay windows. For No. 266 West End Avenue, however, architect Rudolphe Daus designed a restrained French Renaissance residence that could easily be a home with its across-the-park contemporaries.

The Mexican-born architect was trained in the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts and had worked in the studios of both Richard Morris Hunt and George B. Post. His works would include the impressive Hoffman House Hotel, the Lincoln Club and Brooklyn’s 13th Regiment Armory.

Built for wealthy wine importer Julius N. Jaros, the 28-foot wide limestone home was completed in 1896. A juliette balcony at the third floor and another, full-length pierced and carved limestone balcony on the fourth floor added dimension to the otherwise flat façade. An especially lacy dormer rose from the tiled roof and elaborate carvings extended the entrance above the second story level.

photo trulia.com

The interior was lavishly decorated with French panels, ceiling and wall paintings, and carved woodwork. Stenciled panels nestled among a beamed dining room ceiling.

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Ten years later the house became the property of Peter Doelger. The son of a successful brewer, Doelger lived here with his wife Charlotte and daughter Phoebe. In 1909 teas and receptions were hosted here as Phoebe entered society as a debutante.

On the day after Christmas in 1912, Doelger had the deed to the property transferred to his wife’s name.

“Yes, I thought Mrs. Doelger would like the house so I gave it to her for Christmas,” he told reporters. At the time the house was assessed at $70,000.

As World War I was coming to a close the mansion was home to Misha E. Applebaum and his wife, Irma. Born in Russia, Applebaum made his fortune as a copper and metals merchant but became famous by founding The Humanitarian Cult. The Cult, which held meetings in the house at No. 266, was a somewhat Socialist organization that fought for a variety of social causes including the fight against capital punishment, poverty, the war, and for women’s suffrage. Instead of dues or membership fees, aspiring members were directed to pay grocers’ and butchers’ bills for impoverished families.

Irma sued Applebaum for divorce in 1917 on the grounds of mental cruelty and two years later the house was sold. Subsequently, Applebaum married singer Helen Yorke in April of 1920 and later that year, in October, the couple were poisoned with bichloride of mercury. While the new Mrs. Applebaum recovered quickly, Misha was near death for some time.

Having spent over $650,000 of his own money for The Humanitarian Cult causes, Applebaum was in serious financial condition and in 1921 began a vaudeville act in an attempt to pay off his creditors.

By the 1930s, Beverly West, the sister of Mae West, was living in the house. West End Avenue lore insists that the screen and stage siren was also living here at the time, and quite possibly it is true. Certainly the interiors were of Miss West’s taste, mirroring her Los Angeles apartment that dripped with rococo curls and nude floating cherubs.

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A decade later architect Harry Hurwit sympathetically renovated the building which had, by then, been converted to apartments. In 1948 there was a doctor’s office and apartment on the first floor, an apartment on the second and two apartments each on the remaining floors.

The proposed restored entranceway -- rendering provided by Andrew J. Hickes (Rendering.net)

In 2004 plastic surgeon and filmmaker Todd Wider purchased the house for $1.2 million and began a long-term project to return it to a private residence. Amazingly, after 60 years of life as an apartment house, the interior detailing, the ceiling paintings and carved mantles, the oak staircase are all intact. When the renovation is complete the Jaros house will again have a ballroom, library and conservatories; although 21st Century touches like radiant heating, an elevator and a sauna and steam room will also be included.

The house today during renovation (left) and a detail of the proposed restored entrance -- renderings provided by Andrew J. Hickes (Rendering.net)

The charming house with an interesting past was put on the market in 2010 for $30 million.

N.Y. County National Bank Building - 14th Street and 8th Avenue

On September 21, 1902 depositors in the New York County National Bank grew nervous.  The bank showed a deficit of $43,250 and its reserves were wiped out.

Bank president Francis L. Leland, however, refused to allow his bank to crash. Leland’s father, Francis Sr., had been president from 1857 until his death in 1885. The New York County National Bank was essentially a family business.

Extraordinary carved detail in the entranceway -- photo by Alice Lum

Within four years Leland’s bank had recovered so well that a new, imposing structure was planned for the southwest corner of 14th Street and 8th Avenue -- directly opposite of the classical white marble New York Savings Bank on the northwest corner.

The bank’s board selected the architectural firm of DeLemos & Cordes to design their new headquarters. The firm was responsible for the magnificent Siegel-Cooper Dry Goods Store and the Adams Dry Goods Store on 6th Avenue, and for the beautiful new Macy’s Department Store on 34th Street. Rudolph L. Daus, a graduate of the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts, was given the project.

photo NYPL Collection

Daus produced a limestone-clad neo-classical temple with Beaux-Arts touches. Enormous Corinthian columns support the majestic entranceway above a short flight of steps where a recessed arch rises the equivalent of three-stories. In the pediment above, a striking vigilant eagle in near full-relief cranes its neck beyond the cornice-line.

Four arched windows on the 14th Street side match the entrance.  Separated by Cornithian pilasters, each window arch incorporates classical pseudo-doorways where Daus included in the ornamentation caduceuses – so often associated with the medical profession – as a reference to Mercury, the god of commerce.

The two Roman temples, each commanding a corner of 14th Street and 8th Avenue, created an imposing composition; what the AIA Guide to New York City called “A rare occurrence for this city; a pair of classically inspired sentinels guarding the western corridor of 14th Street.”

Francis Leland died in 1916 and five years later the bank was taken over. The New York Times reported on November 8, 1921 “Louis G. Kaufman, President of the Chatham and Phoenix National Bank, announced yesterday that his institution has purchased control of the old New York County National Bank at Eighth Avenue and Fourteenth Street…” and that “the old New York County National Bank will not lose its identity wholly.”

photo Alice Lum

The bank did lose its identity wholly, however, in the 1930s when it was absorbed by Manufacturers Trust Co., later to be renamed Manufacturers Hanover Trust in the mid 1960s. The institution used the building until it merged with Chemical Bank in 1994. Afterwards the monumental building sat empty until it was briefly used as a theatre. Then, in 1999, Lee Harris of Hudson River Studios and John Reimnitz converted the space for Nickel, a men’s spa created by Philippe Dumont; and designed an addition for residential apartments.

Rudolph Daus’ impressive limestone bank was designed a New York City Landmark in 1988.