Adelaide L. T. Douglas House
(2012)
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House is located in New York City
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House is located in New York
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House is located in the United States
Adelaide L. T. Douglas House
Location57 Park Avenue
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates40°44′57″N 73°58′46″W / 40.74917°N 73.97944°W / 40.74917; -73.97944
Built1909–11
ArchitectHorace Trumbauer
Architectural styleBeaux Arts[1]
NRHP reference No.82003373
NYCL No.1045
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 15, 1982[2]
Designated NYCLSeptember 11, 1979[3]

The Adelaide L. T. Douglas House is a historic building located at 57 Park Avenue between East 37th and 38th streets in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by architect Horace Trumbauer, the six-story building was constructed from 1909 to 1911 as a residence for Mrs. Adelaide Townsend Douglas. The house was later converted to offices and serves as the permanent mission of Guatemala to the United Nations.

Site

The Adelaide L. T. Douglas House is located at 57 Park Avenue, on the east side of the street, in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.[4] The land lot has an area of 2,000 square feet (190 m2), with a frontage of 25 feet (7.6 m) and a depth of 80 feet (24 m).[5] Nearby buildings include Our Saviour Roman Catholic Church to the north, Scandinavia House – The Nordic Center in America to the west, and the Union League Club to the south.[5]

The site at 57 Park Avenue was previously occupied by a four-story residence owned by John J. Murphy, which was severely damaged on March 21, 1902, during a tunnel cave-in caused during construction of the first New York City Subway line.[6][7][8] As part of a settlement to avoid a lengthy court case,[9] Murphy's house, along with some of the other buildings that had been damaged on the east side of the block, were purchased by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 and then demolished.[10][11] After the IRT tore down the houses at 53-57 Park Avenue, the sites remained "unimproved" for several years.[12]

History

Early and mid-20th century

Prominent New York socialite Mrs. Adelaide L. Douglas bought the site at 57 Park Avenue in 1909, intending to develop a new residence.[3][13][14] Mrs. Douglas was married to William P. Douglas, a businessman who had inherited most of the land in the area that became Douglaston, Queens, and was known for being the owner of the yacht Sappho that was successful in defending the second America's Cup challenge in 1871,[3][15][16] but she was having an affair with J. P. Morgan and her husband had separated and moved out.[3][17][18] Morgan reportedly financed the new residence for Mrs. Douglas, and a plaque in the lobby listed him as the original owner of the building.[18][19]

Plans for the new building were filed in 1909,[3][20] and the home was completed by March 1911, when Mrs. Douglas began hosting parties there.[21] In its early years, the house hosted events such as a wedding reception for the Douglases' daughter Edith Sybil Douglas.[22] After Mrs. Douglas died in 1935 at the age of 83,[16] the house was leased to Arthur Charn in 1937.[23][24] The townhouse was sold by the estate of Mrs. Douglas in 1942.[13][25] The buyer, a client of lawyer Richard Gordon Babbage, paid $100,000 for the structure and lived there.[25]

Late 20th century to present

The building was subsequently converted to offices and accommodated a variety of tenants in the early 1950s including the New York offices of the American branch of Associated British Oil Engine Company,[26] the Welfare League for Retarded Children,[27] and advertising agencies headed by Louis deGarmo[28][29] and Regina Ovesey.[30] The building was sold to George P. Tateosian and Evelyn Tateosian Cotterman in 1955, when the adjacent property at 59 Park Avenue had been selected for the construction of the Church of Our Saviour.[31]

In 1959, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) purchased 57 Park Avenue to serve as its headquarters, which it called Olympic House.[32] The Los Angeles Times described the house in 1973 as "ideally matched" with the USOC, which had "a real turn-of-the-century mentality".[33] The USOC occupied the house for two decades, announcing in 1977 that it would contemplate relocating its headquarters to Colorado Springs, Colorado.[34] The committee moved to Colorado Springs the next year.[19][35] The building was designated as a New York City landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1979[36] and was purchased by the Republic of Guatemala the same year[35][37] at an estimated cost of $1 million.[38] Since then, the building has served as Guatemala's permanent mission to the United Nations.[39] The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[2]

Architecture

The house as seen from the south

The residence was designed by Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer.[4][40] Similar to other residences designed by Trumbauer, the Adelaide L. T. Douglas House was patterned in the Louis XVI style of eighteenth-century France and has limestone and granite cladding.[18][41] The building's façade is divided vertically into three bays and recessed behind an areaway at ground level, which in turn is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence.[42] The ground floor's façade is rusticated, with the doorway and windows placed within segmental arches; the doorway is in the southernmost bay. Above each arch are keystones with brackets bearing bellflower motifs. Above the ground story runs a cornice, which doubles as a balcony with wrought-iron railings for the French doors on the second floor. The balcony is carried on modillions with festoon ornaments.[1][42]

