The 1900 Alfred G. Jennings House -- No. 2 East 82nd Street

photo by Alice Lum

At the turn of the last century encroaching commerce pushed New York's millionaires northward up Fifth Avenue along Central Park.  Brothers William and Thomas Hall took full advantage of the lucrative opportunity.  Both contractors and developers, they bought up long swathes of real estate and built speculative high-end residences.

A generation earlier such developments would have appeared as long rows of identical or nearly-identical brownstone rowhouses.  The Halls were savvy enough to recognize that by now residents in this exclusive neighborhood wanted individuality in their homes.  They often worked with architect Alexander M. Welch of the firm Welch, Smith & Provot to achieve both harmony and individuality in their rows of mansions.

In 1898 construction was begun on adjoining mansions on Fifth Avenue between 81^st and 82^nd Streets, Nos. 1007, 1008 and 1009; as well as No. 2 East 82^nd Street around the corner.   No. 2 East 82^nd Street was completed in 1900 and, despite its ample size and commanding architecture, it was diminished by the sprawling No. 1009 FifthAvenue next door.

Welch simultaneously designed the three houses at Nos. 1007 through 1009 Fifth Avenue.  The corner mansion, No. 1009, would become home to Benjamin Duke. photo NYPL Collection 

Welch used matching materials—red brick and white limestone—to complement the two residences.  The rusticated bases were in near perfect alignment, the cornice of No. 1009 flowed smoothly into the fifth floor balcony of No. 2, and the iron railings of that balcony visually coursed into the stone balustrade next door.  The handsome and dignified No. 2 East 82nd Street with its tall iron fence held its own beside its massive big brother next door.

Four years before construction began on the homes, wealthy Brooklynite Albert Gould Jennings was married to the daughter of wealthier John D. Crimmins.  Suzanne Beatrix Crimmins, 22 years old, was described by The New York Times as “a handsome blonde.”  Susie, as she was known, had grown up amid luxury in a mansion at No. 40 East 68^th Street. The 25-year old groom was the son of the founder of the Jennings Lace Works and had graduated from Princeton in 1890.  The New York Times noted that “He is the owner of a handsome brownstone residence 313 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn.”

The wedding was held in the Crimmins country home, Collender’s Point, in Darien, Connecticut.  The ceremony was officiated by Archbishop Corrigan, assisted by Bishop Tierney of Harford, Father Rogers of Stamford, “and a number of priests from that diocese,” said The Times.  “The ceremony closed with the Papal benediction.”

The seeming overkill of priests may have been John Crimmins’ way of making a statement.  The fervently Roman Catholic Crimmins was allowing his daughter to marry a Presbyterian.  The Times said “in order to have the ceremony performed under the rites of the Catholic Church [Jennings] had to promise that his wife should have the full freedom of practicing her religious faith, and to allow his children to be reared in the Roman Catholic faith.”

Although Jennings’ business was in Brooklyn, life in the outer borough apparently did not appeal to his new wife.  The couple purchased No. 2 East 82^nd Street while the mansion was still under construction.  It was completed in 1900 and entertainments—often involving Crimmins family members—began.

The American Architect printed a photograph of the Jennings House in 1903.  A servant waits on the sidewalk for a carriage and greenery is planted on the 2nd floor balcony.  The periodical got the architect's name wrong, citing Ernest Flagg.  (copyright expired)

Susie’s sister, Constance, was introduced to society In 1902.  On December 12 the Jennings hosted a dinner for her in the house.  It was followed the next day by a “coming out reception” in the Crimmins mansion.

The following year Susie threw a dinner party for her brother, John D. Crimmins, Jr., and his fiancée, Lillian Stokes Holmes, in anticipation of their upcoming wedding later in the week.   The entire wedding party was invited.

Unlike many wealthy New Yorkers who built sumptuous summer cottages and estates, the Jennings preferred to lease impressive quarters in different resorts.  With daughter Janice and son Albert Gould Jr. they summered in Tuxedo Park, Bar Harbor, Newport and Southampton.   In 1910 they arrived in Bar Harbor, having rented “Bowling Green” for the season.

Despite appearances, not all was happy within No. 2 East 82^ndStreet.  Susie Crimmins Jennings was a modern woman, independent and opinionated.  Albert Gould Jennings had more old-fashioned ideas concerning a woman’s place in the home.  It all boiled over in July 1912.

