In 1899 Edith Shepard and her husband Ernesto Fabbri moved into a grand mansion at No. 11 East 62nd Street. The house was a gift from Edith’s mother, Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard. The great-granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, Edith Shepard Fabbri was expected to entertain lavishly--and she did not disappoint. And while Edith was busy with her social routine, Ernesto worked in the financial firm of Drexel, Morgan and served as president of the Society of Italian Immigrants in New York. Just seven years after moving into the new house, Fabbri was transferred to Europe by Drexel, Morgan. The couple would live overseas for several years. The Fabbris apparently anticipated their return to American when on November 1912 the Record & Guide reported that Ernesto Fabbri had purchased a 100-foot wide plot on the north side of 95th Street, just off Fifth Avenue. The journal noted a trend in the sale. Reminding readers that Andrew Carnegie had purchased the immense lot at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 91st Street, it added other recent purchasers in this neighborhood included Judge James W. Gerard, who bought the lot at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 95th Street; Ogden Codman whose 40-foot wide mansion was under construction on the north side of 96th Street; and John B. Trever, John H. Hammond, I. Townsend Burden, James A. Burden, and Mrs. Frederic Branson. The publication felt that the movement of millionaires this far north was due to “the increased use of motor cars” and predicted that “this section of 5th av. Is about to come in for a great revival of interest.” Less than two months later the Fabbris had chosen their architect. The Record & Guide reported on January 11, 1913 “Mr. Fabbri has arranged with Grosvenor Atterbury to build a 50-ft house for his use.” While Atterbury’s name appeared on the plans, he worked closely with Ernesto Fabbri’s architect and interior designer brother, Egisto Fabbri. The plans were not prepared until October that year; with the Fabbris still in Europe. They called for a 40-foot wide “five-story brick and marble residence” with an estimated cost of $150,000—in the neighborhood of $3.7 million in 2016. There seemed to be little rush to start construction; however the Fabbris’ return to New York was most likely hastened both by the outbreak of war in Europe in July 1914 and daughter Teresa's rapidly-approaching debut. Nevertheless, the contractor was not chosen until January 1915. By now the neighborhood was filling with costly mansions, including the striking Carhart residence at the corner of Fifth Avenue. Although Ernesto sold half of his plot, abutting Marion Carhart’s property, to Goodhue Livingston, his house never came to be. The unused lot happily provided unexpected sunlight and air to both the Carhart and Fabbri mansions. photo The Living Church, December 18, 1949 The Fabbri house was completed late in 1916—just in time for Teresa Fabbri’s debutante entertainments. Unlike their ornate French confection on East 62nd Street, the new Fabbri mansion was restrained and dignified. The red brick façade was highlighted by white marble elements. Ernesto Fabbri’s Italian roots were reflected not only in the architecture, but in the interiors. The Living Church reported decades later “The interior of the first and second floors came from the Ducal Palace in Urbine, Italy.” The Fabbri crest appears within a stone mantel. photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York The Fabbri coat of arms featured a raised arm holding a hammer. It was repeated in the ironwork of the ornate entry gates and throughout the house, carved into mantels, and even in the design of the dinnerware. It has been suggested that the L-shape of the residence reflects the bent arm of the Fabbri crest. The crest reappears in the design of the iron carriage gates. On January 6, 1917 the doors to the new mansion were thrown open for a lavish dinner dance for Teresa. Among the 300 guests were “the debutantes and young dancing set, with a sprinkling of young married people and a very few of the older friends of Mr. and Mrs. Fabbri,” wrote The New York Times. The wealthy crowd was served dinner in the dining room, and following the dancing, enjoyed a “seated supper” at 1:00 in the morning. While they ate, “Hawaiian musicians sang and played.” Later that year, on November 21, Ernesto and Edith announced Theresa’s engagement to James Cameron Clark. Society page readers were reminded of Teresa’s elite pedigree. “She is a great-granddaughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William H. Vanderbilt, a niece of Mrs. William J. Schieffelin and Mrs. Davd H. Morris, and a grandniece of William K. Vanderbilt, Mrs. H. McK. Twombly, and Mrs. William D. Sloane,” noted The New York Times. James Clark was a graduate of Harvard and was a lieutenant serving with the aviation section of the Signal Corps in San Antonio, Texas. Almost a year to the day afterward, the New-York Tribune reported on November 17, 1918 that the “stork visits the Clark home.” In 1918 wealthy women did not go to hospitals to have their babies; the doctors came to them. And so with Lt. Clark serving in the Army Air Service, Teresa’s baby was born in the Fabbri mansion. Entertainments in the 95th Street house were often centered around war relief