Grit, Gangsters, Grandeur and Glamour on One NYC Block

Next time you wonder along Riverside Drive between 105th and 106th Streets, pause to take in the “Seven Beauties”. No ordinary block, it is home to seven beautiful mansions, once filled with “actors, painters, inventors, hard-nosed businessmen, kept women, gangsters” (Dan Watkins, author of ‘The Man with the Sawed-Off Leg and Other Tales of New York City.’)

If the walls of these houses could talk, they’d tell tales of a fascinating cross-section of New York life, all on this one city block. Each building has an intriguing past.  All seven combined paint a picture of a hugely colorful place once inhabited by rogues and wealthy men. 

The ‘Seven Beauties,’ a line of Beaux-Arts mansions between 330 and 337 Riverside Drive, are filled with character and charm. They reflect the beauty and grace of an era long gone. In reality, while many of their inhabitants lived lives of wealth and glamour, during the early 20th century, these buildings were also hubs of tragedy and crime.  Their stories continue to captivate the imaginations of residents and visitors today, as over a century ago,

330 Riverside Drive, a 25-room mansion with an entrance on 105th street, was home to a baking powder tycoon, Robert Benson Davis. Davis abandoned the home after his young wife, displeased with the terms of his will, tried to prove him incompetent. The house was later sold to a religious organization and used as a residence for parochial school teachers. It is currently owned by Opus Dei, a part of the Catholic Church. 

Media mogul William Randolph Hearst acquired 331 and 332 Riverside Drive in 1918. The first property was for his mistress, Marion Davies. Hearst spared no expense in renovating the property, where the couple spent time and entertained lavishly.  The second became a home to her father, a lawyer.  Since 1955, a small courtyard next to these properties houses the Shinran Statue. This figure survived the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, despite standing just over a mile from the blast.  Today, 331 and 332 Riverside Drive are home to the New York Buddhist Church.

During the mid-1950s, Saul Bellow lived at 333 Riverside Drive, where he wrote ‘Seize the Day.’ Later, the home changed hands and belonged to Duke Ellington, bandleader, and jazz pianist. Ellington used it as the headquarters for his publishing company, where he arranged and wrote songs. He is also said to have hosted figures like Sugar Ray Robinson, Adam Clayton Powell, and Joe Lewis. Today, the stretch of 106th between Riverside and Central Park is known as Duke Ellington Boulevard.

In 1928, the home at 334 Riverside Drive was the scene of a devastating fire. As a result a tycoon in the toothpaste industry lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of artwork. Subsequently, the building served as a brothel, whose madam reportedly allowed gangsters to use the premises as a hiding place.

As one of the more interesting anecdotes goes, a gangster was taken to 334 Riverside Drive to hide out, there, he had one leg amputated, having accidentally shot himself in the foot during a massive armored car robbery.  Later, he died on the premises. His cohorts needed to have the other leg severed to allow them to stash the body in a steamer trunk and get rid of it covertly.  Today, the building serves as an apartment building.

A prominent pencil magnate with a familiar name purchased 335 Riverside Drive in 1910. Lothar Faber and his family lived there for some years before the building passed into the hands of a Columbia economist and professor. 335 Riverside Drive is the only red brick building on the block.

During the 1920s, a wealthy businessman named Raymond Penfield and his family occupied the 20-room mansion at 336 Riverside Drive. The family was known for hosting extravagant parties, receptions, and concerts. Today, it too serves as an apartment building.

The early owner of 337 Riverside Drive was Julia Marlowe, a Shakespearean actress, who sold the home shortly after acquiring it. Over the years, the house witnessed tragic events, including a doctor’s suicide in 1935 and the death of painter Michael De Santis from a brain tumor in 1936. The building is currently inhabited by Sherry Bronfman, an actress known for her role in the film “Shaft’. It was recently listed on the market for approximately $24 million.

If you’re ever in the area, stroll along Riverside Drive and take in the beauty of these remarkable buildings. The block personifies New York with its spectacle, glamour, and mystery.