Seligman, Henry, 1857-1933

Henry Seligman, partner in J. & W. Seligman & Co.; son of Jesse Seligman; patron of music;

30 West 56th Street (originally the Henry Seligman Residence) is a building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along 56th Street's southern sidewalk between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. The five-story building was designed by C. P. H. Gilbert in the French Renaissance Revival style. It was constructed between 1899 and 1901 as a private residence, one of several on 56th Street's "Bankers' Row". The house was commissioned for banker Henry Seligman, of J. & W. Seligman & Co., and his wife Adelaide. The couple was involved in numerous clubs and organizations and hosted events at the house until they both died in the early 1930s. Afterward, the house was leased to the Beethoven Association in 1934 and divided into apartments in 1941. The ground floor housed numerous restaurants starting in 1940, and modifications were made to the building in subsequent years. In 1994 it was purchased by Alberta Ferretti's firm Aeffe USA, which has occupied the building since 1996. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the house as an official landmark in 2007. In September 1899, Henry Seligman bought two four-story rowhouses at 30 and 32 West 56th Street from James Lenox Banks and Mrs. Sheppard Knapp, respectively.[5][26] He planned to build a new residence on the site.[5] Seligman took title to the rowhouses that October and demolished the structures two months later.[27] Seligman hired C. P. H. Gilbert to design his house. At the time, many wealthy residents around Fifth Avenue in Midtown were commissioning New York City's top architects to design their houses.[27] Fewer private dwellings were being constructed in Manhattan, and such dwellings were increasingly being constructed for wealthy individuals. According to Herbert Croly, there were one-sixth as many private houses being constructed in the borough in 1902 compared to in 1892, and average costs for individual houses had increased fourfold over that period.[18][28] By September 1901, the house had been completed.[27] The Seligman house had cost $200,000 (equivalent to $7,324,800 in 2023), while the average for comparable houses was $136,000 less (equivalent to $4,980,864 in 2023).[18]

The family held a housewarming party in January 1902, their first major event at the house, in which the Mannes Quartet held a performance on the second floor.[29] The Seligman couple's children Gladys, Rhoda, and Walter lived in the house, as did various waitstaff.[27] Gladys's marriage to Henry P. Wertheim took place at the house in 1905,[30] as did Rhoda's marriage to Frederick Lewissohn in 1907.[31] Henry Seligman was involved in numerous clubs and Republican Party politics.[32] Addie Seligman was also involved in the leadership of various clubs and societies, including the St. Cecilia Club musical organization, the Mount Sinai Training School for Nurses, and political organizations. She held various events at the house for these clubs.[27] In the 1910s, these included a speech for a group opposed to women's suffrage,[33] a dinner in which New York governor Charles Seymour Whitman was a guest,[34] and a contract bridge party to raise money for the YMCA.[35] The family also constructed houses at Elberon, New Jersey, and Palm Beach, Florida, which were respectively used as summer and winter homes.[25][27]

After World War I, the surrounding neighborhood was rapidly becoming a commercial zone, and many neighboring townhouses were converted to commercial use. The Seligman residence was one of the major exceptions to this trend, and the couple continued to live there until their respective deaths.[12] The house was renovated in 1923. The side entrances had originally contained service stairways, but these were removed. In addition, the windows were replaced.[4] The Seligman couple continued to host events, such as the receptions they gave each December before they left for their Palm Beach house,[36] some of which were accompanied by musical programs and special guests.[37] The annual December receptions ended when Henry Seligman died of a heart attack at his 56th Street home on December 23, 1933.[32] His funeral took place four days later on the second floor.[38] Addie Seligman, who had been ill for several weeks at the time of her husband's death, died a month later on January 31, 1934.[39]