Original owner
Darwin R(eidpath) Martin was the son of Darwin D.
Martin of Larkin
Company fame. This
apartment house served as an investment -- and
as 2-floor penthouse living quarters for Martin
and his second wife, Laura Brasnell. As an
investment, it was unsuccessful because of the
Depression.
The
first apartment house that Darwin R. built and
managed was the Stuyvesant on Elmwood Avenue, so
named because his mother's family, the Reidpaths,
traced their roots back to Margaret Stuyvesant,
Peter Stuyvesant's sister . Darwin R. lived in the
top floor of the Stuyvesant with first wife,
Margaret Wende (married 1926).
When
125 Jewett, was sold after his father's death,
Darwin R. kept some of the house remains, but also
sold windows, furniture, etc. It is somewhat
ironic that the house is now a museum, but one
of the windows
from the house can be found at the Albright-Knox
Art Gallery -- a window donated to the Gallery
by Darwin R.
800
West Ferry became something of a family affair.
Darwin R's older sister Dorothy and her husband, James
Forsythe Foster, Jr. lived here (2D)
1933-1937. Darwin R's
mother, Isabelle, lived here (1C)
1938-1939
800
West Ferry
800 West Ferry was built
as 21 duplex rental units except for the four
first floor "simplex" units. The duplexes included
[on 2 Floors] 6 Bedrooms, 5 Baths, Living Room,
Dining Room, Library, Large Kitchen, Separate
Pantry, 2 Dressing Rooms, Lavatory. As the
depression wore on, it became necessary to divide
up the large duplex apartments; in 1940, the
building was emptied and these apartments were
each subdivided into two or four units. The first
floor remains unchanged as they were built as one
floor units.
The entire building
was emptied to be turned into apartments in 1940.
The building was converted to a condominium
association in 1980.
Other
luxury apartment houses, like the Campanile and the Park Lane, were
also being built in 1929.
