The Elijah B. Middlebrook House at 121 East 78th St: A regal home and 1999 crime scene
- Three bays wide and three stories tall, the property was intended for an affluent family
- ‘Wall Street Wizard’ Theresa Havell was attacked here by her husband while she slept
Around 1871 developer Nicholas McCool erected a row of identical Italianate-style homes on the north side of East 78th Street between Lexington and Fourth avenues (renamed Park Avenue in 1888). Three bays wide and three stories tall above high English basements, they were intended for affluent families.
McCool sold 121 East 78th St. to Dr. Elijah B. Middlebrook, who had just relocated to New York City from Connecticut. Shortly before the purchase, he was embroiled in a court battle in Connecticut. He assaulted attorney W. K. Seller in the courtroom and openly called him a liar. Middlebrook paid a $600 fine (a significant $16,900 in 2026) and the New York Herald reported that he "exiled himself from Bridgeport rather than endure the ignominy of imprisonment."
Major renovations
The property was passed down to a series of inheritors until it was sold in 1933 to R. Keith Kane, according to an article in The New York Times that noted it "will be altered at a cost of $10,000."
The renovations (equal to a quarter of a million today) included removing the stoop and lowering the entrance to below grade, converting the original entrance to a window, and adding a new floor. Astoundingly, the architect matched the former entrance with the existing parlor openings, copied the original architraves for the top floor windows, and reinstalled the 1871 cornice.
Born on July 3rd, 1900, attorney Richmond Keith Kane was a 1926 graduate of Harvard Law School. The year before purchasing 121 East 78th St., he joined the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. He and his wife, the former Amanda Stewart Bryan, had four daughters: Shelah, Anne Tennant, Hope Stewart and Constance H. Their country home was in Wickford, Rhode Island. Amanda was highly involved in civic and social affairs.
The family moved to Washington D.C. in 1940 after Kane became special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General "in the enforcement of new foreign-registration laws.” When relations between the French Vichy Government and America became strained the following year, the consul left East 78th Street and No. 121 was leased to Frederick S. Bailey and his family.
R. Keith Kane was appointed assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in 1943 and in 1945 was an advisor to the United States delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization.
Domestic violence
Former securities executive Aftab Islam, and his wife, Theresa Havell, lived here as early as 1999 with their six children and a live-in nanny. The couple was married in 1979. Theresa was described by The New York Post as "a Wall Street wizard." She was the founder "of the highly successful Havell Capital Management." Islam, on the other hand, called himself a "house husband" and had not worked since 1990.
By 1999, things were not going smoothly for the couple. According to The New York Post, they slept in separate bedrooms. Before going to bed on April 21st, Theresa told Aftab that she wanted a divorce. According to The New York Times, "she awoke just before 5 a.m. as Mr. Islam began beating her with a barbell he used to work out in their home."
Theresa was hospitalized with a fractured skull. Islam was taken away by the police and later sentenced to eight years in prison.
New owners renovated in 2002. It was most likely during this remodeling that architectural elements of the ground floor, faithful reproductions of the 1871 versions, and a charming bay window were installed.
For more on the property and the families that lived here, check out the full article.
You Might Also Like
