The sun., 1910-05-22
ODD FIFTH AVENUE HOUSES
SOME STORIES or OLD AND
NEW RESIDENCES.
An ArehltectF Remlnisceneea-Ons nae
Of derry EsasissRs-A Menas mat
Can't Ne Heated -Moyinw q Whole
ImierIor-IAmle % HeaHhe q Servants,


InteFloP-IAmIt 10 IIel2ht sG Servants,
The architect olAmbered up 10 the
top Of the green stage, adjusted
himself in a corner 30 as 10 leave room
for his companion and started uptown
on his afternoon joy ride. He was silent
until the centre house Of three broad
old fashioned broWnstOne residences
was seen. Already Wreckers had nearly
torn II down and the wound gaped he
tween its surviving neighbOrs.
'You hear a lot Of talk In these days
about the unsatisfactory methods Of
speculative builders.' he said. but that
hOuse IL an example of hOW badly they
used 10 do IL in the good old days. Look
ing at those three broad low houses. You
would aay they represented the most
substantial workmanship and the greatest
comfort possible In the methods of builders
at the middle Of thu nineteenth century.
yet a. a matter of fact they are mere
shells and always were. More than forty
years ago a firm Of speculative builders
put them up. They were hurriedly built.
their materials careieasly thrown to-
Rether and the general result fiimsy. Then
there we're architectural defects which
would not be- tolerated today. even In .
house planned merely by the builders
and without the aid of architects ex-
perienOe. There was no buffers pantry
In those houses and there were no back
stairs. Fancy houses on Fifth avenue
having such pretenSions being put up
that way In these'days. Well built houses
are at this time supplied with all thess
oongenienoes, 20 these three houses were
unlIke any Of their contemporaries. Ihave
often heard people admire that block
and talk about les well built old fashioned
comfortable appearance.
sComgoFtable house. that one, too he
said a. the stage moved uptown: that 10,
70 leek a.. lie red brick facade how
ever "a Just a. much OF q snare and q
deluaion a. the other house. There are
no possible means Of heating that house.
Il u 30 constructed that no apparatus
can he put into Il that will not cost more
than the thing ia worth. That h also .
fault Of its original cOnGtruotion. and
ever aince II was FIRST put up there has
been q constant moving In and out Of
tenants who thought they could put up
with it but discovered afterward how
impossible il was. Now Is is on the
market. but diniCult 10 sell. because the
ground h leased and there are still years
Of this ground lease 90 run.
The result In that the house In rented
for a price that would not pay for .
moderately comfortable apartment on
the upper West Side. Then the tenants
can only rent II year by year a. the owner
IL always in hopes that some purchaser
may turn up Its cheerful red brick. ita
old fashioned white stone and its hOspi-
table marble stOOp occasionally deceive
a terant. who thinks he will be able 10
stand a winter in Il. but Trey are willing
enough TO give IL up.
The house next door 10 Il can be kept
warm enough. but there Ia q tradition
about Il which I have never had any
10 verify personally. Il Il
ore 6f that large number Of houses said
20 bs built over the old course Of Minstta
Brook. but they Say that tho architects
and builders were too anxious 20 get the
job 70 build the house 10 lee the owner
know that they found the stream runnir-s
under the basement of . house that
originally stoOd on this site. While Il In
very picturesque and sentimental
souvenir Of old New York. 20 have a
running brook in your cellar IL opposed
to present ideas Of hygiene. but I never
heard that the house was unhealthy.
sFor years the two story bFownstone
house Just around the corner next 20 the
church had had a. hard a time getting
tenants as any attractive residence in
New York ever did. Even In the days
when IL vas not 40 far down town as q
seems to-day half the time u stood empty. |
Its owners have not lived in II for years
and perhaps this led 10 the story that
the place vas haunted. Az q matter OF
fact it's the last house In New York that | |
know % 20 get this bad name. Stories
we're told of strange sounds heard there |
aud Of the difficulty In keeping servants. |
More than the absence Of the family from |
the house the peculiariSy in its construc- |
ton led 90 this reputation.
An extension on the first floor used as
a library h situated In a small yard where |
stood several trees. One of theaa grew 20 !
certain height behind the extension and I
at the first opportunity shot out its |
branches In such a way that they grew
over the roof Of the library extension. !
Wind driving them backward and for. !
ward scraped the roof 0f the library and |
caused the noises that had for ~ many |
years scared ignorant servants, and then |
even sensible perBona. into repeating |
n aNR - /
teFious about the house When tho trees |
we're cut down there was an end 70 all |
talk and no more difficulty in finding ten |
ants for the house"
The stage got uptown beyond the busi- |
ness limit and not far from the public |
library two corner hOuses in red brick |
supposed 20 be unusually fine specimens |
of their kind. attracted the attention OF |
this informed New Yorker.
They belonged 20 two brothers. he said |
Both are dead nov and both had apent |
- little time in this country during their |
lives that the houses did little more than |
serve a. hotels. They are A. little used |
although they occasionally are |
rented for a winter, and the widows of the |
two men who built them are rarely 10 be |
found there They realize that the on
portunity tn sell them will oOme only |
when business occupies all this part of |
Fhth avenue - they have not N years |
spent a cent on the repair and Kninte- |
nance Of the houses. The most cIriOua |
fact about them Ia that neither house Ii |
supplied With electricitY To this day |
both are Illuminated only BY Rhs or ~ /
hmps. To enter eithRg 0g them in tho |
evening NOWADAYS h gts going back 10 |
Victorian New York.
That gray stone houaA on the opposite |
corner belongs n one bf New HoTt'a |
richest families who moved uptown from |
the Old residence only q few wears ana.