30-607: The Old Colony Building may refer to: Colony Club buildings in New York City Old Colony Building (Chicago) , former name of a Chicago Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Old Colony Building . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
60-404: A vegetarian diet and was supervised by nutritionist Gayelord Hauser . In 1974, Hauser commented that the "fabulous Lady Mendl Elsie de Wolfe Mendl was a good friend and faithful student of nutrition, of whom I am very proud." Her morning exercises were famous. In her memoir, de Wolfe wrote that her daily regimen at age 70 included yoga , standing on her head, and walking on her hands. "I have
90-465: A "rebel in an ugly world." Her sensitivity to style and color was acute from childhood. Arriving home from school one day, she found her parents had redecorated the drawing room: Hutton Wilkinson, president of the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation, clarified that many things de Wolfe hated, such as "pickle and plum Morris furniture," are prized today by museums and designers. "De Wolfe simply didn't like Victorian,
120-567: A brighter scheme of decorating than was fashionable in Victorian times, she helped convert interiors featuring dark, heavy draperies and overly ornate furnishings into light, soft, more feminine rooms. She made a feature of mirrors, which both illuminated and expanded living spaces, brought back into fashion furniture painted in white or pale colors, and indulged her taste for chinoiserie , chintz, green and white stripes, wicker, trompe-l'œil effects in wallpaper, and trelliswork motifs, suggesting
150-683: A kennel where members could leave their pets. In 1973, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger 's birthday party was held at the Colony Club (among the guests were four couples whom Kissinger had ordered to be wiretapped ). In 2007, memorial services for Brooke Astor were held there. The club continues its policy of women-only membership – new members must be recommended by current members. The Club presently has approximately 2,500 members who have access to discussions, concerts, and wellness and athletic programs. The Clubhouse consists of seven stories, 25 guest bedrooms, three dining rooms, two ballrooms,
180-466: A lesbian relationship with Elisabeth Marbury , with whom she lived in New York and Paris. Lady Mendl was a prominent social figure, and she entertained in the most distinguished circles. According to The New Yorker , "Interior design as a profession was invented by Elsie de Wolfe". She was certainly the most famous name in the field until the 1930s, but the profession of interior decorator/designer
210-482: A lounge, a squash court, an indoor pool, a fitness facility and three personal spa service rooms. Annual gross revenues are more than $ 10 million. Notes Bibliography Elsie de Wolfe Elsie de Wolfe, Lady Mendl ( née Ella Anderson de Wolfe; December 20, c. 1859 – July 12, 1950 ) was an American actress who became a very prominent interior designer and author. Born in New York City, de Wolfe
240-486: A new high society fad. In 1926 The New York Times described de Wolfe as "one of the most widely known women in New York social life," and in 1935 as "prominent in Paris society." In 1935, Paris experts named her the best-dressed woman in the world, noting that she wore what suited her best, regardless of fashion. De Wolfe had embroidered taffeta pillows bearing the motto "Never complain, never explain." On first seeing
270-426: A prosperous New York lawyer, Elisabeth ("Bessie") Marbury, like de Wolfe, was also a pioneer career woman. She was one of the first female theater agents and one of the first woman Broadway producers. Her clients included Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw . During their nearly 40 years together, Marbury was initially the main support of the couple. In a 2003 book, David Von Drehle wrote of "the willowy De Wolfe and
300-619: A regular exercise routine founded on the Yogi method," Elsie said, "introduced to me by Anne Vanderbilt and her daughter, Princess Murat. I stand on my head [and] I can turn cart wheels. Or I walk upside-down on my hands." This facet of her life was immortalized in the title song of Cole Porter's 1934 musical, Anything Goes: "When you hear that Lady Mendl standing up/Now does a handspring landing up/on her toes/anything goes." De Wolfe died in Versailles , France . Cremated, her ashes were placed in
330-462: A result of staging plays, and in 1903 she left the theater to launch a career as a decorator. Many elements aided her in becoming such an influential figure in the emerging field — her social connections, her reputation as an actress and her success in decorating the interior of the Irving House, the residence she shared with her close friend and lover, Elisabeth "Bessie" Marbury. Preferring
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#1732787874510360-708: Is now occupied by the American Academy of Dramatic Arts .) The success of the Colony Club proved a turning point in her own life and career, launching her fame as the most sought-after interior decorator of the day. Over the course of the next six years, de Wolfe designed interiors for many prestigious private homes, clubs, and businesses on both the East and West coasts. By 1913, her reputation had grown so that her studio took up an entire floor of offices on 5th Avenue. That year she received her greatest commission – from coal magnate Henry Clay Frick, one of
390-716: The Parthenon , De Wolfe exclaimed "It's beige — my color!" At her house in France, the Villa Trianon, she had a dog cemetery in which each tombstone read, "The one I loved the best." In the early 1900s, de Wolfe promoted a semi-vegetarian diet that consisted of fresh fish, oysters, shellfish and vegetables. She described herself as an "antisarcophagist", neither a red meat eater nor wholly vegetarian. De Wolfe advocated gardening and consuming homegrown vegetables and organic food . In her later years, de Wolfe embraced
420-570: The Club belonged. The Old Colony Club was sold to Genevieve Garvan Brady after the club moved to its new location in 1916. Today, the building houses the East Coast headquarters of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts . It was awarded landmark status by the City of New York in 1966. The second clubhouse, located at 564 Park Avenue, also known as 51 East 62nd Street, on the northwest corner,
450-509: The allure of the garden. As de Wolfe claimed: "I opened the doors and windows of America, and let the air and sunshine in." Her inspiration came from 18th-century French and English art, literature, theater, and fashion. In 1905, Stanford White , the architect for the Colony Club and a longtime friend, helped de Wolfe secure the commission for its interior design. The building, located at 120 Madison Avenue (near 30th Street), would become
