Villa Lewaro Hosts Irvington’s Juneteenth Party

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Villa Lewaro in Irvington, New York host Juneteenth celebration — Some 540 guests signed up to party on Villa Lewaro's front lawn

June 22, 2024

By Barrett Seaman–

One of the more ambitious Juneteenth events this year took place in Irvington on the Saturday following the day that in 1865 marked the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans at the end of the Civil War. Irvington had an advantage in being home to Villa Lewaro, the 34-room, 20,000 square foot mansion built between 1917 and 1918 by Madam C.J. Walker, the cosmetics entrepreneur who became America’s first Black female millionaire. She built the estate on North Broadway, smack in the middle of what was then called Millionaires Row—a clear signal that she had broken a significant racial and economic barrier.

Some 540 people signed up to party on the mansion’s front lawn, eat barbecue from Tarrytown’s Pik Nik BBQ restaurant, listen to Black-inspired music as it evolved through the 20^th century and tour the interior of the Villa, only the ground floor of which was furnished.

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Juneteenth guests got to tour the Villa’s interior, including the dining room

Richelieu Dennis, like Madam Walker a Black cosmetics entrepreneur who bought the mansion in 2018, was there, as was State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and A’Lelia Bundles, Madam Walker’s granddaughter, who spoke to the guests. Local candidates for office MaryJane Shimsky and George Latimer dropped by to press the flesh.

A’Lelia Bundles, Madam Walker’s granddaughter, with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (center) and Richelieu Dennis, Villa Lewaro’s current owner

This wasn’t the first Juneteenth party thrown at Villa Lewaro. That happened in the 1990s, while Ambassador Harold Doley and his wife Helena owned and occupied the house. In June of 2018, the Doleys sold the Villa to Richelieu Dennis who later revealed plans to turn the house into a center for African-American women entrepreneurs.

Before selling the Villa, Ambassador Doley worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to craft an easement designed to protect the house from significant alteration or disrepair. In the sales contract with Dennis, the National Trust was charged with enforcing that easement.

The Village of Irvington welcomed the plan and applauded Mr. Dennis’ notion of using the house to advance the cause of Black entrepreneurship. But the Board of Trustees took its time in approving a Special Permit they felt had to address the concerns of neighbors who feared the place would be used for large, disruptive events. It was not until July 2023 that the Permit was approved.

Peeling paint mars the otherwise graceful exterior of the Villa

The Juneteenth celebration that took place this Saturday, June 22 drew most of the principal players in crafting those plans. At one point, Richelieu Dennis found himself recalling the long approval process with former Mayor Brian Smith. The process, Dennis said, had taken a long, long time to play out, allowing to Smith that he was “this close” he said, closing his thumb to his forefinger, “to walking away.”

Meanwhile, plans by the New Voices Foundation, the Villa’s non-profit owner-of-record, uncovered structural problems with the house they said would cause significant delays in converting the Villa from a residence to a conference center. Most of these structural issues were in the rear of the house, but for several years what the public saw from Broadway was an unkempt lawn and peeling paint. Some residents began to wonder if the whole project had been abandoned.

Not so, said Richelieu Dennis and William James, the executive who serves as Dennis’s point person on the project. “Painting is cosmetic,” James said at the Juneteenth party. “And cosmetics come last.”

That apparently applies to the chunk of stone wall on Broadway that broke away after being hit by a truck months ago and has not yet been repaired.

When New Voices gets around to the cosmetics stage, they will find a convenient partner in the much-needed painting stage. About four years ago, The National Trust for Historic Preservation partnered with Benjamin Moore, the paint company, to restore some buildings “Where Women Made History,” as the program has been titled The first two buildings were on the west coast, but when Ambassador Doley heard about the program, he wrote a letter to Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway company owns Benjamin Moore, suggesting that Villa Lewaro in Irvington would make a great candidate that the National Trust and the paint company could join forces and put a few coats on the house, thereby enforcing the Doley easement.

All in good time, but in the meantime, on Juneteenth, a good time was had by all.

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