Villa Lewaro, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Dec 16th 2010 at 1:01PM

Today's home, Villa Lewaro in Irvington, New York is a National Historic Landmark. The home, also known as the Anne E. Poth Home, was the home of Madam C. J. Walker from 1918 to 1919, believed to be the first female, and first African-American, self-made millionaire (she made her money selling shampoo and other hair care). The mansion is an Italianate villa house designed for Walker by Vertner Tandy, the first registered African-American architect and was constructed during 1916-1918 at an estimated cost of $250,000, a fortune at the time. The name Villa Lewaro was coined by a visitor, Enrico Caruso, from the first two letters of each word in Lelia Walker Robinson, the name of her daughter, who later went by the name of A'Lelia Walker.

The home was used as a conference center on race relations issues. Walker died there in 1919 and it was inherited by her daughter A'Lelia Walker who owned it until she died in 1931. It then became the Anne E. Poth Home for Convalescent and Aged Members of the Companions of the Forest in America. The home is on more than three acres. The 30-room mansion has eight bedrooms and elaborate details including the original bronze chandelier, stained glass windows, intricate moldings and coffered ceilings. The renovated kitchen provides access to the outdoors. The property includes a large renovated carriage house and a reflecting pool. It is listed at $6.8 million.

Gallery: Villa Lewaro, Estate of the Day

Tags: c.j. walker, estate of the day, irvington, Madame C.J. Walker, new york real estate news, villa lewaro

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

caitlin_melody Dec 16th 2010 1:53PM

Beautiful!! I love all of your articles Deidre Woollard! Keep up the great work!

JLS Dec 16th 2010 3:55PM

What a gorgeous mansion! I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Such attention to detail making it classy and special. Love the history on it- thank you Deidre for showing it off.

Spectacular Bid Dec 16th 2010 4:44PM

It appears that the property continues to be available for private tours: http://www.madamwalkerestate.com/

It is a lovely home in its architecture (although the current interior design choices are dubious in general) and it conveys a very rich theme. It really is a lovely jewel and doesn't look to have suffered from a period of use that was for institutional purposes. I recall reading about Ms. Walker several years ago and she was a very savvy businesswoman who built a substantial fortune against so many odds of the day.

One minor quibble is that Vertner W. Tandy, a Cornell architecture grad, was the first African American registered architect in New York State. He was not however the first for the nation. He was also first African American to belong to the prestigious AIA (American Institute of Architects)

WAYNE Dec 16th 2010 7:59PM

I just wish the Naacp or someone would but thuis home and keep it in our history

derekisademocrat Dec 20th 2010 12:31AM

@wayne: that would be nice wouldn't it?

Tobor Jan 2nd 2011 2:50PM

Actually the NAACP did have it for a while. Alelia Robinson bequeathed the home to that organization, just as her mother has requested of her, but the NAACP immediately sold it off (at a bargain basement price) because they needed cash more than they needed a big house in Irvington, NY. And I'm not sure if this is true, but I read somewhere that the gentleman who restored and occupied Villa Lewaro recently was the first African American to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.