Historic Pelham Homes and Photos
Homes on Corlies Avenue
203 Corlies Avenue This Victorian home was built in 1895; it is one of 25 houses in Pelham Heights built before 1900 and retains such original details as side protruding bays, slate roof and Palladian window in the front facade. It was owned and occupied by the Gulbenkian Family for more than a century. Hartoutiune Gulbenkian, one of several generations of successful Persion rug dealers, was the nephew of the Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955), the immensely wealthy financier and oil tycoon, who founded the Iraq Petroleum Company and whose art collection became the Museo Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon. Hartoutiune lived at 203 Corlies with his wife, Noemie, son, Edward, and three daughters, Virginia, Araxia and Sonia. Sonia occupied the house until her death in 1994. Peter & Claire Doyle purchased the home in 2006.
Homes on the Esplanade
"644 Esplanade," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 2/19/28 (Digitized 2016)
"Esplanade 644, Mrs. E.C. King's House," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 5/13/23 (Digitized 2016; re-touched 2021)
"667 Esplanade, L.H. Austen," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 12/27/26 (Digitized 2016; re-touched 2021)
"667 Esplanade," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 2/18/28 (Digitized 2016)
"684 Esplanade, Residence of Mr. & Mrs. Frank Brooks" Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 2/23/28 (Digitized 2016)
"676 Esplanade," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 2/18/28 (Digitized 2016)
"Esplanade, Looking Toward Post Road South" Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 2/18/28 (Digitized 2016)
"Esplanade, 706, Residence of William Brash (site of park)," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 4/29/25 (Digitized 2016)
1040 Esplanade
Built in 1905 on land originally owned by the Black Family, this Classical Revival home has a symmetrical plan, emphasized by its hip roof and equally-spaced chimneys and prominent Palladian window. Front and back centered porticos with Tuscan columns are carried through to the inside foyer where a dramatic, arched colonnade frames a grand staircase. Burwell and Helena (nee Porteous) Crosthwaite made this their home from the late 1920s until 1964, hosting such community events as Christ Church bridge parties, a 1941 war relief effort to collect clothing for Great Britain and, after America entered the war, a drive to collect books for U.S. soldiers. Mr. Burwell was an insurance broker and a member of the Yale Club, the American Yacht Club and the Turf & Field Club of Long Island. (His father owned the Metropolitan Dredging Company, which dug the 40-foot "Ambrose Channel" into New York Harbor.) Mrs. Burwell was a graduate of Smith College and held benefits for the school at the house. Previously, it was for a short time the home of Edith Sessions Tupper, a trailblazing journalist, author, playwright and script writer. A graduate of Vassar College, she was a correspondent for the New York Times and Chicago Tribune, adventuring to report on the burgeoning western part of the United States. Her 1878 passport application at age 22 described her as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with blue eyes, dark brown hair and a round full face, consistent with later drawings of her (see below). Her published books include By Whose Hand? (1889), Stuff of Dreams (1908), The Man from Headquarters (1905), Hearts Triumphant (1906) and The House of the Tolling Bell (which she later scripted to become a film, released in 1920). She also wrote the scripts for the plays, Madame Betty (1901), Father John (1902), Smart Sinners (1903), The Captain's Heart (1904) and Nine Spades (1905) and in 1917, perhaps at 1040 Esplanade, authored the silent film scripts for The Black Door, Birds of Prey, A Long Lane, Kidnapped, The White Trail and Taking Chances.
