About Villa Lewaro
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
Villa Lewaro, formerly known as the Anne E. Poth Home, is a 34-room 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway (US 9) in Irvington, New York. It was the home of Madam C. J. Walker from 1918 to 1919. Walker was the first American female and first African-American female self-made millionaire, and "the world's most successful female entrepreneur of her time." The mansion is an Italianate villa house designed for Walker by Vertner Tandy, the first African-American architect registered in New York, and has been considered to be one of his greatest works. It was constructed during 1916–1918 at an estimated cost of $250,000, and was furnished lavishly. The name Villa Lewaro was coined by a distinguished visitor, Enrico Caruso, from the first two letters of each word in Lelia Walker Robinson, the name of Walker's daughter, who later went by the name of A'Lelia Walker.
