Villa Lewaro

Infobox nrhp
name = Villa Lewaro
nrhp_type = nhl

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caption =
location = North Broadway, Irvington, New York
locmapin = New York
lat_degrees = 41 | lat_minutes = 2 | lat_seconds = 35.2 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73 | long_minutes = 51 | long_seconds = 50 | long_direction = W
nearest_city =
area =
built = 1916-1918
architect = Vertner Tandy
architecture = Italian Renaissance
designated= May 11, 1976cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1652&ResourceType=Building
title=Villa Lewaro|date=2007-09-21|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = May 11, 1976cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
mpsub =
governing_body = Private
refnum=76001289 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Villa Lewaro, also known as the Anne E. Poth Home, was the home of Madam C. J. Walker, 1867-1919, believed to be the first female, and first African-American, millionaire. It is an Italianate villa house designed for Walker by Vertner Tandy, the first registered African-American architect, and has been considered to be one of his greatest works. It was constructed during 1916-1918 at an estimated cost of $250,000, and was furnished lavishly. The name Villa Lewaro was coined by a distinguished 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; the house was inherited by her daughter A'Lelia Walker who owned it until she herself died in 1931. It then became the Anne E. Poth Home for Convalescent and Aged Members of the Companions of the Forest in America. [Arthur G. Adams, [http://books.google.com/books?id=KIkHuzvZTGYC&pg=RA1-PA129&lpg=RA1-PA129&dq=abbotsford+irvington&source=web&ots=ZSUdXc_8OG&sig=JLTMWg81LrWHArQ9IbG-l-Qje0c#PRA1-PA129,M1 "The Hudson River Guidebook"] (1996) ISBN 0823212025.]

The house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/76001289.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Villa Lewaro] |277 KB|author=Lynne Gomez Graves |date=October 30, 1975|publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/76001289.pdf Accompanying 2 photos, exterior, from 1974.] |1.24 MB]

The house is located at the intersection of Fargo Lane and North Broadway (US 9) in Irvington, New York. It is a private residence and not open to the public.

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References

Notes

Bibliography

A'Lelia P. Bundles. "On Her Own Ground: the Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker". 2001

External links

* [http://www.irvingtonhistoricalsociety.org/nrhp/nrhp04.html Irvington Historical Society - Villa Lewaro]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=pphhphoto&fileName=ny/ny1300/ny1336/photos/browse.db&action=browse&recNum=0&title2=Villa%20Lewaro,%20North%20Broadway,%20Irvington,%20Westchester%20County,%20NY&displayType=1&itemLink=r?pp/hh:@FIELD(DOCID+@BAND(@lit(NY1336))) 2 photos] at [Historic American Buildings Survey]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/pwwmh/ny22.htm Places Where Women Made History: Villa Lewaro, at National Park Service]
* http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress/stories/1198mans.htm
* http://www.hudsonriver.com/halfmoonpress/stories/0399gard.htm
* http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/walk-mad.htm
* http://forums.sohh.com/showthread.php?t=611969