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112-535: The Villard Houses are a set of former residences at 451–457 Madison Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City , United States. Designed by the architect Joseph Morrill Wells of McKim, Mead & White in the Renaissance Revival style, the residences were erected in 1884 for railroad magnate Henry Villard . Preserved as a historic landmark , the houses comprise

224-640: A frontage of 60 feet (18 m) on Madison Avenue and 74 feet (23 m) on 51st Street, and it covers about 4,485 square feet (416.7 m). The rest of the residences occupy the same land lot as the Lotte New York Palace Hotel immediately to the east. The L-shaped lot, carrying the address 455 Madison Avenue, has a frontage of 140 feet (43 m) on Madison Avenue and 200 feet (61 m) on 50th Street, and it covers 35,720 square feet (3,318 m). Nearby buildings include Olympic Tower , 11 East 51st Street , and 488 Madison Avenue to

336-415: A molding with torus shapes. The first floor has arched windows, which are topped by spandrels with rosette -shaped medallions. The first floor is topped by an architrave with a plain frieze . The ground story of the center wing at 453 and 455 Madison Avenue contains a loggia with five arches. The loggia is supported by granite columns, and there are decorative medallions above the arches. Behind are

448-515: A backdrop for the AMC television drama Mad Men , which focuses on industry activities during the 1960s. In recent decades, many agencies have left Madison Avenue, with some moving further downtown and others moving west. The continued presence of large agencies in the city made New York the third-largest job market per capita in the U.S. in 2016, according to a study by marketing recruitment firm MarketPro. Today, several agencies are still located in

560-437: A central courtyard on Madison Avenue. At the time of the houses' completion, they faced a similar courtyard at the eastern end of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Lady Chapel at the cathedral had not yet been built, so St. Patrick's eastern end was a flat wall flanked by a rectory and an archbishop's house. The Villard courtyard was built to complement St. Patrick's courtyard, which was about the same size. The south wing consisted of

672-443: A colonel named J. Augustus Page. Villard paid $ 260,000 for the land after St. Patrick's trustees declined a higher offer from another potential buyer who wanted to build an entertainment venue there. Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White was hired to design a group of houses for Villard, arranged around a courtyard with a fountain and garden. Villard had previously hired the firm to design other buildings; in addition, McKim

784-571: A decorative ceiling with a chandelier. There was also a library with a dome (originally designated as a reception room), as well as a drawing room with Louis XV style and Louis XVI style tapestries. A marble stairway rose to the second floor, which included the Fahnestocks' bedrooms. The third floor of number 457 had more bedrooms, while the attic was for the butlers and maids. Stanford White designed an ornate ceiling for 457 Madison Avenue. The oak-clad library of number 457 had ivory buttons with

896-406: A fireplace with a carved marble mantel . The vaulted ceiling of the hallway was also made of Siena marble. Armstrong decorated a mosaic with a foliate pattern on the ceiling. North of the hallway was a grand stairway decorated in golden marble, which led to the second floor. The staircase, measuring 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, had a carved clock by Saint-Gaudens on one landing. Each of the balusters in

1008-403: A gilded ceiling, embossed-leather walls, and a large mantelpiece; the decorators used leather and wood to give the space a more intimate feeling. Adjoining the private music room was a private library fitted in mahogany with carved medallions on the bookcases. The coffered ceiling contained medallions and three murals. The second-floor guest bedroom had oak paneling, gold and crimson decorations on

1120-474: A mere 100 days in 1547. The room is therefore named the Sala dei Cento Giorni ("Room of 100 Days"). He boasted of this accomplishment to Michelangelo , who responded "Si vede" ("It shows"). They were commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese , the grandson of Pope Paul III , who was Vice-Chancellor of the church for over fifty years. The reign of Paul III is glorified in rather absurd Mannerist style, though

1232-496: A more ornate style shortly thereafter. Stanford White redesigned the public rooms with decorations such as glass-and-onyx panels, and Reid hired John La Farge to paint murals for number 451's music room. The expansion was finished by 1892 and consisted of an L-shaped stairway leading to a double-arched entrance porch. The Reid family also redecorated number 451's drawing rooms in 1891, and they hired Edwin Austin Abbey to create

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1344-541: A painting for their dining room in 1896. By 1904, the Reid family expanded their basement into a vacant lot to the east so they could continue to entertain guests. A local architect, Louis Thouvard , designed the basement expansion and drew up plans for a Beaux-Arts–style expansion above it; however, the latter plans were not carried out. Instead, the Reids erected a seven- or eight-story addition east of number 451 in 1909, which

1456-484: A portion of the Lotte New York Palace Hotel , whose main tower is to the east. The residences are New York City designated landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The building comprises six residences in a U-shaped plan, with wings to the north, east, and south surrounding a courtyard on Madison Avenue. The facade is made of Belleville sandstone , and each house consists of

1568-610: A raised basement, three stories, and an attic. Among the artists who worked on the interiors were artist John La Farge , sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens , and painter Maitland Armstrong . Some of the more elaborate spaces, such as the Gold Room, dining room, and reception area in the south wing of the complex, still exist. The houses were commissioned by Henry Villard , president of the Northern Pacific Railway , shortly before he fell into bankruptcy. Ownership of

