Keuffel & Esser

Keuffel Cottage // 1893

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Built nextdoor to his business partner’s summer cottage (last post), Wilhelm (William) J. D. Keuffel, a German immigrant from Saxony, erected this summer cottage in the fashionable German-developed summer colony Elka Park in upstate New York. Keuffel & Esser Company (K&E) was founded by German immigrants Wilhelm J. D. Keuffel and Hermann Esser and manufactured high-quality surveying, drafting, and calculating tools for architects, engineers, surveyors, and building contractors in Hoboken, New Jersey with a sales office in Manhattan. By the early twentieth century, it was one of the largest manufacturers of scientific instruments in the world. Keuffel made good money, and summered in Elka Park for years until his death in 1908. The Queen Anne style Victorian “cottage” features the typical asymmetrical plan, corner towers, varied siding and detailing, and many porches to provide the residents with sweeping views of the distant mountains.

Esser Cottage // 1894

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Hermann Esser (1845-1908) was born in Elbertfeld Germany and emigrated to the U.S. in the fall of 1866 and settling in Hoboken, NJ. On September 30, 1869, he married Bertha Michelmann of Hanover, Germany, who also emigrated to the U.S. years prior. In the states, Essen joined his old business partner Wilhelm J.D. Keuffel (also a German) and they ran the Keuffel & Esser Company, a scientific instrument manufacturing firm originally founded in New York City in 1867. Best known for its popularization of the slide rule, Keuffel & Esser was the first American company to specialize in the manufacture and sale of drafting and surveying tools. By the early twentieth century, it was one of the largest manufacturers of scientific instruments in the world. Their original store was located at 127 Fulton Street in Manhattan. Esser, with his wealth, decided to build a cottage in summer colony of Elka Park, New York, just north of Manhattan. The enclave was founded and has long been inhabited by wealthy German residents from New York City. This cottage was built for Mr. Esser in 1894, and is decidedly more Colonial Revival than many other cottages here. Esser only enjoyed a few summers here as he moved back to Germany in 1902, and died in 1908.