52nd Street is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km) one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan , New York City , United States. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
128-600: The Cartier Building , also 653 Fifth Avenue , is a commercial building on the southeast corner of 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The building serves as the flagship store of Cartier in New York City. It consists of two conjoined residences completed in 1905: the Morton F. Plant residence at 651–653 Fifth Avenue, designed by Robert W. Gibson , and
256-576: A New York Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of Cartier in 1989. Butler Rogers Baskett was hired in 1998 to renovate the Cartier Building. Two years later, Cartier announced it would temporarily move to 711 Fifth Avenue while renovations were being conducted. The main entrance on Fifth Avenue was to be relocated from the northernmost bay to the southernmost bay, and a mezzanine over the showroom on Fifth Avenue would be eliminated. In addition, an entrance would be added on 52nd Street, where one of
384-508: A coffered ceiling . The west side of the second story had Pierre C. Cartier 's private offices. The second floor also had a salon with wooden paneling. After Cartier moved into the Plant House, it made some changes. The Cartier store occupied the first two stories of the Plant House while offices were placed on the upper floors. A second-story mezzanine, built in 1917 and demolished in 2001, had cabinet doors containing leather bindings on
512-656: A malachite vase measuring 9 feet (2.7 m) tall. The vase was acquired from the collection of Pavel Nikolaievich Demidov and had been made by Pierre-Philippe Thomire . On the south wall was a large pair of doors leading to a hallway in William Henry Vanderbilt's residence. Inspired by Lorenzo Ghiberti 's Gates of Paradise in Florence, the doors cost $ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 681,000 in 2023) and were reported by contemporary media as being made of bronze. The art historian E. Wayne Craven wrote that
640-602: A mansard roof . Both houses are five stories tall and are connected internally. The Cartier store takes up all of the stories inside the building. The southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street was planned as a hotel in the early 1900s after the Roman Catholic Asylum vacated the site. After the Vanderbilts blocked the development of the hotel, the northern portion became the Morton F. Plant House, while
768-402: A 5-story residence on the eastern site of the lot at 8 East 52nd Street, but he sold it to Ernest Kempton Adams. Gilbert designed a six-story residence for Holbrook on the western side of his 52nd Street lot, which would have been the site of the apartment hotel. In December 1902, Robert W. Gibson was announced as the architect for Morton Plant's residence. Gibson filed plans for Plant's house with
896-406: A brownstone facade as well as a courtyard and portico separating the two sections. William Henry Vanderbilt's portion of the house had elaborate decor, with 58 rooms designed in a different style, as well as a central three-story art gallery with a large skylight. William Henry's section also included an elaborate dining room, library, parlor, and drawing room on the first floor, as well as bedrooms on
1024-418: A ceiling 16 feet (4.9 m) tall. Ceiling heights decreased at subsequent stories, with the second story being 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, the third story being 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, and the attic being 8 feet (2.4 m) tall. The portico from Fifth Avenue led to an entrance vestibule between the two sections, from which the southern half of the house was accessed. It had an exterior of brownstone, like
1152-608: A city block. Holbrook canceled plans to build his apartment hotel in August 1902 after agreeing with the Vanderbilts to restrict their respective lots to private residential development. The following month, when George W. Vanderbilt announced plans for marble townhouses at 645 and 647 Fifth Avenue, the Vanderbilt family was confirmed to be associated with the New York Realty Corporation. Holbrook did build
1280-505: A city landmark in 1970, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 along with 647 Fifth Avenue. The Cartier Building is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . It is along the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue to the west and 52nd Street to the north. The land lot is L-shaped and covers 8,055 square feet (748.3 m), with a frontage of 50 feet (15 m) on Fifth Avenue and
1408-530: A clock above the center bay of the first story, while the outer bays have light fixtures. The original entrance at the Edward Holbrook House was removed when Cartier moved into the building in the 1920s. The current entrance was installed in a 2000 renovation. The third and fourth stories each contain three windows with molded surrounds. The third-story windows are topped by keystones, while a cornice with modillions, dentils, and brackets runs above
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#17327838645911536-589: A conservatory, measuring 15 by 40 feet (4.6 by 12.2 m), at its southwestern corner. The portion of Fifth Avenue in Midtown became an upscale residential area following the American Civil War . Among the residents that moved to the area was William Henry Vanderbilt, who in 1877 inherited $ 90 million (equivalent to $ 2.377 billion in 2023) upon the death of his father, railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt . William Henry Vanderbilt wanted to build
1664-537: A conversion of the Plant House into a Cartier store. As part of the Plant House's conversion, the original front doorway in the middle of the facade on 52nd Street was removed. The Fifth Avenue Association granted its "gold medal for altered buildings" to Cartier in November 1917 for its alteration of the Plant House. Cartier hired Bosworth again in 1919 to make further alterations to the Plant residence. The Cartier store
1792-401: A distinctive, cheap, and familiar material. The foundation walls were made of stone laid in sand and cement, resting on natural rock. The upper walls ranged in thickness from 36 to 8 inches (910 to 200 mm). The firm of H & A. S. Dickinson quarried the brownstone for the building. Horizontal string courses divided the three main stories of the facade on all sides. Near the top of
1920-512: A double-stranded necklace of 128 flawlessly matched natural pearls valued at the time at $ 1 million (equivalent to $ 23,781,800 in 2023). Mae Plant had admired this necklace in the window of Cartier's 712 Fifth Avenue shop. Because of the later advent of cultured pearls causing the prices of pearls to plunge, the Cartier necklace was worth only $ 151,000 (equivalent to $ 1,681,000 in 2023) after Mae Plant died in 1956. William Welles Bosworth designed
2048-526: A grand mansion of his own, had a future interest , which meant he would obtain the Triple Palace upon Maria's death. His daughters were bequeathed the houses in which they resided. W.H. Vanderbilt's will stipulated that the mansion and collection pass to his son's sons, or another grandson, to stay in the family. Only Maria and George Vanderbilt continued to live in the southern portion of the house afterward, though they privately invited people to see
