170 Years of Remodeling - 19 West 26th Street

By the early 1850's the Joseph Giraud family lived at No. 19 West 26th Street on a block lined with similar brick or brownstone homes near the fashionable Madison Square.  Giraud had married Sarah M. Goodrich in 1815.  The couple had at least three children, Elisa Ann (who married Dr. Dudley P. Arnold on September 2, 1825), Susan M., and John G.  It is unclear exactly when Joseph died, but he left an estate estimated at $148,000--in the neighborhood of $4.5 million today.

Following Susan's marriage to Alexander H. Grant, the couple remained in the house.  Among his other positions Grant was a director in the Grocers' Fire Insurance Company.  

In the summer of 1854 Susan fell ill with what The New York Times called a "severe illness."  She declined rapidly and died on the morning of August 29 at the age of 33.  Her funeral was held in the house three days later.

Sarah Giraud seems to have seriously considered selling the house two years later.  In April 1856 Anthony Bleecker, one of the city's best known auctioneers, announced he would auction "at No. 19 West 26th-street, opposite Trinity Chapel, the catalogue comprising the unusual variety of very costly furniture of recent make and nearly new."  But then on the scheduled day of the auction an announcement appeared in the Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer advising "The Sale of Elegant Household Furniture" had been postponed.

John G. Giraud died on September 6, 1862 at the age of 39.  Newspapers reported that the funeral would be held "from the residence of his mother, No. 19 West 26th st., without further invitation."

The end of the line for the residence as a single family home came when Sarah died at the age of 77 on December 9 the following year.  As had been the case with the other family members, her funeral was held in the parlor.

Three months later, on March 31, 1864 The New York Times reported that the "house and lot" had been sold for $23,550--or about $483,000 today.  It was soon being operated as a high-end boarding house.

Among the first boarders was Edward Mott Robinson and his 30-year old daughter Henrietta, known familiarly as Hettie.    The Robinson family was the wealthiest whaling family in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Edward being the head of the Isaac Howland whaling firm.  But following the death of his wife, Abby, he sold off his interest in the company and became a partner in a New York shipping firm.

But on June 14, 1865, less than a year after they moved into No. 19, Robinson died.  Hetty inherited his $6 million estate.  Three months later her aunt, Sylvia Ann Howland, died, leaving Hetty another $2 million (a total windfall of $127 million in today's dollars).  Hetty was now one of the wealthiest women in America.  She married Edward Henry Green in 1867 and would become famous nationwide for her miserly ways in later years.

The rooms in No. 19 were advertised as being "In one of the most healthy and convenient localities in the city."  The upscale tenor of the boarding house was evidenced when the former proprietor of one of Manhattan's classiest hotels took over.

On September 28, 1875 an advertisement in The New York Herald read: "Mr. Lachenmeyer, formerly of Grand Hotel, having taken house No. 19 West Twenty-sixth street, can accommodate one or two families with elegantly furnished rooms (connecting if desired) and Board and attendance equal to any first class hotel."

The first of several alterations came after Michael Bergmann purchased the house.  He leased it to T. W. Dempter as proprietor, who in turn hired architect F. A. Greenough to make significant renovations.  His plans, filed on January 5, 1886, called for "front and internal alterations" at a cost of about $27,500 by today's standards.

Then only two years later Bergmann commissioned the architectural firm of Berger & Baylies to renovate the house to a "clubhouse."  Their plans included an addition to the rear.  The conversion spoke of the changes to the once-exclusive neighborhood.

On March 9, 1891 The Evening World announced "There will be a pool match, this evening, at the Madison billiard and pool parlors 19 West Twenty-sixth street, between P. H. Walan, champion of the State and the winner of the last two professional tournaments, and W. Murray, champion of the city of Brooklyn."  

Another major alteration came in 1895.  That year Bergmann once again repurposed the former house.  Architect George A. Schellinger removed the facade and replaced it with a front of Roman brick and limestone designed, for the most part, in the Renaissance Revival style.   The openings of each floor above the two-story storefront were treated differently.  Those of the third and fourth floors wore stylized Gibbs surrounds that complimented the quoins which ran up the sides.  The fifth floor sat above a slightly-projecting stone cornice; its arched windows framed by paneled Doric pilasters.

The top three floors now held rented rooms.  Phillip Wassung hoped to lease the storefront but the Board of Alderman dashed those plans.  On March 2, 1895 The New York Times reported that the board had denied Wassung's application "for a saloon license in the building 19 West Twenty-sixth Street, because the place adjoined Trinity Chapel School.  The application was opposed by the Trinity Church corporation."  Somehow, however, James Helde managed to squirm around the licensing problem.  Later that year The Evening World reported that rowdies were throwing bricks or rocks at the windows of Helde's saloon.

Robert B. Dedman got a job as a porter in the building that year.  He had the unenviable job of identifying the body of a friend, 27-year old Mamie Needab on April 1, 1896.  She had come to New York from Virginia at the beginning of the year and found work as a domestic in a house on Sixth Avenue.  

