Tiny Doll House 314 East 78th Street 212-744-3719 Established 1984 Orwasher's Bakery 308 East 78th Street 212-288-6569 Established 1916
NOW (Tiny Doll House)
Before he discovered the intriguing land of miniatures, Leslie Edelman practiced as an attorney. This all changed, however, when he befriended the couple that owned a doll house shop on Lexington Avenue in the 1980s. He spent a great deal of time with them, and when they were ready to retire, they asked if he wanted to purchase the shop.
Enchanted with the idea of opening a niche business, building tiny furniture, and traveling the world collecting doll house pieces, Leslie said yes. Today, he is also the mastermind behind many of Tiny Doll House’s designs. Customers are particularly taken by the teeny dolls and their respective dollhouses. The variety of homes is impressive, featuring any style from Tudor cottages to federal mansions.
NOW (Orwasher's)
Orwasher’s is one of the miraculous New York institutions that has been able to stay in business for over a century while residing in the same building. And, until 2011, when production finally outgrew the small facility, all of the baking had been done in the basement of the 78th Street shop. Begun by a Hungarian baker in 1916, it has been continually churning out breads for the Upper East Side ever since. In 2008 it experienced a personal renaissance: Keith Cohen purchased the bakery from the Orwasher family and has breathed fresh life into the store, adding artisanal breads, tweaking recipes, and rebranding the operation, as well as opening a new location on the Upper West Side in 2016. Most of what made Orwasher’s special, however, has remained the same, including the old methods and techniques for preparing the breads.
THEN
These 2, 6-story tenement buildings were designed by architect Charles M. Straub and built in 1906, who designed similar buildings 1 block west at 220 and 265 East 78th Street in the same year. #308 and #314 replaced 4, 2-story single-family homes built in the 1870s. The 1900 census lists the owners of #308 as the German Karch family: husband, wife, and son, plus 2 young Swedish women as boarders. Ads for Mrs. Karch, a midwife with 35 years’ experience, appeared in newspapers throughout the 1890s, listing her as a “specialist in female irregularities” and as a location for boarding women and “confidential infant adoption.” Contemporary articles offer more clues about the business Mrs. Karch conducted at her home. In 1893, Mrs. Augusta Voss “adopted” a “pretty infant” from Mrs. Karch, but could not support the child, since her husband, John Voss, was imprisoned. An even more heartbreaking incident was printed in an 1895 issue of The World. A young woman, Mamie Shannon, was “lured from home by a rich man’s son,” under promise of marriage and later found dead at Mrs. Karch’s home. The cause of death was deemed to be malpractice. Mrs. Karch fled the scene when the body was discovered, and her husband and the fiancé were found to be accessories to Ms. Shannon’s death. Mrs. Karch continued to advertise her services until the house was advertised for rent in 1898. These handsome tenement buildings, both built with two storefronts, have been home to many different kinds of shops, from barbers to bakers, and have remained mostly intact for over a century, with only their cornices missing.