1680-488: A seven-story tower, while the eastern end of the north wing had a 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 -story entrance porch. The center wing, on the east side of the courtyard, consisted of two residences at 453 and 455 Madison Avenue, which extended 40 feet (12 m) eastward beyond the end of the north and south wings. The courtyard was designed both as a symbol of Villard's wealth and as an "urban gesture" to traffic on Madison Avenue. The courtyard measures 80 feet (24 m) wide between

1792-412: A single residence, Henry Villard's residence at 451 Madison Avenue, also known as 29 1 ⁄ 2 East 50th Street. The north wing consisted of three residences at 457 Madison Avenue (which occupied the western two-thirds of that wing) and 22–24 East 51st Street. Both of these wings measure 60 feet (18 m) along Madison Avenue with a depth of 100 feet (30 m). The eastern end of the south wing had

1904-506: A vehicle other than a bus in the bus lane on Madison Avenue to turn right during the restricted hours specified by sign between 42nd Street and 59th Street is prohibited, then permitted at 60th Street, but a taxicab carrying a passenger may use the bus lane to turn right at 46th Street. Bikes are excluded from this prohibition. In July 1987, then- New York City Mayor Edward Koch proposed banning bicycling on Fifth, Park and Madison Avenues during weekdays, but many bicyclists protested and had

2016-490: A vestibule, which connected with both 453 and 455 Madison Avenue. Although the residences originally had similar layouts, both were modified substantially in the late 19th and the 20th centuries. Number 455 had an entrance hall with an oval dome, as well as a living hall with mahogany paneling and a filigreed clock. The reception room had a decorative frieze , molded plaster ceiling, and walls with alternating wood paneling and mirrors. The decorative stairway at 455 Madison Avenue

2128-597: Is bordered on the west by Fifth Avenue and Broadway as they cross. The park was named for James Madison , fourth President of the United States . Madison Square Garden took its name from the location of the first building of that name , located on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue at 26th Street, across from the Park. The first Garden was a former railroad terminal for the Park Avenue main line , which

2240-574: Is served by the following routes uptown. All crosstown service is eastbound unless specified below. Downtown service runs along 5th Avenue: Although no New York City Subway stations are named after Madison Avenue, the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station on the E and ​ M trains has an entrance on Madison Avenue. Pursuant to Section 4-12(m) of the New York City Traffic Rules, driving

2352-609: The Harlem River Drive . There are numerous structures designated as New York City Landmarks (NYCL), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on Madison Avenue. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include: The term "Madison Avenue" is often used metonymically to stand for the American advertising industry. Madison Avenue became identified with advertising after that sector's explosive growth in this area in

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2464-601: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the complex as official landmarks, preventing them from being modified without the LPC's permission. The landmark designation applied only to the sections of the buildings within 100 feet (30 m) of Madison Avenue. In 1970, Richard Ottinger leased the old Random House mansion for his U.S. Senate campaign 's offices. Architectural writer Ada Louise Huxtable said

2576-693: The Palazzo Farnese , also in Rome. The two palazzos had been Wells's favorite Renaissance buildings. The Palazzo della Farnesina has also been cited as an influence on the design of the Villard Houses. The houses' design contained some major deviations from those of the Roman palazzos. For example, the Cancelleria's windows were decorated based on internal use, with the most elaborate windows at

2688-545: The Romanesque Revival style with Italian Renaissance touches; they were the first major structures that McKim, Mead & White designed in the Italian Renaissance style. At the time of the houses' construction, Wells had been encouraging the firm to use more classical architectural styles. The design was influenced by Rome's Palazzo della Cancelleria , though some inspiration may have come from

2800-546: The borough of Manhattan in New York City , United States , that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street ) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Street , passing through Midtown , the Upper East Side (including Carnegie Hill ), East Harlem , and Harlem . It is named after and arises from Madison Square, which is itself named after James Madison ,

2912-430: The piano nobile , while the Villard Houses' windows were decorated based on the floor height, with the most elaborate windows illuminating the guests' and servants' rooms on the top floors. The houses were also partly influenced by the designs of German and Austrian multi-family buildings that Villard had seen in his youth. The building was erected as six separate residences in a U-shaped plan, with three wings surrounding

3024-516: The window sills . The horizontal lines of the facade continued across all of the houses. Thus, the complex appeared more imposing than many contemporary townhouses, even though the Villard Houses were no taller than similar structures. The rear or eastern facades of each house had no architectural decorations at all because they were never intended to be viewed from the street. The basement and first story of each house are rusticated . The raised basement consists of rectangular openings, above which runs

3136-550: The "gimmicky, slick use of the communications media to play on emotions." Madison Avenue carries one-way traffic uptown (northbound) from East 23rd Street to East 135th Street , with the changeover from two-way traffic taking place on January 14, 1966, at which time Fifth Avenue was changed to one-way downtown (southbound). This changeover was accelerated by seven weeks due to the transit strike which began on January 1. Between East 135th Street and East 142nd Street, Madison Avenue carries southbound traffic only and runs parallel to

3248-717: The 1920s. According to "The Emergence of Advertising in America", by the year 1861, there were 20 advertising agencies in New York City, and the New York City Association of Advertising Agencies was founded in 1911, predating the establishment of the American Association of Advertising Agencies by several years. Among various depictions in popular culture, the portion of the advertising industry which centers on Madison Avenue serves as

