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Villa Lewaro
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Villa Lewaro
Villa Lewaro, also known as the Madam C.J. Walker Estate, is a 34-room 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway (US 9) in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker commissioned architect Vertner Tandy to build Villa Lewaro from 1916 to 1918. It was designed in the Italianate style and named for Walker's daughter, Lelia Walker Robinson (later known as A'Lelia Walker). An additional site, the Dark Tower Walker residence with business occupancy, was established in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, thus completing the Walker property portfolio.
From 1918 to 1919, Villa Lewaro was the home of Madam C. J. Walker, an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist who was the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. She became one of the wealthiest self-made women in America and one of the most successful women and African-American business owners ever. Walker's fortune was founded on her developing and marketing a line of beauty and hair products for black women.
The mansion is an Italianate villa house designed for Walker by Vertner Tandy, the first African-American architect registered in New York, and has been considered to be one of his greatest works. It was constructed during 1916–1918 at an estimated cost of $250,000 and was furnished lavishly. The name Villa Lewaro was coined by a distinguished visitor, Enrico Caruso, from the first two letters of each word in Lelia Walker Robinson, the name of Walker's daughter, who later went by the name of A'Lelia Walker. The 1921 REOL Productions film The Secret Sorrow starring Edna Morton was reportedly filmed at the home.
The home was used as a conference center on race relations issues, and as a meeting place for people involved in the Harlem Renaissance, including W. E. B. Dubois and Langston Hughes. Madam C. J. Walker died there in 1919, and the house was inherited by her daughter A'Lelia, who owned it until she died in 1931. She left it to the NAACP, but because of the challenges of paying the taxes and general home maintenance during the Great Depression, the estate and the NAACP agreed to sell the property and split the proceeds.
The estate was bought by the Companions of the Forest in America and became the Anne E. Poth Home for Convalescent and Aged Members of that group. The house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and has been a private residence since the mid-1980s. It is part of Westchester County's historical Millionaires' Row.
In 1993, Villa Lewaro was purchased by Harold Doley, founder of Doley Securities, LLC, the oldest African-American-owned and operated investment banking firm in the United States. According to the New York Post:
The Doleys upgraded the house's mechanical, electrical, heating, and plumbing systems. They reconstructed the terra cotta roof with materials from the original manufacturer and restored the wall paintings in the dining and music rooms.
Doley has hoped to attract investors to help turn the residence into a museum. During 1998 it was a designer show house benefiting the United Negro College Fund.
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Villa Lewaro
Villa Lewaro, also known as the Madam C.J. Walker Estate, is a 34-room 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway (US 9) in Irvington, New York, 30 miles north of New York City. Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker commissioned architect Vertner Tandy to build Villa Lewaro from 1916 to 1918. It was designed in the Italianate style and named for Walker's daughter, Lelia Walker Robinson (later known as A'Lelia Walker). An additional site, the Dark Tower Walker residence with business occupancy, was established in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, thus completing the Walker property portfolio.
From 1918 to 1919, Villa Lewaro was the home of Madam C. J. Walker, an African-American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a political and social activist who was the first female self-made millionaire in the United States. She became one of the wealthiest self-made women in America and one of the most successful women and African-American business owners ever. Walker's fortune was founded on her developing and marketing a line of beauty and hair products for black women.
The mansion is an Italianate villa house designed for Walker by Vertner Tandy, the first African-American architect registered in New York, and has been considered to be one of his greatest works. It was constructed during 1916–1918 at an estimated cost of $250,000 and was furnished lavishly. The name Villa Lewaro was coined by a distinguished visitor, Enrico Caruso, from the first two letters of each word in Lelia Walker Robinson, the name of Walker's daughter, who later went by the name of A'Lelia Walker. The 1921 REOL Productions film The Secret Sorrow starring Edna Morton was reportedly filmed at the home.
The home was used as a conference center on race relations issues, and as a meeting place for people involved in the Harlem Renaissance, including W. E. B. Dubois and Langston Hughes. Madam C. J. Walker died there in 1919, and the house was inherited by her daughter A'Lelia, who owned it until she died in 1931. She left it to the NAACP, but because of the challenges of paying the taxes and general home maintenance during the Great Depression, the estate and the NAACP agreed to sell the property and split the proceeds.
The estate was bought by the Companions of the Forest in America and became the Anne E. Poth Home for Convalescent and Aged Members of that group. The house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and has been a private residence since the mid-1980s. It is part of Westchester County's historical Millionaires' Row.
In 1993, Villa Lewaro was purchased by Harold Doley, founder of Doley Securities, LLC, the oldest African-American-owned and operated investment banking firm in the United States. According to the New York Post:
The Doleys upgraded the house's mechanical, electrical, heating, and plumbing systems. They reconstructed the terra cotta roof with materials from the original manufacturer and restored the wall paintings in the dining and music rooms.
Doley has hoped to attract investors to help turn the residence into a museum. During 1998 it was a designer show house benefiting the United Negro College Fund.
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