On April 2 The Evening World reported that police "had their dragnets out last night searching for a clue to the identity of the young colored woman whose mutilated body was found in front of the New York Bank Note Company's Building, Waverly place and Sixth avenue," three days earlier.  The article said that Dedman and Bemous Spruiedell, "both colored, called at the Morgue this afternoon and positively identified the body of the murdered girl."  It added "The last time the men saw her was at a cake walk at the Madison Square Garden."

One of the rented rooms was being used as an office in the fall of 1896; and it was the scene of a high-profile raid on October 1.  The New York Times reported that Joseph Ullman, "the greatest bookmaker in the United States;" his brother Alexander, "who is a plunger at the race tracks," Archibald C. Chandler and his assistant Frederick Fisher, "were arrested yesterday afternoon at 19 West Twenty-sixth Street in a room in which was found a great amount of evidence that convinces Anthony Comstock...that he can easily prove a violation of the law against gambling."  

Anthony Comstock was the secretary of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and well-known to all New Yorkers for his indefatigable battle against obscene literature, gambling, prostitution and phony medicines.  He had been stalking "Joe" Ullman since he arrived from St. Louis.  The Times said "The Comstock agents who were on the trail of Mr. Ullman in this city fixed upon 19 West Twenty-sixth Street as the base of his operations."

Living here in 1898 was the actor Robert Hilliard and his wife.  When Hilliard came home around 9:00 on the evening of April 16, his wife told him that the janitor, William Jackson, "had been insolent to her."  Hillard called Jackson upstairs and asked for an explanation.

"Instead of explaining, Jackson swore in loud tones in the presence of Mrs. Hilliard," reported The Times, "and told her husband that he could go to the devil...Mr. Hilliard declared war at once and knocked the negro down by a blow."  It appeared to Hilliard that Jackson was reaching for some sort of weapon in his hip pocket, and he struggled with the man to prevent him from getting it.  After Jackson went back downstairs, Hilliard went to the West 13th Street Police Station.  But because it was Saturday, the actor was told that Jackson could not be arrested until Monday when Hilliard would be able to swear out a warrant. 

"Then, if that's the case," declared Hilliard, "I'll go and buy a gun.  I don't propose to have a drunken janitor around that house all night."  And so he did.

When he returned home Jackson was barring the doorway.  After Hilliard called Policeman Callan the janitor disappeared inside.  The officer told Hilliard to stand at the foot of the stairs while he searched Jackson's rooms.  In his absence, Jackson descended the staircase, once again putting his hand in his hip pocket.  It was a tense standoff, with Hilliard pointing the gun at him and saying "If you move that hand I'll shoot you dead where you stand!"  Jackson was arrested, but was so violent that it took a second policeman to get him to the station house.


In July 1898 Bergmann leased the store to men's clothiers H. Morley and Walter I. Wright for five years.  On October 25 that year a tiny advertisement, slightly disguised as an article, appeared on the front page of The New York Times:  A Well-Dressed Man Is Armed from head to foot for the battle of life.  Morley & Wright, merchant tailors, 19 West 26th St., four doors west of Broadway.  Moderate prices."

The apartments were unexpectedly commodious.  An advertisement in May 1902 offered "eight rooms and bath, modern improvements."

The Astor real estate offices were next door at Nos. 21 and 23 West 26th Street.  On January 15, 1910 the New-York Tribune reported "William Waldorf Astor bought for $100,000 the modern five story store and apartment building, No. 19 West 26th Street."  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide more cautiously deemed the building "comparatively modern."

Although Astor was permanently living in London, he continued his real estate business here.  By fall that year he had commissioned architect Clarence L. Sefert to convert the building into lofts.  His plans, filed on October 28, called for new interior walls, an electric elevator, plumbing and "electric fixtures."  It was a major make-over, costing a quarter of a million in today's dollars.

Upon the completion Astor leased the entire building to two tenants, fur manufacturer Jacob Adler, and fur importers Platky & Co.  Adler took the upper floors while Platky & Co. occupied the store and basement.

Other apparel firms soon subleased space.  In 1912 the Junior Dress Co. was here, and Goff Rose Burada, a manufacturer of children's garments, was on the top floor.  A water leak led to a court case between Burada and Astor in July 1913.

An Astor agent saw water leaking from the top floor and blamed Burada.  A standoff about who was responsible resulted in the landlord's shutting off the elevator to the top floor.  It was a major problem for Goff Rose Burada.  Not only were customers unwilling to walk up five flights, but some of the female employees quit.

Burada took the Astor Estate to court and won.  The court found that elevator service was "incidental, if not indispensable;" but because there was no definite proof of the monetary loss, Burada's victory was mainly symbolic.  The Sun reported on July 6, 1913 "the court awarded only nominal damages."

