Someone Lived Here

Someone Lived Here tells the strange, unusual stories of cool New Yorkers by exploring the homes they once lived in. The host Kendra Gaylord brings you through these properties and talks to the caretakers, historians, and experts who know them best. Subscribe for new episodes every Monday starting June 3rd. Listen to Someone Lived Here a podcast about the places cool people called home.

In the first episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra Gaylord brings you to the Alice Austen House on Staten Island. Alice Austen was a photographer who took beautiful personal photos of her friends. These photos include crossdressing and card games. She was also in a loving relationship with another woman, Gertrude Tate, for 50 years. Alice Austen lived from 1866 to 1952.   While walking through the home you learn Alice’s story and the events that led to poverty and how her work was found before her death.   In this episode we speak to Victoria Munroe, the Executive Director at the Alice Austen House, and Amy O’Hara, the Director of Operations and Visitor Services. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com.  

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to the Lewis Latimer House in Queens, NY. Lewis Latimer was an inventor and electrical pioneer who shaped the history of objects we still use everyday. He was African American and the son of slaves. While we walk through the home with Alex Unthank, we learn the story of Lewis Latimer and his career. Alex tells the story of his father and mother's escape from slavery. Nearly a hundred years after purchasing the home, his granddaughter helped save the home by moving it to safety. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island. The site was a retirement home for sailors that operated from the 1830s to the 1970s. While we walk through the Noble Maritime Collection in building D with Megan Beck, we learn the story of the retirement homes creation and sailor's who lived there. And like many things happening in the early 1800s in New York, there is a Alexander Hamilton connection. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to the Pollock-Krasner House in Easthampton, Long Island. The home and studio of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner are explored and their lives uncovered. We also learn more about the other key characters in Easthampton, like Alfonso Ossorio and Ted Dragon. While we walk through the home and studio, we learn more about Lee and Jackson's work, their relationship, and Jackson Pollock's death. The episode ends in the studio Jackson used for 11 years, and Lee used for nearly 30. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, New York. The home was owned by a mayor, a businessman, a robber baron, and two sisters who knew it was worth saving. While we walk through the art gallery, library, and bowling alley we learn more about Helen and Anne Gould. Two sisters who led extremely different lives, but both valued the same thing, their childhood home. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to the Edgar Allan Poe cottage in the Bronx. The cottage was the final home of Poe and his wife. While learning the story of the troubled and complicated Poe, we learn more about his wife and cousin Virginia, who died in the home of tuberculosis. If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra brings you to Steepletop in Austerlitz, New York. The farmhouse was the home of Edna St Vincent Millay. While walking through her home and property, we better understand Edna St. Vincent Millay's poetry and life. Vincent would die in the home and her sister would be it's steward for decades.     If you have any suggestions or ideas for the show please reach out to someonelivedhere@gmail.com. Thanks to Tim Cahill for music and Ben Kirk for artwork.

Learn the real life story of Little Women. In this bonus episode of Someone Lived Here, Kendra takes you to Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott in Concord, Massachusetts. This home is where Louisa wrote and set her book, Little Women. This home was recreated for the recent Little Women film, directed by Greta Gerwig and nominated for an Oscar. In this episode, we unravel the real lives of Anna, Louisa, Elizabeth, and May. By walking through the rooms and items they owned, we better understand the real people, in both their happiness and hardships. Thank you to Jan Turnquist and the entire staff at Orchard House. The home is open to visitors almost every day. You can learn more about the home and take a virtual tour on their website. Music credit: Tim Cahill

The new season of Someone Lived Here will be coming to you starting April 6, 2020, with new episodes every other Monday. This season of Someone Lived Here we will be exploring homes that are no longer standing.Hey everyone it’s me Kendra Gaylord, the host of Someone Lived Here. The upcoming season is going to be a bit different than what we initially planned, we have delayed all travel due to Coronavirus. So for this season we will be staying inside and telling the stories of homes that are no longer standing. It’s still Someone Lived Here, the podcast about the places cool people called home, but this time from the comfort of my own apartment. It also means it will be coming to you earlier than expected.New episodes will start April 6th and will come out every other Monday. The hope is to transport you to learn about a remarkable person whose home is no longer there, but whose story lives on. And if you haven’t listened to the entire first season we have 8 episodes which let you experience a location without having to leave your home. The upcoming season is coming next Monday.

In the second season of Someone Lived Here, Kendra explores homes that are no longer standing from self-isolation. This week, we explore Maudslay State Park, formerly the Maudsleigh Estate. The park was once the country home of Frederick Strong Moseley and his family. In 1904, he commissioned the architectural landscape design of Martha Brookes Hutcheson. Her designs still stand and her life story is the focus of this episode.

This week, we explore Woody Guthrie's Coney Island apartment at 3520 Mermaid Avenue. By examining the place he lived we learn more about him and the time and world he lived through. In the second season of Someone Lived Here, Kendra is virtually visiting homes that are no longer standing from self-isolation.

In this episode, we remember the homes where Harriet Jacobs lived both in Edenton, North Carolina and where she wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl in upstate New York. In her book she told her own story as an enslaved woman, later generations would assume her editor Lydia Maria Child was the author.

In this episode we follow the life of Jack Kirby starting in his childhood apartment on Suffolk Street in the Lower East Side. The tenement is no longer standing, but the characters he created over his decades in the comic book industry are still everywhere you look. This season, host Kendra Gaylord, is exploring homes that are no longer standing by learning their stories, all while staying self-isolated in her apartment in Brooklyn.

