Redclyffe Apartments

The Redclyffe Apartments [see Figure 1], at 245 Whitney, currently serve as convenient housing for students, young professors, and other Yale-affiliated personnel. Built in 1922 by a contractor, F.C. Kusterer1, the building is described by the Connecticut Historical Resources Inventory [see Figure 5] as symmetrical colonial revival, “notable for its fine proportions and classical detail,”2 even though many of the decorations would be considered clumsy now. Nevertheless, Redclyffe fits comfortably into its surrounding Whitney Avenue neighborhood of institutional offices and other apartment buildings.



Before 245 Whitney was there, the site was a part of the Fellows estate, a large house and gardens that had been built by Richard Fellows, a Yale College alumnus and benefactor.3 As can be seen by archival photos [see Figure 2], this large estate, the house itself known as “Redcliffe”4, fit in well with a largely affluent neighborhood with similar homes along Whitney and the New Haven Lawn Club.5 In 1906, the last resident moved into the Fellows house, J. Davenport Wheeler, who was just returning from Paris. He had previously attended the Sheffield Scientific School, where he studied chemistry and geology, fought in the Civil War, and worked in New Haven as a partner in a hardware firm. Wheeler lived in “Redcliffe” until his death in 1922.



Upon Wheeler’s death, the land was subdivided [see Figures 3-4, the Sanborn maps]. The first thing built on this plot was 245 Whitney, sensibly named the “Redclyffe Apartments,” in April 1922. It cost $50,000 to build at the time and contained 6 units.6 In the 1920s, immediately after construction, the building catered to a high-end professional class, with two Yale professors and a Vice President of a downtown company living there.7



In the 1930s, in the middle of the Great Depression, the property changed hands from the original developer, Kusterer, to C.B. Walker, who in 1938 subdivided to create 8 apartments out of six.8 Sometime soon after, Walker defaulted on his mortgage and the building ended up in the hands of Second National Bank.9 In 1945, the bank sold the building to Jacob F. Buckman for $52,500;  Buckman incorporated “Redclyffe Inc.” to manage the building.10 By the 1960s, the tenant mix was changing somewhat: although it still contained two Yale professors and a physician, the building also housed two widows.11



After Mr. Buckman died, Mrs. Buckman and Redclyffe Inc. held the building for decades. After minimal records for years, they did renovation work in 1993.12 In addition, as the neighborhood increasingly became composed of students, the tenant mix changed as well. In April 1999, the property was actually sold to Quinnipiac University13, supposedly to use as (very afar) student housing. In the years that they owned it, until 2004, they did extensive repairs and upgrades, all totaling nearly $230,000.14



In April of 2004, Redclyffe Apartments was sold to its current owner, Matt Nemerson of Peabody Place, LLC.15 One of his first actions was to further subdivide the property, dividing one of the first-floor apartments into two, taking advantage of persistent student housing needs.16 There are now 9 apartments in this building. Soon after, he installed electric heat in all the apartments and improved wiring to the transformer in back, over $30,000.17 Peabody Place continues to own the current Redclyffe



NOTES & REFERENCES



1. New Haven Building Department, original permit



2. Connecticut Historical Resources Inventory, New Haven Historical Society: also see Figure 5.



3. Dana Archive (for 245 Whitney), New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library



4. Dana Archive (for 245 Whitney), New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library



5. 1901 New Haven Sanborn Map, Yale University Library Map Collection



6. New Haven Building Department, original permit



7. 1925 New Haven Directory, New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library



8. New Haven Building Department, remodel permit



9. Dana Archive (for 245 Whitney), New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library



10.  Dana Archive (for 245 Whitney), New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library & Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives (White Brothers Law records)



11. 1965 New Haven Directory, New Haven Museum & Historical Society Library



12. New Haven Building Department, remodel permit



13. New Haven City Clerk, electronic records (in lobby)



14. New Haven Building Department, remodel permit



15. New Haven City Clerk, electronic records (in lobby)



16-17. New Haven Building Department, remodel permit