2176-473: A high brownstone wall on Fifth Avenue for privacy, and he built a driveway leading from the avenue. The family moved into the building in October 1905, following the completion of the work. Frick attempted to purchase the house within a few years, but W.H. Vanderbilt's will still did not allow for the sale of the building, so the point was not pursued further. Frick acquired land for his new house and museum on
2304-425: A hospitality suite with a private dining room. The third floor contains selling space for watches and jewelry,. and there are also bridal rooms with rose quartz lights and pink velvet accents. The fourth floor is used for perfume sales, and it includes marquetry panels with various Cartier motifs. In addition, there are four salons, each of which is decorated to represent New York City during different seasons, and there
2432-468: A large house for his wife, Maria Louisa Kissam , but this was delayed by a lengthy lawsuit over Cornelius's will. Vanderbilt's extensive art collections required space, leading his wife to insist they add a wing to their existing house at 459 Fifth Avenue for their paintings. In January 1879, Vanderbilt bought a land lot on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets. The lot, which stood diagonally across Fifth Avenue and 51st Street from
2560-480: A late-20th-century retrospective on La Farge's work, said the home's design had "a taste dependent for expression of extreme wealth", with the decorations being derived more from foreign inspirations than from domestic inspirations. There was some praise for the Triple Palace. In 1881, the Nashville Daily American described the house as a "gem" to "those in love with the symmetrical outlines of
2688-546: A loss from the cost of acquiring the collection after adjustments for inflation. Among the buyers for the furnishings were Paramount Pictures , which bought the rare woods for its own use, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art , which received the malachite urn from the entrance vestibule. Demolition of the southern section began in September 1947, and the house had been totally razed by March 1949, when
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#17327838645912816-414: A mansion between 51st and 52nd Streets, with a single unit and a double unit. Over the following one-and-a-half years, more than 600 workers constructed the building. In addition, 60 European sculptors were hired to sculpt the decorations on the facade and interior. The total number of workers was estimated at between 600 and 700, of which 250 were hired just for decorating the interior. William Henry
2944-500: A maximum depth of 130 feet (40 m). The lot includes 651–653 Fifth Avenue, measuring 50 feet along Fifth Avenue and 100 feet (30 m) on 52nd Street, and the adjacent 4 East 52nd Street to the east, measuring 30 feet (9.1 m) on 52nd Street and 100 feet (30 m) deep. The building is on the same block as 647 Fifth Avenue and the Olympic Tower to the south, as well as 11 East 51st Street and 488 Madison Avenue to
3072-486: A new mansion at Fifth Avenue and 86th Street . The new mansion was designed by Guy Lowell as an interpretation of an Italian Renaissance palazzo. Plant also asked William Kissam Vanderbilt to remove the restriction that limited the old Plant house to residential use. Vanderbilt agreed to lift the restriction and paid Plant $ 1 million for ownership of 651–653 Fifth Avenue. The Luces retained their adjacent house for several more years; in 1922, The New York Times published
3200-406: A pair of units occupied by the families of two of Vanderbilt's daughters. The unit at 642 Fifth Avenue was occupied by Emily Thorn Vanderbilt and her husband William Douglas Sloane , while that at 2 West 52nd Street was occupied by Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt and her husband Elliott Fitch Shepard . The northern section was slightly narrower than the southern one. Both sections were connected at
3328-473: A perforated parapet , ran above the attic on all sides. The top of the building had a flat roofline surrounded by a balustrade . The roof was about 75 feet (23 m) above the sidewalk and was made of red tiles. Along the Fifth Avenue elevation , the central portion of either section was recessed from the outer windows. The ground level had square-headed window openings that, about two-thirds of
3456-666: A public museum known as the Frick Collection . Frick also purchased four volumes of the Mr. Vanderbilt series, as well as twenty satin reproductions of paintings in Vanderbilt's collection. Some of these were hung at Clayton , Frick's house in Pittsburgh. The superstructure of the Triple Palace consisted of wrought-iron beams supporting the floors and roof. The floor beams were designed to be capable of supporting 150 to 175 pounds per square foot (7.2 to 8.4 kPa) while
3584-412: A sale". The Vanderbilts sold the northern section of the plot, facing 52nd Street and measuring 50 by 100 feet (15 by 30 m), to Morton F. Plant. Plant paid $ 350,000 (a $ 50,000 discount from the Vanderbilts had paid for the site) and was required to use the structure exclusively as a residence for 25 years. The Vanderbilts were unable to obtain a buyer for the southern section, which was in the middle of
3712-419: A social bulletin announcing that Harry Luce's daughter was returning to the house after three years abroad. The Luce family continued to live at 4 East 52nd Street until about 1927. William Kissam Vanderbilt took over 653 Fifth Avenue and leased the house to Cartier in October 1916 for $ 50,000 a year, among the highest rates for a property on Fifth Avenue at the time. Cartier's previous space at 712 Fifth Avenue
3840-455: A status prohibited major alterations to a building's facade without the LPC's permission. As a result, the landmark status was revoked in August 1967. LPC rules at the time prevented the agency from reconsidering the building as a landmark until 1970. The Cartier Building was re-designated as a city landmark on July 14, 1970. In the late 1960s, Best & Co. purchased the development rights over
3968-673: Is a list of notable places within one block of 52nd Street. The section between Eleventh and Tenth Avenues is signed "Joe Hovarth Way" in tribute to Joseph Hovarth (1945–1995) who located the Police Athletic League William J. Duncan Center on the block after moving from its original location. The Duncan Center is named for a patrolman who was shot while chasing a stolen car in the neighborhood on May 17, 1930. The block between First Avenue and FDR has been subject of an attempt to designate it as its own neighborhood. In W. H. Auden 's poem " September 1, 1939 ", about
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4096-456: Is a terrace facing Fifth Avenue. The store is decorated throughout with site-specific art, such as a travertine-and-quartz wall resembling the city's skyline and a sculpture resembling necklace owned by Morton F. Plant. In October 1899, the Roman Catholic Asylum sold much of the city block bounded by Fifth Avenue, 52nd Street, Madison Avenue , and 51st Street , then moved to the Bronx . The sale
