Smithsonian Institution The William Steinway Diary: 1861-1896
Steinway & Sons Records and Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Estimate of Current Value of Ella’s House
print this page
Ella’s engagement to Charles F. Schmidt, Jr., was announced in December of 1892. The following October, she purchased an imposing five-storey home on West 69th Street, just off Central Park West.
Her new property boasted a street frontage of 21 feet and a depth of 100 feet five inches. The purchase price was $37,500, of which $28,000 came from a three-year, five percent mortgage assumed from the previous owners and payable to the New York Life Insurance Company. Two days before closing, William Steinway wrote a check for $1,500, to be used by Ella toward the purchase, presumably a gift as he did not describe it as a loan. Ella herself may have been well-situated to pay the balance of $8,000, as she had, upon reaching the age of 21 in 1892, inherited one-third of Albert’s estate, estimated to be worth $400,000 at the time of his death in 1877. Ella was the sole owner, she being the only purchaser listed on the indenture (deed) executed at the time of the purchase. (Diary, 1892-12-22, 1893-10-05, 1893-10-17, 1893-10-19)(1)(9)(10) Following their marriage, Ella and Charles moved into Ella’s home. This was, however, not to be their last home, nor Ellas’s last venture into real estate. In 1914, she built a house in Briarcliff Manor, New York, which boasted 28 interior and 14 exterior areas. This home was to be transformed in 1993 into a Designer Showhouse with major technological innovations and corporate sponsorship. Ella and Charles also had a home in Pleasantville, New York, and in 1937 they built a winter home in Winter Park, Florida, where Ella died in 1948 at age 77, having lived as a widow for seven years. (Diary, 1894-03-26)(2)(7)(8)(13)(14)(18)(20)
Today, Ella Steinway’s house at 30 West 69th Street looks very much as it did in 1893, at least from the outside and in the vestibule. Often, the front stoop on such houses would have been removed, but this one remains intact. And the vestibule woodwork, almost certainly the original, is still beautiful and ornate. (16) (19)
What would be the value of this property on today’s real estate market? One difference from Ella’s day is that the interior has been converted into apartments, and these are doubtless rent controlled or rent stabilized, thus exerting a downward impact on market value. The house has remained in the same hands at least since 2004, so there is no recent selling price to go by. One guide as to potential selling value might be the "Market Value History Report" prepared by the City of New York. Over the most recent five tax years, these values have varied significantly, rising from $1,130,000 in 2005/06 and $1,240,000 in 2006/07 to $3,530,000 in 2007/08 and $3,630,000 in 2008/09, a three-fold increase, but then, at least tentatively, the value dropped to $2,010,000 for 2009/10, a drop of 45 percent. Unless New York City real estate prices do fluctuate wildly over relatively short periods of time, the reliability of such numbers, except perhaps as a guide within a broad range, must be questioned. (11)
An alternative method for estimating current market value might be to consider the asking price for similar properties in the area. Two such properties have been identified. One, located at 87th Street West, an Upper West Side residence as was Ella’s, is described as boasting a large extension and abundant original details, and in early 2009 was listed at $3,000,000. The other, located in Harlem but appearing similar to Ella’s home, was listed at $1,599,000. Taking both of these valuation procedures into account, a reasonable conjecture as to the price that could be commanded today by the property at 30 West 69 Street might be somewhere between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000, a multiple of some 66 to 80 times the price Ella paid in 1893, without taking into account changes in the value of the dollar. However, using the Consumer Price Index and extensions back to 1893 as an approximate measure of the purchasing power of the dollar, the real value of Ella’s house would have increased by a factor of about three. (Diary, 1893-1005)(4)(5)(6)
Acknowledgment:
Lewis Friederich and his wife Veronica Massey, of New York City, located and provided the most important materials for this report. Lew is a civil engineer, musician, and retired construction manager, and Veronica is an emeritus college language professor and artist. They located the indenture executed at the time of Ella’s purchase and information on current market value, as well as additional material on Albert and Ella Steinway. They also took the photographs of Ella’s house as it appears today and provided informed commentary on the current value of the building. The Steinway Diary Project is indebted to them.
[jb]
Sources:
1. "Albert Steinway’s Will," The New York Times, May 29, 1877, p. 2. 2. "A. Steinway’s Daughter Dies," The New York Times, March 4, 1948, p. 25. 3. "A Soul as Free as the Air: About Lucy Stone," by Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com: Women’s History, at http://womenshistory.about.com/od/stonelucy/a/lucy_stone.htm, accessed April 21, 2009.
19. Visual property inspection by Lewis Friederich and Veronica Massey. 20. "Wills for Probate," The New York Times, February 21, 1941, p. 38.
4. "Beaux-Arts Townhouse: 87th St West Exclusive," BrownHarrisStevens.com, at http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=770823, accessed April 25, 2009.
5. "Central Harlem House: Harlem Exclusive 4-Story," BrownHarrisStevens.com, at http://www.bhs-digital.com/bhs/fallwinter2008/?pg=61, accessed April 25, 2009.
6. "Chart of Consumer Price Index, 1800-2005," Economics-Charts.com, at http://www.economics-charts.com/cpi/cpi-1800-2005.html, accessed April 27, 2009.
7. "Display Ad 48 - No Title," The New York Times, May 28, 1993, p. C 28.
8. Eleanor Charles, "Westchester Guide: Designer Showhouse," The New York Times, March 1, 2009, p. WC 18.
9. Indenture (deed) for 30 West 69th St. to Ella F. Steinway, executed October 10, 1893, and recorded October 19, 1893, handwritten copy
10. Indenture (deed) for 30 West 69th St. to Ella F. Steinway, executed October 10, 1893, and recorded October 19, 1893, typed transcript
11. "Market Value History Report: City of New York: 30 West 69 Street 10023," NYC Property, at http://nycprop.nyc.gov/nycproperty/statements/mvh/jsp/stmtassessmvh.jsp?statementId=134008 075, accessed April 21, 2009.
12. "Married Women's Property Act: 1848, New York State: Gains in Women's Property Rights During the 19th Century," by Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com: Women’s History, at http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriedwomensproperty/a/property_1848ny.htm, accessed April 21, 2009.
13. "Mrs. Charles F. Schmidt," Winter Park Topics, Winter Park, Florida, March 12, 1948, p. 8, at http://www.wppl.org/wphistory/newspapers/1948/03-12-1948.pdf, accessed April 27, 2009.
14. "Obituary 1 - No Title," The New York Times, March 8, 1948, p. 23.
15. "Obituary 1 - No Title," The New York Times, June 28, 1926, p. 17.
16. Photographs by Veronica Massey and Lewis Friederich.
17. "Property Rights of Women: A Short History of Women’s Property Rights," by Jone Johnson Lewis, About.com: Women’s History, at http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marriedwomensproperty/a/property_rights.htm, accessed April 21, 2009.
18. "Two Estates Sold in Westchester: 25 and 17 Acre Properties in Pleasantville and Harrison in New Hands," The New York Times, October 8, 1941, p. 41.
