James F. D. Lanier House

123 East 35th Street | Murray Hill | built 1903

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1903

    James and Harriet Lanier build a Beaux-Arts mansion on East 35th Street

    Banker James F. D. Lanier II bought two 1854 brownstones at 123 East 35th Street in 1901 for $31,000 and tore them down to build a 33-foot-wide Beaux-Arts mansion, completed in 1903. Architects Hoppin & Koen gave the limestone-and-brick house fluted Corinthian pilasters, a fourth-floor stone balcony, and a copper mansard roof with three dormers.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1908

    February 22

    The Duc de Chaulnes marries Theodora Shonts in the Lanier house

    While the Laniers leased their home for the winter of 1907-08, tenant Theodore P. Shonts hosted his daughter Theodora's wedding to the Duc de Chaulnes there on February 22, 1908. Ten weeks later the duke died suddenly in Paris amid a morphine addiction, and Theodora gave birth to their son that November.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1954

    May 25

    A former servant tries to extort the Lanier family

    On May 25, 1954, Vincent Kayes, a former servant of the Lanier household turned bus driver, mailed a letter demanding $5,000 and threatening the lives of Reginald and Helen Lanier and their son. Detectives staked out the drop-off site and arrested Kayes when he retrieved the package; the Laniers moved out of the house soon afterward.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1979

    September 11

    The city designates the Lanier house a landmark

    The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Lanier residence an individual landmark on September 11, 1979. The house was added to the New York State Register of Historic Places in April 1982 and to the National Register that June.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 26 buildings with stories in Murray Hill