4224-418: Is formally co-named "Swing Street" and one block west is called " W. C. Handys Place". The 21 Club was the sole surviving club on 52nd Street that also existed during the 1940s. It closed in 2020. The venue for the original Birdland at 1674 Broadway (between 52nd & 53rd), which came into existence in 1949, is now a strip club. The current Birdland is on 44th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues. This
4352-414: Is on his album Sea Is a Lady . The Twilight Zone , episode 32, " A Passage for Trumpet ", refers to the jazz clubs of 52nd Street. Van Morrison 's 1972 song " Saint Dominic's Preview " includes the lyrics "And meanwhile we're over on a 52nd Street apartment/Socializing with the wino few". Daniel Okrent invented Rotisserie League Baseball, a form of fantasy baseball , in 1979. The name comes from
4480-462: Is three bays wide and, at the ground floor, contains a large opening surrounded by blocks of rusticated limestone. The facade along 52nd Street also has a rusticated limestone facade and contains seven vertical bays , with an arched entrance in the center bay. The 52nd Street entrance was the original main entrance to the house, which was known initially as 2 East 52nd Street. The ground-story openings are square-headed, except for an arched opening at
4608-480: Is wrapped with a large red ribbon. 4 East 52nd Street comprises the Edward Holbrook House , which is internally joined to the Morton F. Plant House. This house is five stories tall and has a neoclassical design. The limestone facade is divided into three bays. At the lowest two stories, there are plate glass windows and the center bay is wider than the other two bays. There is a projecting marquee and
4736-762: The American Red Cross took place at the house in February 1942, with over a thousand guests. With Cornelius III's death in March 1942, "its days of magnificence were ended", according to the Herald Tribune . In 1944, the Astors filed plans for a commercial property to replace the southern section of the house. The following year, Cornelius III's widow Grace sold the Vanderbilt art collection. The works sold for $ 323,195 (equivalent to $ 4,337,766 in 2023),
4864-462: The Metropolitan Museum of Art . The same year, George announced plans to renovate the southern section of the mansion. The plans entailed adding another story, removing some facade ornamentation, replacing an exterior iron fence with stone, installing a new Fifth Avenue doorway to replace the existing entrances, and adding a porte cochere in the rear. The southern and northern halves of the mansion would be completely disconnected from each other, as
4992-640: The Neo-Renaissance style for Morton Freeman Plant , a financier who was the son of railroad tycoon Henry B. Plant . The Holbrook House was designed by C. P. H. Gilbert for Edward Holbrook, who was president of the Gorham Manufacturing Company in the 1900s. The two houses comprise the Cartier Building and have been joined internally since the 1920s. The Morton F. Plant House at 651–653 Fifth Avenue has frontage on both 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue. The facade along Fifth Avenue
5120-544: The New York City Department of Buildings in May 1903; the plans called for a five-story limestone house to cost $ 300,000. Gilbert filed plans that November for Holbrook's house, which was to be a six-story limestone structure costing $ 95,000. Plant's residence at 651–653 Fifth Avenue was completed in 1905, and he and his wife Nellie moved into the house; the structure had cost $ 400,000 to construct. The facade of
5248-557: The Second World War , Auden narrates himself as being on 52nd Street. A 1948 amateur recording of Charlie Parker at the Onyx Club , Bird on 52nd St. , was released by Jazz Workshop in 1957. Billy Joel has a studio album titled 52nd Street . The songs, including the hit single " Honesty ", have a jazz flavoring not found on his other albums. Toshiki Kadomatsu wrote a song titled "52nd Street 'Akiko ' ", which
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5376-493: The Upper East Side in 1906, and construction of that house began in 1913. Immediately east of the Triple Palace, Fifth Avenue was widened in 1911, and Frick's driveway was cut back. In addition, the flower plantings and stone railing in front of the Triple Palace's northern section were removed. Around that time, the neighborhood was growing increasingly commercial. When George Vanderbilt unexpectedly died in 1914,
5504-475: The Vanderbilt family , which lived on Fifth Avenue and did not want to see a high-rise hotel development opposite their houses. In March 1902, after the corner site had been excavated, Chisholm sold the site to the New York Realty Corporation, which was acting on behalf of the Vanderbilt family. The Real Estate Record and Guide described the sale as "a peculiar transaction, and one which can hardly be called
5632-583: The 'legitimate' nightclubs and was also the site of a CBS studio. Musicians who played for others in the early evening played for themselves on 52nd Street. In the period from 1930 through the early 1950s, 52nd Street clubs hosted such jazz musicians as Louis Prima , Art Tatum , Fats Waller , Billie Holiday , Trummy Young , Harry Gibson , Nat Jaffe , Dizzy Gillespie , Thelonious Monk , Charlie Parker , Miles Davis , Marian McPartland , and many more. Although musicians from all schools performed there, after Minton's Playhouse in uptown Harlem , 52nd Street
5760-419: The 30-by-100-foot (9.1 by 30.5 m) lot immediately to the east from Lansdale Boardman. Holbrook hired C. P. H. Gilbert to construct a 14-story apartment house on the 50-foot lot, along with a private house for Holbrook's use on the 30-foot lot. Meanwhile, the firm of Flake & Dowling bought the site at the southeast corner of 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue from Sheldon and Barney in 1900, paying $ 750,000 for
5888-858: The 653 Fifth Avenue Corporation, which owned the former Plant residence that Cartier occupied. It was likely around this time that the two houses were joined internally. In November 1928, an information bureau for the French government opened at 4 East 52nd Street. 4 East 52nd Street came to be occupied by the French Chamber of Commerce and the Alliance Française de New York , which respectively elected Pierre C. Cartier as their president in 1935 and 1938. The French Chamber of Commerce continued to occupy 4 East 52nd Street until at least 1945, when it hosted an exhibit of French craftsmanship. The houses at 653 Fifth Avenue and 4 East 52nd Street, along with
6016-489: The Cartier Building as a city landmark on February 5, 1967. Cartier officials threw a party at the Plaza Hotel to celebrate the designation. In designating the building as a landmark, the LPC assumed Cartier owned the building. Phoenix had never even been aware of the landmark status, let alone attended any hearing about it. Once Phoenix learned of the action, it asked the LPC to reconsider the landmark designation, as such