As the summer season approached, Albert packed his bags and sailed to Paris.  He would not returned to New York a married man.  The New York Times reported that “He accused his wife of accepting invitations without consulting him and altogether showing a too independent spirit.”

Susie Jennings filed a counter-charge of incompatibility.   It would appear that John D. Crimmins used his substantial influence for, somewhat surprisingly considering the couple had two children, the marriage was annulled on October 22, 1913.

Apparently as part of the arrangement, four months earlier Suzanne Jennings sold the house on East 82^nd Street to the "recently formed" Roxanne Realty Company.   The new company was owned by Albert Gould Jennings.

Alfred returned to the house on East 82^nd Street and before very long married Marion Stoddard.  The marriage was, at least from a religious point of view, more compatible.  Marion was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Charles Augustus Stoddard, an author and distinguished Presbyterian clergyman.

In 1917 a son was born in the house, Wyllys Burr Jennings.  In the meantime, the infant’s step-brother, Albert Junior, served in the United States Navy during the war.  Upon returning he moved back into the 82^ndStreet house with his father and stepmother.  Albert graduated from Princeton in 1919 and the athletic young man gained memberships to the Brook and Turf and Field, Racquet and Tennis Clubs.

Marion took the reins of social entertainments.  One again the house was the scene of receptions, teas and dinner parties.  On April 22, 1920 she gave a luncheon for Elizabeth Coleman who had recently become engaged to Marion’s relative Stoddard Hoffman.

Marion Jennings was a large stockholder in the Silver King Ginger Ale Company, presided over by State Senator James J. Walker.  Most likely through her influence, young Albert was made Secretary of the company.  A few years later Albert Junior struck out on his own, taking an apartment for himself at No. 146 East 49^th Street.

No one on New York society was more shocked than Albert and Marion Jennings to learn in the spring of 1925 that Albert Gould Jennings, Jr., had been surreptitiously  married.  “The secret marriage last Fall of Albert Gould Jennings Jr…a member of a family socially prominent in this city, to Mrs. Helen B. Rueping, a wealthy divorcee, was reported yesterday and it was said that the couple were planning to go abroad,” reported The Times on March 8, 1925.

“Mr. Jennings Sr. and Mrs. Jennings, stepmother of the young man, said last night they knew nothing of the marriage.”

Young Albert provided more gossip to New York drawing rooms when the marriage fell apart.  A Special Cable to The New York Times arrived from Paris on June 27, 1929.  It read in part “Mrs. Albert Gould Jennings…filed today a petition for divorce in Paris from her husband, who is a wealthy New York resident and is prominent in the American colony here.” 

By the spring of 1937 Alfred Gould Jennings, Sr. was apparently leasing the mansion.  Broker John F. Bowles, Jr. was living in the house when, on April 8, he married Jeannette Horlick Simmons in the chapel of Riverside Church.  Both wealthy in their own right, The New York Times announced that “After their wedding trip, the couple will divide their time between this city and Greenwich.”

The following year Albert Gould Jennings sold the house that had been his home for nearly four decades.  The unnamed buyers paid the $95,000 asking price in cash.  In reporting the sale The Times noted that the house “contains an elevator, and at the rear looks out upon a permanent garden on Eighty-first Street.”  The article mentioned the elite neighbors.  “Near by are the homes of Orlando F. Weber, Ogden H. Hammond and Angelica T. Gerry.  Recently Garardo Machado, former President of Cuba, purchased a private house across the street.”

Within three years the house would be converted to furnished apartments.

The Alfred and Marion Jennings were now living at No. 4 East 95^th Street and their son, Wyllys Burr Jennings became an Army pilot when the war in Europe broke out.  On August 26, 1944 the 27-year old navigator was shot down over Ludwigshafen, Germany.

In the late 1970s an apartment building was constructed at No. 1001 Fifth Avenue, extending down 81^st Street where the Jennings gardens had once been.  It created a problem with zoning restrictions.  On April 29, 1979 The Times reported that “In March, workmen began blocking up rear windows and the doors in two floors of vacant apartments in the converted townhouse at 2 East 82^nd Street.  This was in accordance with a requirement to bring the five-story building within the maximum allowable floor area for the site, which it shares with the recently constructed apartment house at 1001 Fifth Avenue.”

