 McKelvey formed or managed companies, which he used to finesse the purchases of the Spuyten Duyvil estates from amiable residents and subsequently used the companies to control these multi-faceted realty transactions and help control urban growth.McKelvey's strategy converted manor homes and grounds into multi-unit cottages, mostly upscale co-operatives, apartments, or studio homes.McKelvey fashioned the residences after the character of the estate environs but named the abodes after French and British heroines Rosa Bonheur and Charlotte Brontë, with names such as the Villa Victoria, the Rosa Bonheur, and the Villa Brontë.