6. Coster Mansion, Throgs Neck
Daniel Joachim Coster and his wife Julia DeLancey didn’t build their mansion until 1838, but their estate existed from 1771. During the Revolution, the site of their future home was in dangerous territory, then considered part of Westchester County, now the neighborhood of Throgs Neck in the Bronx. It stood on land near what would become Edison Avenue and Greene Place.
Daniel was the nephew of one of New York City’s first millionaires, Henry A. Coster, a merchant from Holland. Daniel based the design of his own mansion on that of his uncle’s mansion in Kips Bay. Naming it “St. Adresse,” the mansion was a bit less ornamented than his uncle’s, but shared the classic Greek Revival style with a plain pediment held up by four Doric columns. Surrounding the mansion was an orchard and flower garden. St. Adresse stayed in the family for nearly a century until it was inherited by Daniel’s grandchildren, Oliver and Martha. The descendants broke up the estate into 250 different lots and sold the mansion to The Parish of St. Benedict’s in 1929. The Parish demolished the house to make way for the St. Benedict School which now stands in place of the lost mansion,
