Francis F. Palmer House

The Francis F. Palmer House is the centerpiece of a complex of five residential buildings located at 67, 69, and 75 East 93rd Street in New York City, known collectively as the George F. Baker Jr. Houses. The architects Delano & Aldrich designed all five. The financier Francis F. Palmer built the principal residence at the corner of 93rd Street and Park Avenue in 1918. The financier George F. Baker, Jr. bought the house in May 1926 and made four substantial additions.

George F. Baker Jr. Houses (including the Francis F. Palmer House)
(2007)
New York City Landmark
Official nameSynod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia
Location and designation date75 East 93rd St, Manhattan, New York City (designated landmark on January 14, 1969)

69 East 93rd St, Manhattan, New York City (designated landmark on January 14, 1969)

67 East 93rd St, Manhattan, New York City (designated landmark on July 23, 1974)
Coordinates40°47′6.25″N 73°57′15.79″W
Year completed75 East 93rd Street: Main House, 1918; North Wing, 1929; Ballroom Wing, 1929.

69 East 93rd Street: Garage & Staff Residence, 1929.

67 East 93rd Street: Townhouse, 1931.

Earlier, in July 1919, Baker and his wife, Edith Kane Baker, bought the Henry Brevoort Mansion on lower Fifth Avenue. (Edith Baker was Brevoort's great-granddaughter.)[1] The couple intended to renovate the house for their own use but sold it in 1925. Before they did, they removed two mantels and an ornamental plaster frieze, all of which were installed by their architects in their new living room on 93rd Street.[2]

After they bought the property, George Baker engaged Delano & Aldrich to design two additions to No. 75, an annex on Park Avenue and a ballroom wing, both completed in 1929. In October 1927, Baker bought No. 69 East 93rd St.,[3] where he built a garage with staff quarters above, also completed in 1929.[4] The main house, the ballroom wing and the staff quarters form a small courtyard enclosed by a brick wall along 93rd Street.

Baker added a townhouse to the complex at 67 East 93rd Street, also designed by Delano & Aldrich, to be used as a residence for Baker's father, George F. Baker, Sr. The house was completed in October 1931,[5] but the father died at his Madison Avenue home before he could move into the new house.[6]

In 1982, the entire ensemble (67, 69, and 75) was added as a group to the National Register of Historic Places.[7]

75 East 93rd Street

In 1958, Edith Baker sold the Main House, the annex and the ballroom wing. (Before doing so, she donated two antique chandeliers from the ballroom, each with about eighty rock crystal prisms, for use in the White House.) The house's new owners, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, converted the annex to a school, converted the main house to administrative offices of the church's Synod of Bishops, and converted the ballroom to the Synodal Cathedral, adding an elevated terrace and staircase leading down to the courtyard, and a new gate leading out to 93rd Street.[8]

After a public hearing on November 10, 1966, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on January 14, 1969 to designate 75 East 93rd Street a landmark, declaring it to be "an outstanding example of a modified Federal style...one of the finest works in New York City, by the architects, Delano and Aldrich."

In 1997, the architect Michael Dwyer restored the building's windows and replaced the slate and copper roof.

69 East 93rd Street

After a public hearing on November 10, 1966, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on January 14, 1969 to designate 69 East 93rd Street a landmark, declaring it to be "an outstanding example of a modified Federal style...dignified in character...spacious in conception." On June 28, 1989, the financier, preservationist and author Richard Jenrette bought No. 69 from George F. Baker IV (George and Edith Baker's grandson),[9] and lived there until 1996. In 1997, he sold the house to the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, which used it as its headquarters.[10]

67 East 93rd Street

After a public hearing on June 25, 1974, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on July 23, 1974 to designate 67 East 93rd Street a landmark, declaring it to be "a handsome residence designed in a modified version of the neo-Federal style." In 1977, the estate of Edith Baker sold the house to Edward F. "Eddie" Ulmann,[11] chairman of Allied International, a manufacturer of aerospace products, and a one-time amateur national racquets champion.

In 1987, Ulmann sold the house to Richard Jenrette,[12] and in 1989 Jenrette sold it to the art dealer Stephen Mazoh.[13] During his tenure, Mazoh operated an art gallery in the house, acting as agent in 1993 for the sale of Vincent Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Cypresses, sold to Walter H. Annenberg for $57 million—at the time the 6th most expensive painting ever sold.

In 1996, Jenrette bought the house back from Mazoh,[14] and used it as his New York residence until his death in April 2018. In November 2018, the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust acquired the house.[15]

  • Ballroom Wing at 75 East 93rd Street
  • The Colonnade at 69 East 93rd Street, overlooking the Courtyard.
  • The Facades of 67 & 69 East 93rd Street, New York City
  • The Entrance at 67 East 93rd Street.

Further reading
  • Kathrens, Michael C. (2005). Great Houses of New York, 1880-1930. New York: Acanthus Press. p. 309. ISBN 978-0-926494-34-3.
  • Jenrette, Richard H. (2000). Adventures with Old Houses. Charleston, SC: Wyrick & Co. ISBN 0941711463.

References
  1. The New York Times, July 13, 1919, page 83.
  2. Daily News, November 4, 1990, page 177.
  3. The New York Times, October 22, 1927, page 30.
  4. The New York Times, October 22, 1927, page 30.
  5. New York Department of Buildings, Certificate of Occupancy 17950, October 29, 1931.
  6. The New York Times, May 3, 1931.
  7. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  8. New York Department of Buildings, Certificate of Occupancy No. 51272, October 1959.
  9. Deed of Sale, June 28, 1989,
  10. Deed of Sale, December 3, 1997.
  11. Deed of Sale, November 7, 1977.
  12. Deed of Sale, December 9, 1987.
  13. Deed of Sale, June 29, 1989.
  14. Deed of Sale, April 18, 1996.
  15. Deed of Sale, November 26, 2018.
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