from rooftop gardens to egyptian mummies the legacy of this manhattan house is fit for a
hollywood movie hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring the mansion
of george gold make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of
this house george j gold was born into money he was the son of j gold one of the most despised
barons of industry he opted not to receive an education but to chase love interest instead
while attending a play he saw the actress edith mary kingdon she was widely regarded as one of
the most talented and beautiful actresses in the country for george this was love at first sight
he was quick to introduce himself and in no time the two were married at the gold's country home
lindhurst edith moved into georgia's victorian mansion at the corner of 5th avenue and 67th
street in manhattan but the young couple found the 15 year old home to be outdated and claustrophobic
with its 50-plus small rooms a few short years later in 1892 jay gold passed away leaving his
railroad empire to george with full control of his inherited wealth george had his mansion torn down
and hired architect horace trumbauer to design a modern palace with an open floor plan
the house would be fashioned in the bozar style rising five stories above ground and descending
two stories below grade four stories of the facade were cloud and limestone with two faces
of the house planned for symmetry the fifth floor concealed by a man's heart roof was perched above
the heavily ornamented stone cornice entering the home between a pair of bronze doors you would
cross into the foyer the entire space was clad in marble from floor tiles to the marble wall blocks
to the 50 foot long marble staircase the first floor containing 5130 square feet
was composed of only three main rooms to one side of the foil was the dining room
finished with painted wood paneling inset with carved marble relief set above the french doors
to the other side of the stair hall was the reception room true to the period of gilded
glamour with old-growth walnut panels which had been imported from europe cladding the walls with
louis xvi furnishings and antiques decorating the space the next floor also composed of three
main rooms contained a grand stair hall cladded marble with a bronze skylight set above the stairs
set on one side of the stair hall was the entrance to the ballroom unlike ballrooms of its time it
was not gilted with gold leaf but was instead painted white and gray fitting of the design
trends that would follow in the late 2000s nearly 100 years ahead of its time sitting opposite the
ballroom was the drawing room with parquet floors and painted wall panels to match the ballroom
it was furnished with louis the 16th antiques and proudly displayed antique tapestries on
either side of the fireplace continuing to the third floor you would find four guest suites
along with the gold's bedrooms mr gold's bedroom contained wooded coffered ceilings with plaster
insets and was furnished in dark heavy woods the large stone fireplace was decorated with
relief work depicting a scene from antiquity mrs gold's room and stark contrast had white wall
paneling and a carpeted floor all the fabrics and upholstery were light colors with floral patterns
mimicking the floral motif found along the freeze adjoining the two bedrooms was a sitting room
the fourth floor housed seven bedrooms for the couple's children along with a private
dining room for the family the fifth floor and basement levels were reserved for the servants
and included groundbreaking technology such as elevators built-in refrigerators built-in vacuums
and electric irons the house was perfect a spectacle of class and modern convenience
the envy of the neighborhood but the gold's romantic relationship was nothing to envy
george had met a young woman by the name of gwynevere who was 20 years younger than he was
by 1921 george and his mistress were raising their two children outside of the house edith found out
about this relationship and quickly began working out thinking if she could lose weight and appear
younger perhaps she could win the favor of george again she began wearing constricting rubber suits
under her clothing to create the illusion that she was thinner than she was on a particularly
hot day she was wearing this rubber suit under her golf clothes and collapsed on the green
presumably dying of a heat stroke wasting no time george and guinevere were married six short
months later but society was judging george for not grieving his wife not wanting to deal with
these social repercussions george and gwynevere set off to europe to enjoy a private honeymoon
while in europe news broke of a major discovery in egypt tootin commons tomb had been discovered
george arranged to see the tomb in person joining the archaeologist on site but something would go
horribly wrong the people who had entered the tomb became mysteriously ill and started dying one by
one george had entered the tomb he was taken to france where he would die under the care of the
world's top physicians the house in manhattan sat empty until harry whitney purchased it for
eight hundred thousand dollars or the modern day equivalent of about 13 million dollars
alice vanderbilt moved into this house while she attempted to find a buyer for her massive chateau
upon the sale of the chateau alice paid back her son-in-law harry whitney the 800 000 he had paid
for the house the gold's house was later inherited by alice's youngest daughter gladys who sold the
home in 1951 for four hundred thousand dollars or the modern day equivalent of about four and
a half million dollars in 1962 it was sold to developers who tore down the house to replace
it with a 19-story building the house might be gone but we still have pictures to remember it by
which room was your favorite let me know down below in the comments
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