Returning to the James Bailey mansion in Sugar Hill section of Upper Manhattan, we begin on the second floor.                              Click on any photo to see it full-sized.

This floor holds three bedrooms and the kitchen the Blakes installed in the fourth for their personal use. The rooms are still used by Jim and the Spollens’ niece (who was not in attendance that evening). One of the bathrooms contains an old bathtub original to the home and believed to be Mr. Bailey’s. Of note is the terracotta tile ringing the edge of the tub.

On the top floor, we found ourselves in the billiards room, one of the larger rooms in the house. (If I squint, I can visualize men with large mustaches standing around a pool table leaning against their pool cues and smoking cigars.) The Spollens haven’t yet decided if they’ll move into the home. If they do, the idea is to use this floor for their living space.

This sweet little circular room overlooking St. Nicholas Place off the corner of the billiard room might become a breakfast nook. The fixture is thought to be original to the home.

A small staircase took us to one final location - the observatory at the very top of the house is just beneath the iron widow’s walk on the roof. Despite its small size, there was a lot to restore. The completed room is something else; the woodwork is, in a word, delicious.

Curved windows set into all four walls offered commanding views in Bailey’s and Dr. Koempel’s times; the modern views are still lovely. The windows had been replaced at some time prior to the Spollens’ ownership. They were a challenge to restore because there were no historic color images to refer to. The next door neighbors fortunately had a remnant of a window frame they shared which was used as a template. 

Back on the main floor, I chatted with Jenny Spollen and her cousin, Jim. These two have done a remarkable job on a lot of the woodwork throughout the home. Seeing how enthusiastic I was about the place and their efforts, Jim took me back downstairs to show me around the wood shop. He doesn’t speak a ton of English but it wasn’t necessary for me to understand how justifiably proud he was of his work.

Below is a selection of elements from around the home (best viewed full-size).

14 St. Nicholas Place to the left of the mansion

In a city in which neighborhoods are rapidly disappearing under the bulk of super tall glass towers, the Bailey Mansion is a valuable relic from a more genteel time. Martin and Jenny Spollen are its modern saviors but we must give credit to the home’s prior owners for its longevity. Starting with Dr. Koempel, the man who purchased the home from James Bailey (see Part 1), his foresight in also purchasing #14 St. Nicholas Place next door prevented the inevitable construction of an apartment building at the edge of the property. This ensured that daylight would continue to stream through the colorful stained glass windows on the main stair landing.

The following owner, Marguerite Blake, bought her dream home as a young woman. She went on to conduct a significant neighborhood business there for decades and respected its history enough to refrain from making significant changes. As Marguerite and her husband aged, the home aged along with them, and became too much for them to manage. It suffered, but their love for it never stopped. They unintentionally set the stage, in fact, for exactly the right people to come in and rescue the place. Had the mansion been a more appealing sale (less degraded) its shell would have remained due to its landmark status, but much of the Belcher and incised glass windows, the carvings, the inlaid wood floors, the soul of the home, would likely have been erased. 

The revival of the Bailey Mansion serves as a brilliant example of historic preservation and a true labor of love. I wish the Spollens all the best in their continued restoration of their home and their plans for it - perhaps as residence, an event space, a filming location (Gilded Age production, I hope you’re reading this!), or all of these. I look forward to seeing its evolution. More immediately, bravo, Martin and Jenny, and thank you!