and political causes. On February 8, 1920 The Sun reported “At a meeting to be held on next Sunday afternoon in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto Fabbri at 7 East Ninety-fifth street, a scheme for international charitable effort will be unfolded and a noted priest and orator will be introduced. The “noted priest and orator” was Padre Semeria. He lectured on “Dante’s Ideal of Civilization” as a benefit for the war orphans of southern Italy. Edith also arranged for a “programme of old Florentine music.” By now Ernesto’s brother, Alessandro was living in the house, along with the Fabbris’ staff of 11. The 43-year old had never married and The New York Herald pointed out that he “made his home with two brothers, Egisto and Ernesto.” Alessandro’s decision not to have his own home was not based on financial difficulties or a lack of success. The Herald described him as “a pioneer in the use of motion pictures in scientific research.” He developed a microscopic motion picture process which he demonstrated by recording the growth of life in an egg. During the war he built a large wireless plant in Maine at his own expense, and then offered it to the Government. The military declined the offer, purchasing it instead, and hired Alessandro as its head with a staff of several hundred. Edith was politically active. On January 15, 1920 James W. Gerard, former Ambassador to Germany, spoke to about 100 women in the mansion. He said that “the women of the country would be the deciding factor in the next Presidential election,” and added “If you ladies were Senators the League of Nations would be settled in a week and the treaty agreed on. Women are more practical than men.” Three months later, on April 21, Edith hosted a meeting of the Butler Women’s Committee here. The group endorsed Nicholas Murray Butler, a name lost in popular history, for President. Among the wealthy socialites in the group that day were Mrs. Edmund Baylies, Mrs. Goodhue Livingston, Mrs. Oliver Jennings, Mrs. William Sloane, Mrs. Eliot Shepard, and Mrs. George Post. An entertainment of note took place in the mansion on May 24, 1921. The Duchesse de Richelieu gave a “song recital” that afternoon for the benefit of Madame Clemente Bologna, the widow of a recently-deceased voice teacher. The New York Herald pointed out “Through her recitals given during the war the Duchesse raised several hundred thousand dollars for tubercular soldiers of France.” Alessandro Fabbri died in the 95th Street house after an illness of just three days on February 6, 1922. The scientist was 45 year old. Although Ernesto Fabbri was still living here in 1924, Edith was apparently still in Europe. In February 1923 she obtained a Paris divorce and “three months later Mr. Fabbri married Miss Mary Valentine Darrah, of Overbrook, Pa.,” as noted by The New York Times. On Christmas Day 1924 Prince Sergio Romanovsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg arrived on the Italian steamship Duilio. The New York Times noted “The Prince has come for a visit of two months with Ernesto Fabbri, 7 East Ninety-fifth Street.” Edith received the 95th Street mansion in the divorce settlement and resumed the upscale entertainments here. December 1937 was an especially busy month. On December 18 Edith gave a ball for her debutante granddaughter Edith Fabbri Clark, deemed by The New York Times to be “one of the largest debutante parties of the season.” Two days later she hosted a benefit recital for the Soldiers and Sailors Club of New York on December 20, 1937; and two days after that, on December 22, she hosted another ball for her debutante grandniece, Anne Louise Schieffelin. The New York Times reported “Dancing took place in the spacious library…on the upper floor, the room having been converted into a ballroom for the event.” The writer made special note of the Della Robbia-type garlands of real fruit which hung from the walls and shelving. The garlands were “in harmony with the Italian furniture and paintings, which, throughout the house are mainly of the Renaissance period, although some of the decoration suggests the Tuscan school.” The article noted “Mrs. Fabbri’s house was built a little more than two decades ago, many of the materials of construction, as well as the furbishments, having been brought from Italy.” In 1949, at the age of 77 Edith Shepard Fabbri donated her home to the Episcopal Church of New York “to promote spiritual retreats.” On December 18 The Living Church reported on the gift, saying “The house is one of the notable houses still standing in New York.” Edith not only donated the mansion, but the artwork and furnishings. “The library will remain much as it is,” said the report, “Mrs. Fabbri left many of the books in place. The drawing room will be made into a chapel…The house has been adapted to the purpose of a retreat house, without in any way altering its architectural beauty. The fourth floor has been made into a convent for the Sisters, quite apart from the rest of the house.” The article explained “The name, House of the Redeemer, was chosen because a church once standing in the neighborhood and attended by Mrs. Fabbri bore that name.” More than half a century later the House of the Redeemer continues on in the Fabbri mansion. Its tender maintenance of the structure has preserved its original appearance. photographs by the author