On the second and third stories, the bays are flanked by pilasters. The second-floor French doors are topped by carved stone panels, which depict children playing instruments or singing. The third floor has casement windows with wrought-iron railings, set between decorative carvings of urns at the tops of the pilasters. A cornice with modillions and a frieze with bellflowers is located between the third and fourth floors. On the fourth story are arched windows set back in a colonnade; the windows on this story also have iron railings, and there is a cornice and parapet above the fourth-story windows.[1][42] The fourth-floor colonnade supports a slate-covered mansard roof on the fifth floor with pedimented dormers and a copper coping.[41][42] The sixth floor contains a penthouse that is set back from the rest of the building.[18][41]

When built, the house included an elevator.[24] The interior also featured a spiral staircase[42] and a second-story drawing room with paneling.[33][42] There were imported fireplaces made of marble in some rooms, as well as two levels of vaults under the ground level.[33] While numerous changes have been made to the interior of the building, such as the redesigning of rooms to accommodate additional space for offices, the exterior of the structure has remained almost entirely intact.[19][35]

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Pearson 1979, p. 2.
  2. 1 2 National Park Service 1982, p. 1.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Pearson 1979, p. 1.
  4. 1 2 White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  5. 1 2 "57 Park Avenue, 10016". New York City Department of City Planning. Archived from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Cave-In And Ruin Along Park Avenue". The New York Times. March 22, 1902. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Props For Wrecked Murray Hill Houses". The New York Times. March 23, 1902. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Park Avenue Caves in: a Subway Rock Slide Ruins Two Houses Occupants Run for Their Lives as Walls Collapse". New-York Tribune. March 22, 1902. p. 1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571082758.
  9. ↑ "Settling Park Avenue Loss". The New York Times. April 9, 1902. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Selling Park Avenue Houses". The New York Times. April 8, 1902. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Belmont Buys Ruined Houses". New-York Tribune. April 8, 1902. p. 2. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 571119543.
  12. ↑ "Park Avenue Dwelling Sold". The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide. Vol. 82, no. 2107. August 1, 1908. p. 256 – via columbia.edu.
  13. 1 2 "Town House Sold On Murray Hill". The New York Times. August 22, 1942. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ Pearson 1979, p. 4.
  15. ↑ "William P. Douglas Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. June 4, 1919. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Mrs. William P. Douglas: Widow of Owner of Defender of America's Cup in 1871". The New York Times. October 24, 1935. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  17. ↑ Gray, Christopher (August 25, 2002). "Sumptuous Sophistication for the Country Estate Set". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Strouse, Jean (2014). Morgan: American Financier. New York: Random House. pp. 611–612. ISBN 9780812987041. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023 – via Google Books.
  19. 1 2 3 Goodwin, Michael (June 25, 1978). "Olympic Offices Pulling Out of City". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  20. ↑ "In The Real Estate Field". The New York Times. April 8, 1909. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Interesting Chat". The Buffalo Enquirer. March 2, 1911. p. 4. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Miss Douglas to be a January Bride". The New York Times. January 12, 1913. p. 52. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Private Houses Rented". The New York Times. June 21, 1937. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  24. 1 2 "Garden City Realty Taken for Store Site". New York Herald Tribune. June 20, 1937. p. D1. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1318561087.
  25. 1 2 "Douglas Estate Sells Dwelling On Park Avenue". New York Herald Tribune. August 22, 1942. p. 20. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1263652371.
  26. ↑ "Business Notes". The New York Times. October 7, 1950. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Appeals For Yule Gifts". The New York Times. December 7, 1950. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  28. ↑ "East Side Offices Leased". The New York Times. June 1, 1952. ProQuest 112239430.
  29. ↑ "News in the Advertising Field: British Auto Makers Name Grant". New York Herald Tribune. January 5, 1950. p. 36. ISSN 1941-0646. ProQuest 1325824584.
  30. ↑ "Advertising News and Notes". The New York Times. January 5, 1950. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Operator Sells On The East Side". The New York Times. March 10, 1955. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Olympic Unit Acquires Park Avenue Building". The New York Times. June 17, 1959. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  33. 1 2 3 Maher, Charles (February 25, 1973). "Olympic House: Is the turn-of-the-century building on Park Avenue perfectly matched to the mentality of its occupants?". Los Angeles Times. p. E1. ISSN 0458-3035. ProQuest 157123048.
  34. ↑ Amdur, Neil (September 27, 1977). "Grant Asserts That He's Not to Blame For New York's Failure on Olympics". The New York Times. p. 61. ISSN 0362-4331. ProQuest 123174656.
  35. 1 2 3 Pearson 1979, p. 3.
  36. ↑ Fowler, Glenn (September 12, 1979). "12 Buildings Are Named Landmarks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  37. ↑ Teltsch, Kathleen (October 29, 1979). "Other Recent Purchases". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  38. ↑ Teltsch, Kathleen (October 29, 1979). "Libyan Government Plans to Build 23‐Story Tower on East 48th Street". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  39. ↑ "Contact". Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  40. ↑ Gray, Christopher (August 25, 2002). "Streetscapes/Manhattan Town Houses of Horace Trumbauer; Sumptuous Sophistication for the Country Estate Set". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2023.
  41. 1 2 3 Pearson 1979, pp. 2–3.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 National Park Service 1982, p. 2.

Sources

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