In 1914 the Standard Underwear Co. shared space in the building, subletting like the others from Jacob Adler.

In 1923 the Gotham Novelty Company was creating these children's outfits in the building.  Philadelphia Inquirer, May 1923

By 1931 John Guidotti of Florence was in the two-story store.  The firm marketed imported antiques and reproductions, including furniture, accessories (like mirrors), and paintings.  On January 30, 1937 a sale ad of "18th Century and Earlier Period" antiques appeared in The New York Sun.  John Guidotti of Florence would remain in the space for another four years.

It was replaced in May 1941 by a less glamorous dealer, The Reliable Metal Novelty Company.  In reporting on the 21-year lease, The New York Times noted "The novelty firm, which manufacturers and distributes bathroom fixtures and other metal products, is producing materials for the defense program."  The following February the 21-year old company added another floor to its lease; The New York Times explaining it "is expanding its quarters because of contracts on housing and defense projects."  The firm would remain in the building until around 1951.

At the time No. 19 was owned by Abraham Yarmack and it is almost assuredly he who removed the cornice and replaced it with a brick parapet with the conspicuous Y within a circular opening.

In the early 1950's Credda, Inc., a national distribution of aeronautical and electric parts and equipment was in the building.  Little changed to the property until the late 20th century when the second story show window was updated.

Today a century of dirt obscures the contrast of brick and stone.  And after a succession of major remodeling projects nothing, of course, outwardly survives of the 1850's Giraud house.  But deep within, remnants are still there.

photographs by the author

The 1887 John Pattern Store & Apts -- 25-27 West 26th Street

The 26th Street block between Broadway and Sixth Avenue was lined with upscale brick or brownstone homes during the Civil War years.  But by the mid-1880's wealthy homeowners were inching northward and the district which would be known as Nomad more than a century later was changing.  On January 9, 1886 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that John Patterson & Co. had purchased "the four-story stone front houses Nos. 25 and 27 West Twenty-sixth street, for $60,000."  It was a significant transaction, equaling about $1.65 million today.

John Patterson & Co. was a manufacturer and importer of high-end clothing, well-known for his equestrian wear for women.  Patterson hired architect Charles G. Jones to design an apartment house on the site.  It would be one more of the several apartment houses targeting well-to-do residents that were rising throughout the neighborhood.  The first floor, however, would be devoted to  Jones's upscale clothing store.  The plans described a "five-story brick, iron and terra cotta front apartment house with store in part of basement and lower story."  The cost of construction was estimated at more than $2.3 million in today's dollars.

The building was completed in January 1887.  John Patterson's store was fronted by projecting wooden show windows.  The cast iron facing continued to the second floor where elaborate decorations included wreathed cartouches and hanging garlands of fruits and flowers.  The Renaissance Revival upper stories were decorated with ornate terra cotta panels in the Renaissance style.  The bricks of the fourth floor piers were laid to simulate fluting and were capped by handsome capitals.  A stone cornice supported the fifth floor where the openings took the form of an airy arcade.  

Parts of the now-obliterated store level and the beautiful decorations of the second floor can be glimpsed at the left of this photo.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

Well-heeled residents could choose from apartments of either six or seven rooms.  Among the initial occupants were Fremont D. Snider and his wife, Carrie.  Both were graduates of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College and their zeal regarding the Christian Science religion led them to found the Metropolitan Christian Science Institute in the spring of 1888.  Church and Association reported that the couple "have given use of their spacious apartments at 27 West Twenty-sixth Street, to the Institute temporarily, until regular quarters are secured."

Not everyone warmed to the concept.  On April 15, 1888 the New York Journal entitled an article "Throw Physic to the Dogs" and pointed out "Physicians say that the Christian Scientists have undertaken to work miracles, for the claim put forth is that maladies are to be banished without drugs or any material means."  Carrie Snider saw no problem with that.

"Mrs. Snider talks enthusiastically of her mission.  She is a bright and decidedly handsome and intellectual young blonde of about twenty-five...Mrs. Snider admitted that people generally would be inclined to view her program with skepticism."  But she went on to innumerate several cases in which incurable diseases had been cured by prayer.

John Patterson moved his store into the new building a month after its completion. The Princeton Bric-a-Brac, January 1887 

Society journalists followed the movements of the residents.  When Samuel A. Strang's daughter, Agnes, was married in the Church of the Transfiguration on May 21, 1890, the event earned an article in The Sun.  It noted "A wedding breakfast followed at the home of the bride's parents, 27 West Twenty-sixth street."

Typical of the occupants was Major George W. McLean and his wife, who lived here at the same time.  Born in 1822, he was made a member of the Stock Exchange in 1854 and was elected its president in 1875.  He had been associated with the military since 1851 when he joined the Old Light Guard.  At the outbreak of the Civil War he helped organize the Tammany Regiment.  He was a life-long member of the exclusive New-York Yacht Club, the Manhattan Club, and the St. Nicholas Society.