Largely forgotten today, the architectural firm of C. Abbott French & Co. was prolific in the 1880s. The extent of their activity was evidenced on a single day, November 3, 1888, when Architecture and Building listed four projects they were designing—two rows of townhouses, a tenement building and a 5-story flat. Two of the commissions were for developers William J. and John P. Walk. At the time another C. Abbott French & Co. project, also for the Walks, was being completed on East 95th Street. A year earlier, on February 19, 1887, the Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide had reported on the 12 “Queen Anne private residences” being designed. The total cost was estimated at $169,000—an average of $361,000 each today. Stretching from No. 116 to 138 East 95th Street, the charming row of three-story brick homes were completed in 1888. The architects had produced string of delightful houses which had only their architectural style and charm in common. Each flexed its individuality with oriels, arches, terra cotta plagues or medallions, and stained glass—yet the similarity of the treatment created a harmonious flow. Among the new homes was the 18-foot wide No. 130. Three floors of brownstone (including the English basement) supported the brick-faced uppermost story. Above the brownstone stoop the tympanums over the entry and parlor window mimicked fanned and folded fabric behind two medallions—the one over the doorway announcing the address, and the one over the window depicting a fearsome face. The expected asymmetry of the Queen Anne style allowed for a single window that illuminated the stairway hall, and grouped openings in the front-facing rooms. Below the heavy brick eyebrow that embraced the arched openings of the third floor was another terra cotta medallion with a watchful beast. The home was briefly owned by Martin C. Monaghan, who sold it in April 1890 to Jacob Simmons for $16,000 (about $430,000 in today’s dollars). Simmons was a manufacturer of furs with offices at No. 734 Broadway. The Financial Panic of 1893 caused mayhem across the country. Stock prices plummeted, 500 banks closed, and 15,000 businesses failed. Even moneyed shoppers cut back on luxuries—like furs. The downturn in business may have prompted Simmons to try to lease the house in 1895. An advertisement appeared in The Evening World on March 5: “Beautiful Queen Anne style house, furnished or unfurnished; terms reasonable. J. Simmons.” On November 27, 1896 Jacob Simmons filed for bankruptcy. And he quickly took steps to prevent losing his home. The Sun reported that “Jacob Simmons and wife” transferred the title to David S. Cahn for $1.00. Two weeks later a sheriff arrived at the door of No. 130 East 95th Street. He was looking for hidden furs. The Sun reported on December 20 that $6,000 worth of skins purchased from Joseph Ullman & Co. was missing. “It is alleged that Mr. Simmons obtained the goods by misrepresenting his financial responsibility, and that he has turned them over to his wife. The Sheriff visited his house and several other places, but found none of the goods,” reported the newspaper. The personal humiliation of the once highly-respected merchant continued when the New York City Law Department’s annual report listed Jacob Simmons as being in arrears for personal taxes. In 1898 Jacob Simmons was in default of $13,343 on his mortgage and lost his house at foreclosure. Sold at auction, it was owned by Charles Spiegel until 1906 when he sold it to the well-known mustard manufacturer, Charles Gulden. Gulden was active in the real estate market and the same day that he bought No. 130 he purchased No. 123 East 95th Street, both as rental investments. Gulden’s first tenant in No. 130 was Dr. B. Morje, who had been living at No. 1291 Madison Avenue. The German-born internist was affiliated with the German Hospital. He was applauded in 1907 in the Annals of Surgery for his treatment of a 25-year old trapeze performer. The woman was admitted to the German Hospital on September 26, 1907 suffering from chronic hemorrhages. They had begun 14 months earlier after a trapeze accident. On October 12, 1907 Morje performed a blood transfusion on his now-anemic patient. It was a risky and unusual procedure at the time. Although the woman eventually died from her unknown ailment, the medical journal was impressed at Morje’s aggressive and resourceful treatment. For decades, beginning at least in the mid-1920s, No. 130 would be home to George S. Mittendorf and his family. The attorney had been educated at Yale, Columbia University, and the University of Leipzig. Widely remembered as a college athlete who managed the first Yale Hockey team, he had been a member of the law firm of Mitchell, Capron, Marsh, Angulo & Cooney since 1910. He was also a Vice President and Director of the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital. Mittendorf’s most visible client was the John Jacob Astor estate and he personally argued the Astor cases. The house was the scene of daughter Matilde’s wedding to Edmund Louis Grey Zalinski in 1939. Four years later Constantine Mittendorf, a lieutenant in the US Navy Reserves, married Marcella heron in the rectory of St. Paul’s Catholic Cathedral in Pittsburgh. The Middendorfs were still in the 95th Street house on November 11, 1952 when George died in Roosevelt Hospital at the age of 74. In 1963 Otto Sander purchased the house “for occupancy;” and by 1982 it had become the Galenson-Rolphe Infant Center. Affiliated with Mount Sinai Medical Center, the center treated children under the age of three in early childhood development. By the time the house was reconverted to a single-family home in 2009, the dog-leg stoop had been removed and the doorway renovated to a many-paned window. But the façade survives as an integral element of C. Abbott French & Co.’s delightful Queen Anne row. photographs by the author

