Echoes of Roman splendor can be found in this Broadway mansion, completed in 1918 for Madame C. J. Walker. Born in the Midwest as Sarah Breedlove, Walker became wealthy as the inventor of an anti-kink hair lotion. Her fortune from hair care products was such that she was said to be the wealthiest black woman in the United States in the early 20th century. By 1916, Walker relocated to Harlem to be at the center of the fashionable African American community there. Not long after moving to the east coast, Walker hired black architect Vertner Woodson Tandy to design the 30-room white stucco mansion with tiled roof at Irvington. The home was named Villa Lewaro for Walkers daughter, ALelia Walker Robinson, as an anagram from two letters of each name. Madame Walker didnt spend much time at Irvington, as she died in 1919. ALelia Robinson owned the house until her death in 1931, at which point Villa Lewaro became as retirement home for seniors, a purpose the home served until the 1970s. Villa Lewaro is again a single family private residence.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 01:12:02 +0000