On January 30, 1893 McLean attended the Old Guard Ball at Madison Square Garden.  The Evening World called it "a memorable event in the chronicles of a thousand debutantes" and "a brilliant company."  A highlight of the night was "The military drill of 1,000 men, representing a score of military organizations, and wearing the uniforms of their respective organizations."

Following the ball McLean visited the home of friends.  The New York Times reported "while there [he] was seized with violent pains in the chest.  He wanted to go home at once, but was prevailed upon to remain and rest himself.  His condition grew worse, and pneumonia developed very rapidly."

Almost two weeks later McLean was taken back to his West 26th Street apartment in a carriage.  The Evening World explained "he was removed to his own apartments in order that he might die at home."  Indeed, the two physicians who were called "did not give much hope," according to The Times.  McLean's wife and his son and daughter were at his side when he died at around 4:30 on the afternoon of February 13.  The following day his body was removed from the apartment to lie in state at the armory on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 14th Street.  "The armory is draped in mourning," noted The Evening World.

Later that year another resident brought unexpected and unwanted publicity to the building.  On December 12, 1893 The Sun reported that James Wodes had been arrested the previous evening "in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Innocents, in West Thirty-second street...for trying to hug and kiss the women who were going to and from the church."  The article explained succinctly, "He was drunk."

In the meantime John Patterson & Co. catered to the carriage trade in its high-end clothing shop and factory.  In March 1894 The Evening World noted "The old firm of John Patterson & Co., of 27 West Twenty-sixth street, alone employs 100 men."  Three months later he looked to augment his staff.  An advertisement in The Sun on June 26 sought "Tailors--First-class coat, vest and trouser makers wanted; also bushelmen."  (A bushelman was a tailor's assistant, often tasked with repairing garments.)

Those employees backed presidential candidate William McKinley and his running mate Garret Hobart to a man during the 1896 election.  The Sun reported on September 26 "The employees of John Patterson & Co., tailors, at 25 West Twenty-sixth street, to the number of 100, have formed a McKinley and Hobart Club and swung a flag with the names of those candidates thereon across the street just west of Broadway."

John Patterson died not long after that election and on March 6, 1897 the Record & Guide reported that his estate had sold the 50-foot wide building.  The Sun disclosed the buyer, John Jacob Astor, whose offices were next door at No. 23 West 26th Street.  The newspaper reported that he had paid $200,000 for the property, or $6.25 million today.

The romantic and unrequited obsession of  Robert H. Moulton for actress May Buckley brought wide-spread attention to the building in 1901.  The pair had been introduced by Frank Mohler of the Garden Theatre in 1900 and a friendship followed.  (It appears to have at least once gone beyond that, for despite her having a husband in the West, the janitor of No. 27 West 26th Street later identified a photo of the actress as "the woman he had known as Mrs. Moulton.")

Moulton's infatuation for actresses was not limited to May Buckley.  In December Emmanuel Levy was dining with actress Gertrude Deming in the West End Cafe on 125th Street.  Moulton suddenly appeared, "knocked Levy down and broke a great deal of tableware before he was ejected," reported The Evening World.  "The night following Moulton again tackled Levy at the stage door of the opera-house, but this time was well trounced."  And then around March 1, 1901 Moulton was dining with another actress at the Adams House in Boston.  The Evening World reported that he "made a scene...by slapping the face" of the woman.

Now May Buckley was concerned about her stalker.  And with good reason.  After her performance on March 22 she went with friends to the Pabst Rathskeller.  Moulton charged in and fired four shots at the party in an attempt to murder the actress.  He wounded Broadway Theatre manager A. W. Dingwall and another employee, John G. Leffingwell.  He was overpowered and taken to the prison ward of Bellevue Hospital.   The Evening World reported on March 23 "He is suffering from alcoholism and morphine poisoning."

The publicity led the Borough Mortgage Company to seek the repayment of $200 it had lent Moulton.  On March 30 the New-York Tribune reported that City Marshal George W. Klune went to Moulton's apartment to take possession of his belongings.  Thomas H. Moulton, Robert's brother, was there packing up valuables to take away.  When he refused to answer the door, Klune simply broke in.

While the marshal was compiling an inventory of the furnishings, he discovered evidence that supported Moulton's claim that he had an affair with May Buckley (he went so far as to say they were married).  Klune removed "a number of letters written to R. H. Moulton by Miss Buckley," and he found "a large number of pictures of May Buckley, many of which had been signed.  Many of the books also contained Miss Buckley's name, and on some of a woman's clothing found in the closet was the initial 'B.'"  May refused to comment.

John Jacob Astor had leased half of the former John Patterson & Co. store to the Tidewater Building Company.  On March 21, 1903 the Record & Guide reported that "owing to the demands for more space made upon them by their largely increasing business, [they have] taken the entire street frontage of their present offices, which gives them about double the space."