3360-659: The 4th- and 5th-century foundations of the grand Basilica di San Lorenzo in Damaso , founded by Pope Damasus I , and one of the most important early churches of Rome . A cemetery in use from the 8th century until shortly before the construction of the Palazzo was also identified. The facade, with its rhythm of flat doubled pilasters between the arch-headed windows, is Florentine in conception, comparable to Leone Battista Alberti 's Palazzo Rucellai . The overall pattern of drafted masonry , cut with smooth surfaces and grooves around

3472-472: The 51st Street entrance to the latter house. The Fahnestocks continued to live at number 457 until 1929. William Fahnestock refinanced his portion of the property in 1932 with a $ 130,000 mortgage from the First National Bank. The next year, Helen Campbell's husband John Hubbard died at number 24. The Reid family had moved into 451 Madison Avenue by early 1887, and they redecorated their rooms in

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3584-903: The Coordinating Council of French Relief Societies in March 1942. The following May, the French Relief Societies moved across the courtyard to number 457, and the Women's Military Services Club opened its clubhouse in number 451. At the opening of the Military Services Club, New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia declared, "You won't see any more private mansions like this. You'll see more wholesome houses for more people." Robert J. Marony acquired number 457 for around $ 200,000 in June 1944. The government of

3696-532: The French Relief Societies. There was also an unsuccessful plan to place the temporary headquarters of the United Nations in the Villard Houses. The Women's Military Services Club closed in January 1946 after the end of World War II, having served 200,000 people. Number 457, as well as a one-third interest in the courtyard, was acquired the same year by the publishing company Random House , which renovated

3808-465: The Madison Avenue house "was always a nightmare". Villard's bankruptcy prompted the railroad magnate Thomas Fletcher Oakes to renege on a promise to buy 455 Madison Avenue. Adams moved into number 455, while Holmes occupied number 453. In addition, Adams bought 24 East 51st Street and partnered with the investment banker Harris C. Fahnestock to acquire 22 East 51st Street. The trustees oversaw

3920-471: The Reid family. The residence at 24 East 51st Street was purchased by Scribner's Monthly publisher Roswell Smith in September 1886, and Babb, Cook & Willard designed an expansion of number 24 soon after. Roswell Smith died at 24 East 51st Street in 1892, and his estate sold 22 and 24 East 51st Street two years later to Catherine L. and Charles W. Wells for about $ 80,000. Businessman E. H. Harriman

4032-521: The United States had to approve the sale because three Fahnestock heirs were overseas in internment camps during World War II. The title to number 457 was transferred to Joseph P. Kennedy , former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom , in April 1945; Kennedy also obtained a 9 ⁄ 24 interest at 453–455 Madison Avenue. Kennedy ended up never living there, and it continued to be occupied by

4144-573: The Villard Houses. That month, Villard's wife Fannie Garrison Villard repurchased the properties for a nominal sum. The residence at 457 Madison Avenue was then sold to Harris Fahnestock, He had waited several months to obtain number 457, but the trustees refused to sell the property until the other houses, save for number 451, had been rented. Fahnestock also bought Adams's ownership stake in 22 East 51st Street, and his son William moved there. Fahnestock had planned to combine 457 Madison Avenue and 22 East 51st Street as early as 1886, but this did not happen at

4256-476: The Villard residence at number 451, such as wooden paneling and mosaic floors. An entrance foyer led from the courtyard. From the foyer, stairs led down to a reception room and up to the first-floor entertaining rooms. The first floor had a main hall with mosaic-tile floors, lanterns, and paneling, in addition to a fireplace and a coffered ceiling . On the same story was a dining room with an elaborate fireplace and

4368-454: The agencies' old headquarters had been sold to make way for the office structure at 488 Madison Avenue. The archdiocese also purchased 455 Madison Avenue and 24 and 30 East 51st Street, as well as the vacant lot at 26–28 East 51st Street, in January 1949; these properties were valued at $ 600,000. Francis Cardinal Spellman dedicated the archdiocese's offices at 451 and 453 Madison Avenue that May. Clergy members who worked at these offices slept in

4480-531: The archdiocese announced it would move to 1011 First Avenue by the following year and would lease out the Villard Houses. When the new archdiocesan headquarters opened in November 1973, the archdiocese said it hoped to find a lessee for the Villard Houses rather than sell them. Around the same time, the 1973–1974 stock market crash led to a decline in demand for real estate, and the Villard Houses sat entirely vacant except for Capital Cities offices. In early 1974,

4592-414: The archdiocese was negotiating with developer Harry Helmsley to sell him the air rights above the Villard Houses. Helmsley planned to build a 50-story hotel tower next to or above the houses, to be designed by Emery Roth & Sons . By late 1974, the archdiocese had leased the Villard Houses to Helmsley for 99 years at around $ 1 million per year. Though the landmark status prevented Helmsley from modifying

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4704-504: The architectural details, including wainscoting and paneling, from number 24. In 1960, Random House subleased the first story of number 24 from Capital Cities. By the late 1960s, Random House owned number 457, and the Archdiocese of New York owned all of the other houses. Random House initially intended to keep its space at 457 Madison Avenue, but ultimately leased space at an under-construction skyscraper at 825 Third Avenue in 1967. At

4816-423: The authorities to create Lexington Avenue and Irving Place between Fourth Avenue (now Park Avenue South) and Third Avenue in order to service it. The street's name has been metonymous with the American advertising industry since the 1920s. Thus, the term "Madison Avenue" refers specifically to the agencies and methodology of advertising. "Madison Avenue techniques" refers, according to William Safire , to

4928-552: The ban overturned. When the trial was started on Monday, August 24, 1987, for 90 days to ban bicyclists from these three avenues from 31st Street to 59th Street between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays, mopeds would not be banned. Palazzo della Cancelleria The Palazzo houses the Papal Chancellery, is an extraterritorial property of the Holy See , and is designated as a World Heritage Site . The Cancelleria

5040-408: The buildings' construction did not mention any of these artists, except for Lathrop, but contemporary media sources did report on some of their work. Leon Marcotte, Sypher and Company, and A. H. Davenport and Company provided some of the furniture. Candace Wheeler may have made the embroideries; Pasquali and Aeschlimann may have installed the mosaics; and Ellin & Kitson likely performed some of

5152-550: The center-wing entrances. This contrasted with regular houses, where the center entrance was typically the most imposing one. When the New York Palace Hotel was built in the late 1970s and the south wing was converted to a bar, the former south-wing entrance was turned into an exit-only doorway. The south-wing doorway was close to the Lady chapel behind St. Patrick's Cathedral, and New York City's zoning regulations at

5264-449: The completion of the remaining houses around the courtyard. A June 1884 letter from Holmes indicates that workers had not started constructing the courtyard yet. In 1885, Adams filed plans for an extra staircase, bathrooms, and a dressing room at 455 Madison Avenue. Work on the houses continued until 1885, and Villard's finances had recovered by January 1886, when William Endicott and Horace White were listed as having substantially completed

5376-415: The corner with 50th Street), measuring 100 by 60 feet. This was to be the first of a series of six residences surrounding a courtyard. Work on 451 Madison Avenue began on May 4 of that year. By late 1882, the houses' exteriors had been completed, and parts of the interiors were being furnished. The residences appeared so large that the public assumed Villard could only occupy the center wing. One residence on

5488-462: The corners of each house are rusticated. The houses externally appear as one residence, as these quoins do not delineate the divisions between the residences. On each of the three stories above the center wing's arches are three pairs of windows. Outside some of the second-story windows are balconies supported by console brackets . The year 1884 is inscribed in Roman numerals on the lintel above one of

5600-564: The courtyard easily. The arrangement of residences around a courtyard was similar to the Apostolic Chancery at Vatican City . The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York used the courtyard as a parking lot during the mid-20th century. During the construction of the Palace Hotel in the 1970s, a marble and granite medallion was placed in the courtyard. The facade is made of largely unornamented brownstone. Villard had chosen

5712-704: The decorations were covered up, and a cafeteria was built at the rear of number 453. In addition, 453 Madison Avenue became the Cardinal Farley Building, and 30 East 51st Street became the Cardinal Hayes Building. Helen Fahnestock Hubbard continued to reside at 24 East 51st Street until she died in 1955. The archdiocese then rented number 24 to the Capital Cities Broadcasting Corporation, which was headquartered there. Capital Cities removed some of

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5824-533: The design were revised through late 1881, when McKim temporarily left New York City to work on a railroad terminal for Villard in Portland, Oregon . The job was reassigned to Stanford White, who, after a short time, left the city to visit his brother in New Mexico. White reassigned his projects to various junior architects in his office, and Joseph M. Wells agreed to take over the design of the Villard Houses from

5936-409: The dining room is a bar. The Villard residence's reception vestibule was accessed through the southern side of the courtyard. The vestibule had a set of marble steps, a wall with a tile mosaic band, and a groin-vaulted ceiling. Perpendicular to the vestibule was a marble-clad hall measuring 42 by 28 feet (12.8 by 8.5 m). The hall had three Siena-marble arches sculpted by Saint-Gaudens, as well as

6048-474: The edges, is ancient Roman in origin. The bone-colored travertine of the Palazzo was spolia from the nearby ancient ruins of the Theatre of Pompey , for Rome was a field of ruins, built for a city of over one million that then housed a mere 30,000. The 44 Egyptian granite columns of the inner courtyard are from the porticoes of the theatre's upper covered seating, however they were originally taken from

6160-543: The entire complex was in danger of being redeveloped if the archdiocese were to gain control of the Random House residence and thus full control of the land. After receiving $ 2.25 million from Gillette CEO Henry Jacques Gaisman , the archdiocese purchased number 457 in early 1971. According to the archdiocese's real estate adviser, John J. Reynolds, the archdiocese wanted to preserve the houses so there would be open space in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Later in 1971,

6272-481: The entrances to the center wing, as well as a barrel vault with rosette coffers and decorative moldings. The ground story of the north and south wings has doorways leading into the courtyard. The north wing at 457 Madison Avenue and the south wing at 451 Madison Avenue have doorways accessed by stoops . These entrances have a frieze and cornice above them, as well as lamps on either side. The entrances at 451 and 457 Madison Avenue were intended to be equal in stature to

6384-526: The firm's remaining partner, William Rutherford Mead . According to Leland Roth, one account had it that McKim and White had "immediately [became] advocates of Renaissance classicism" upon returning and seeing the updated plans. Roth wrote that McKim and White were probably responsible for the general style of the facade, although Wells was definitely responsible for the architectural details. Villard wanted to use brownstone rather than another material such as limestone. White's original architectural drawings for

6496-476: The fourth President of the United States . Madison Avenue was not part of the original Manhattan street grid established in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 , and was carved between Park Avenue (formerly Fourth) and Fifth Avenue in 1836, due to the effort of lawyer and real estate developer Samuel B. Ruggles , who had previously purchased and developed New York's Gramercy Park in 1831, and convinced

6608-442: The fourth floor. A stair led up to the family room, which had low ceilings and a cherry color scheme. Within the annex to the east, Whitelaw Reid had a second-floor dining room and library, which have become a meeting room with a pantry. The annex also included Whitelaw Reid's study, which later became another meeting room for the hotel. The Fahnestock residence in the north wing, at 457 Madison Avenue, shared many design elements with

6720-547: The frescos make an impressive ensemble. The Cancelleria Reliefs are two significant if incomplete 1st-century AD reliefs that were discovered buried at the site when the palazzo was being built. They are now in the Vatican Museums . They were apparently carved to glorify the Emperor Domitian (r. 81-96), then partly recarved to feature Nerva after his accession. In the palazzo a small private theatre

6832-551: The house at 455 Madison Avenue. Following World War II, many of the neighboring residential buildings were razed to make way for office structures like the Seagram Building and Lever House , though the Villard Houses remained. The Archdiocese of New York hired Voorhees, Walker, Foley & Smith to renovate its office space during the early 1950s, though the renovation was not carried out. The firm did make small changes to 451 and 453 Madison Avenues; for example, some of

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6944-618: The house in 1919, with Elisabeth choosing to spend time in her other home at Ophir Hall. Following Elisabeth's 1931 death, the furnishings in number 451 were sold in May 1934, when thousands of people attended an auction there. Number 453 was leased to William Sloane by 1916 and was placed for sale the following year. Elisabeth Reid acquired the house, loaning it during World War I to the American Red Cross . Reid hired Raymond Hood in 1920 to make alterations to number 453, and an elevator

7056-416: The houses' exteriors, he was free to redesign the interiors. As such, an early plan for the hotel called for demolishing the rear of the houses and gutting much of the interior, including the Gold Room. This prompted concerns from preservationists who feared that the remaining interiors would become little more than a "meaningless stage set". Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in

7168-438: The interiors of all of the residences as well. At the time, most residences were laid out by interior designers and decorators rather than architecture firms. The interiors of each residence were designed to fit the tastes of the respective tenants. The Villard Houses cost $ 1 million without furnishings (equivalent to about $ 28.57 million in 2023), and the decoration cost another $ 250,000 (about $ 7.14 million in 2023). Stanford White

7280-539: The late 17th century Christina, former Queen of Sweden , resided here. During the Roman Republic of 1849 the parliament briefly sat here. In 2015, it was the residence of retired, and now deceased, Bernard Cardinal Law , Archbishop of Boston , United States . The Palazzo della Cancelleria was the first palazzo in Rome to be erected from the ground up in the new Renaissance style. Its long facade engulfs

7392-466: The late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Villard Houses retained many of its original residents, even when neighborhoods further uptown became more fashionable. The Wells, Reid, Holmes, Adams, and Fahnestock families lived in the Villard Houses during the 1900s. By the early 1920s, the northern three residences belonged to the Fahnestock family, while two of the three southern residences were owned by

7504-558: The letters "B" and "M", which once respectively summoned a butler and a maid. In the 1980s, the third story of number 457 was taken by the Urban Center , which had a members' gallery facing the courtyard as well as a committee room and a staff room. When the eastern section of the north wing was demolished in the 1970s, one room was reconstructed on the third floor of the New York Palace. The courtyard's central loggia led to

7616-448: The mansion is a rentable event space within the New York Palace Hotel. The most ornate decorations were used in Villard's residence, 451 Madison Avenue, in the south wing. His residence had four floors with several dozen rooms, whose designs were inspired by those of grand European houses. Aside from a guest room with medieval theming, Villard's residence did not include any exotically-themed rooms, such as Moorish or East Asian rooms. There

7728-551: The material against the advice of the architects, who had recommended using limestone or granite. Each house consists of a raised basement, three stories, and an attic topped by a cornice . The houses measure 68 feet (21 m) from the sidewalk to the top of the cornice. The north and south wings have three bays facing Madison Avenue, five facing the courtyard, and seven facing the respective side streets. The center wing has seven bays facing Madison Avenue. In addition, there are horizontal band courses wrapping around each floor under

7840-472: The north and south walls, which were copies of "singing angels" that Luca della Robbia designed for the Florence Cathedral . John La Farge designed two lunettes called "Art" and "Music", as well as leaded glass windows on the east wall. The southernmost portion of the ground story was a 20-by-60-foot (6.1 by 18.3 m) space that could be divided into a breakfast room and dining room. The wall

7952-408: The north and south wings and is 73 feet (22 m) deep. It is flanked by two square posts with ball decorations above them. These posts are connected by a scrolled arch made of wrought iron . A Florentine-style lamp is suspended from the wrought-iron arch. Originally, the courtyard had a fountain surrounded by a circular driveway. The driveway had been arranged to allow horse-drawn vehicles to enter

