Early 1900s millionaire Madam C.J. Walker has been the talk of the town with the latest Netflix limited series on her legacy Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker.
The miniseries has quite a lot of buzz with people evaluating the accuracy of the drama starring Octavia Spencer and Tiffany Haddish.
Indeed, the haircare entrepreneur had a life filled with interesting aspects, but one thing that stood out was the importance of legacy to the ambition owner.
She believed in ownership, owning her business and owning her home. She solidified her legacy for those following in her footsteps by purchasing a 34-room, 28,000 sq. ft. white stucco villa for an alleged $250,000 (equal to $4.5 million today) during a time when black people were still dealing with an overtly racist, sexist and discriminative society.
The mansion, located only five miles from John D. Rockefeller’s home, took two years to be built by Cornell graduate and the first licensed black architect Vertner Tandy who used an Italianate style for the home.
The mansion had a marble staircase, stained-glass windows, Italian crystal chandeliers, ornate gold-leaf pillars, barrel-vaulted ceilings, and herringbone hardwood floors, complete with a terra-cotta-tiled terrace and full-on backyard garden.
Walker and her daughter, A’leila Walker, lived at the villa from 1918 to 1919. She hoped that by building the mansion it would inspire the black community with “the wealth of business possibilities, to point to young Negroes what a lone woman accomplished and to inspire them to do big things.”
The home would become a staple for some of the most recognized black people in U.S. history, including W.E.B. Dubois, Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson and Langston Hughes, and was also a meeting place for social justice conferences.
After Walker passed away in 1919, the estate would be in the possession of her daughter until her death in 1931.
Today, the mansion, known as the Villa Lewaro, still stands in Irvington, New York as a national historic landmark acquired by Richelieu Dennis of the New Voices Foundation.
See More Photos of Madam C.J. Walker’s Villa Lewaro
For the previous 25 years, the villa was owned by the founder of Doley Securities, LLC Ambassador Harold Doley and his wife Helena Doley.
Dennis is now using the estate as a think tank for female entrepreneurs.
“It is a place where – against all odds – dreams were formed, visions were realized and entrepreneurs were born, and we look forward to returning its use to support that mission,” Dennis told Essence. “This includes utilizing Villa Lewaro as both a physical and virtual destination where women of color entrepreneurs will come for curriculum-based learning and other resources aimed at helping them build, grow and expand their businesses. When people think of entrepreneurship services for women of color, we want them to think of the New Voices Foundation and Villa Lewaro.”
Born Sarah Breedlove on a Louisiana plantation, Walker was part of the first generation to be born free post-Emancipation Proclamation.
As a young adult, she worked as a washerwoman until the age of 38 before owning her own business. Madam C.J. Walker continues to be an inspiration for those seeking entrepreneurship and ownership despite all odds.