In this episode of Someone Lived Here, we follow the life of Victoria Woodhull starting at her mansion at 15 East 38th Street in Murray Hill, which is no longer standing. Then tracing her life back from the small Ohio town where she was born. Victoria started her life as a psychic, became a stockbroker, then a women's rights activist and the first female presidential nominee. This season, host Kendra Gaylord, is exploring homes that are no longer standing by learning their stories, all while staying self-isolated in her apartment in Brooklyn. If you'd like to support the show, check out our website: https://someonelivedhere.com/support-us/

In the season finale of Someone Lived Here we learn the story of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The neighborhood was 35 blocks and became known as Black Wall Street. It was a thriving black community that was the site of The Tulsa Massacre. It would later be rebuilt even bigger than before, but today very few original buildings are still standing. We also follow the story of the Dreamland Theatre and the owner, Loula T Williams and her son, William Danforth Williams. In this episode, we interview Hannibal B Johnson, an attorney and writer from Tulsa, Oklahoma who has written multiple books including Black Wall Street: From Riot to Renaissance in Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District and Images of America: Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. At the end of the episode, Kendra gave herself a homework assignment. She would love for you to join. Go to Someone Lived Here website for more details.

In the first episode of season 3, Kendra brings you to the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut. Theodate Pope Riddle designed this home, her first architectural project, as a retirement home for her parents. Throughout the episode, we learn about her close friendship with Mary Hillard, her fixation on communicating with the dead, and her near-death experience on the sinking of the Lusitania. Theodate's father, Alfred Pope, was Theodate's biggest supporter and a lover of the arts. The family's collection of French Impressionist paintings can still be found in the Hill-Stead Museum today. The home was built around the paintings of Monet, Cassatt, Degas, and Manet. Theodate Pope Riddle lived from 1867 to 1946. As an architect, Theodate designed homes and schools throughout Connecticut and New York, including Westover School, Avon Old Farms School, and a reconstruction of Theodore Roosevelt's birthplace. Thank you to the Hill-Stead Museum: Executive Director - Dr. Anna Swinbourne, Curator - Melanie Bourbeau, and Chief Advancement Officer - Beth Brett. The book Dearest of Geniuses: A Life of Theodate Pope Riddle by Sandra L Katz was key in making this episode. Links mentioned in the episode: The new shop: https://someonelivedhere.com/shop/ Find the history of your NYC apartment (or Monica Geller’s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dw_4nSog8g&t=1s Charmingly Quaint and Still Modern: The Paradox of Colonial Revival Needlework in America 1875-1940 by Beverly Gordon: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2052&context=tsaconf  

In the second episode of season 3, Kendra brings you to Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Henry Davis Sleeper was one of the first professional interior designers in the US. His work used salvaged material, color, and light to create spaces overflowing with personality. Beauport, built in 1907, became a portfolio of his work, with 5 dining rooms designed to impress and entertain. Barely anything has changed in this time capsule of his work. Henry Davis Sleeper was a gay man with a close circle of friends and neighbors. In this episode, we go through the rooms in his home and tell his story: from his early relationship with Guy Whetmore Caryll, to his friendship with A. Piatt Andrew, and a mouse encounter with Isabella Stewart Gardner. Henry Davis Sleeper lived from 1878 to 1934. You can see archival photos and referenced items at https://someonelivedhere.com/beauport/ Thank you to Historic New England, Site Manager Martha Van Koevering, and PR Officer Susanna Crampton. You can book tour tickets to see Beauport in person. The new shop: https://someonelivedhere.com/shop/ The Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgUM6AudvZ-WSlHKOKUWVQ

In the third episode of season 3, Kendra Gaylord brings you to The House of the Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts. The home was the inspiration of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables and was owned in the 1800s by his cousin Susannah Ingersoll. The home was originally built by Captain John Turner and was in his family for three generations.In 1908 Caroline Emmerton purchased the home to act as both a house museum and a Settlement House. The home was restored to a 1720 interpretation by Joseph Chandler. Four gables had been removed over the years and were added back, along with the addition of a secret staircase.A full transcript can be found here: https://someonelivedhere.com/houseofthesevengables/Thank you to The House of the Seven Gables, Senior Historic Interpreter and Lead Researcher David Moffat, and Community Engagement Director Julie Arrison-Bishop. You can book tour tickets to see The House of the Seven Gables in person.Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgUM6AudvZ-WSlHKOKUWVQTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kendragaylordInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/someonelivedherepod/

In the fourth episode of season 3, Kendra brings you to The Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, Massachusetts. The home was the final home of Rebecca Nurse, an older religious woman accused and executed on the charges of being a witch. By learning Rebecca's story, we better understand the events that led to the death of 20 people in the Salem Witch Trials, including her sister Mary Easty.Thank you to Kathryn Rutkowski for the tour. The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is a volunteer-run historic home. If you’re interested in taking a tour learn more about their hours on The Rebecca Nurse Homestead website.If you want to read more about the Salem Witch Trials, I’d highly recommend Marilyn K Roach’s The Salem Witch Trials and Emerson Baker’s A Storm of Witchcraft, which were used to research this episode.A full transcript can be found here: https://someonelivedhere.com/rebeccanurseYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpgUM6AudvZ-WSlHKOKUWVQTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kendragaylordInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/someonelivedherepod/