8064-573: The north wing, the unit with a doorway facing the courtyard, was to have been occupied by Villard's adviser, Horace White , but this did not happen. Villard obtained a mortgage loan for the property from the Manhattan Savings Institution in late 1882. One of the three wings had been built by mid-1883, and Villard's legal adviser Artemas H. Holmes indicated in an April 1883 letter that the foundations for 453 and 455 Madison Avenue were being built. McKim, Mead & White designed

8176-553: The northwest; St. Patrick's Cathedral to the west; and 18 East 50th Street and the Swiss Bank Tower to the southwest. The Villard Houses complex was designed by Joseph M. Wells of the firm of McKim, Mead & White . Charles Follen McKim of that firm was responsible for the overall plan, though Wells designed the individual details. The homes are among several projects that McKim, Mead & White designed for railroad magnate Henry Villard . The houses are designed in

8288-477: The official plans. He planned to move into one of the houses and rent the remaining residences to his friends. The writer Elizabeth Hawes wrote that, by doing so, Villard wanted to create "a pleasant neighborhood unit" that positively impacted future urban developments. A later New York Times article said that Villard had planned the entire complex as his own residence, but he was obligated to split it into multiple smaller units when his wealth declined. Details of

8400-400: The old business cluster on Madison Avenue, including StrawberryFrog, TBWA Worldwide , Organic, Inc. , and DDB Worldwide . However, the term is still used to describe the agency business as a whole and large, New York–based agencies in particular. Madison Square Park is a 6.2-acre (2.5-hectare) public park which runs along Madison Avenue from East 26th Street to East 23rd Street . It

8512-424: The preservation group Municipal Art Society , which occupied the space until 2010. The Villard Houses are in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City , United States, occupying a site bounded by Madison Avenue to the west, 51st Street to the north, and 50th Street to the south. The residences take up two land lots . The rectangular land lot under the northern residence, at 457 Madison Avenue, has

8624-416: The president of the Northern Pacific Railway . After immigrating to the U.S. as a young man, Villard worked as a journalist before taking over several railroad companies in the 1870s. Villard wanted a building that resembled palaces in his native Bavaria . In April 1881, Villard bought a plot on the east side of Madison Avenue between 50th and 51st streets from the trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral. The site

8736-475: The project no longer exist. Workers were excavating the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 50th Street by November 1881. The contractors drilled down until they had exposed the underlying layer of bedrock, since Villard did not want to damage Columbia College 's buildings nearby. In May 1882, McKim, Mead & White submitted plans to the Bureau of Buildings for a four-story residence at 451 Madison Avenue (on

8848-558: The rears of the houses have brick parapets and pitched roofs . The interiors were designed in a modified version of the High Renaissance style. McKim, Mead & White was involved in the original decoration of all the interiors, and the firm's principals hired several friends to assist. These may have included artistic-glass manufacturer John La Farge , sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens , painter Francis Lathrop , and mosaic artist David Maitland Armstrong . Account books from

8960-493: The remaining residences in a similar style to his own residence. Villard's own mansion was transferred to trustees William Crowninshield Endicott and Horace White to pay off a $ 300,000 debt. Amid the bankruptcy proceedings, a crowd protested in the courtyard in early 1884, believing all the houses around the yard belonged to Villard. The Villard family moved out of the residence that May, relocating to Dobbs Ferry, New York , permanently. Villard later recalled that his occupancy of

9072-542: The residence into its own offices. Random House's publisher, Bennett Cerf , bought the house for $ 450,000, believing that to be the price Kennedy had paid. The Archdiocese of New York purchased the houses at 451 and 453 Madison Avenue and 29 East 50th Street in October 1948 for an unknown amount in cash. The residences, which had been vacant for three years, had an assessed value of $ 825,000. The archdiocese needed space for its various agencies near St. Patrick's Cathedral, and

9184-411: The residence. At ground level, there was a reception vestibule, a drawing-room suite, a music room with a balcony, and a dining room with a pantry. These rooms were arranged enfilade , or along a single axis. The ground story is slightly above street level. Many rooms are still used as part of the New York Palace Hotel. For example, the drawing room is a cocktail room, the music room is a restaurant, and

9296-486: The residences changed many times through the mid-20th century. By the late 1940s, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York had acquired all of the houses, except the northernmost residence at 457 Madison Avenue, which it acquired from Random House in 1971. The houses were restored as part of the New York Palace Hotel's development, completed in 1980. The north wing was turned into office space for

9408-459: The residences had ornate furniture; for example, Villard's ground-story drawing room was upholstered with a reddish-brown color that harmonized with the color of the room. The residences were built with 13 bathrooms, each of which contained terrazzo floors and tile and marble walls. Each bedroom was fitted with its own bathroom. The attic story of all of the residences was devoted to servants' rooms, storerooms, and other service facilities. A portion of

9520-592: The small Basilica di San Lorenzo in Damaso , the Cardinal's titular church , that is to its right, with the palatial front continuing straight across it. The entrance to the Basilica is on the right side of the facade. The 5th-century basilica (its interior has been rebuilt) sits, like the Basilica di San Clemente among others, on a pagan Roman mithraeum . Excavations beneath the cortile from 1988 to 1991 revealed

