William Henry Vanderbilt’s bride, Alva Erskine Smith, had a
love affair with things French. In 1878
when the rest of the Vanderbilt family lined Fifth Avenue with dour, if
sumptuous, brownstone mansions, she began working with architect Richard Morris
Hunt on a French Renaissance chateau in gleaming white limestone. The house, known as the Petite Chateau at No.
660 Fifth Avenue, would break the brownstone grip on New York’s millionaires
forever.
As the mansion was still under construction in 1881, Hunt
was busily working on another show-stopper—the Henry G. Marquand
residence. The 63-year old Marquand had retired from the
jewelry business in 1839 and at the end of the Civil War entered the railroad
and banking industries. Now fabulously wealthy, he
needed a home large enough not only to reflect his social station, but more importantly
to accommodate his extensive art collection.
Eschewing the more obvious Fifth Avenue, Marquand purchased
land on the corner of Madison Avenue and 68th Street large enough
for his own mansion and two smaller, upscale residences. His choice of architect was expected—not only
was Hunt a personal friend; he had already designed three other projects for
Marquand, including Linden Gate, his summer cottage in Newport.
Construction took three years and although the house was finished
in 1884, it would be several more years before the interiors were
completed. Marquand’s mansion, which
cost $1 million, faced 68th Street with the two smaller houses
opening on to Madison Avenue. Hunt
turned to the “French transitional” style, melding elements of Renaissance and
Gothic into his brick and sandstone creations.
The three residences blended into a unified whole with picturesque
balconies, gables, cresting and multi-level mansards. By raising the height of the Madison Avenue
houses slightly above the Marquand mansion, Hunt visually eliminated the steep
grade of the avenue.
American Architect and Builders' Guide published a hand-colored sketch on June 26, 1886 (copyright expired) |
Visitors entered into a massive central hall that rose four
stories to a glass ceiling. A split
staircase led to the upper floors and galleries. The mansion was decorated in the height of
Late Victorian fashion, heavily influenced by the current Aesthetic
Movement. Marquand hired the most esteemed
artists and decorators of the day—Frederick Leighton, Louis Comfort Tiffany,
John La Farge and Lawrence Alma-Tadema—to design the furniture and interiors.
The elaborately-carved overmantel in the soaring main hall -- "Stately Homes in America" 1903 (copyright expired) |
The artisans created lush themed rooms: a Pompeian, Moorish, Japanese, and a Spanish
style room. Perhaps the most important was the Grecian-themed
room which served as the music room.
British artist Alma-Tadema, well known for his paintings of ancient
Greece and Rome, designed the suite of Grecian furniture. The furniture, of ebony, cedar, sandalwood
and ebonized mahogany was inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl and brass. It sat in a room with marble fluted pilasters
upholding a beamed ceiling with painted scenes by Sir Frederick Leighton, the
president of the Royal Academy.
Leighton worked on the ceiling, which included seven
life-size figures, in London. In a
letter to Marquand he explained that the figures would be “more or less
isolated and very firm in outline and should have no pictorial background…they
should be of full rich tone on a gold ground—the effect would be rather that of
the old mosaics and I think very telling.”
The focal point for the room was the Steinway grand piano,
also designed by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
The cabinet took longer to execute than the entire suite of furniture—it
was constructed in 1883 and the decorating, done in London, was completed in
1887. The inside of the keyboard cover
was painted by Sr. Edward Poynter with “The Wandering Ministrels.”
The Japanese room took several years to finish and the
decorative work cost Marquand $150,000. Asian
cabinets filled with Japanese and Chinese items—porcelains, ivory carvings,
pottery and lacquered pieces—sat against custom embroidered silk wall
coverings. The firm of Robert Ellin
& John W. Kitson masterfully carved the ceiling, overmantel, doors and frames
and cabinets. Stained glass by La Farge
illuminated a small niche beside the fireplace.
Next to the expansive conservatory that faced Madison Avenue
was the Moorish Smoking Room where, after dinners, gentlemen guests would join
their host while the women retired to a more feminine sitting room. Here John La Farge had carved an elaborate
over-door panel in alabaster, inset with brilliantly colored glass “in rich
Persian style.” Spanish lusterware
tiles from one of Philip II’s palaces were were set in the ceiling and frieze,
and colored plaster in relief mimicked the walls of the Alhambra. Louis C. Tiffany, who did the mosaics and
glass for the central hall, was most likely involved in the decoration of the
Moorish room as well.