6144-506: The Cartier Building. The Best & Co. store closed in late 1970 and it was demolished the next year to make way for the Olympic Tower. As part of the Olympic Tower's construction, a pedestrian plaza was built east of 647 Fifth Avenue and the Cartier Building. The tower was ultimately completed and dedicated in 1974. A Ben Kahn fur salon opened at 4 East 52nd Street in November 1970; at the time, Ben Kahn and Cartier were both owned by
6272-440: The Cartier Building. This permitted Best's to erect a skyscraper above their store, which was two buildings south of Cartier's. Aristotle Onassis —the president of Olympic Airways , which at the time had a sales office at 647 Fifth Avenue—established a family trust called Victory Development in March 1970. Victory formed a joint venture with Arlen Realty & Development Corporation to acquire Best's store, 647 Fifth Avenue, and
6400-465: The Edward Holbrook residence at 4 East 52nd Street, designed by C. P. H. Gilbert . The Plant House was designed in the Neo-Renaissance style and has facades on both 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue. The 52nd Street facade of the house contains an ornate pavilion , and both facades have an attic hidden inside a frieze . The Edward Holbrook House was also designed in a neoclassical style but has
6528-596: The Holbrook House was finished by that April, and his house was finished the next year. When 4 East 52nd Street was completed, it was occupied by Edward Holbrook and his wife Frances. In January 1906, the Holbrook House hosted the wedding of their daughter Lilian to Count Guillaume de Balincourt. The Holbrooks sold the residence a year and a half later, in June 1907. The buyers of the 52nd Street house were initially not publicly revealed, but The New York Times announced
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#17327838645916656-508: The Kenton Corporation. Kenton sold Ben Kahn in 1972, and Cartier opened Les Must de Cartier, a watch boutique, inside 4 East 52nd Street in 1976. Cartier celebrated its 75th anniversary in early 1983 with a gala at the building, to which several LPC officials were invited. On September 8, 1983, the Cartier Building at 651–653 Fifth Avenue and 4 East 52nd Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), along with
6784-541: The Vanderbilt family. The Astors wished to redevelop the site, which by then was surrounded by commercial developments, such as Rockefeller Center to the south. After the sale, the Vanderbilts hosted their final large events at the house. The interior of the house was opened to the public in July 1941, with a $ 1 admission fee to raise money for the United Service Organizations , and a benefit for
6912-552: The adjacent building at 647 Fifth Avenue. The buildings were cited as examples of residences in Midtown Manhattan that were later converted to commercial use. The houses were added to the NRHP as a single listing, the "Houses at 647, 651-53 Fifth Avenue and 4 East 52nd Street". In 1987, Cartier asked the building's owner Olympic Tower Associates for permission to renovate the building's interior. Olympic originally declined, but
7040-667: The area unaffordable. Emily Vanderbilt Sloane, now married to Henry White , sold the northern residence to Benjamin Winter for about $ 3.5 million (equivalent to $ 48 million in 2023) in January 1926. Winter began destroying the northern part of the house in 1927 to make way for a thirty-story office building. Cornelius III sold the southern part of the house to the William Waldorf Astor estate in May 1940. The sale occurred despite William Henry's wishes for it to stay in
7168-498: The art collection. The residence still hosted events such as a dinner for the Architectural League of New York in 1889. Margaret and Elliott Shepard continued to live in the northern section of the mansion with their youngest children until Elliott died there in 1893. Some time afterward, Margaret sold her family's portion of the northern section to Emily. In 1896, Maria Vanderbilt died and George received title to
7296-427: The building permit for the house. The mansion occupied a site of 200 by 150 feet (61 by 46 m). The southern section at 640 Fifth Avenue was a single-family unit, occupied by William Henry Vanderbilt , his wife Maria Louisa Kissam , and their youngest son George . The southern section measured 115 feet (35 m) deep and either 80 feet (24 m) or 74 feet (23 m) wide. The northern section contained
7424-409: The building, which was heated by hot water. The basement was blasted out of solid rock and measured 9.5 feet (2.9 m) tall. The basement contained numerous rooms, including a kitchen, staff rooms, coal vaults, and mechanical rooms for the elevators and electricity. The basement also included storage closets, wine cellars, laundry and drying rooms, furnace rooms, and pantries. The first floor had
7552-403: The center, which was the carriage entrance. The main entrance on 52nd Street was restored as part of a 2001 renovation, while the display windows on the first floor were downsized. As part of that project, a secondary doorway was built on Fifth Avenue. At the second and third stories on 52nd Street, the central three bays form a slightly projecting pavilion, with an ornate balustrade in front of
7680-462: The character of the brownstone facade, wondering "how so much good work [...] can be so ineffective". The following year, Clarence Cook dubbed the mansion a "gigantic knee-hole table", calling the design "discreditable to the profession of architecture" in the United States. Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer , meanwhile, likened the mansion to "brown-stone packing boxes". Two decades after
7808-453: The construction site by barge since it could not fit on a train. Nearby were numerous similarly large stones, measuring on average 12 to 13 feet (3.7 to 4.0 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) long. A New York Times reporter said the stones had been laid "on three parallel walls of solid rock". Right in front of the portico was a large bluestone entrance step measuring 24.16 by 3.5 feet (7.36 by 1.07 m) across. The portico served as
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#17327838645917936-421: The cornerstone for the new building on the site was laid. News at the time expressed dismay in the loss of the building, though the media said it had long been an outdated remnant of a past time. It was replaced by 640 and 650 Fifth Avenue . The William H. Vanderbilt Mansion was the last of seven major Vanderbilt residences in the midtown section of Fifth Avenue when it was demolished. The house's architecture
8064-414: The dining room, had polished brass and mahogany finishes. Cornelius's room was decorated in dark mahogany and consisted of a study and attached bedroom. Another room was decorated in rosewood inlaid with mother-of-pearl; it was meant for another of W.H. Vanderbilt's daughters, Eliza , who had gotten married before the house was finished. The southern section's third floor had guest rooms that surrounded
8192-400: The dining room. The eastern portion of the southern section's hallway led to a drawing room, parlor, and library facing Fifth Avenue. The drawing room measured 25 by 31 feet (7.6 by 9.4 m) and had red velvet walls with mother-of-pearl butterflies; a red carpet; and a ceiling mural painted by Pierre-Victor Galland . The mother-of-pearl appeared to make the decorations glow whenever