The windows of the upper floors of the mansion were sealed off with unsightly cinder blocks.  After several meetings between the construction company, the Buildings Department and the Planning Commission, an agreement was made whereby the blocks would be removed and curtains hung to block the windows.   It was a decidedly more attractive solution.

In 1982 the house was home to actress Meryl Streep’s character Brooke Reynolds in the psychological thriller film Still of the Night.   In the motion picture, Dr. Sam Rice, played by Roy Scheider, visited the house to discern if he could trust the mysterious woman.

Around half a century earlier Mother Joseph Butler of the Order of the Sacred Heart of Mary purchased the Jonathon Thorne mansion nearby at No. 1028 Fifth Avenue to be used as a “select school for girls in connection with Marymount College at Tarrytown-on-Hudson.”  In 1936 the school expanded by acquiring the mansion next door at No. 1027, and 14 years later purchased the adjoining house at No. 1026.

Now, in 1999, the Marymount School eyed the former Jennings house at No. 2 East 82^nd Street for use as its Middle School.  The school was especially taken with the intact interiors of the house, which complemented the Fifth Avenue mansions it already owned. The problem was that developer Peter S. Kalikow had already purchased the mansion with intentions of converting it into a garage for the new apartment building at No. 1001 Fifth Avenue.

After six months of negotiations, the school purchased the property for $9.5 million.  A $7 million renovation was initiated with careful attention to the preservation of the intact interior detailing—ornamental plasterwork, mantels and wood paneling.

The renovations were completed in 2003, earning Richard Ciccarelli, independent architecture and planning professional the Lucy G. Moses Award for NYC Landmarks Preservation.  The private school continues to operate in the building.

The 1901 Wm. Colgate Mansion -- No. 5 East 82nd Street

photo by Alice Lum

At the turn of the last century Joseph A. Farley was busy building mansions.  The son of Terence Farley, a well-known builder, Joseph started his own business around 1895.  He focused on high-end residences in the Riverside Drive and Fifth Avenue neighborhoods, sparing no expense on the opulence his customers would not only expect, but demand.

In 1900 he began work on two abutting homes at Nos. 3 and 5 East 82^nd Street.  Although the pair shared the same building permit; the architects, Janes & Leo, treated the design of each separately.  The lavish Beaux Arts homes were completed a year later.  No. 3 was almost immediately sold to millionaire banker Solomon Loeb, who presented it to his daughter and son-and-law, Nina and Paul Warburg.

Nos. 3 and 5 (right) East 82nd just after completion in 1901.  The undeveloped plot next door is protected by a rather primitive, in comparison, picket fence.  photograph from the collection of the New York Public Library

No. 5 sold just as quickly.  The five-story limestone bowed façade featured Parisian-style elements like the elegant French windows with arched transoms at the second floor, the elaborate stone-and-iron balcony with carved cherubs, and the slate-covered mansard roof set between high chimneys. 

On April 5, 1901 The New York Times reported on its sale to William G. Park for $150,000 – about $3.2 million in today’s dollars.  Park had recently relocated to New York from Pittsburgh and a few days later The Times mentioned that the sale, along with Park's other recent purchases, “showed his liking for New York realty for speculative and investment, as well as residential, purposes.”

Although there was some speculation that Park may move into the new house, it would not be.  Two weeks later The Times said the purchase was “for resale and not for occupancy.”  On July 21 Park sold the house to Marion Graham Knapp, the wealthy widow of Henry C. Knapp.

photo by Alice Lum

But the socialite would not reside in her elegant new home long.  Readers of the society pages read with interest on July 12, 1904 the announcement from London that Marion was engaged to Lord Bateman of Shobdon Court.   The 48-year old William Spencer Bateman-Hanbury had been a Captain in the Second Life Guards and the marriage would bring to Marion what New York socialites coveted most—an aristocratic title.

Twelve days later the couple was married in St. George’s Church on London's Hanover Square.  Marion was given away by John R. Carter, Second Secretary of the American Embassy.

The new Lady Bateman did not hurry to sell her New York home.  Not until November 19, 1905 was the sale announced.  The buyer was William Colgate, whose grandfather’s soap and candle business had developed into the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet company.  Now 65 years old, the millionaire had retired thirteen years earlier.

