It has been called the last of the great mansions of the gilded age.
Hi everyone ken here, welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the Henry Clay Frick Mansion in Manhattan.
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house.
In our previous videos we explored 2 mansions of Henry Clay Frick.
If you haven’t seen them, that is ok.
Just to recap, Frick was an industrialist who made a fortune selling coke to the Carnegie
Steel Company.
His life was wrapped in scandal from a fatal dam collapse to deadly workers strike and
an assassination attempt which we covered in the previous 2 videos.
As he grew his business he found that he was spending more time in New York City, so he
leased a portion of the Vanderbilt Triple Palace in Manhattan.
Shortly after moving in, the Lenox Library at 71st street was being demolished.
Henry purchased the entire block for 2 million dollars or the modern day equivalent of 63
million dollars.
He hired Carrerre and Hastings to design an enormous Italian renaissance style mansion
set 75 feet back from the street.
Newspapers around the country began gossiping about how the house would appear when finished
with some saying it would be plain and others speculating it would be the most grand of
the 5th avenue mansions.
Around this same time, he began planning for an extravagant art collection to become a
permanent affixture in the city.
Rumors spread that he had already willed the house to the city of New York for use as a
museum upon his death before the house was even completed.
This was an unheard of concept as most of the city’s elites would simply donate their
art collections instead of their mansions.
By 1914, nearly a decade after planning began, the house was completed.
It had cost over 4,000,000 dollars or the modern day equivalent of 126 million dollars.
Walking inside, you would arrive in the entrance hall.
Planned far beyond the human scale, the architecture immediately pressed upon visitors with a sense
of wonder.
Stone pilasters were set against stone block walls with relief work in the frieze set below
a soaring double height coffered ceiling.
From here you could look out over the Garden Court with a barrel vaulted skylight allowing
daylight to flood the rooms that wrapped about it.
Plants could be grown year round about the fountain with tropical ferns nestled at the
bases of the stone columns.
But we will pass by this space for now choosing to take a left from the entrance hall into
the vestibule which acted as a long corridor passing by the stair hall.
To the left was the dining room.
Henry was known to host 2 dinners per week in this room so he wanted the furnishings
to be modern with a more classically inspired backdrop.
His interior designer, Sir Charles Allom, looked to 18th century English design for
inspiration and planned wood paneling to compliment modern furniture.
The fireplace was carved from solid marble with mosaic work inset below its mantle.
The upper mantle was gilted with maidens worked into its support below a broken pediment.
Directly across from the library was the Fragonard room.
With prized wall panels which had once been hung in JP Morgan’s house.
Period antique European furniture was brought in to compliment the artist’s work and set
above an elaborately parquet floor.
Returning to the vestibule, we will turn the corner and arrive in the south hall.
Every surface save the ceiling was carved from solid stone with the main staircase gracefully
ascending with a carpet runner wide enough for 3 people to walk on.
At the landing, the pipe organ stretched to the ceiling embellishing the wall with intricate
carvings in its architectural details.
As the stairs continued up, they passed above an barrel vaulted node.
This is where the organist would sit as music echoed throughout the stone halls.
Continuing straight forward in the South Hall, you would arrive in the living hall.
Clad in oak paneling, the walls were adorned with some of the finest pieces in Frick’s
collection including works by Bellini and El Greco.
It was further decorated with Chinese Porcelains and bronze statues from the Italian Renaissance.
2 chandeliers were suspended equidistant from the fireplace.
Its upper mantle was adorned with twisting wooden garland framing a portrait.
Cutting across the room diagonally from where we entered, we arrive in the library.
Oak panels continued into this room with half height book cases running along the perimeter.
These book cases were designed to hug the ground to leave space for art to be displayed
on the walls.
The frieze contained a subtle floral motif before the walls dramatically flared, rolling
towards the ceiling’s ornate plaster border.
To the side of this room, we can now pass into the North hall which sits just above
the Living Hall with windows looking out over the garden court.
