What happens when wealth, power, and tragedy collide in a New York City Mansion. Hi everyone,
ken here, today we are exploring the Barney Mansion in Manhattan. Make sure
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In 1851, Charles Barney was born the son of a Ashbel Barney, a successful Cleveland
commission merchant. As his father’s business grew, the family relocated to New York City where
Ashbel eventually became the President of Wells Fargo and Company. Fitting for a bank president,
Ashbel built an imposing brownstone palace at the corner of Park and 38th in Manhattan. Meanwhile,
his son, Charles attended Williams College where he began courting Lily Whitney of the
powerful and influential Whitney Family which we have covered in several previous videos.
Between the connections afforded to Charles by his father’s prominence in the Banking
Industry and his ties to the Whitney Family, His success in life was guaranteed. After graduating,
he returned to New York City, married Lily, and became a stockbroker at Rogers and Gould.
By 1884, he had climbed the latter to become the vice president of the Knickerbocker Trust
Company where he was eventually named President. He made waves in the banking world as he increased
deposits at Knickerbocker six fold earning it the title of the 3rd largest bank in New York.
All the while, his father had passed away and handed down the family mansion to him.
In the 1880s, Charles hired the prominent architecture firm of McKim,
Mead, and White to completely rework the interior of the brownstone palace.
Upon entering the home, you would arrive in the stair hall where every
surface had been faced with marble save the gilded, coffered ceiling.
Turning to the side, we can peer through one of the ornately decorated archways to
view the dining room, directly facing a floor to ceiling fireplace decorated with busts on
it’s lower mantel and intricate relief work on its upper mantel framed by stone maidens.
To the other side of the dining room, an alcove was separated by boxed columns
complete with Corinthian capitols as vines creeped down from the mirrored,
coffered ceiling, allowing more light to reflect into the massive room.
Looking back towards the stair hall from the dining room we can
see that the walls are covered in antique European tapestries below
an elaborate frieze with murals depicting scenes from antiquity.
Coming from the stair hall, we can peel back the tapestry, making our way through
the portal to arrive in the Living Room. From the architect’s notes, the walls were finished
out with antique venetian velvet below a gold leafed, coffered ceiling framing frescoes.
You would have been brought through the living room to await the Barney’s in the
reception room which was finished out with a complex assembly of overlapping
geometric and floral patterns below a gold leafed, coffered ceiling.
If you had still not been impressed by the house,
the Gold Room would be sure to dazzle you. Every single architectural element and
ornament had been gold leafed from the walls to the ceiling to the fireplace’s mantle.
Upstairs we will find the library with half height book shelves skirting the room.
In the center, a stone fireplace rose below a matching stone cornice,
and on the ceiling, a gilded frame contained a dramatic and highly detailed mural.
Charles would start his morning in his bedroom, having breakfast in front of the fireplace. He
was known not to dress until mid day, only heading into the office after lunch time.
The Barney’s seemed to have the perfect life. They were well respected in their
social circles and were well respected by the public for their contributions to
the arts and to the zoo. But nothing could prepare them for what was about to happen.
On October 15th, 1907, Charles partnered Knickerbocker with speculators in an
effort to control the United Copper Company by cornering the market. This plan, if successful,
would have created new copper barons in each investor in a single day, but something did not
go as planned. The timing was off and the plan backfired as the United Copper Company saw it’s
stock value plumet. This caused several banks, including Knickerbocker, to lose a lot of money.
Investors began pulling funding and Charles was pressured to tender his resignation.
Within days, as news spread, a bank run was triggered as people withdrew
their entire lifesavings which caused Knickerbocker to fail.
This lead to the subsequent Panic of 1907 in which the New York Stock Exchange fell over 50%.
Thankfully, Charles was well diversified and was able to escape the panic with about 2 and
half million dollars left over, the modern equivalent of over 80 million dollars.
Even though he was fine financially, his poorly timed actions had caused thousands of people to
lose their livelihoods. After a month had passed by, he was still unable to shake his
intense feelings of guilt and shame. On November 14th, Charles woke up like any other day, choosing
to have breakfast in his bedroom before shooting himself in the stomach. From various accounts, it
seems that he had aimed for and missed his heart. He survived, with his wife rushing to his side,
followed by a team of lawyers who had him sign any and every imaginable estate planning form in
case he should pass away from the injuries. Later that afternoon, the doctor arrived and prepped for
surgery in Charles bedroom in an attempt to remove the bullet. The pain was too much for
Charles to handle as the doctor began exploratory surgery, so he was placed under anesthesia, which,
at the time, was an incredibly risky, and still experimental act, from which he never woke up.
His house was passed down to his son and ended up catching on fire.
Faced with costly repairs and a limited budget, his son sold the brownstone
palace to developers who tore it down and replaced it with an apartment building.
Even if the fire could have been avoided and the mansion repaired,
it is unlikely that it would have survived to this day as much more elaborate mansions
had been torn down and replaced to make way for higher density housing as the city grew.
What did you think about this mansion? Did you have a favorite room? Let me
know down below in the comments section. And while you’re there,
make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of "ThisHouse".
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