Mrs. Lucy Drexel Dahlgren Residence - New York City
 
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Mrs. Lucy Drexel Dahlgren Residence
Pierre Cartier Residence

15 East 96th Street
New York, N.Y. 10128




Lucy Wharton Drexel (1867-1944), an heiress from Philadelphia, was the second daughter of Joseph W. Drexel, the philanthropist and co-founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co., and Lucy Wharton. In 1890, Lucy Drexel married Eric B. Dahlgren, a son of Admiral John A. Dahlgren, the famous naval officer who made his fortune from the design and patents for the "Dahlgren Gun" used in the Civil War. Following their society wedding, which was performed by Archbishop Corrigan in the Philadelphia Cathedral, the Dahlgrens moved to New York City where Eric would have a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dahlgrens raised eight children in their residence at 812 Madison Avenue, and also maintained a country home in Lawrence, L.I. In January 1912, Lucy Dahlgren's conservative and staunchly Catholic mother died. Two months later, on March 23, 1912, Mrs. Dahlgren sued her husband for a decree of absolute divorce, charging that he was guilty of misconduct on March 13 and 14 of the previous week with an unnamed co-respondent in an apartment house at 54 East 59th Street. To avoid further unpleasantness during the highly-publicized and scandalous divorce proceedings, Mrs. Dahlgreen left the case in the hands of attorneys and took her children abroad.

In 1915, after the divorce had been settled, Mrs. Dahlgren purchased a 38-by-100-foot plot at 15 East 96th Street, 262 feet east of Fifth Avenue. She then had a town house built to plans by Ogden Codman Jr. (1868-1951), the noted residential architect and interior designer who, in 1887, had collaborated with Edith Wharton to write Decoration of Houses. Codman had built his own town house in 1913 at 7 East 96th Street, and envisioned that the entire block between Fifth and Madison Avenues could be developed as a Parisian ensemble, with wide, French-style town houses. Codman's design for Mrs. Dahlgren's five-story Beaux Arts-style limestone mansion included 30 rooms, 11 bathrooms, seven fireplaces, a grand marble staircase, and an octagonal dining room with two marble fountains. A ground floor carriageway through the house leads to an automobile turntable in the rear.

Mrs. Dahlgren did not stay in her town house very often, and in 1921, she leased it to Pierre C. Cartier (1878-1964), founder of the Fifth Avenue jewelry store that bears his name, who ultimately purchased the house in 1927. Mrs. Dahlgren died in Newport, R.I. in 1944 at the age of 77.

Elma, Marion and Pierre Cartier (Bain New Service photograph, June 8, 1926)  
Elma, Marion and Pierre Cartier (1926)
 
Pierre Cartier and his wife, Elma, were active socially in this country and in France, and promoted aid for France during World War II. The Cartiers hosted lavish dinners in their New York town house for visiting French dignitaries and artistes; they also maintained a nineteen-acre estate in Roslyn Harbor, L.I., and a home on Lake Geneva, Switzerland. A frequent guest was Paul Claudel, the French Ambassador to the U.S. from 1928-1933, who was also a poet of note and a playwright. Organists will know Claudel as the author of Le Chemin de la Croix ("The Stations of the Cross") – fourteen poems that were read in 1931 at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels, with an improvised commentary after each movement provided (and later published) by organist Marcel Dupré. In 1933, Pierre Claudel, the eldest son of Paul and Saint-Marie Claudel, was married to Marion Rumsey Cartier, daughter of Pierre and Elma. After the death of his brothers in 1942, Pierre based his workshop in Paris until his retirement to Geneva in 1947. Mrs. Cartier lived to be 80, dying in Geneva in 1959, and Pierre Cartier died in Geneva at the age of 86 in 1964.

The town house was then sold to the Convent of St. Francis de Sales, a Roman Catholic religious order. In 1981, the house was sold for $3 million to Barry Trupin, a financier, who had the electrical and plumbing systems rebuilt. The house was sold in 1987 for $5.7 million to Paul Singer, a businessman, who began a complete Beaux Arts restoration of the building.

The townhouse was designated a New York City Landmark in 1984, and is a Recipient of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts Award.
             
  Estey Organ, Op. 1377 (1916) in the Drawing Room of Mrs. Lucy Drexel Dahlgren's Residence - New York City (Estey Organ Company)
Estey Organ Company
Brattleboro, Vt. – Opus 1377 (1916)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 23 stops, 22 ranks
Automatic roll player


The original two-manual Estey organ was installed in the northwest chamber of the second floor drawing room, beneath the curve of a second circular stair that began on the second floor and continued up to the residential floors. At a later date, the Echo division was installed in a penthouse and spoke through a circular grille at the top of the rear stairs. The stop tablet console, which included the roll player above the third manual, was located at the west end of the drawing room, with the musician’s back to the room.

There were three Spencer turbines in the house – one for the drawing room organ, one for the Echo, and one as a suction unit for the vacuum system used by the house staff.

About 1997, the organ, which was thought to be the last extant Estey Player Organ in New York City, was completely restored. Around the year 2005, the organ was professionally removed and stored to provide space for an additional bathroom.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
  Open Diapason
61
8
   Dulciana
61
8
  Concert Flute
61
  Chimes
8
  Gemshorn
61
   
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
61
8
   Clarinet
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
8
   Oboe
61
8
   Flute [wood]
61
8
   Echo Horn
61
8
   Viol d'Orchestra
61
  Tremolo
8
   Viol Celeste [TC]
49
  Chimes
4
   Flauto Traverso
61
   
               
Echo Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
61
8
   Muted Celeste [TC]
49
8
   Flute [wood]
61
8
   Horn
61
8
   Unda Maris [TC]
49
8
   Vox Humana
61
8
   Muted Viol
61
  Tremolo  

     

  Chimes  
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
  Bourdon
30
16
   Echo Bourdon
30
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt
SW
   
               
Couplers
    Swell to Great 16', 8', 4'   Echo to Echo 16', 4', Unison Off
    Echo to Great   Great to Pedal
    Echo to Swell   Swell to Pedal
    Great to Great 4', Unison Off   Echo to Pedal
    Swell to Swell 16', 4', Unison Off    
             
Sources:
     "Dahlgren Divorce Urged by Referee," The New York Times (Mar. 4, 1913).
     "Dahlgren House Sold." The New York Times (Aug. 11, 1927).
     Dolkart, Andrew S. and Matthew A. Postal. Guide to New York City Landmarks (Third Edition). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2004.
     Estey Pipe Organs website: http://esteyorgan.com/
     Foderaro, Lisa W. "POSTINGS: Showcase for 96th; Restoring a Gem," The New York Times (Feb. 8, 1987).
     Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes/7 East 96th Street; A French-Style 1913 Town House, in Limestone," The New York Times (Sept. 17, 2000).
     "Mrs. Cartier Dies; Wife of Jeweler," The New York Times (Nov. 13, 1959).
     New York Architecture Images website: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES096.htm
     "Pierre Cartier, Jeweler, is Dead," The New York Times (Oct. 29, 1964).
     "The Real Estate Field: Mrs. Lucy Drexel-Dahlgren Buys Site for Residence in Upper Fifth Avenue Section..." The New York Times (Feb. 19, 1915).
     "Seeks to Divorce an Admiral's Son," The New York Times (Mar. 24, 1912).

Illustrations:
     Estey Pipe Organs web site. Drawing Room showing Estey Organ console.
     Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Cartier family (Bain News Service).
     New York Architecture Images web site. Exterior.