From here we can continue into the West Gallery built in place of a ballroom to house the
ever growing collection of Frick’s artwork.
A monumental skylight was installed to illuminate the walls adding to the viewing pleasure of
guests.
At one end was the enamels room, housing Fricks collection of enamels in built in cabinets
set against wood panels.
As time went on, he added to this collection, with portraits and other artifacts.
Cutting across the west gallery towards its other end, we will arrive in the oval room.
Originally, this is where Frick’s home office was located, but it was transformed in the
1930s to become a transcient space independent from the rest of the mansion to facilitate
travel from end to end.
The adjoining East Gallery was also added in the 1930s to allow for more space to display
the vast art collection of the Fricks.
Connecting the east gallery to the Garden court was the music room which was added in
1935 and designed by architect John Russel Pope.
Its circular plan supported a coffered dome ceiling with a central oculus flooding the
room with daylight.
Now that we’ve seen the first floor, lets head up the main staircase to the second floor
where we arrive at the second floor landing with a marble fireplace set between marble
columns below a coffered ceiling.
As we wind through the halls, we start to see the bedrooms.
Adelaide’s bedroom contained a crystal chandelier below a hand stenciled ceiling set above gilted
wall panels with over stuffed furniture scattered about the carpeted floor.
Her boudoir was adorned with gilted panels featuring murals in each section.
The fireplace sat below a large rounded mirror reflecting light from the crystal chandelier
which hung in the center.
Adjoined to her bedroom was her personal bathroom which does not appear to be too different
from the bathrooms we find in timecapsule homes from the 1920s.
Venturing further into the second floor, we stumble across the Frick’s daughter, Helen’s
room.
By this time, she was more grown up and did not have furniture dedicated for her dolls
as she did in previous homes.
Instead, she decorated with fresh flowers and photos of her friends and family.
Her sitting room had plenty of space for her friends and the cabinets were stuffed full
of her favorite books.
Next we find Henry’s bedroom with a canopied four poster bed boldly protruding towards
a chandelier.
Oak panels clad the walls which were further decorated with works of art.
His sitting room continued oak wainscotting below painted walls and a Jacobean ceiling
with an expansive stone hearth centered on the end wall.
There were also several guest rooms located on the second floor, all with fine furnishings
and ornate fireplaces set against painted wall panels.
Following the end of world war one, a victory march was planned around central park to celebrate
the returning soldiers.
Henry Frick opened up his lawn for reportedly thousands of injured soldiers to sit and enjoy
the parade passing by.
Later that year, having only lived in the completed mansion and among some of the worlds
most coveted paintings, Henry died suddenly from a heart attack.
Surprising the entire world, the previous rumors about him willing the house and art
collection to the city were found to be true, but would not happen until after his wife
Adelaide had finished her life.
In 1923, an appraisal was conducted of Frick’s contribution to the city in the amount of
93,000,000 dollars or the modern day equivalent of over 1.6 billion dollars.
Adelaide lived between the 5th avenue mansion and Eagle rock for the rest of her short life.
Her last 2 years were spent mostly in her bedroom suite with visits only from close
family members.
In 1931, she died at the age of 71 years old.
The house and art collection passed into the city’s possession with their Daughter Helen
making extensive donations of art to be curated by the city.
It was around this time that architect John Russell Pope was brought in to reimagine the
house as a museum.
Wanting to keep it residential in appearance, as a time capsule, he made very minor changes
to the existing structure so as to preserve most rooms in their entireties while adding
the oval room, east gallery, and music room to better serve guests enjoying art.
As unconventional as Henry Frick’s plan was for his estate, it has gained favorable
international critique for its unique approach to displaying art in a residential building.
Today, it continues to serve New York City as not only a museum, but as one of the last
remaining remnants of gilded age glamour.
Which room was your favorite?
Also, if you have seen the other 2 videos about Frick’s mansions, which one was your
favorite?
Make sure to let me know down below in the comments section.
And while you’re there, hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode
of this house.
We have some really amazing videos planned for this fall including in person house tours
and other marvels out in the field.
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