Stedman House/Casa Laura (Lawrence Park Historic District)

The Stedman House, also known as Casa Laura, in the Lawrence Park Historic District in Bronxville, NY, is where journalist, poet, essayist, and stockbroker Edmund Clarence Stedman (1833-1908) lived and worked alongside his wife, Laura Hyde Woolworth ​(d.1905), for whom the home was named. Designed by architect William A. Bates, and completed in 1896, the commanding two-story residence exhibits a projecting central pedimented section with colossal Ionic columns and a decorative second-story balcony. Inclusive of exterior renovations completed in 1990, the house continues to resemble its original turn-of-the-twentieth century construction, and remains a private residence. The Stedman House/Casa Laura is included in the Lawrence Park Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The original design plans for Lawrence Park, as conceived by namesake William Van Duzer Lawrence, focused on ways to accentuate the natural beauty and topography of this hilly area of Bronxville, New York. Another early goal was to attract artists and writers who would participate in the formation of an artist’s colony. 

Edmund Clarence Stedman was a journalist, poet, essayist, and stockbroker, who was often referred to as “The Poet of Wall Street” and “The Broker Poet.” Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1833, he attended Yale University for two years until his expulsion. Afterwards, he began writing poetry and entered into a brief career as a journalist, writing for The Norwich Tribune, the Mountain County Herald, and the New York World. Deciding that journalism was “a shameful way to earn a living” (Stedman quote in The Vault at Pfaff’s from a Louis Morris Starr book), Stedman went on to pursue a career in the banking industry and opened up his own brokerage firm, while still continuing to publish essays and poetry in the leading magazines of the day. Stedman also edited several large literary anthologies, including the Anthology of American Verse, for which he was well known.

In 1853, Edmund Clarence Stedman married Laura Hyde Woolworth of Franklin, Connecticut. An active figure in the literary and artistic life of New York society, Ms. Stedman was the mother of Frederick and Arthur Stedman. She was also the grandmother of Laura Stedman, who for a number of years also lived at the Stedman House, another Laura in the Casa Laura.

Designed by architect William A. Bates, and completed in 1896, the two-story Stedman House/Casa Laura exhibits a projecting central pedimented section with colossal Ionic columns, and a decorative second-story balcony, which replaced the original bay windows of the second floor during the 1990 renovations. The original 1896 stable for the house was converted into a one-and-one-half story private residence and is located on Prescott Avenue. The home remains a private residence. The Stedman House/Casa Laura is included in the Lawrence Park Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. 

1. Hoagland, Loretta. Lawrence Park: Bronxville’s Turn-of-the-Century Art Colony. Bronx, NY: Fordham University Press. 1992. 
2. “Lawrence Park Artists & Writers" pamphlet. Prepared for “A Walking Tour of Lawrence Park. Bronxville. 1967.
3. “Lawrence Park Historic District #80002788.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. 2005. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323083 
4. “Mrs. E. C. Stedman Dead: End Comes Peacefully on Saturday Afternoon Last—Funeral on Tuesday.” Bronxville Review. July 20, 1905. https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=bronxrev19050720.1.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- 
5. “Stedman, Edmund Clarence (1833-1908): Banker, Editor, Journalist, Literary Critic, War Correspondent.” The Vault at Pfaff’s: An Archive of Art and Literature by the Bohemians of Antebellum New York. Lehigh University website. https://pfaffs.web.lehigh.edu/node/54136. Accessed Sept. 14, 2022.  
6. Williams, Gray. Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. 2003.