Houdini on iBooks

For those Apple folks who have an iPad, iPhone or Mac and you use iBooks, there are a few Houdini titles available.

First you'll find "Miracle Mongers and Their Methods" by Harry Houdini. Next you might enjoy the Kalush Biography, "The Secret Life of Houdini". Next we have two titles by Tom Lalicki, "Danger In The Dark" and "Shots at Sea". Another book comes up under Houdini which is "The Haunting of America" by Joel Martin and William Birnes. Not a bad start, let's hope they add more of the biographies to the mix.

When He Was Still A Weiss Boy

The Weiss family spent a lot of time moving. First Appleton Wisconsin, then Milwaukee, then NY and various places around town. One of the places the Weiss family lived in NYC was at 227 E. 75th St. According the Kenneth Silverman it was their first home here. He should know, he used to live right across the street! Though it would appear that the Silverman place is gone and tennis courts are now there.

If I have this correct it's the second floor of the orange building. However, I'm not 100% sure these are the original buildings. The structures look very similar but the original buildings each had sets of 4 windows across and these buildings have three. It could be that the outside of the buildings have been painted and this is what is causing the visual discrepancy.

I can tell you for sure this is the SPOT though, so this is where the Houdini family first lived when they were together in NY.

Houdini & Leopold Connecticut Residents

Houdini's House 278 W 113th St NYC

In 1905 Houdini purchased his brownstone in Harlem. He claimed it was the biggest and greatest home ever purchased by a magician. But he also purchased another property, a 7 acre farm on Webbs Hill Road in Stamford Ct. He used this as a summer retreat and apparently did quite a bit of entertaining there with Bess. The Silverman biography says there were buildings/structures, a garden, fields, even livestock. Search as I have, I haven't been able to find the actual physical address and thus show a photo of the house if it's still there. I have a picture of the road but no picture of the actual farm.

Dr. Leopold Weiss's House

Interestingly his brother Leopold, who he had a falling out with also lived in Connecticut. His brother purchased an estate in Ridgefield called Sunset Hall Estate. I'm wondering if the friction between the brothers wasn't over jealousy!!! Look at that house! Oh, and for the wealthy among us, here is great news, The Estate may still be for sale. I found a listing for Coldwell Bankers as well as this article about the estate, though the article is from 2007.