8320-412: The doors were really just "thin metal screwed to a common wooden frame". The "bronze" doors opened into a hallway in the southern section, with marble tiling and wood paneling . The south wall, opposite the entrance door, had a large fireplace with a mantelpiece made of marble, as well as bronze reliefs of female figures flanking a marble shaft. To the right was a stairway to the upper floors, while to
8448-513: The early 1900s, that section of Fifth Avenue was becoming a commercial area. The site immediately north of St. Patrick's Cathedral was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York , which used the site for the Roman Catholic Asylum. The asylum took up two blocks between 51st Street, 52nd Street, Fifth Avenue, and Park Avenue . It was once one of several public institutions on the midtown section of Fifth Avenue, but by
8576-490: The east. Other nearby buildings include 650 Fifth Avenue to the west, 660 Fifth Avenue to the northwest, Austrian Cultural Forum New York to the north, 12 East 53rd Street and Omni Berkshire Place to the northeast, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the south, and the International Building of Rockefeller Center to the southwest. Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park South (59th Street)
8704-470: The edges. Following a 2016 renovation, the Cartier store was expanded to 44,000 square feet (4,100 m) on five floors, with an interior stairway connecting all the stories. The modern first floor is designed as an imitation of a residential mansion. The restored interior has a lacquered panel in the foyer, with representations of panthers in gold leaf, as well as oak paneling on the walls. The second floor contains salesrooms for fine jewelry, in addition to
8832-435: The end of the 19th century, it was the only one remaining. The Roman Catholic Asylum site was placed for sale in 1899 after the institution had secured another site in the Bronx . The Cartier Building, the main New York City store of jeweler Cartier , consists of the Morton F. Plant House at 651–653 Fifth Avenue and the Edward Holbrook House at 4 East 52nd Street. The Plant House was designed by architect Robert W. Gibson in
8960-492: The entire east side of the block bounded by 51st Street to the south, 52nd Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the east, and Sixth Avenue to the west. The house was described in popular press as two mansions and known as the "Triple Palace" or the "Vanderbilt Twins". However, the structure was a single mansion built at one time, with three residential units across two sections. William Henry Vanderbilt hired John B. Snook and Charles B. Atwood to design and furnish
9088-513: The entrance from the central portico would be destroyed. The firm of Hunt & Hunt was hired for the renovation. While city officials initially approved the porte cochere, they subsequently ordered it demolished, saying it projected too far onto the Fifth Avenue sidewalk. George Vanderbilt secured an injunction in June 1903 to prevent its demolition, but he was compelled to take it down that September. In January 1905, Douglas Robinson of Robinson, Brown, and Co. notified Henry Clay Frick that
9216-412: The first story, but the upper stories were disconnected from each other. The doors separating the three residences could be opened to create a large event space. A short balustrade and a planting strip separated the mansion from the Fifth Avenue sidewalk, though this was removed in 1911. Bronze lighting fixtures were mounted atop the pillars of the balustrade, and metal fencing was installed between
9344-400: The following month that tobacco businessman James Buchanan Duke had bought the house for $ 300,000. The Times reported that Duke was rumored to have been looking for a mansion on the Upper East Side . Duke had purchased a site on 78th Street by 1909, which would become his house . 4 East 52nd Street was then occupied by the family of real estate developer Harry James Luce, who had moved into
9472-458: The fourth story, there are six windows on 52nd Street (three on each side of the pavilion) and five on Fifth Avenue. These windows are simpler in design and contain lintels above them. The fifth-story attic has a frieze within which are small window openings. A cornice with modillions , as well as a balustrade , runs above the attic. During the December holiday season, the facade of the mansion
9600-400: The fourth story. The fifth story contains a mansard roof with a skylight and three stone dormers . As designed, the Plant House was supposed to have a large dining room, drawing room, and smoking annex on the ground floor, as well as a library and music room on the second floor, connected by a circular grand staircase. The east side of the second story had Plant's piano room, which contained
9728-453: The gallery by an archway, as well as a conservatory room on the opposite wall. The south side of the hallway led to the southern section's main dining room, which measured 28 by 36 feet (8.5 by 11.0 m) and had wood wainscoting, a fireplace with carved mantel, and tapestries and paintings. The south dining room had an elliptical arched ceiling, which was divided into panels with carved fruit and foliate motifs. A butler's pantry abutted
9856-403: The ground-floor windows was an entablature with carvings of vines, which wrapped around all sides. The second-story windows were decorated with acanthus leaves. The ground- and second-story windows were originally complemented with vases containing flowers. Above the third story was an entablature with a blind frieze, followed by a blind attic. A cornice decorated with lions' heads, as well as
9984-575: The home of Henry Clay Frick , who renovated and rented the house from 1905 to 1913, when he built the Henry Clay Frick House , inspired by the Triple Palace and its art collection. Cornelius Vanderbilt III hired Horace Trumbauer to design another renovation for the house in 1916. The northern section of the Vanderbilt house was demolished in 1927, while the southern section was destroyed in 1947; both sections were replaced by high-rise buildings. The William H. Vanderbilt House occupied
10112-443: The house by August 1910, when he received a mortgage on the property. Immediately to the west, Fifth Avenue was widened in 1911, and the marble steps in front of Plant's house had to be cut back. Plant was forced to truncate his front areaway and fence. Around that time, the neighborhood was growing increasingly commercial. Plant's wife Nellie died in 1913, and the next year he remarried to Mae Cadwell. By 1916, Plant decided to move to
10240-454: The house passed to Cornelius Vanderbilt III , the next grandson of W.H. Vanderbilt, as George had no male heirs. Cornelius III took possession of the house that April. He requested Frick vacate the property, giving him several months to move. The Fricks moved to the Henry Clay Frick House in June 1914, where they remained until their deaths. After Frick moved out, Cornelius III spent $ 500,000 (equivalent to $ 10,898,000 in 2023) to renovate
