James Iddings House

52 Bond Street | NoHo | built 1838

Open on the map6 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. 1838

    A Greek Revival house with unusual serpentine stoop railings rises on a block of Federal ones

    Builder Ephraim H. Wentworth bought the lot in 1834 and sold it in 1838 to Jonathan J. Coddington, who ran as the Democratic nominee for mayor in 1844. It is unclear which of them built the house. It is an early Greek Revival house on a block of Federal ones, and its serpentine stoop railings are unusual. James Iddings, assistant cashier of the United States Bank, seems to have been the first occupant.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1862

    May 24

    Dr. Payton Spence and Amanda Spence advertise spiritualist healing at their boardinghouse

    By 1862 Dr. Payton Spence and his wife Amanda ran the boardinghouse at No. 52. A Herald of Progress ad of May 24 said Mrs. Spence, in her capacity as a Medium, would prescribe and manipulate for physical, mental and moral diseases, and that a few patients could also have room and board. The house had become a rooming house as the wealthy moved uptown.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1875

    Landlord Frederick Bornhagen leases the basement to brewer Jacob Ruppert and runs a saloon there

    In 1875 owner Frederick Bornhagen, a Prussian-born tailor, leased the basement to brewer Jacob Ruppert for $1,000 a year. Breweries commonly ran their own saloons to sell only their beer, and Bornhagen changed his occupation to 'beer.' He ran the saloon until about 1887. In 1880 his eleven boarders included an actor and several actresses.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1887

    November 22

    Police raid a card room in the basement saloon after an undercover detective loses at poker

    In 1887 the saloon was run by Max Lasker, who kept an illegal card room in back. Detective Eugene D. Collins joined a poker game on November 19 and lost $11. On November 22 police raided the place; Lasker said it was a private club but was held for trial, and three men arrested in the card room were discharged.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1895

    May 28

    A reform society's list names the house a house of assignation

    In 1894 John H. Meyer ran both the saloon and the rooming house. On May 28, 1895 Frank Moss, lawyer for the Parkhurst Society, charged that disorderly houses had flourished openly in Captain Joseph B. Eakins's precinct, and a list reported in The Sun labeled No. 52 a house of assignation. The bad press probably led the owners to convert the whole house to commercial use in 1897, starting with fur makers.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  6. 1966

    Designers Toma and Jan Gero start the clothing firm 52BOND in the basement

    By the 1960s the upper floors were being used, unofficially, as residences. In 1966 the designer Thelma Toma Holly, called Toma, and her husband Jan Gero launched the firm 52BOND in the basement, with their factory across the street at No. 42. They ran 52 Bond Street, Ltd. from here until 1970.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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