The fireplace in the Moorish Smoking Room. Note the ornate ceiling -- "Stately Homes in America" 1903 (copyright expired) |
Illuminating the landing of the staircase to the third floor
were stained glass windows by Eugene Stanislas Oudinot, portraying Michelangelo
and da Vinci. The same artists decorated
the third floor bedrooms, painting the friezes and ceilings; including one in
the Byzantine style.
The "Byzantine" bedroom -- "Stately Homes in America" 1903 (copyright expired) |
Below the living area cooks worked in an up-to-the-minute kitchen -- "Plumbing Problems" 1892 (copyright expired) |
"It is a fine and imposing mansion, at 816 Madison avenue,
and adjoins the magnificent residence of Banker Henry G. Marquand…who will become
the ex-President’s landlord.” Cleveland
opted to rent the house for two years rather than buy it outright. Marquand thought, perhaps, that the price was
a consideration.
“I am anxious that Mr. Cleveland should be perfectly
satisfied with the house, and would like to have him become a purchaser,” he
told the press. “It’s a pretty expensive
house, though, and perhaps he hasn’t the means to purchase it now.”
Marquand’s daughter occupied the second house. The Evening World remarked on the architect’s
adept designing of the three houses as a whole.
“The adjoining building, No. 814, which is occupied by Mr. Marquand’s
daughter is very similar in appearance without being an exact duplication, and
the two together at first glance appear to be only an extension on Madison
avenue of the Marquand mansion, so completely does the style of the three
correspond.”
The World felt that Cleveland could probably finagle a price
of $100,000 for the house (about $2.3 million today), adding “Taking it all in
all it is one of the handsomest houses in upper Madison avenue.”
Marquand posed for a portrait by John Singer Sergeant -- Libraray of Congress. |
On February 26, 1902 at 7:00 am, Henry Gurdon Marquand died
in the house from a severe cold. His
passing prompted the New-York Tribune to say “The death of Henry G. Marquand
leaves a vacancy in the citizenship of New-York which will not soon or easily be
filled.”
The following day The New York Times said of him, “While
many capitalists buy beautiful things, only to hoard them for their own
pleasure and that of the narrow circle of their friends, either because they
have no regard for the rest of the world or because they shrink from the
trouble and expense of allowing their treasure to be seen by the public, Mr.
Marquand had the higher civic conscience which dictates that such things should
be seen of the people.”
His death also brought another issue to the forefront. The Times mentioned “The death of Mr.
Marquand naturally occasions much speculation as to the disposition of his private
gallery.” The millionaire’s personal
collection was one of the most prized in the world.
photo from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York |
The estate purchased the property for $500,000 and the
magnificent house sat vacant for seven years.
The New York Times mused in 1912 “When Mr. Marquand was alive the house
was celebrated as containing one of the finest and most expensive private
collections of paintings, objects of art, and decorations in the city.” Now, on March 23, it reported “The famous
Marquand house…has been sold and will be torn down early in April, to make room
for a big apartment house.”
On May 22 architect Herbert Lucas headed a syndicate that
acquired the adjoining houses at Nos. 814 and 816 Madison, both sold by
daughters of Marquand. The houses would
follow the Marquand mansion under the wrecking ball to make way for the
apartment building.
In October The Sun lamented the loss. Saying that the property which “formed three
residences under one roof has disappeared…to make way for a towering apartment
house,” it reminded readers of the glories lost. “The traditions about the cost of this pile
of buildings are well known. The famous
Chinese room alone is said to have represented an expenditure of $400,000. Carved mantels of exquisite design, pillars
and balustrades of rare woods and great slabs of imported marble have been
pried loose and tumbled down to a common heap of rubbish.”
In place of the magnificent structure--whose rooms were
designed by the foremost artists and designers of the day and filled with
priceless paintings and artwork—the 12-story apartment building still stands . It is an attractive, well-designed early 20th
century structure that, unfortunately, cannot hold a candle to the building it
replaced.
photo by Alice Lum |
The piano at least survives in the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown Ma.