The Sun, March 14, 1909 (copyright expired)

Among the most colorful of the building's tenants came along in 1908 in the form of Burton S. Castles.  Wealthy and flamboyant, he had made his fortune in a variety of ways—he was a real estate investor and Wall Street speculator.   Born in Texas, his flashy lifestyle and demeanor earned him the nickname “the Beau Brummel of Wall Street.” 

But he would not move in before his landlord had made improvements to his apartment.  On September 5, 1908 the Record & Guide reported that John Jacob Astor had hired architect James Riley Gordon to make changes to a suite "for Burton S. Castles, a well-known bachelor and brother of John W. Castles, president of the Guaranty Trust Company.  The alterations will cost about $5,000 and will consist of new plumbing, partitions, parquet flooring, electrical wiring, etc."

Castles would not enjoy his new apartment for long.  Astor signed a 12-year lease on the building the following summer with M. A. Steinberg.  On August 28, 1909 the Record & Guide reported "This building is 5 stories in height, but is to be rebuilt into a 7-sty loft building, with 2 elevators and is to be ready for occupancy Jan. 1, 1910."  Astor had hired architect William A. Boring to make the changes.  "In addition to increasing the height of the building 2 stories, a new facade will be erected in the style of the modern Renaissance, finished with bays set between Doric pilasters, and having a cornice and ornamental balustrade."

In the end the facade remake was not as all-encompassing as first reported.  Only the first and second floors were affected, toned down for more industrial purposes.  The new sixth and seventh floors admirably carried on Charles G. Jones's design, if in an admittedly less extravagant form.

The remodeled building initially filled with apparel firms, like Stern & Co., makers of waists; the Famous Gotham Novelty Co., makers of suits; and Jackson & Sulser, fur importers.  

Famous Gotham Novelty Co. produced these boys' "wash sets" here.  They retailed for $3.50--about $44 today.  Philadelphia Inquirer, 1920 (copyright expired)

The 26th Street block would become part of the fur district after World War I.  Among the fur merchants in the building by the early 1920's were Leventhal's Fur Storage, run by brothers Jack and Harry Leventhal; and B. Harris.  

In 1922 the district was plagued by burglars and on the night of February 6 they hit No. 25 West 26th Street.  The New York Herald reported that a $500 fur piece was stolen from B. Harris in the heist. 

That year, in May, Leventhal Bros. advertised "Have your furs stored and remodeled during the Summer at a Great Saving.  Pay for your work when you are ready to wear it."

The Astor estate retained possession of the building until 1943.  It underwent a renovation to offices and a printing establishment in 1972.  It was most likely at this time that the first and second floors were mutilated.

Already the Vietnam Veterans Against the War had its headquarters in the building.  Founded in 1967 by six young veterans, its membership had grown to more than 25,000 by now.  In April 1971 700 veterans tossed their medals earned in Vietnam over a wire fence in front of the Capitol as a protest against the war.  Among them was 27-year-old John F. Kerry who tossed away his Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.

On December 26, 1971 sixteen of the group's members seized control of the Statue of Liberty and, according to The New York Times, "vowed to stay there until New Year's Eve as a protest against continuation of the war in Vietnam."  It was, at least for a time, a standoff.  "Late last night, as a Coast Guard cutter and a city police launch circled the 12-acre island, the resident manager and his assistant stood in gusting winds outside the barricaded doors at the base of the statue's pedestal and tried to negotiate with the demonstrators inside."

This was not an isolated tactic.  In a coordinated maneuver that same week members occupied the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., a military hospital-ward in California and the South Vietnamese consulate in San Francisco.

The following year six of the group's members were indicted for conspiring to disrupt the Republican National Convention with fire bombs and shooting.

Occupying space on the fifth floor in the early 1990's was the Honey Bee Oriental Club.  It's operation came to an end on September 18, 1993 when police shut it down.  The Times announced that the raid "brought to 10 the number of unlicensed Chelsea massage parlors shut down this year for prostitution."  The action had been brought through the complaints of neighbors.  One of them, Susan Herman, warned that Chelsea was "being transformed before our eyes into a red-light district."

The 21st century saw the top floor transformed into a performance space, the 27 West 26th St., Penthouse.  It was the scene of the revival of The Boys in the Band by Transport Group on February 12, 2010.

Jagged scars remain at the second floor where the stone decorations were ripped off.

Despite the regrettable treatment of the lower two floors, the combined red-and-white designs of Charles G. Jones and William A. Boring survive above.

photographs by the author

The Hilgert Bachelor Apts - 31 West 26th Street

No trace of the original 1855 appearance remains.

In the 1850's the wealthy New Yorkers moved into new homes on the blocks near the recently-opened Madison Square.  The 25-foot residence of the Stephen Mann Blake family sat on the north side of West 26th Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.  Completed around 1855, it was faced in red brick and rose four stories above a high English basement.