10368-435: The house's completion, Herbert Croly wrote that the exterior was "far from interesting" while the brownstone "indicates a blind ignorance of the drift of American architectural advance". Where critics were uninterested in the design of the exterior, they felt the interior to be overwhelming. One critic wrote: "One longs to find out if there is not one single room where there might be found some repose." Barbara Weinberg, in
10496-425: The left was a set of carved oaken seats and a door leading to the drawing room. Throughout the hallway were iron columns with red polished marble, which supported architectural galleries on the upper stories. Extending west from the southern section's hallway was the art gallery, measuring 32 by 48 feet (9.8 by 14.6 m). The gallery was described as being 33 or 35 feet (10 or 11 m) high; at night, it
10624-437: The light well. Each room was finished in cabinet wood and had frescoes in different styles, with carved dressers supporting large mirrors. Each dressing room on the third floor was connected to two bedrooms. A steep stairway, similar to a ladder, led from the third floor onto the roof. The northern section's upper floors generally had sitting, sewing, and dressing rooms, as well as chambers and nurseries. The double residence had
10752-417: The mansion's visitors included numerous heads of state, such as U.S. presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover and British prime minister Winston Churchill , as well as various other leaders and royal family members. Nevertheless, by the 1920s, the section of Fifth Avenue in Midtown was quickly becoming a commercial area. Taxes were rising accordingly, making the continued presence of residences in
10880-602: The mansion, and he hired the Herter Brothers to decorate the space. Snook was the architect of record for the mansion, but there is evidence of both Atwood's and the Herter Brothers' involvement. The Herter Brothers disputed the claim that either Snook or Atwood were responsible for the overall design. When the Herter Brothers wrote American Architect and Building News to complain, the journal's editors pointed out that Atwood and Snook's names were listed on
11008-529: The media reported that Frick had leased the southern residence. Frick acquired a ten-year lease on the southern residence and its furnishings, with George Vanderbilt receiving $ 50,000 in rent per year (equivalent to $ 1,315,000 in 2023). Frick and his wife renovated the southern portion of the mansion at a cost of $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 2,629,000 in 2023), with plans and construction oversight by Hunt & Hunt. The work added newer amenities, including electric lighting and modern bathrooms. Frick also installed
11136-654: The name of the restaurant, La Rôtisserie Française restaurant on New York City's East 52nd Street, where he first suggested the idea to his friends. Notes 40°45′27″N 73°58′15″W / 40.75750°N 73.97083°W / 40.75750; -73.97083 Vanderbilt Triple Palace The Triple Palace , also known as the William H. Vanderbilt House , was an elaborate mansion at 640 Fifth Avenue between 51st Street and 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan , New York City. The urban mansion, completed in 1882 to designs by John B. Snook and Charles B. Atwood ,
11264-608: The neighboring property at 647 Fifth Avenue, were all acquired in May 1950 by the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company. The buyer, who reportedly paid for the buildings in cash, held the properties as an investment and continued leasing 653 Fifth Avenue to Cartier. In the late 1950s, design firm Design-Technics had a showroom at 4 East 52nd Street, though the firm moved out after 1959, when it leased another building on 53rd Street . The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated
11392-462: The northern section was designed with mirrored parlors, libraries, dining rooms, and reception rooms on the ground floor. A butler's pantry was located off the dining rooms, while a billiards room was in the rear of the double residence. The southern section's grand staircase had an ornate oak balustrade as well as an overhead frieze. This stairway wrapped around a light well that measured perhaps 60 by 40 feet (18 by 12 m) wide. The stairway
11520-414: The northern section's conservatory. Vanderbilt hosted a ball with 1,000 guests on December 11, 1883. He marked the opening of his new art gallery nine days later with a reception to which 3,000 people were invited. Vanderbilt intended his house and art collection to be more imposing than those of the late Alexander Turney Stewart . When the house was completed, the public could visit the art gallery in
11648-456: The original entrances had been removed, and window grilles facing Fifth Avenue would be duplicated on the 52nd Street facade. The architects for the renovation were Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Timothy P. Greer, and David Schwartz. Cartier president Alain Viot likened the restoration to "a Cartier product that you redesign as it was before and make it contemporary at the same time". A ribbon-cutting ceremony
11776-412: The pillars. When the mansion was completed, it was surrounded on all sides by grass. Between the two sections on Fifth Avenue was a courtyard leading to an entrance portico . A pavement stone in front of the portico measured 44,000 pounds (20,000 kg), with dimensions of 25.16 by 15 feet (7.67 by 4.57 m). The stone, supposedly the largest ever quarried in the United States, was transported to
11904-663: The renovation, the Cartier store was temporarily at the General Motors Building . The renovation was completed in 2016, two and a half years after it started. Guy Trebay of The New York Times described the 2010s renovation as having turned the Cartier Building into a "thing of rational and distinctly Gallic beauty". A writer quoted in Bloomberg News stated that the new interior was the "single biggest signifier of wealth in Manhattan". The Cartier Building
12032-402: The rest of the house, but the front elevation was not enclosed. The floor of the vestibule was paved in marble mosaic tiles. Mosaics also decorated the vestibule's walls. The vestibule's ceiling was a skylight made of stained glass and iron, just below the second story of the house. The ceiling was infilled with mosaic was made by Facchina of Venice. The center of the vestibule featured
12160-420: The roof beams were designed to support 125 pounds per square foot (6.0 kPa). "Fireproof material" such as brick arches was infilled between the wrought-iron beams. The brick partition walls were designed to be at least 16 inches (410 mm) thick. Much of the ornamentation was made in papier-mâché rather than plaster. The entire house was steam-heated, except for the conservatory in the northern portion of
12288-457: The room was illuminated. North of the drawing room was a library, which contained furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The rosewood library table was decorated with designs of six continents, and the chairs and wallpaper contained hangings. South of the drawing room was a Japanese-themed parlor with hanging tapestries and lacquered cabinets, as well as a faux bamboo ceiling with rafters stained to resemble red lacquer. The double unit in
12416-409: The second and third stories on 52nd Street, as well as three similarly designed windows on each story on Fifth Avenue. The second-story windows have individual balustrades at the bottom and are flanked by engaged columns that support lintels with denticulation . The center window on Fifth Avenue has a clock above it. The third-story windows are topped by denticulated lintels supported by brackets. On
12544-465: The second floor for himself, his wife, and his youngest children. Emily's and Margaret's sections of the house were designed in a less lavish style. William Henry Vanderbilt had commissioned the mansion in part to provide space for his paintings, as well as a residence for his two daughters. Upon its completion, the mansion was generally criticized. After William Henry's death in 1885, the house passed on to numerous members of his family. It became known as
12672-496: The second-story windows. The center window on the second story of the pavilion has engaged columns , which support a curved pediment . The pavilion also contains four pilasters separating the windows on the second and third stories; the pilasters are fluted and contain Scamozzi capitals at their tops. The pilasters support a pediment at the fourth story. On either side of the central pavilion, there are two windows on each of
12800-491: The site. They also bought some land on the south side of 52nd Street from Henry G. Trevor and George R. Schieffelin. Flake & Dowling resold the 100-by-125-foot (30 by 38 m) sites in February 1901, and a group of developers led by Stewart H. Chisholm had taken over the site by that spring. That October, Chisholm's syndicate filed plans for an 18-story apartment hotel, designed by William C. Hazlett, to be built on that site. The plans for Chisholm's hotel prompted concerns from
12928-410: The southern half of the mansion was available for rent. By this point, Frick was becoming a prominent businessman and was the largest private stockholder in the railroad industry. Frick's early obsession with the house, as well as the idea of living in the residence of the former art collector and "railroad king" William H. Vanderbilt, were strong reasons for Frick's move to rent the space. In March 1905,
13056-485: The southern portion of the mansion, including $ 240,000 on physical alterations. Horace Trumbauer designed the renovation, for which he filed plans in 1915. The work involved creating a new entrance on the north side of the southern residence. Cornelius III's ownership marked the second "great period" of the house's history, as the New York Herald Tribune would later describe it. In subsequent years,
13184-470: The southern portion of the site was developed as the Marble Twins at 645 and 647 Fifth Avenue . In the late 1910s, Plant sold his house to Cartier. The Holbrook House was occupied by a variety of tenants until 1927, after which it was purchased by 653 Fifth Avenue's owners and used by various organizations and firms. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Cartier Building as
13312-420: The southern portion on Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., though only by invitation. After some instances of visitor misbehavior, Vanderbilt stopped inviting people to see his art collection. Less than five years after moving into the mansion, in December 1885, W.H. Vanderbilt suddenly died. As part of his will, Maria received a life interest in the property. His youngest son George, who did not yet have
13440-431: The southern section had elaborate decor, including an extensive art collection. There were 58 rooms in the southern residence, each designed in a different style. The Nashville Daily American described the northern section's decorations as being ornate but "less utterly utter" than those in the southern section. Shortly after the house was completed, a ten-volume series entitled Mr. Vanderbilt's House and Collection
13568-529: The southern section of the house. George already had a townhouse by then, and he did not wish to live in the mansion, which had unfashionable decor by this point. Furthermore, by the turn of the century, the surrounding section of Fifth Avenue was becoming a commercial area. George was in the midst of creating the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina, but he was unable to sell his father's house under
13696-471: The southern section's entrance, while the northern section was accessed from 52nd Street. The house was designed in the Doric and Corinthian styles with a facade made of Connecticut brownstone . Snook and Atwood had originally planned to face the building in light Ohio limestone with red and black limestone trim. However, William Henry Vanderbilt had changed the plans at the last minute because he wanted
13824-420: The southern section's second floor were designed with varying fittings and decorations, and each member of the family had their own room, with Maria's being the most ornate. Mrs. Vanderbilt's room faced the corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street and contained wooden cabinetry from France, a wainscoted wall topped by satins and tapestries, and a ceiling mural by Jules Lefebrve . William Henry Vanderbilt's room, over
13952-479: The street which were transmitted across the country. By the late 1940s, the jazz scene began moving elsewhere around the city and urban renewal began to take hold of the street. By the 1960s, most of the legendary clubs were razed or fell into disrepair. The last jazz club there closed in 1968, though one remains as a restaurant. Today, the street is full of banks, shops, and department stores and shows little trace of its jazz history. The block from 5th to 6th Avenues
14080-484: The terms of his father's will. In part to slow the further commercial development of the avenue, George Vanderbilt developed the Marble Twins immediately across Fifth Avenue at the turn of the 20th century. One of the Marble Twins was occupied by his sister Emily and her family, who had moved from the northern section of the Triple Palace. In 1902, George lent 135 works from the mansion's 640-piece collection to
14208-670: The then-new St. Patrick's Cathedral , had once been owned by sheep farmer Isaiah Keyser. The site had cost $ 500,000 (equivalent to $ 13,616,000 in 2023); it had originally been marketed at $ 800,000 prior to the Panic of 1873 . His elder sons Cornelius and William Kissam were simultaneously planning the Cornelius Vanderbilt II House five blocks north and the William K. Vanderbilt House one block north. By April 1879, existing tenants were being forced to leave. That December, William Henry Vanderbilt filed plans for
14336-525: The time, "What would, it is said, in any European country have taken from five to ten years to accomplish has been done here in a little more than two years." They held a large reception at their portion of the mansion in March 1882. A subsequent New York Herald Tribune article said that the two decades following the mansion's opening comprised one of the two "great periods" of the house's existence. The art collection grew quickly and, in March 1883, Snook filed plans for additions to Vanderbilt's gallery and
14464-433: The way up, were interspersed with the entablature. The second-story openings were flanked by pilasters and topped by carved lintels . The capitals atop the pilasters were ornately carved. The third-story openings had round-headed arches that were flanked by carved panels and topped by narrow archivolts . Midway up the third story, a carved frieze ran horizontally across the facade. William H. Vanderbilt's residence in
14592-407: Was again renovated in 2022 to designs by Laura Gonzalez. 52nd Street (Manhattan) Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, 52nd Street replaced 133rd Street as "Swing Street" of the city. The blocks of 52nd Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues became renowned for the abundance of jazz clubs and lively street life. The street was convenient to musicians playing on Broadway and
14720-503: Was becoming too small for the company. When the neighboring house at number 647 was sold to an art dealer the next month, the Real Estate Record and Guide said the sales marked "another step in the transition of this section of Fifth avenue from the residential to the business stage". In July 1917, Louis J. Cartier and Pierre C. Cartier decided to buy the Plant House outright. The trade consisted of $ 100 in cash and included
14848-460: Was being constructed, and nineteen large blocks of brownstone had been set in place. The work ultimately cost $ 2 million (equivalent to $ 54,463,000 in 2023), about two-thirds of which was spent on the interior of William Henry's residence. William Henry, Maria, and George Vanderbilt were occupying the southern half of the mansion by January 1882. His daughters moved into their own respective residences at that time. The Washington Post wrote at
14976-401: Was deeply involved in the mansion's construction, visiting the work site daily and observing the work ongoing at the Herter Brothers workrooms for hours at a time. This led William Baumgarten of the Herter Brothers to say in 1885, "We have rarely had a customer who took such a personal interest in the work during its progress." By the middle of 1881, the Fifth Avenue facade of the Triple Palace
15104-532: Was hosted in August 2001, marking the building's reopening. The expansion nearly doubled the store's area to 2,077 square feet (193.0 m). In May 2012, real estate investment firm Crown Acquisitions took a 49.9 percent stake in the Olympic Tower properties, which included 647 Fifth Avenue, the Cartier Building, the Olympic Tower itself, and a fourth building at 10 East 52nd Street. The Cartier Building received another renovation in 2014, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle in conjunction with Thierry W. Despont . During
15232-462: Was lit by 169 gas jets. The gallery originally featured 207 oils and watercolors from various European artists. Art was hung salon-style in the gallery. Despite the size of the gallery, Vanderbilt's collection soon grew to require an additional smaller gallery to show watercolors and drawings. The art gallery had its own entrance from 51st Street. Attached to the art gallery was an "aquarella room" of 15 by 32 feet (4.6 by 9.8 m), separated from
15360-456: Was lit by the skylight above the light well, which as decorated in crimson and gold brick. The bottom of the grand staircase had a bronze newel that was sculpted in the figure of a girl. At intermediate landings, John La Farge designed nine stained-glass windows. Those on the first landing depicted the "fruits of commerce" that had made the Vanderbilts wealthy, while the second-story landing depicted hospitality and prosperity. The rooms on
15488-417: Was owned by members of the Vanderbilt family . It was composed of two portions: a single-family unit to the south and a two-family unit to the north. William Henry Vanderbilt owned and lived in the southern portion. Two of his daughters, Emily Thorn Vanderbilt and Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard , along with their respective families, occupied the two residences in the northern portion. The mansion had
15616-517: Was privately published, which documented the William H. Vanderbilt house and art collection. One thousand copies were printed of the series, which art historian Earl Shinn authored under the pen name "Edward Strahan". The industrialist Henry Clay Frick had a noted admiration for the mansion, its art collection, and William Henry Vanderbilt's status. The building and art collection prompted Frick to create his own mansion and art collection, today
15744-633: Was relatively undeveloped through the late 19th century. The surrounding area was once part of the common lands of the city of New York. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 established Manhattan's street grid with lots measuring 100 feet (30 m) deep and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. Upscale residences were constructed around Fifth Avenue following the American Civil War . In 1882, three Vanderbilt family residences were completed along Fifth Avenue between 51st and 59th Streets (the William H. , William K. , and Cornelius II mansions). The surrounding section of Fifth Avenue thus became known as "Vanderbilt Row". By
15872-468: Was reviewed negatively, especially in comparison to the homes of W. H. Vanderbilt's children. The interior was seen as vast and dark, with unfashionable decor. In 1881, Montgomery Schuyler wrote of the Triple Palace: "If these Vanderbilt houses are the result of intrusting architectural design to decorators, it is to be hoped the experiment may not be repeated." Schuyler particularly criticized
16000-422: Was shared with Charvet & Fils, a gentlemen's haberdasher, until 1927. The store also hosted events such as a 1927 exhibition of old timepieces. Nicholas C. Partos took a 63-year lease on Luce's house in March 1927 and considered erecting a 12-story commercial structure on the site. Louis F. Mentz bought Luce's house that July, including a $ 200,000 mortgage on the property. The house was resold shortly afterward to
16128-536: Was sold to the Union Club of the City of New York . The single-family lots were sold under the stipulation that they would remain in residential use for 25 years. By May 1900, only the lots along Fifth Avenue remained unsold. Edward Holbrook bought a 50-by-100-foot (15 by 30 m) lot on the south side of 52nd Street, just east of Fifth Avenue, from Worthington Whitehouse in August 1900. That December, Holbrook bought
16256-419: Was the second most important place for the dissemination of bebop . In fact, a tune called " 52nd Street Theme " by Thelonious Monk became a bebop anthem and jazz standard. Virtually every great jazz player and singer of the era performed at clubs: 52nd Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues 52nd Street, between 5th & 6th Avenues Disc jockey Symphony Sid frequently did live broadcasts from
16384-450: Was valued at $ 2.5 million and included the lots on the east side of Fifth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets, as well as those on the side streets. George R. Sheldon and Charles T. Barney were reported as the purchasers; Barney, who was the president of Knickerbocker Trust Company , represented a syndicate of several unnamed investors. In the subsequent months, many of the lots along 51st and 52nd Streets were sold to families, though one lot
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