The
William Collins Whitney residence originally built for
Robert L. Stuart by
William Schickel c. 1883 with substantial alterations for Whitney by
McKim, Mead & White c. 1901 at 871 Fifth Avenue in
New York City. Click
HERE for more on the Whitney residence which was demolished c. 1942. Photo from the Museum of the City of New York.
This great house has always fascinated me ~ interiors grand enough for the Medici ! One wonders where all that ornament ended up, alas.
ReplyDeleteI suspect except for a few pedigree pieces most ornament and fixtures from that era ended up at the scrap dealer. my maternal grandparents vacated what one might call a spooky gothic styled Victorian pile on Euclid Ave after the city bought up the land for a municipal building in the 30's. They spoke of paying a junk dealer to cart off all of the once fashionable furnishings, china, artwork etc from their parents. He hooked up a hoist to the gabled roof, smashed through the elaborate stained glass windows of the stairhall and lowered every stick of furniture into his truck. They locked the iron and beveled glass entrance doors for the last time and the city came within days and tore the entire house down, still intact with carpets, chandeliers, pier mirrors, mantles and a massive dining room table that even the junk dealer couldn't fit into his truck. makes me cry everytime.
ReplyDeleteThough I still love reading this and your old lomg island site daily