Jules Semon Bache (1861-1944)

He was born in New York City and his surname (his Bavarian-Jewish father added the 'e' to make it more American) is pronounced "baitch". He was educated at the Charlier Institute, New York, and in Frankfurt, Germany, before returning to the States and starting his career as a cashier in his uncle's stockbroking firm, Leopold Cahn & Co. In 1883, he was made a partner and purchased a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. On becoming head of the firm in 1892 he changed its name to J.S. Bache & Co. By 1907, the firm had seven offices including one in Montreal and another in Liverpool, trading in stocks and commodities. During the 1920s, the firm financed a number of major projects including the construction of the New York City subway system. He also invested in numerous mining, railroad and automotive companies including the Ann Arbor Railroad, Dome Mines, and Chrysler. In the lead up to the Wall Street Crash he had been careful not to invest the firm's capital and so despite losing several million (that he later made back) he was able to weather the storm. After his death in 1944, he was succeeded by his nephew, Harold L. Bache, when the firm became known as Bache & Co., up until 1981.

Bache was passionate about automobiles and art. He began collecting art at the turn of the century when he was living in Paris and he quickly became one of Lord Duveen's most regular clients, spending $6-million with him. In 1937, he gifted his mansion at 814 Fifth Avenue along with 97-paintings that included works by Rembrandt, Raphael, Titian and Velasquez, as well as sculpture, furniture and porcelains, to the state of New York. Opening the lower three of the mansion's six stories, the public - with prior written permission - were allowed access to his museum. However, it wasn't a success, and two months before his death in 1944, he gifted 69-Old Masters (then valued at $12-million) to the Metropolitan Museum, where they are still on display as "The Bache Collection".

In New York, he initially lived at what is now numbered 10 East 67th Street, although from 1905 his wife - to whom he was married in 1891 but later separated amicably - lived predominantly at their home in Paris at 38 Avenue Marceau, near to where their two daughters were at school. After his wife returned to New York on the outbreak of war in Europe, Bache moved into 814 Fifth Avenue (8-master bedrooms, 8-bathrooms, 10-servants rooms, and 2-elevators) where he remained until his death in 1944. He also kept a summer home, Camp Wenonah, on the Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks.