Permanent Mission To Japan Ambassadorial Residence

 residence, townhouse

In 1900, Margaret Vanderbilt Shephard, daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt and granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt, built two double-width houses for her two daughters, Maria and Edith. For Maria and her husband William Schieffelin, who was in the pharmaceutical business, a house was built at 5 East 66th Street; and as a wedding present for Edith and her husband Ernesto Fabbri, head of the Society of Italian Immigrants, this townhouse was built at 11 East 62nd Street.

Known today as the Fabbri-Steele Mansion, the townhouse is one of the most exuberant Beaux-Arts style houses in New York City. It was designed by the firm of Haydel & Shepard, chosen perhaps because the latter partner, August Dennis Shepard Jr., was a cousin of Edith. The original plans show that the 45½-foot-wide house had 22,500 square feet and included a 25-by-41 foot mahogany paneled dining room, gentlemen's and ladies' reception rooms, an ornate ballroom, seven principal bedrooms, and nine servants' bedrooms. The sweeping staircase leading to the second floor featured a banister which supports a pair of Louis XIV-style bronze candelabra with cupids nearly six feet high.

The second owners of the Fabbri townhouse were Charles Steele and his wife, Nannie. Charles Steele (1856-1939) was a partner at J. P. Morgan & Company, and a partner in the law firm of Seward, Guthrie & Steele. He was also involved in the affairs of the Metropolitan Opera and the Protestant Episcopal Church of America, and served as senior warden of both St. Thomas Church, New York City, and the Church of the Advent, Westbury, N.Y. A great lover of church music, Mr. Steele studied organ with Dr. T. Tertius Noble at St. Thomas, and in 1922 he contributed $200,000 for the purchase of two houses so that the choir school could have a permanent home.

In 1941, the townhouse was taken in foreclosure by the Bowery Savings Bank. It was purchased in 1943 by the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation, known for its aptitude testing. In 2001, the Japanese government bought the townhouse for $21.5 million.

www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES016.htm
www.flickr.com/photos/cprimm_manly427/3427337997/
www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/ResFabbri-Steele.html