Memorable House, Memorable Families

by Greg Kelly · Published January 23, 2026 · Updated January 23, 2026

Toy King … Confederate Yankee … Knighted Doctor … Master Dress Designer —

If you’re even moderately knowledgeable about Monmouth Beach history, you will recall the majestic old seashore mansions that once lined Ocean Avenue in town. As to the occupants of those massive cottages, they appear to be just as grand.

One dwelling that still stands (32 Ocean Avenue) was home to several remarkable families — folks whose lives are worth remembering. Built on a road once known as “Millionaire’s Row” — where architectural grandiosity thrived — its elite inhabitants are all gone but the house still stands.

Doll House
The structure can trace it roots back to official Monmouth Beach development in the late 19th century. In November 1884, Edward I. Horsman bought an oceanfront lot in Monmouth Beach from Edward A. Walton paying $3,000. Considered a “Pioneer Summer Resident,” the fabulously wealthy Walton also owned several large lots all over the exclusive seashore settlement. He built the town’s first massive cottage on Ocean Avenue in 1871. Located just south of where today’s MB Club stands, it burned in 1911.

Vintage Horsman “Dimples Doll,” 1924.

By 1889 Horsman had constructed his won large cottage on the property at Ocean Avenue and Surf Road. He had founded the E.I. Horsman Company in NYC in 1865 and made it into one of the country’s largest doll makers. His “Horsman Dolls” still sell today. Brooklyn-born in 1843, upon his death in May 1927 his New York Times obit labeled him “dean of the toy business in the United States.”

The company went on after his death — by the 1950s it was manufacturing 12,000 dolls a day at its Trenton factory. Recalled for its innovations, the company hired professional artists and sculptors to design doll faces and clothing and made the first US “unbreakable” doll head. Sadly, his son, Edward, Jr. — who often stayed in Monmouth Beach — died at age 44 in July 1918. A vice president at his dad’s company, he was also a musician.

“Owning a home means crafting your own personal masterpiece.”
—Ezra Pound

Richmond to Jersey Shore
John McAnerney — a man who cut quite the dashing figure — acquired the property as the 19^th century was ending. Among the many hats he wore in life were: Confederate States of America army colonel (at age 25), NYC business tycoon (as a railroad president and bank president), and Catholic civic leader (he served as treasurer for St. Patrick’s Cathedral).

John McAnerney

Born in Providence, RI in 1838, he moved to South Carolina as a young man. Family members said he came to love the south (although he never held any slaves and opposed secession) and yet when war between the states erupted in 1861 he joined the Confederate cause. With a remarkable fighting spirit too.

So much that both General Robert E. Lee and President Jefferson Davis would confer on him the title “Savoir of Richmond” for his ardent defense of the Southern capitol from Union troops in March 1964 (during the “Dahlgren Raid” in which he was wounded). Richmond fell the following month when the war ended. Interestingly, McAnerney’s southern tutor was John S. Preston — a real deal rebel. And one of South Carolina’s leading figures too. His life — rich plantation owner, prominent lawyer and Confederate general — was textbook antebellum Southern aristocrat.

After the fighting, McAnerney married a prominent Richmond family belle and moved back east. Based in NYC (he also owned a mansion on 49th Street in Manhattan that was later torn down to build Rockefeller Center), the couple would produce 11 children. By Summer 1908, he was known as the “millionaire cottager of Monmouth Beach,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record. He sold the property in 1921 and died in March 1928 at age 89.

Caruso’s Doctor
In the early 1920s, the house became the property of Dr. Antonio Stella. Considered a “world famous” physician in his prime; he was an international expert on tuberculosis (TB) care. A serious contagious bacterial infection, TB was then the leading cause of US deaths — taking nearly 82,000 American lives annually by 1910.

Enrico Caruso

Born at Muro Lucano, Italy in August 1868, he earned his MD from the Royal University of Naples in 1893 and emigrated to America the following year. He maintained a busy NYC practice and was the personal physician to Enrico Caruso, the great tenor from Italy who died in 1921. A signed image of the great singer — who’s voice could bring tears to the notorious gangster Al Capone — hung in the Stella house for years.

In 1914 Dr. Stella was made an Italian Knight (or “Chevalier of the Crown”), decorated by the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. Dr. Stella, who died in July 1927, left the house to his brother, Nicola, who died in 1949. The family continued to hold the property for another decade.

Italian Pride
In 1960, Dominic Gallello, Sr. became the owner paying $12,000. Born in Gagliato, Italy, he came to America in 1939 and lived the dream. He served his new country with honor in the US Army during World War II (and was awarded the Purple Heart).

Combining art and effort, he would become a master pattern maker for Christian Dior (he, the French clothing designer and founder of one of the world’s top fashion houses) in Manhattan. Dom and his wife, Elena (she died in 2011) raised three sons (Claude, Carlo and Dominic, Jr.) in town. In May 1989, the house was sold to Fakhry Zarour for $465,000. Dom died in June 2000 at age 85.

The house has undergone some offbeat alterations over the years and stills stands at the beach.