The
Bayard Dominick Jr. residence designed by
William F. Dominick c. 1920 at 117 East 54th Street in
New York City. Dominick's father, Bayard Sr., was a founder of the stock brokerage firm of
Dominick & Dominick. Bayard Jr. followed his father's footsteps in the firm. William Francis Dominick, architect of the residence, was either a brother or cousin of Bayard Dominick Jr., and practiced in Greenwich, Conn. Click
HERE to see the Bayard Dominick Jr. residence on google street view.
Photos from
Architectural Record, 1921.
10 comments:
Of all the magnificent demolished townhomes featured to date, this place would unfortunately be the one to have avoided the wrecking ball. Fate is cruel. That dark dank staircase appears to be heading up to a black hole and the trophy room seems too small for the 200 or so mounted heads.
The building now appears to be part of a very dull cluster of surviving NYC townhouses on a very bland Manhattan block. The best part, if ever built, seems to be the pre-turtle bay idea of a common garden shared by multiple homes.
Off topic ~ an additional comment on yesterday's posting, "Bellefontaine", has been added.
From Prominent Families of New York
WILLIAM GAYER DOMINICK
THE Huguenot emigration brought to New York, in 1742, George Dominique, who was born
at La Rochelle, France, in 1739. George and his brother, Francois Dominique, became
merchants in Cherry Street, New York. George was a Captain in the Second New
York Militia in 1775, and a vestryman in Trinity Church, 1 787-1 792, Dominick Street being named
for him. In 1761, he married Elizabeth Blanchard, who was also of Huguenot parents, though
born in Amsterdam, Holland. Their son, James William Dominick, a merchant of eminence, was
one of the founders and president of the Eastern Dispensary, a trustee of the American Tract
Society, one of the executive committee of the Bible Society, and a director of the Tradesman's
Bank. He married Phcebe Cock, daughter of Major James Cock, Adjutant in the Patriot army at
the Battle of White Plains, and Commissary under Washington throughout the entire war.
Major Andre was a prisoner in Major Cock's house. The night before his execution, he kissed
Phcebe Cock, then an infant, and said, "Oh ! happy childhood ; we know thy peace but once ;
would that I were as innocent as thou."
Among the lineal descendants of James William Dominick, first in the male line, are
Marinus Willet Dominick, a son of his second wife, Margaret Eliza Delavan, and five grandsons :
Henry Blanchard Dominick and the late Alexander, sons of James W. Dominick, second, and the
sons of the late W. F. Dominick, George Francis Bayard and the late Mr. William Gayer Dominick.
William Francis Dominick, the latter's father, was the son of James William Dominick and
Phcebe Cock, and though born in New York, went to Chicago in 1844, and was one of the early
merchants there, retiring from business and returning to New York in 1855. He married, in 1844,
Lydia Gardner Wells, a descendant of Governor Wells, of Connecticut ; of Robert Day, whose
name appears on the Founders' Monument at Hartford, and of Richard Gardner, of Nantucket.
Their eldest son, Mr. William Gayer Dominick, was born in Chicago, in 184s, and died suddenly
August 31st, 1895. He was educated at Churchill's Academy, Sing Sing, and in 1863 entered the
banking business in Wall Street. In 1869, he joined the Stock Exchange, and formed, with Watson
B. Dickerman, the firm of Dominick & Dickerman, to which his brother, Bayard, was admitted.
Continued ...
Continued ...
Mr. Dominick served seventeen years in the Seventh Regiment, ten years as First
Lieutenant, and at the time of his death was Captain of the Ninth Company of the Veteran
Association, and a Governor of the Seventh Regiment Veteran Club. He was a member and one
of the board of managers of the Sons of the Revolution, a manager of the New York Huguenot
Society, and one of the advisory board of the Young Women's Christian Association, a member
of the Society of Colonial Wars, of the War of 18 12, the Aztec Society, and the Historical Society.
Among other prominent organizations, he belonged to the Union League, City and Riding clubs,
and the Narrows Island Shooting Club, of Currituck, N. C. A life membership of the Metro-
politan Museum of Art was conferred on him in 1892, when he joined his brothers in presenting
the picture by Schraeder, Queen Elizabeth Signing the Death Warrant of Mary Stuart.
In 1874, Mr. Dominick married Anne De Witt Marshall, daughter of Henry P. Marshall and
his wife, Cornelia Elizabeth Conrad. The Marshall family descends from Edward Marshall, who
settled in Virginia in 1624, died in New York 1704, and is buried in Trinity churchyard. Mrs.
Dominick's great-grandfather, the Reverend John Rutgers Marshall, was one of the ten clergymen
who elected Samuel Seabury, the first Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States. Another ancestor was Colonel Charles DeWitt, the Revolutionary patriot, and among her
early ancestors are Hermanius Rutgers, Parson Thomas Hooker, the Reverend Everardus Bogardus
and Anneke Jans. Mr. and Mrs. Dominick's four children are William Francis (now at Yale, class
of 1898), Elsie, Alice and Anne Marshall Dominick. Mr. Dominick was a member of St. Thomas's
Church, Fifty-third Street and Fifth Avenue, where a beautiful altar rail has been placed, "To the
Glory of God and in blessed memory of him whose gentle, manly, Christian character made him
beloved by all who came in contact with him." The Dominick coat of arms was granted in 1720.
Bayard Sr.'s obituary indicates that the architect was not a son (or brother to Jr.).
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FB0E1FFC3F5E13738DDDAA0A94DE405B848DF1D3
Whatsa matter Archi, not enough carved stonework for ya? Not enough marble inside?
Quick, somebody call PETA---that trophy room is scary (But a nice room under all the dead heads).
Very surprising house inside---I like the wing and court.
Ditto on the wing, court and trophy room.
I don't know how many houses I looked at -- here and at OLI -- with tiger-skin rugs before I realized that there must have been someone selling them in NYC. Because there's just no way that some of these people were in India hunting tigers.
(Up above we have a rhino and several types of African game. Since Dominick traveled to Europe quite often, sometimes for months at a time, I assume these are his own handiwork.)
Well aside from the great trophy collection, nice garden court and narrow tacked on superfluous mini wing, we have yet another entire day at Beyond the Gilded Age to view this dreary, boring box of a townhouse.
I think we need some architect to add a little carved stonework to liven up the box.
Thanks so much for posting this --the architect and the owner of this home are both relatives of my mother's Aunt Gertrude Schweppe Dominick.
Many, many thanks for posting this! Both the architect and the owner of this home are relatives of my mother's Aunt Gertrude Schweppe Dominick. I am working on figuring out the relationship between the architect Wm F. Dominick and Bayard Dominick Jr. I do, however, know that Bayard Dominick Jr was my great Uncle Everett Dominick's brother.
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