480-568: The club's founders. Stanford White was slain by Harry K. Thaw months before construction of the Colony Club was completed. The building was designed in the Federal Revival style, and has unusual brickwork done in a diaper pattern as a notable feature of its facade. The club and the street in front of it were often the site of large suffrage rallies sponsored by the Equal Franchise Society to which many members of
510-483: The first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on similar gentlemen's clubs . Today, men are admitted as guests. With other wealthy women, including Anne Tracy Morgan (a daughter of J.P. Morgan ), Harriman raised $ 500,000, and commissioned Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White to build the original clubhouse, later known as the "Old Colony Club". This building – at 120 Madison Avenue, between East 30th and East 31st Streets on
540-690: The high style of her sad childhood," Wilkinson wrote, "and chose to banish it from her design vocabulary." De Wolfe's first career choice was that of actress. She originally appeared with the Amateur Comedy Club in New York City as Lady Clara Seymour in A Cup of Tea (April 1886) and as Maude Ashley in Sunshine (December 1886), a one-act comedy by Fred W. Broughton. Her success led to a full-time theatrical career, making her professional debut in Sardou's Thermidor in 1891, in which she played
570-499: The interiors of wealthy clients' homes from dark wood, heavily curtained palaces into light, intimate spaces featuring fresh colors and a reliance on 18th-century French furniture and accessories. She was nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, In her autobiography, de Wolfe – born Ella Anderson de Wolfe and the only daughter of a Canadian-born doctor – called herself
600-590: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_Colony_Building&oldid=744519468 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Colony Club The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City . Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman , wife of J. Borden Harriman , as
630-463: The masculine Marbury ... cutting a wide path through Manhattan society. Gossips called them "the Bachelors." Expecting nothing to change in their relationship due to her marriage to Mendl, de Wolfe remained Marbury's lover until the latter's death in 1933. In 1924 de Wolfe took up an invention of her hairstylist, Monsieur Antoine (Antoni Cierplikowski), and dyed her hair blue , thus starting
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#1732787874510660-420: The premier women's social club on its opening two years later, much of its appeal owing to the interiors de Wolfe arranged. Instead of the heavy, masculine overtones then pervasive in fashionable interiors, de Wolfe used light fabric for window coverings, painted walls pale colors, tiled the floors, and added wicker chairs and settees. The effect centered on the illusion of an outdoor garden pavilion. (The building
690-692: The richest men in America at the time. De Wolfe's 1926 marriage to diplomat Sir Charles Mendl , the British press attache in Paris, was page-one news in the New York Times . The marriage was platonic and one of convenience . The pair appeared to have married primarily for social amenities, entertaining together but keeping separate residences. In 1935, when de Wolfe published her autobiography, she didn't mention her husband in it. Although his career had been of no great distinction, Mendl's knighthood
720-725: The role of Fabienne with Forbes-Robertson . In 1894, she joined the Empire Stock Company under Charles Frohman . In 1901 she brought out The Way of the World under her own management at the Victoria Theatre, and later toured the United States in the role. On stage, she was neither a total failure nor a great success; one critic called her "the leading exponent of the peculiar art of wearing good clothes well." She became interested in interior decorating as
750-455: The west side of Madison – was built between 1904 and 1908 and was modelled on eighteenth-century houses in Annapolis, Maryland . The interiors, which exist largely unchanged, were created by Elsie de Wolfe – later to become Lady Mendl – a former actress who had recently opened an interior-design business, and whose companion, the theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury , was one of
780-420: Was acutely sensitive to her surroundings from her earliest years and became one of the first female interior decorators, replacing dark and ornate Victorian decor with lighter, simpler styles and uncluttered room layouts. Her 1926 marriage to English diplomat Sir Charles Mendl was seen as a marriage of convenience , although she was proud to be called Lady Mendl. Since 1892, de Wolfe had been living openly in
810-506: Was allegedly bestowed due to his retrieval of letters from a gigolo who had been blackmailing Prince George, Duke of Kent . The Times reported "the intended marriage comes as a great surprise to her friends" a veiled reference to the fact that since 1892, de Wolfe had been living with Bessie Marbury. First, the two lived at 49 Irving Place , and then, 13 Sutton Place. As the paper put it: "When in New York she makes her home with Miss Elisabeth Marbury at 13 Sutton Place ." The daughter of
840-527: Was commissioned in 1913 and constructed from 1914 to 1916. It was designed by Delano & Aldrich in the Neo-Georgian style , with interiors designed by Elsie de Wolfe . The building has a marble base with red-brick and marble trim and columns for the upper floors. According to Andrew Dolkart : This is not one of Delano & Aldrich's more elegant works in the Colonial idiom, perhaps because it
870-466: Was nearly impossible to create a well-proportioned design for a building with the complex spatial requirements of this club. The beautifully appointed interior included the lounges, dining rooms, and bedrooms common to social clubs, but also had a two-story ballroom, a basement swimming pool and spa that connected via an express elevator to a gymnasium on the fifth floor, two squash courts, servants' rooms (in 1925 there were thirteen female servants), and even
900-483: Was recognized as a promising one as early as 1900, five years before she received her first official commission, the Colony Club in New York. During her married life (from 1926 until her death in 1950), the press often referred to her as Lady Mendl. Among de Wolfe's distinguished clients were Anne Harriman Vanderbilt , Anne Morgan , the Duke and Duchess of Windsor , and Henry Clay and Adelaide Frick . She transformed
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