Honorees: Martin Spollen and Chen "Jenny" Jie

Title: Honorees: Martin Spollen and Chen "Jenny" Jie
Description: Martin Spollen and Chen "Jenny" Jie: Recipients of the Tandy & Foster Architectural Heritage Award.

The James A. Bailey mansion at St. Nicholas Place and West 150th Street was built in 1888 for the partner of P.T. Barnum in the Greatest Show on Earth. Although designated a New York City Landmark in 1974, by the early 2000’s the mansion was leak-plagued and in massive disrepair. Fortunately, the mansion has been saved by an enterprising couple, Martin Spollen and Chen “Jenny” Jie, who purchased it in 2009 and have been restoring it ever since. The couple has been doing much of the careful restoration with their own hands and, even with cash raised from renting out the mansion as a location for television shows like Law and Order and Boardwalk Empire, they expect that it will take them another 5 to 10 years to complete the restoration.
Date Issued: 2025-06-04
Contributor: Save Harlem Now!
Language: English
interviewee: Spollen, Martin; Jie, Chen "Jenny"
Subject: Jie, Chen "Jenny"; Spollen, Martin