Residing with Colgate in the house were his unmarried sister, Hannah, and cousin Harriet C. Abbe.  Hannah had a personal fortune of her own and she invested heavily in railroad stocks and New York real estate.  The spinster heiress owned no fewer than a dozen Manhattan properties.

Just four years after moving into the 82^nd Street mansion, Hannah died here on Sunday March 28, 1909.  The funeral services were held in the house three days later.  The aging William and his spinster cousin continued living in the house with their staff of servants.  Hannah left her brother over $1.3 million.  With no immediate relatives, the remainder of her estate went to charities, and about $62,000 to her cousins, including Harriet.

Harriet was the sister of the esteemed Dr. Robert Abbe who had revolutionized the treatment of cancer in America.  He had brought radium from the laboratory of Madam Curie to New York and introduced radium treatments to cancer patients.  When he died on March 7, 1928 the bulk of his estate went to Harriet as his sole survivor.

The two elderly cousins, William Colgate and Harriet Abbe, lived quiet lives in the 82^nd Street mansion, supporting charities but otherwise participating little in society’s glittering events.  The Great Depression had little effect on the lifestyles of the two millionaires in the hushed rooms behind the elegant French windows.

On March 7, 1932 William Colgate died at the age of 92.  His estate, which included 32 parcels of Manhattan real estate and 1,300 shares of Colgate-Palmolive-Peet stock, went mainly to charity.  Twenty-two public institutions shared nearly $2 million.  Colgate University received about 30 percent of the residuary estate.  Harriet Abbe received $500,000 in cash and “personal bequests” worth $8,516.  Her share of the estate would equal about $7 million today.

At the time of his death the 82^nd Street house was valued at $135,000.  How long Harriet remained in the house is unclear; however The New York Times would later say it was “occupied by [Colgate’s] family up to the time of his death.”

On May 15, 1941 the newspaper reported that the house, “long the residence of William Colgate” was sold by the Central Hanover Bank and Trust.  “The new owner will remodel the mansion into ten small suites, retaining many of the interesting features of the structure, including a recreation room for the tenants.”

Among the “interesting features” were “fireplaces of rare marble, a library paneled in mahogany, an oak-paneled recreation room in the basement, an automatic elevator and a limestone façade.”  Architect James E. Casale was commissioned to execute the conversion which resulted in two spacious apartments per floor.

The caliber of tenants in the newly-renovated apartments was, expectedly, high.  So no one would suspect that the 67-year old stamp dealer, John Von Vorst, would bring unwanted publicity to the address.  But he did.

The German-born Vorst married wealthy Mathilda Grameis of No. 940 Park Avenue on March 8, 1943 and the newlyweds moved into the 82^ndStreet house.  Vorst embellished his occupation a bit, telling his bride that he was a diplomatic agent of the Argentine Government.

A more serious problem than fibbing about his profession, however, was that Vorst (who also went by the names Frederick Von Stolberg and John Lorenz Von Vorst) was already married.  Three times.

On February 28, 1936 Louise Borho of No 150 West 87^th Street had married Vorst, who had been in the country since 1914.   When Louise discovered his philandering, she went to the police.  An investigation revealed that when he came to America he left behind a German wife.   Then he married Leda Saynisch.  Then came Louise Borho and finally Mathilda Grameis.

On June 4, 1943 John Von Vorst stood before a judge in General Sessions with three of his four wives present.   Louise and Mathilda “sat together in court, enjoying von Vorst’s discomfiture,” said The Times.  Leda was more forgiving.  The newspaper said she “tearfully pleaded he be freed on a suspended sentence ‘because I’ll be lonely without him.’”

Judge John J. Sullivan was unmoved by Leda’s tears.  Von Vorst was sentenced to up to three years in the penitentiary.  As the polygamist was led out of the courtroom, the judge agreed to initiate annulment proceedings “started by the two smiling wives” immediately.

The mansion underwent another conversion in 1989 resulting in medical offices in the basement and first floor, one apartment each on the second and third floors, and a lavish duplex above.  None of the interior alterations significantly altered the wonderful Beaux Arts façade.  The Colgate mansion remains an elegant relic of the Belle Epoque in New York.