Dennis Mehiel has put his sprawling duplex at the Carhart Mansion on the market, asking $35.9 million dollars.

photo by Traditional Building Magazine As the summer of 2000 wound to an end, the Lycee Francaise de New York made a decision. It wo...

 Above what was the parlor floor, the scars of the original windows with their arched lintels can still be seen.  Scattered throughout the city and hidden behind modern store fronts are the carcasses of once-grand residences, their upper stories surviving as mute reminders of a far different time. Such is the case with the Thomas Goadby house at No. 21 West 35th Street. Thomas and his wife, the former Amelia A. Wood, were urban pioneers in the 1850s when they built their fine, broad brownstone residence here. They were at the northern edge of the fashionable residential area just off Fifth Avenue. Before long their home would be in the most exclusive neighborhood in Manhattan with William B. Astor and John Jacob Astor III building their matching homes on Fifth Avenue between 33rd and 34th Street and Alexander T. Stewart’s marble palace rising between 34th and 35th Streets – just down the street from the Goadby house. Their house sat high above an English basement with a broad stoop spilling down to the sidewalk. Inspired by the Paris Exhibition of 1852, the house was designed in the up-to-the-minute French Second Empire style with a stylish mansard roof. Complete with arched dormers and filigree iron cresting, the residences was up to date with the latest architectural vogue. Clarence Goadby was born in the house on December 14, 1857, one of three sons. Clarence would be reared in the plush environment of the privileged class; attending the Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in his teen years. Although Clarence never married, he was frequently given the honor of serving as usher at high society weddings. Goadby went on to become president and trustee of the American Savings Bank, a director of the Unadilla Valley Railroad and a member of the New York Produce Exchange. He sat on the Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Saint Nicholas Club and an officer of the Seawanhaka-Corinithian Yacht Club (which was conveniently located at No. 7 East 32nd Street). But Goadby’s passion was political reform. The banker was an officer of both the Civil Service Reform Association and the Good Government Club. In 1894, incensed at District Attorney John R. Fellows' apparent lack of enthusiasm in prosecuting a backlog of criminal cases, Clarence and three other members of the Good Government Club traveled to Albany to charge Fellows with neglect of duty. The trio went directly to Governor Flower demanding that Fellows be dismissed. By this time Thomas Goadby had died and Amelia and her three bachelor sons were still living at No. 21. They were routinely listed in the Social Register and were regulars during the summer seasons at the highly exclusive Richfield Springs. As World War I came to an end, the once-exclusive neighborhood was breathing its last gasps. On January 9, 1916 at 3:30 pm the funeral of Clarence Goadby was held in the parlor of No. 21 West 35th Street. It was, essentially, the funeral of the elegant home, as well. By the time of Clarence Goadby's funeral, neighboring houses at Nos. 9 to 5 West 35th Street were feeling the changes in the neighborhood. No. 5 has a shop front installed at street level and No. 9 advertises Rooms to Let -- NYPL Collection Within three years the sweeping brownstone stoop had been stripped away. The interior, once filled with Amelia Goadby’s paintings, Oriental carpets and proud furnishings, were gutted for commercial purposes. A show window, 13 by 8 by 6 feet, was now located at sidewalk level. The Elder Coin & Curio Company moved in. The firm announced the move in January 1919 saying “This new store is centrally located in the fashionable shopping district of New York, near Fifth Avenue, and will, we believe, be the finest coin store in America.” Reflective of the high-end shops in the area at the time, Elder sold rare coins such as the Egyptian denarius, minted during the reign of Cleopatra; bronze coins from the time of Emporor Vitallius and coins of the Vandal Kings dating from the first century AD. As the Great Depression neared, the commercial space was less exclusive. Home to the American Dog Exchange, it now had kennels built in the back yard under a tin roof extension. On February 8, 1928 as the Westminster Dog Show was in process, a violent rainstorm ensued that lasted for well over 24 hours. Fourteen dogs, locked in the kennels in the rear were drowned as the water poured through the tin roof and engulfed the enclosure. The lacy iron cresting, now rusting, and the fishscale mansard still remain intact. Ironically, the house built by the Baptist Thomas Goadby was owned by St. Patrick’s Cathedral until April 24, 1946 when the church sold it to Mesaba Construction Corporation. In the 1970s Golf Tours, Inc. was located here; a place where New York Magazine said “winter-bound and golf-starved can take lessons, use practice nets, buy equipment and talk with kindred souls.” Little by little, over the decades, the architectural detailing of Thomas Goadby’s grand house fell away, until today only the mansard above the cornice, with its slate fish-scale shingles, dormers and iron cresting is intact. But looking above and behind the Irish Pub that replaces Amelia Goadby’s parlor, it is not difficult to envision West 35th Street during a much more elegant period along this block.

