Taps Mansion
36 West 56th Street | Midtown | built 1920
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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.
- 1882
Bruce Price designs a Queen Anne mansion for Dr. William Morton
Architect Bruce Price designed the five-story Queen Anne house, completed in 1882 for Dr. William J. Morton. Rough-cut stone covered the ground floor, with terra cotta tile and brick above, and an unusual layout placed the kitchen on the top floor, connected to the dining room by a dumbwaiter, because Morton's medical offices occupied the ground level.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1890
General Daniel Butterfield, composer of 'Taps,' lives in the house
Dr. Morton had moved out by 1890, when Civil War general Daniel Butterfield and his family took the house. Butterfield, who distinguished himself at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, is best remembered as the composer of 'Taps.' A stove caught fire during his residency in 1890, and the family later sold the house to the widow Annie Barnes Kellogg.
Source: Forgotten New York
- 1933
The Mona Lisa Club, a high-end speakeasy, opens in the mansion
In 1933 the former Morton mansion was converted to a restaurant that was really the Mona Lisa Club, a speakeasy aimed at wealthy patrons. Despite its upscale clientele, the club was still subject to occasional police raids. By 1936, with Prohibition over, the building held a store on the ground floor and apartments above.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1958
The Mi Chou Gallery shows Asian art in the building
The Mi Chou Gallery, which showed Asian art, occupied the building from 1958 to 1960 as the property continued in mixed use. A street-level addition built in the late 20th century later replaced the original first floor and the entrance stairs, though the Queen Anne design above remains largely intact.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- The 1882 William J. Morton Mansion - No. 36 West 56th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
- TAPS MANSION, MIDTOWN NORTHForgotten New York
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