Blake's business, listed as "bonnets" in directories, was located at No. 126 Chambers Street.  It is unclear whether he was an importer of millinery, if he manufactured his products, or did both.  Whichever was the case he had amassed a sizable personal fortune by the time he and his wife, the former Elizabeth Ann Hoyt, purchased the 26th Street home.  He was, as well, a director in the Croton Fire Insurance Co.

It was not unusual for even the most well-to-do families to take in a boarder in the first decades of the 19th century, and in December 1857 the Blakes offered rooms to "a gentleman and wife."  The advertisement stressed "House newly furnished, and every home comfort insured.  Those desiring a superior home may call at 31 West Twenty-sixth street."  It noted, "Dinner at 6 o'clock."

Married on September 13, 1837, the Blakes had two daughters, Charlotte Elizabeth, known popularly as Lizzie, and Anna, known as Annie.  The family traveled frequently to Europe, where the girls learned to speak French and Italian.

Lizzie's marriage to the young and wealthy Abner Weyman Colgate on November 23, 1869 was a society affair.  Two days later The Sun reported "The reception given by Mrs. Stephen M. Blake on Tuesday evening at her residence, 31 West Twenty-sixth street, in honor of the marriage of her daughter to Mr. Colgate...was, in many respects, one of the most brilliant events of the year.  

"For several hours, the spacious and very beautifully frescoed and furnished drawing-rooms were thronged by large deputations of fashionables from this city, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Washington.  Rich and valuable gifts to the bride poured in from every hand, and a shower of sincere congratulations fell upon the happy couple."  

Two weeks later the Evening Telegram noted "Mr. Abner W. Colgate and Mrs. C. (nee Lizzie Blake, of Twenty-sixth street) sailed for Europe on Wednesday week, contemplating an extensive foreign trip."

Annie was married to Edward Williams Dodd in 1883.  She had already embarked on a writing career, her 1881 article in Harper's Magazine about the political leaders of France was deemed "the most brilliant article of the kind we have had in ten years" by editor Henry Mills Alden.  She would go on to write novels, non-fiction works and short stories.

On January 9, 1885 Stephen M. Blake died at the age of 75.  His funeral was held in the fashionable Trinity Chapel a block away from the family home.   

It appears that Elizabeth had preceded her husband in death.  Oddly enough, while her sister had died in 1880, Anna Dodd did not inherit the house and it remained in the name of the Elizabeth Blake Estate.  The following year Anna hired contractor William L. Clark to make updates to her childhood home.  It was leased as a boarding house, run by Miss E. J. Dickson in the 1890's.  

Miss Dickson had a pair of colorful boarders in 1894.  The Evening World reported on February 19 "Zella Nicolaus, the young woman who wanted $40,000 of George Gould's money and who comes and goes like a 'sprite,' has again visited this city.

"This time she came as the wife of a Mr. 'Romaine,' who is supposed to be her guardian, 'Al' Ruhman, the twain stopping at the fashionable boarding-house of Miss E. J. Dickson, 31 West Twenty-sixth street."  Zella Nicolaus was well-known for her shady operations.  The article noted "They arrived at the boarding-house last Monday evening.  She disclosed her identity to Miss Dickson."

The couple's stay was abruptly ended.  "Zella left the house last Wednesday at the request of Miss Dickson, who dreaded notoriety."

By the turn of the century the once-exclusive neighborhood was seeing the encroachment of commerce.  While still upscale, its proud residences were being converted to apartment houses or being razed for business structures.  In 1903 the Blake Estate obtained a demolition permit for No. 31.

But Anna Dodd apparently had a change of heart and in April that year architect Dudley S. Van Antwerp filed plans to substantially remodel the house into bachelor apartments.  The stoop was removed, a fifth floor added, and the building extended to the rear.

The choice of Van Antwerp is interesting.  The 36-year-old had only recently opened his own office and his new bride, Hilda Fenn,  (they married in 1901) partnered with him as "associate."  She was listed both as an "artist" and "interior designer" on some of Van Antwerp's works.

The conversion cost the Blake estate the equivalent of $734,000 today.  No trace of the former Blake house survived.  Van Atwerp faced the house in red brick generously trimmed in limestone.  His 20th century take on Georgian architecture included splayed lintels and multi-paned windows.  The openings sat within recessed bays and rested on deep stone sills which projected to the edges of the piers.  Regretfully, no renderings or photographs of the lower two floors seem to exist.

Amazingly, the small-paned windows survive.

The hotel was leased to Matthew H. Hilgert, who christened it The Hilgert.  An advertisement offered "Elegant Bachelor Apartments, two, three rooms, electric elevator, large bath" and promised "house comforts."

Hilgert used a portion of the hotel for the Hilgert Footgear Curative Institution.  Calling himself "Professor Hilgert," he purported to "cure all physical ailments" with his "Magic Mechanico-Physiological Boots."  His chief assistant in the clinic was osteopath Albert Whitehouse.   The custom made shoes cost wealthy customers up to $5,000 a pair.  (A hefty sum, equal to more than $150,000 today.)

