“Life is just one damned funeral after another.” That’s what Louis Mouquin sighed. His words capture a slice of the Sandford-Stager House’s story. This building, though no longer standing, holds tales of elegance, revelry, and unexpected sorrow.
The Sandford-Stager House started as a Dutch house. Isaac Varian transformed it into a Georgian-style country estate. Imagine an elegant entrance. Picture a fanlight sitting within a columned portico. By 1815, Sixth Avenue grew. The house rotated to face the roadway. It became the Knickerbocker Cottage.
Samuel Rockenburg ran the Knickerbocker Cottage in 1850. But his time was short. He died in 1856. Peter Connor then bought the cottage. He needed staff. One ad sought someone to tend bar and open oysters.
Felix Astoin acquired the cottage in 1863. Civil War veterans Captain William Fowler and Captain Boyle leased it. They preserved the old front and oak timbers. The Knickerbocker Cottage became a hub. Political and social groups gathered there.
In 1868, the New York Athletic Club formed here. Young men met to discuss forming a sports club. Imagine them equipped with Indian clubs. Visualize them lifting dumbbells. The Knickerbocker Cottage buzzed with activity.
Another group met here regularly. They were Masons. Two members created the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The first meeting occurred in the Knickerbocker Cottage on September 26, 1872.
The Manhattan Turtle Club also called this place home. Its rules were gastronomic. Members needed a large waist. The highest office went to the member who could eat the most soup. He also had to walk steadily. Billy Birch choked on his soup once.
The Five-Pounders also met here. Members weighed themselves before and after feasting. They could not leave until they weighed five pounds more. William Fowler hosted these clubs.
Fowler was also involved in The Thirteen Club. They combated superstitions. They held their annual dinner in room 13 every January 13. The menu featured thirteen courses.
After Astoin died, his widow sold the Knickerbocker Cottage. William Wilson bought it. The cottage was built piecemeal.
In 1898, Henri and Louis Mouquin leased the building. They renamed it Mouquin’s Cafe de Bordeaux. Artists painted scenes of Mouquin’s.
Mouquin’s became a fashionable French restaurant. But Prohibition ended its run. Agents found alcohol. The restaurant closed in 1924.
Prohibition ruined lives. Alexander Chaput, a waiter, committed suicide. Armand Francois De Lysle, another waiter, also died by gas inhalation.
The Clay Trading Corporation leased the building in 1925. It was too late. The Sandford-Stager House, deemed historic, was razed. It was replaced with an apartment building. The Sandford-Stager House is gone but not forgotten. It lives on in stories and memories.