ReplyDeleteAn amazing armchair from the music room is on permanent display at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia.
Deletehttps://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/20817/
And here is a twin of the one in the National Gallery of Victoria:
Deletehttp://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O21544/armchair-alma-tadema-lawrence/
Am I correct in assuming that the house stood on the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 68th Street, and that it was replaced by the building numbered 11 East 68th Street?
ReplyDeleteIf I'm correct as to location, it is interesting to note that there doesn't seem to be anything between the house and what I assume are the trees of Fifth avenue or central park in the distance
You are correct. I added a contemporary photo this afternoon to help get one's bearings. Obviously everything west to the Park was still undeveloped. Good catch!
DeleteNice entry - but what a tragic loss. What ever became of the house's internal contents and decorative embellishments (other than the piano as noted above by @Eric Scott)...?
ReplyDeletea great deal of the art went to the Metropolitan Museum ... I have never heard what became of most of the furniture.
DeleteSad to also note that in this time period there was little secondary market for many architectural elements and interior fittings and most, if not all, with few exceptions,from many of these great houses did end up as trash and salvage.
ReplyDeleteOccasional elements did get reused. A Chinese style Chandelier from the Cornelius Vanderbilt mansion ended up in Loew's State Theater in Syracuse NY (bits of it are still extant) and I think an Egyptian style room went to the Ringling Museum of Art in Florida to be used as a gallery setting. When John D. Rockefeller died in the 1930's the 1880's period rooms in his house were considered notable enough that they were saved and are now in several museums.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandfather was John William Kitson, one of the contractors mentioned. His brother Samuel James Kitson had been hired by Marquand to sculpt some statues for the galleries. I do not know what happened to them. Additionally Ellin & Kitson also worked on the Vanderbilt houses as did Samuel who was hired to carve many statues for Alva Vanderbilt's French mansion.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I am doing a little research on my father's home and I believe the Japanese room made its way to CT. His home was originally built by Michael Pupin for Helen Hartley Jenkins, some wealthy NYC contemporaries. They must have purchased the room from this auction.
ReplyDeleteAs I still believe it is so sad, and sad on our history as a country, that we are so willing to raze beautiful architectual buildings, in the "name of progress and the future". Yes many homes are still around and have been converted to apts, or stores, their "character" is long gone tho. We have been so willing to tear something down that was a large part of our histor after 50 yrs, if we even wait that long!. One of the most appealing things about Europe..you can see places that have been standing for years, centuries. But not here. having said that.... ONE of the reasons I have your web-site on my "favorites" bar... I am reading my new Arch. Digest and there is an ad on The Marguand. I read, it states "on the site of the former Henry Gurdon Marquand Mansion. SOOOO I pull you up, type in HGM mansion..and ahha there it is!! I can read about it, see it's beuty, craftsmanship, it's history! Thanks so much for this site!! Keep up the good work. I go to your site daily.!!
ReplyDeleteglad you're enjoying the blog! Hope you get to New York soon.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI am contributing to an online exhibit about Marquand. Is it alright if I use the illustration of the hand-colored sketch of the mansion from American Architect and state your blog as the contributor? I can only find the illustration that is not colored. Where did you find it?
Thanks so much!
I would have to dig back into my research to find the source of that sketch; however I am sure you can use that, since the copyright has expired.
DeleteThanks for this partial answer to my recent question.
ReplyDelete"Am I correct in assuming that the house stood on the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 68th Street, and that it was replaced by the building numbered 11 East 68th Street?
If I'm correct as to location, it is interesting to note that there doesn't seem to be anything between the house and what I assume are the trees of Fifth avenue or central park in the distance"
Reply
Replies
Tom MillerDecember 10, 2012 at 4:47 PM
You are correct. I added a contemporary photo this afternoon to help get one's bearings. Obviously everything west to the Park was still undeveloped. Good catch!
I was told that one of the Oudinot stained glass windows went to the Museum of
ReplyDeletethe City of New York. Do you know if that's so?
It appears that one Oudinot window came here to St. Luke's Hospital where is was inserted just outside of the Chapel
You can also visit the Met to see a picture of his daughter. Painted by John Singer Sargent. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12141
ReplyDelete