Among Hilgert's clients were Bishop Henry C. Potter and millionaires Robert Goelet, Charles M. Schwab and James Butler.  But his practice came to the attention of the County Medical Society in November 1905.

Mrs. Catherine Lubbs had earlier taken her disabled 9-year-old son to Hilgert.  The boy had been treated at the Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled, but his condition was irreversible.  The New York Times reported on January 31, 1906 that he "had been taken in hand by 'Prof.' Hilgert and as a result had grown steadily worse."  The boy was "now at the point of death."

On January 29 detectives showed up at No. 31 West 26th Street and arrested both Hilgert and Whitehouse.  They were charged initially with practicing medicine without a license.  Each provided bail for the other.

The lawyer for the County Medical Society called the men "quacks" and charged "that as a result of using the 'Hilgert curative footgear' methods children have become so seriously crippled that it is doubtful if they will ever be cured of their ailments."

Rather astonishingly, Hilgert wriggled out of the charges and continued to run the Hilgert Institute.  But his sketchy practices would soon catch up with him when he carried them too far.  In the summer of 1907 he took an unusual case in the wealthy Dr. C. W. Dunlop.  There was nothing wrong with Dunlop physically, but he was suffering from creeping dementia.  Hilgert promised the doctor's wife, Gertrude, that his magic boots would effect a cure and Dunlop was effectively imprisoned in an apartment in The Hilgert for months.

When his frantic nephews and nieces finally tracked him down (through a note from one of Hilgert's concerned nurses), a months-long and highly visible trial began in January 1908.  The Evening Telegram began its article of January 9 saying "'Magic boots,' made famous by the maker, Matthew Hilgert, came into the limelight again to-day."  The article explained that the family alleged "Hilgert desires to marry Mrs. Dunlop, who is seventy-three years old, when her husband dies."

The continued bad press may have been too much for Anna Blake Dodd.  The following year Hilgert was gone and an advertisement in the New York Herald on September 2, 1909 noted the building was available, "suitable for apartments or business or both."  It turned out to be business.

Within three months the Blake Estate hired architect M. Zipkes to again remodel the building.  It was most likely at this time that the lower two floors were converted for business with a cast iron storefront.

No. 31 West 26th Street filled with apparel-related firms.  In 1910 Walzer & Broscow took the top floor, and in 1914 The Reliable Cloak & Suit Company and Denker & Porges both signed leases.  The fourth floor was home to furrier S. Chaitin.

In 1914 fire escapes were installed and they came none too soon.  On January 15, 1915 The Evening World reported "Fire in the fur loft of S. Chaitin...caused fire and water damage of $10,000 and brought fright to thirty men and girls who worked in the building."  John Hines, who ran the sole elevator, refused to leave his post.  The article noted that he "kept his car going up and down the shaft until all were out of the building, though heavy smoke made his labor a dangerous one."  The damage was significant, more than a quarter of a million dollars in today's money.

That March, after the repairs were completed, Joseph Mandel leased the two-story retail space for his restaurant.   When the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Mandel threw his support behind the troops.  On November 29 that year the New York Tribune reported that "Nearly 20,000 soldiers and sailors will eat their Thanksgiving dinner in New York City" and noted "Patriotic societies, clubs, hotels, churches and families have come forward to make the day memorable to those who will fight for the nation's ideals."  Among those providing free dinners was Mandel's Restaurant.

In the meantime more and more fur merchants shared the building, as the neighborhood became part of the fur district.  In December 1916 Samuel Steuer Fur Company took the third floor and in 1918 Eckstein & Kass, "furs," moved in.

On September 6, 1919 the Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that the Blake Estate had sold No. 31.  "This is the first transfer of the property in sixty-four years."  The buyer was Joseph Mandel.

For the next seven decades the building would continue to house apparel firms.  The gradual change in what would be known as the Nomad district was evidenced when the newly-formed People With AIDS Coalition moved in in 1985.  Founded by Griffin Gold, the privately supported group published a monthly newspaper written by and for people with HIV and AIDS.  By the time of Gold's death at the age of 33 in 1989, it had a worldwide circulation of 14,000.

By 2001 the Gallery of Architecture operated here.  That summer it launched an exhibition of prints, watercolors and other renderings of French architecture ranging from 1700 through the 1970's.

Today a restaurant still operates from Joseph Mandel's space, although his second floor is now home to a fitness center.  Overall little has changed since the 1909 remodeling that transformed the bachelor hotel that had transformed an upscale private home.

photographs by the author

The Last Vestige - No. 20 West 26th Street

As the middle of the 19^th century approached, the recently-rural neighborhood around Madison Square saw rapid change.  In 1847 the park was opened to the public and within only a few years mansions rose along its borders.  In 1856 construction began on the white marble Fifth Avenue Hotel opposite the Park on Fifth Avenue between 23^rd and 24^th Streets.

