On her return from Pittsburgh to New York she’d set to work moving from 82 Washington Place to a spacious new apartment Edith had found for them at 5 Bank Street—seven high-ceilinged rooms, one flight up, with two coal-burning fireplaces, a good kitchen, plenty of light, and views to the sycamore-lined street. Best of all was a little study off the living room, in which much of the work to come would be done. They’d moved in on New Year’s Day of 1912.
Cather was never a lover of New York. To Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant she wrote: “You cannot go a block in any direction without encountering a steam hammer and an iron drill. All the pavements are being repaired and all the sewer pipes are being changed. The place couldn’t be more smelly and noisy so we shall be in a pitiable state when it does get hot.” But 5 Bank Street offered an elegant haven. And they had hired a first-rate French housekeeper and cook, Josephine Bourda, as well as someone they referred to as their “colored maid” to do the housework. Willa went each morning to the Jefferson Market, two blocks away, to pick out the produce and viands for lunch and dinner.
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