The Kent is a 30-story residential building at 200 East 95th Street under construction in the Upper East Side. Progress is just inches from completion...

Dennis Mehiel has put his sprawling duplex at the Carhart Mansion on the market, asking $35.9 million dollars.

The guesthouse has been curated by the Disney-appointed illustrator Kim Raymond.

The 30-story condo recently topped out

Film locations for The Blues Brothers, around Chicago, Los Angeles and Wisconsin: Joliet Correctional Center, Joliet (Jake released from prison); East 95th Street Bridge, Calumet Harbor, south Chicago (Bluesmobile leaps the river); Pilgrim Baptist Church, 9114 South Burley Avenue ('Triple Rock Baptist Church'); West Talcott Road, South Park (Jake and Ellwood pulled over by cops); 22 West Van Buren Street (site of ‘Hotel For Men Only. Transients Welcome’, demolished); 1623 51st Court, Cicero (boarding house); Quality Inn O’Hare Airport, 3801 North Mannheim Road, Schiller Park (Magic Tones play); 660 North Rush Street (used as 'Chez Paul' restaurant); Shelly’s Loan Company, 300 East 47th Street (Ray Charles' music store); South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Drive, Chicago (‘Palace Hotel Ballroom’ exterior); Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles (‘Palace Hotel Ballroom’ interior); City Hall-County Building, Clark Street, Chicago (The brothers’ destination)

YIMBY has the latest details on the luxe amenity suite at a residential development located at 200 East 95th Street, on the Upper East Side in Manhattan.

The family of a north-east-born farmer are celebrating his 95th birthday this weekend from afar due to the coronavirus lockdown. Alexander Pearce Taylor,

Dennis Mehiel has put his sprawling duplex at the Carhart Mansion on the market, asking $35.9 million dollars.

Whether you're planning a vacation or just exploring your own hometown, consult our guides to dining out for the best restaurants, bakeries, street vendors, and more.

Dennis Mehiel has put his sprawling duplex at the Carhart Mansion on the market, asking $35.9 million dollars.

Amid the many changes on the East Side, there are some places that have remained gloriously unchanged. One of those places is Landmark Lanes, 2220 N. Farwell Ave., which celebrates its 95th birthday this year with a week-long party in September.

Mid 20th C. Directoire style crewelwork bergere with a cream painted wood frame decorated with bands of carved rope and draped swags. The crewelwork upholstery is accented with a complementary silk rope trim, while the back of the chair is upholstered in a checked fabric. Dimensions: 34"h x 25"w x 34"d, 18"h (to seat) Condition: Good, attractive weathered patina to painted wood, showing edge scratches and paint loss, fabric generally clean. Provenance: A Private Collection: 139 East 95th Street, NYC less

Dennis Mehiel has put his sprawling duplex at the Carhart Mansion on the market, asking $35.9 million dollars.