History Mystery Homes #13

The mystery home this week is number "18." It can be located anywhere in Garden City.

History Mystery Home number "14" has been identified by Garden City resident Michael Wolf. It is 72 Third Street, on the south side of the street between Cathedral Avenue and Rockaway Avenue. The front of the home still has the same raised decorations over the front door, but now they are highlighted in gleaming gold. The leaded glass windows of the front door area have been retained as well.

The current homeowners have lived in their house for four years. The wife said that the Palladian-style home was built in 1928 and has the typical well- designed rooms of that period. One exception is the original kitchen, which only measured nine feet by eleven feet. For such a large house, it was a very small kitchen. Luckily, a large kitchen was added onto the back of the home. The wife was an art history major in college so the home has an elegantly furnished interior with beautiful paintings.

There are two things that make the interior unique to most homes in the village. The first surprise is that there is a secret buzzer located in the floor under the dining room table. Years ago, the homeowner could tap on the buzzer with his foot and the servant would arrive with the next course. Another interesting part of the home is the solarium, which is built on the east side. It is presently a casual den with many sun-filled windows and a tiled floor. It still retains a low faucet in one corner to conveniently water plants using a small hose.

However, "the treasure of the house is outside," according to the wife. There are five garden statuary in the backyard. Two pieces look like Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry in Roman mythology. At the back is a five-foot tall lion and there are two smaller lions. It's possible an earlier family had a formal English garden incorporating the statuary.

Five families have lived at 72 Third Street.

The first residents were the Duval family. William H. Duval, his wife Louise and their son, William G. Duval, moved into their newly-built home from a block away on Cathedral Avenue at Second Street. They had lived on Cathedral for a number of years. William H. (b. 1871 in Utica, New York) was a well-to-do wool and textile merchant.

In 1930, ensconced in their new home on Third Street, the Duvas had one cook and two maids. The servants were from "Free State," which was the newly- independent Ireland. Around 1932, adult son, Clinton, and his wife, Doris, had joined them. But by 1934, Mrs. Duval was living there by herself. She moved to the apartment on 67 Hilton Avenue around 1938, where she lived until 1946.

The second family in the Third Street home was Caroline J. and Coverly W. Fischer (aka William Coverly Fischer). Coverly was born in 1903 in Brooklyn and spent four years in college. He worked at the Home Title Guaranty Company at 106 Sixth Street. In 1942 he was listed as a paint dealer. By 1946 he was working in title insurance again, presumably after the real estate business picked up with the return of WWII veterans. The Fischers lived there for 12 years and moved in 1950.

The third family was Edith W. and Dr. Ralph Schneider, a physician. Like the Duvals, they also moved from their home on Cathedral Avenue (number 23) into 72 Third Street. The Schneiders moved into the house in 1950 and stayed for many decades.

Robert Stark, Sr. lives on Third Street and was a neighbor and friend of the Schneiders. He remarked, "Edith was a person of some reputation because her father was...connected with Hofstra University and had Weed Hall named after him. The Weeds lived at the southeast corner of Third and Cathedral but the house was razed. Edith Schneider sold the home to the Iovinos. They did major renovations on the home."

Edith's father, LeRoy Weed, was a trustee of Hofstra College (now University) from 1944-1961. On campus, Weed Hall currently houses the Department of Engineering and Technology as well as the Department of Public Policy.

RoseMarie and Stephen T. Iovino moved in around 1993, and they are the fourth family to live in the house. They lived there for 16 years and were the second- longest owners. They have lived in another part of Garden City since 2009.

The Iovinos then sold the home to the fifth and current owners.

Please contact Suzie Alvey at 326-1720 or suziealvey@gmail.com if you recognize any of the homes that have been featured. Also, if anyone has any old books, photos or papers relating to anything in Garden City, please call Alvey. She can scan or photograph the items, while you keep the original, or you can donate it. This will be extremely helpful to the archives at the Garden City Public Library and the Garden City Historical Society.

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