With the relocation of wealthy Episcopalians northward Trinity Church recognized the need for a “chapel of convenience.”  In 1851 Richard Upjohn designed the brownstone Gothic Revival Trinity Chapel on West 25^th Street, stretching through the block to 26^th Street.  In 1866 Jacob Wrey Mould designed the enchanting Parish House to the rear, and in 1870 the chapel school was erected.  Abutting the picturesque complex was the handsome brownstone-faced residence at No. 20 West 26^th Street.

The New York Times would later say of Trinity Chapel, it was “distinctly fashionable to be married there, it was eminently respectable to be buried from there.”  Indeed, Trinity Chapel was the scene of the Astor weddings and funerals, the marriages of the Rhinelanders and Gardiners, and the funeral of John Jay.  The Italianate-style home at No. 20 reflected the exclusive residential neighborhood.

Four stories tall, above a deep English basement, No. 20 West 26^th Street featured the extras expected in an upscale residence.  The stoop and areaway featured heavy Italianate stone railings and newels, the elliptical arched openings were set within deeply carved frames, and a stone archway supported on foliate brackets hung portiere-like before the double entrance doors.

Hefty stone railings and a decorative entrance arch added to the architectural appeal -- photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York http://collections.mcny.org/Collection/West%2026th%20Street.%20Boys%20Club,%20Trinity%20Chapel.-2F3XC5N2OMC.html

It was home in the early 1880s to wealthy builder and real estate operator William S. Wright.  In 1884 he was involved in the development of the Upper East Side, constructing a row of brownstone residences on Madison Avenue near 62^nd Street.  A year later he had moved out of No. 20 West 26^th Street.

The house became home to William Seton and his wife, the former Sarah Redwood Parrish.  As was customary, the title of the house was in Sarah’s name. Born in Philadelphia in 1844, she was the daughter of Dr. Isaac Parrish.   

The openings within the rusticated basement level were beautifullly decorated.

Before Sarah’s death in the house on Sunday, November 3, 1895, changes had come to West 26^th Street.  Directly across the street from the Seton home, at No. 19, was the saloon owned by James Helde.  Sarah and William were no doubt roused from their sleep on January 18 that year when, as reported in The Evening World the following day, “three men were standing in the middle of the street last night raining broken bricks at the windows and doors of Mr. Helde’s place of business,”   Rowdyism of this sort, not to mention a saloon to the rear of Trinity Chapel, would have been unthinkable only a decade earlier.

In March 1898 Sarah’s brother, James Cresson Parrish (whose wife, Emma was, incidentally, the daughter of William K. and Emily Vanderbilt) sold the house on West 26^th Street.   Its last upscale resident would be William Fleischmann. 

On the evening of February 6, 1909 Fleischmann was roused by a frantic telephone call.  His spinster aunt, Bertha Tausky had been on her way to the Metropolitan Opera House when she suddenly felt ill at Broadway and 26^th Street, just steps from the Fleischmann house.  Although it was unusual for a well-dressed lady to step into a bootblack establishment, she was too weak to return to the house.  The 50-year old woman, suffering a heart attack, entered the shoe shine parlor of D. A. Galvano at No. 11 West 26^th Street and asked him to telephone her nephew.

Dr. W. S. Smith, who lived just two doors away at No. 7 West 26^th Street, was also sent for.  By the time William Fleischmann arrived, Bertha was unconscious.  Before the doctor could get there, she had died.

By around 1912 Trinity Chapel had taken over the house for its Boys’ Club.  But that would be a short-lived reprieve.   On January 25, 1914, Dr. William T. Manning, rector of the Chapel, announced that “The population that the chapel served in the past is moving away in great numbers, and it is no longer possible to carry on efficient church work at this point.”  The New York Times chimed in saying “For many years Trinity Chapel was the centre of parish activities and a factor in the development of social New York. But it has long survived its usefulness.”

Although the Chapel managed to plod on for a number of years, by the end of World War I the boys’ club was gone from the 26^th Street house and it had been converted for business.  Benjamin Melnick’s Majects Mfg. Company made women’s clothing here until 1922.   For another two decades it would house clothing makers like Dorfman Bros. Furs, here until its bankruptcy in 1928.

Finally in 1942 Trinity Chapel gave up the fight.  In 1943 the Serbian Orthodox Church purchased the complex, establishing the Cathedral of Saint Sava.  The deal included No. 20 West 26^th Street which, in 1956, was converted to two apartments per floor.

Today the major exterior alterations are, obviously, the loss of the stoop and doorway and the wonderful stone railings.   But otherwise the last vestige of the exclusive residential block survives relatively intact from the days when ladies in sweeping Victorian dresses and waistcoated gentlemen stepped into carriages at the foot of its stoop.

photographs by the author