"Esplanade, 1084, Formerly residence of Dr. Leary," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 11/25/23 (Digitized 2016)
Homes on First Avenue
"First Ave, 463 Diack House, Old Stone House, Snyder's House, Formerly Parish House of Church of the Redeemer," Wm. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 4/7/23 (Digitized 2016)
Homes on Monterey Avenue
530 Monterey Avenue
Built in 1920, this handsome brick Georgian Revival style home was first the home of Frederick Bacon, a Canadian-born engineer and his wife Ada, a daughter of New York City educator Evander Childs for whom Evander Childs High School on Gun Hill Road in the Bronx was named. The house is perhaps most closely associated with Chauncey & Daphne Williams who lived here beginning as early as 1934 and who were leaders in the Pelham community for many decades. Mr. Williams served as Pelham Manor Village Trustee and then Mayor (1951-53), was an avid golfer and member and president of the Pelham Country Club and was Vice President of the Pelham Men’s Club. He was a lieutenant and aviator in the United States Navy during WWI where he was stationed in France and achieved the rank of colonel. After the war, he became a journalist and went on to become an Executive Vice President and Vice President of the Board of Directors at the publishing firm F.W. Dodge Corp. (later part of McGraw Hill). Mrs. Williams was head of the local Red Cross during WWII and was active in the Manor Club, serving as Program Chair, Music Section Chair (regularly composing, singing and playing the piano) and President of the club (1946-1948). After her husband’s death in 1964, Mrs. Williams continued to live at the home into the 1980s. Mr. Williams' father, also called Chauncey Williams, was an owner and partner in the publishing firm of Way & Williams, which published L. Frank Baum's first children's book "Mother Goose in Prose." The firm closed in 1898. In 1900, Baum wrote "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," the first in the series of books, published by a different firm. Chauncey L. Williams the father, was good friends with Frank Lloyd Wright and had a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in River Forest, Illinois, which still stands today.
Homes on Park Lane
1357 Park Lane
Designed by architect Phillip Resnick in 1926, 1357 Park Lane is one of Pelham’s most outstanding examples of Tudor Revival architecture. The home is built of locally-quarried granite with a prominent stucco and half-timbered gable. Original steel casement and leaded and stained glass windows are all preserved, along with a rusticated slate roof. In addition to being architecturally significant, the home is also of historic importance. It was for many decades the home of Christopher & Helen Chenery and their children Hollis, Margaret and Helen (who was better known by her nickname, “Penny”). The Chenery Family is well-known for their ownership of Meadow Stable, which produced such thoroughbred race horses as Riva Ridge, First Landing and Secretariat. After Mr. Chenery’s death in January, 1973, Penny Chenery Tweedy assumed management of Meadow Stable and, against financial challenges, continued to train and race Secretariat to become the triple-crown winner that year. She made a cameo appearance in the 2010 film “Secretariat.” Prior to her death last September, she recalled in a telephone conversation her time living in the home. “I had a wonderful childhood growing up in Pelham,” she said, remembering how her father installed an elevator that still operates in the home. The house was sold in 1973 to the O’Reilly Family. Mrs. O’Reilly was a sister of the author and political commentator, William F. Buckley.
1424 Park Lane
America's architecture has been influenced, like most of our culture, by Great Britain. After a strong influence from France during the reign of Napoleon III in the late 1800s, by the turn of the century England had resumed its strong influence on and connections to America with many of the nouveau riche of the United States marrying into English nobility to save their great estates. As a result, by the 1920s, American Architecture had fully embraced and revived England’s “Tudor Style.” Fueled by the wealth made in the stock market, the style was dubbed “Stockbroker Tudor. Pelham lays claim to many homes in this Tudor style, but a standout is the home of Katy and Nick Loria at 1424 Park Lane. Built in 1928, the Loria’s home was designed in this style as demonstrated by its asymmetrical design, stucco and half-timbered facade, slate roof and prominent chimney. It boasts an enviable level property and impressive gardens on almost an acre of land. The home has an interesting history. It was long the home of Judge Vincent L. Broderick who was a senior judge of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York and served as New York City Police Commissioner appointed by Mayor Robert F. Wagner in May 1965. Judge Broderick led the police force through the blackout that blanketed the Northeast, through the biggest transit strike in the city’s history and the first visit by a Pope, Paul VI. His family, wife Sally and six children lived here until 2002.
Homes on Witherbee Avenue
"55 Witherbee, Monterey Ave. & Witherbee Ave." R. Montgomery, glass slide photograph, 9/5/25 (Digitized 2016; re-touched 2021)