9632-453: The south wing's hallway contained a music room measuring 48 by 24 feet (14.6 by 7.3 m), with an elliptical vaulted ceiling 32 feet (9.8 m) high. A carved-pine wainscoting ran around the music room's wall. The music room was also known as the Gold Room because the decorations were colored gold. A musicians' balcony was suspended on the north wall and was accessed via a hidden staircase. Saint-Gaudens installed five plaster casts on each of

9744-419: The space. The drawing rooms had mahogany and white wood finishes on a light reddish-brown and yellow color scheme. The family of the journalist Whitelaw Reid used these drawing rooms as a ballroom during the early 20th century, with green marble columns and a gilded ceiling. The drawing rooms also had ornate marquetry , which Reid subsequently reinstalled in his Purchase, New York , estate. The eastern end of

9856-437: The stair's railing has a different design. The hallway also had a small carved-wood elevator door near the reception vestibule as a minor staircase for guests. At the western end of the south wing's hallway was a drawing-room suite divided into three sections. The central section measured 14 by 28 feet (4.3 by 8.5 m) and was flanked by drawing rooms 19 by 28 feet (5.8 by 8.5 m). Joseph Cabus designed wooden cabinetry for

9968-412: The stone carving. Joseph Cabus likely was responsible for much of the woodwork. Numerous other suppliers may have been involved with other aspects of the houses' designs. The layouts of numbers 453 and 455 were mirror images of each other, while the other houses each had a unique layout. All six residences' interiors were decorated with the highest-quality materials available at the time. As constructed,

10080-572: The theatre to build the old Basilica di San Lorenzo in Damaso . It is more probable that the form of the courtyard is derived from that of the Palazzo Ducale in Urbino , because the individuals involved in the early planning of the Palazzo had come from Urbino. The largest reception room, the Salone d'Onore on the piano nobile , has vast murals in fresco that Giorgio Vasari completed in

10192-412: The time mandated a minimum distance between bar entrances and churches. The residences at 22 and 24 East 51st Street had entrances from the street, rather than from the courtyard. Shortly after the houses were completed, an entrance portico measuring 11 by 53.5 feet (3.4 by 16.3 m) was added to the eastern side of 24 East 51st Street. The upper stories are clad with plain stone ashlar. The quoins at

10304-516: The time, Cerf called the residence "too valuable to keep", although the writer William Shopsin said that Cerf had regretted leaving. By then, there were rumors that developers wanted to raze the houses and replace them with a skyscraper. The late Cardinal Spellman's successor, Terence Cardinal Cooke , had not made a public statement about the houses, but Monsignor James Rigney said: "At some point we would have to wonder whether we are justified in keeping property as valuable as this." On September 30, 1968,

10416-417: The time. Meanwhile, Villard ended up selling his own residence, number 451, to Darius Ogden Mills ; that house became the residence of Mills's daughter Elisabeth Mills Reid, who was married to New-York Tribune editor Whitelaw Reid . The Reid family is variously cited as having paid $ 350,000 or $ 400,000. Originally, the residences were known as Cathedral Court because they faced St. Patrick's Cathedral. In

10528-926: The tower of the sports arena. When it moved to a new building at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue in 1925 it kept its old name. Madison Square Garden is now located at Eighth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Street; however, it still retains the name. Retail brands with locations on Madison Avenue include: Burberry , Manrico Cashmere, Brooks Brothers , Alexander McQueen , Hermès , Tom Ford , Céline , Proenza Schouler , Lanvin , Valentino, Stuart Weitzman , Damiani, Emporio Armani , Prada , Chloé , Roberto Cavalli , Davidoff , Dolce & Gabbana , Gucci , Calvin Klein , Cartier , Christian Louboutin , La Perla , Jimmy Choo , Jacadi, Mulberry, Victoria's Secret , Barneys New York , Coach , Rolex , Giorgio Armani , Oliver Peoples , Vera Wang , Anne Fontaine , Baccarat, Carolina Herrera , Ralph Lauren and others. Madison Avenue

10640-501: The upper part of the wall had Villard monograms. A movable oak partition could divide the room into three segments. The ceiling had paintings of mythological figures, which were designed by Francis Lathrop. The dining room's cornice had inscriptions in Latin . A serving pantry opened off one side of the room. The upper stories of number 451 were laid out similarly to the ground story and also contained fireplaces. The second-story hallway had

10752-402: The walls, and a ceiling with wooden crossbeams. A stairway with a wainscoted wall and a decorated balustrade led between the second and third stories of the south wing. The upper-story bedrooms were decorated with painted woods and could be accessed by an elevator. The bedrooms on the third floor had chintz wall hangings and colorful decorations. Henry Villard's bedroom was on either the third or

10864-402: The windows in the south wing. A plain band course runs above the second floor, and a torus-shaped molding runs above the third floor. The attic is designed as a set of small square windows. The dentilled cornice contains egg-and-dart molding as well as modillions with foliate patterns. Above all these houses are hip roofs with brown tile. Only the front portions of each house have hip roofs;

10976-592: Was 200 feet (61 m) wide and either 151 feet (46 m) or 175 feet (53 m) deep. The Park Avenue railroad line ran directly east of the site, and there was also an orphanage to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the west, and the Columbia College campus to the south. The land itself was occupied by the Church of St. John the Evangelist, which had been abandoned in 1879 and subsequently sold to

