The Francis G. Lloyd House at 157 East 71st St: Tailored to fit the president of Brooks Brothers
- Lloyd was hired by Brooks Brothers at 14 years old and he worked his way up
A renovation created an American-style basement, which differs from an English-style basement in its lack of a stoop.
Have you ever passed by an interesting residential building in New York City and wanted to know more about its history? In this series, Brick Underground teams up with Tom Miller, creator of Daytonian in Manhattan, a blog about Manhattan buildings and other historic architecture. Each week, we run an excerpt from the Daytonian’s archives with a link to the full article.
Contractors James R. Breen and Alfred G. Mason designed two four-story-and-basement, neo-Grecian-style homes at 155-157 East 71st St. Completed in December 1881, the high-stooped brownstones were distinguished by windows that sat within shallow architraves atop paneled spandrels and capped with prominent cornices.
The houses saw a succession of wealthy owners over the next few decades, including Frank Guerin Lloyd, who purchased 155 and 157 East 71st St. in March 1907. In October, he commissioned the architectural firm of Trowbridge & Livingston to update the residences. No. 155 would be used as a rental property and 157 East 71st St. would become the Lloyds' home.
The architects' plans for 157 East 71st St. included new plumbing, windows and transforming it "into an American basement dwelling house." Houses with American-style basements differed from English-style basements in their lack of stoops. While Trowbridge & Livingston left the upper floors untouched, the entrance was now slightly below grade. Now fronting the second floor or piano nobile was a trio of French windows fronted by an iron railing. The renovations, completed in April 1908, cost Lloyd $15,000, or about $517,000 in 2026.
Francis Guerin Lloyd was born in New Jersey in 1848. He married Matilda Hedenberg Herbert on August 9th, 1875. The couple had two surviving children. (Two others had died in childhood.)
Lloyd was hired by Brooks Brothers, the men's clothing firm, when he was 14 years old. He worked his way up, and in 1879 was made a partner. Upon the death of John E. Brooks in 1896, Lloyd became senior partner. By the time he purchased 157 East 71st St., he was president of Brooks Brothers. The family's country home was in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
In later years, Francis and Matilda shared their home with James Henry McKinley, a "well known tenor and teacher of singing," and his wife, the former Laura Celestine Fiske. The relationship between the two families is unclear, but they would live together in the East 71st St. house for years.
On the morning of October 6th, 1920, Francis Lloyd left the house, heading to his office. On the way, the 72 year old suffered a fatal heart attack.
Matilda H. Lloyd moved permanently to the Bernardsville estate where she died on October 25th, 1945. The McKinleys remained at 157 East 71st St. for 25 years.
When the house was sold in August 1941, The New York Times reported that the buyer, Inez C. Robb, president of the Callaway Holding Corporation, had hired architect John S. Burrell to covert "the old residence into a modern apartment building for ten families." The renovation resulted in two apartments per floor.
Robb sold the building in September 1956. It was updated in 1982, while preserving the configuration of two apartments per floor.
On the exterior, little has changed to 157 East 71st St. since Trowbridge & Livingston remodeled it nearly 120 years ago.
For more on this property and its inhabitants, check out the full article.
