An episcopal residence had been announced in 1897 and Heins & LaFarge drew up plans for such a structure in 1902. The Deanery was donated by Helen Slade Ogilvie in 1911 in memory of her late husband Clinton, while the bishop's house was funded partly by the sale of a previous bishop's house at Gramercy Park. Initially, the site of the two structures was contested because the buildings would have blocked views of the main cathedral from the south. Before the structures' construction started in 1912, the sites for the bishop's house and deanery were relocated eastward. The two buildings' sites were given preliminary approval in May 1912 and were officially approved that October. The bishop's house started in November 1912 and was finished in April 1914. while the deanery was started in February 1913 and completed by that November. Both structures were erected by Leonard Jacob and Frederick T. Youngs. After the 1947 Diocesan Convention, the bishop moved into the upper two floors of the deanery, and the old bishop's house was turned into administration offices.