11088-410: Was a billiard room, kitchen, servants' dining room, laundry, and wine room in the basement. The sub-basement had tree boilers and a high-pressure pump, which supplied water to a fifth-floor tank. Following the construction of the Palace Hotel in the 1970s, the basement spaces became back of house areas for the hotel. The ground, or first, story of number 451 was the most elaborate of all the stories in

11200-530: Was built for Raffaele Cardinal Riario who held the post of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church to his powerful uncle, Pope Sixtus IV . The rumor was that the funds came from a single night's winnings at gaming. In 1517, the newly completed Palazzo was seized by Pope Leo X , who suspected Cardinal Riario of plotting to assassinate him. He gifted the palace to his cousin, Cardinal Giulio de Medici (the future Pope Clement VII ). Since Cardinal Giulio

11312-532: Was caused by his excessive investments in railroads. Villard moved into his mansion on December 17, 1883, on the same day that he resigned from the Oregon and Transcontinental Company . He was bankrupt by that time and could not formally sell the houses due to liens placed on his property. That month, Villard transferred two of the other lots next to his residence to his legal advisers, Edward D. Adams and Artemas H. Holmes. Villard mandated that Holmes and Adams complete

11424-407: Was converted into an open-air circus venue by P. T. Barnum in 1871 and was renamed "Madison Square Garden" in 1879. (The New York Life Insurance Building now occupies that entire city block.) The original Garden was demolished in 1889 and replaced by a new indoor arena designed by Stanford White that opened the following year. The second Garden had a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Diana on

11536-521: Was designed by William Kendall of McKim, Mead & White. The next year, the firm designed alterations to number 451, including new elevators. The architects also replaced a guest suite on the second story with a drawing room. The 1920 United States census recorded Elisabeth Mills Reid, as living at number 451 with seventeen servants. Whitelaw Reid died in England while serving as the ambassador to England in 1912. The Reids stopped hosting major events at

11648-432: Was in the middle of the northern wing. Unlike most of the other houses in the complex, it had an elevator from the outset. There was also a reception room with a skylight and a small living hall with a fireplace. The main staircase hall had a pantry on one landing, and there was an oval opening above the staircase. This residence was merged with 457 Madison Avenue in the 1920s. The houses were commissioned by Henry Villard,

11760-421: Was installed by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni , and in the later 17th century the Palazzo became a center of musical performance in Rome. At the time when Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni lived there as vice-chancellor, the Palazzo della Cancelleria became an important center of the musical life of Rome. Between 1694 and 1705 several oratories by Alessandro Scarlatti and various cantatas for Christmas were performed here for

11872-499: Was installed in that house the same year. No other structural changes to the house were documented until World War II. Next door, Edward D. Adams sold 455 Madison Avenue in 1922, following his wife's death. Helen Campbell's daughter, also named Helen, moved into number 455 with her husband Clarence Gaylor Michalis and their children. The Fahnestock and Reid houses, which had been vacated when their owners died, continued to be unoccupied until World War II. The Reid family lent number 451 to

11984-869: Was living in the north wing by 1899, when The New York Times reported on his involvement in the Harriman Alaska expedition . The Wells family retained ownership of 24 East 51st Street until 1909, when the house was given to B. Crystal & Son as a partial payment for an apartment building in Washington Heights, Manhattan . Harris Fahnestock bought 24 East 51st Street in 1910 and gave the residence to his daughter Helen Campbell. When Harris Fahnestock died in 1914, his son Clarence moved into number 457. Clarence lived there until his death four years later, when Clarence's brother William inherited that house. William hired Charles Platt in 1922 to combine 457 Madison Avenue and 22 East 51st Street, and Platt removed

12096-421: Was made of English oak and white mahogany, while the ceiling was made of English oak beams. Saint-Gaudens carved two marble fireplace mantels, one at either end of the room. One of the mantels was relocated several times before being installed in the Palace Hotel lobby in 1980, while the other mantel was relocated to Whitelaw Reid's country estate. The wall was divided into three sections by red-mahogany pilasters ;

12208-516: Was moved to the Brooklyn Museum in the 1970s. Both residences' interiors were demolished in 1978. The main entrance to the New York Palace, within the former central loggia, contains a grand staircase down to the main hotel lobby. This lobby includes a fireplace originally designed by Saint-Gaudens. In addition, a former study at 455 Madison Avenue was repurposed into a meeting room for the New York Palace. The residence at 22 East 51st Street

12320-407: Was one of Villard's family friends, and Villard's brother-in-law was married to McKim's sister. The Real Estate Record and Guide speculated that the mansions were arranged to "secure privacy and get rid of tramps, and to live in a quiet and secluded way", similar to dwellings in the suburbs of London and Paris . Villard also wanted a landscaped garden east of the houses, but this was never added to

12432-485: Was proud of the project, recalling in 1896 that it was "the beginning of any good work that we may have done". The residences were New York City's first houses designed in the Roman High Renaissance style and, at the time, differed significantly from the more ostentatious houses on Fifth Avenue nearby. The construction of the houses coincided with a decline in Villard's personal finances, which in turn

12544-599: Was the Vice-Chancellor of the Church, the palace became known as the Palazzo della Cancelleria thereafter, and was generally referred to just as the "Cancelleria". From 1753 the vice chancellor was the Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England , Scotland , France , and Ireland , Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal Duke of York , the Jacobite Henry IX and I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. During

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