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Mrs. William B. Astor House
The Mrs. William B. Astor House was a mansion on Fifth Avenue in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was located at 840 and 841 Fifth Avenue, on the northeast corner of 65th Street, completed in 1896 and demolished around 1926. History The house was originally built as a double mansion for Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, the widow of real estate heir William Backhouse Astor Jr., and her son John Jacob Astor IV. Construction started in 1894, and the house would transpire to be the largest of its kind on Fifth Avenue. Caroline Astor lived in the northern half of the mansion (841 Fifth Avenue), while her son and his family lived in the southern half (840 Fifth Avenue). After Caroline Astor died in 1908, her son converted the double mansion into a single home for his family. The mansion was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who used the early French Renaissance architecture from the period Louis XII and Francois I, in imitation of a château in the Frenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Gilded Age Mansions
Gilded Age mansions were lavish houses built between 1870 and the early 20th century by some of the richest people in the United States. These estates were raised by the nation's industrial, financial and commercial elite, who amassed great fortunes in era of expansion of the tobacco, railroad, steel, and oil industries coinciding with a lack of both governmental regulation and the absence of a personal income tax. The manor homes and city seats were designed by prominent architects of the day and decorated with antiquities, furniture, and works of art from the world over. Many of the wealthy had undertaken grand tours of Europe, during which they admired the estates of the nobility. Seeing themselves as their American equivalent, they wished to emulate the old world dwellings on American soil, and spent extravagantly to do so, often seeking to one-up each other. Concentrations of such homes developed in the financial centers and resorts of the Northeast, the industrial heartlan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renaissance Revival Architecture
Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes. Under the broad designation Renaissance architecture nineteenth-century architects and critics went beyond the architectural style which began in Florence and Central Italy in the early 15th century as an expression of Renaissance humanism; they also included styles that can be identified as Mannerist or Baroque. Self-applied style designations were rife in the mid- and later nineteenth century: "Neo-Renaissance" might be applied by contemporaries to structures that others called "Italianate", or when many French Baroque features are present (Second Empire). The divergent forms of Renaissance architecture in different parts of Europe, particularly in France and Italy, has added to the difficulty of defining an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benjamin Winter
Benjamin Winter Sr. (February 5, 1881 – June 16, 1944) was a real estate developer in New York City and founder of Winter Incorporated. Winter served as president of the American Federation of Polish Jews. Biography Born in Łódź, Poland, to a Jewish family, Winter emigrated in 1901 to New York City, one year after his father.Miller, Donald LSupreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America/ref>Busch, Nive21 Americans/ref> His father took on a tour of Manhattan, showing him the lavish Vanderbilt and Astor houses which Winter was to eventually own.Canadian Jewish Chronicle: "My Rise to Fifth Avenue" by Benjamin Winter October 15, 1926 After saving for 12 years, in 1912, Win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houses In Manhattan
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.Schoenauer, Norbert (2000). ''6,000 Years of Housing'' (rev. ed.) (New York: W.W. Norton & Company). Houses use a range of different roofing systems to keep precipitation such as rain from getting into the dwelling space. Houses may have doors or locks to secure the dwelling space and protect its inhabitants and contents from burglars or other trespassers. Most conventional modern houses in Western cultures will contain one or more bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen or cooking area, and a living room. A house may have a separate dining room, or the eating area may be integrated into another room. Some large houses in North America have a recreation room. In traditional agriculture-oriented societies, domestic animals such as c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Four Hundred (1892)
The Four Hundred was a list of New York society during the Gilded Age, a group that was led by Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, ''the'' "Mrs. Astor", for many years. After her death, her role in society was filled by three women: Mamie Fish, Theresa Fair Oelrichs, and Alva Belmont, known as the "triumvirate" of American society. On February 16, 1892, ''The New York Times'' published the "official" list of those included in the Four Hundred as dictated by social arbiter Ward McAllister, Mrs. Astor's friend and confidant, in response to lists proffered by others, and after years of clamoring by the press to know who, exactly, was on the list. History In the decades following the American Civil War, the population of New York City grew almost exponentially, and immigrants and wealthy ''arrivistes'' from the Midwestern United States began challenging the dominance of the old New York Establishment. Aided by McAllister, Mrs. Astor attempted to codify proper behavior and etiquette, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canapé (furniture)
A canapé is a piece of furniture similar to a couch. The word is typically meant to describe an elegant couch made out of elaborately carved wood with wooden legs, an upholstered back, armrests, and single long seat (instead of separate cushions) that typically seats three, that emerged from France in the 18th century. A style created during the Louis XV and Louis XVI periods, similar yet different from designs used by Thomas Chippendale, it later became popular in the United States during the 19th century. Its shape is distinct from other sofas of the period, including the divan and chaise longue, but does include several forms. Frequently matching chairs were made to go with it. Precious hardwoods such as walnut, cherry, and mahogany were often used in its construction. Currently the term is used in world furniture design and retail as a variation on "sofa", except when antiques An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value becau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis XVI Of France
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was executed by guillotine. He was the son of Louis, Dauphin of France, son and heir-apparent of King Louis XV, and Maria Josepha of Saxony. When his father died in 1765, he became the new Dauphin. Upon his grandfather's death on 10 May 1774, he became King of France and Navarre, reigning as such until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of King of the French, continuing to reign as such until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792. The first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform the French government in accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the ''taille'' (land tax) and the ''corvée'' (labour tax), and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics as well as abolis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never far from the Sun, either as morning star or evening star. Aside from the Sun and Moon, Venus is the brightest natural object in Earth's sky, capable of casting visible shadows on Earth at dark conditions and being visible to the naked eye in broad daylight. Venus is the second largest terrestrial object of the Solar System. It has a surface gravity slightly lower than on Earth and has a very weak induced magnetosphere. The atmosphere of Venus, mainly consists of carbon dioxide, and is the densest and hottest of the four terrestrial planets at the surface. With an atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface of about 92 times the sea level pressure of Earth and a mean temperature of , the carbon dioxide gas at Venus's surface is in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minstrels' Gallery
A minstrels' gallery is a form of balcony, often inside the great hall of a castle or manor house, and used to allow musicians (originally minstrels) to perform, sometimes discreetly hidden from the guests below. Notable examples *A rare example of a minstrels' gallery in a sacred setting can be found in Exeter Cathedral. It is not clear why the term "musicians' gallery" has not been used here, as minstrels were always secular performers and would therefore have been forbidden from performing in a liturgical context. *A fine example of a minstrels' gallery can also be seen in the Great Hall of Durham Castle, University College, Durham, which was once used for entertainment by the Prince Bishops and is now occasionally used during College Feasts. * A restored oak minstrels' gallery is visible in Desmond Hall and Castle Desmond Hall and Castle, also called Desmond Castle and Banqueting Hall or Newcastle West Medieval Complex and Desmond Hall, are a set of medieval buildings and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palace Of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the Ministry of Culture (France), French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. Some 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623 and replaced it with a small château in 1631–34. Louis XIV expanded the château into a palace in several phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the ''de facto'' capital of France. This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town on the Peloponnese. Karyai had a temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis in her aspect of Artemis Karyatis: "As Karyatis she rejoiced in the dances of the nut-tree village of Karyai, those Karyatides, who in their ecstatic round-dance carried on their heads baskets of live reeds, as if they were dancing plants". An atlas or telamon is a male version of a caryatid, i.e. a sculpted male statue serving as an architectural support. Etymology The term is first recorded in the Latin form ''caryatides'' by the Roman architect Vitruvius. He stated in his 1st century BC work ''De architectura'' (I.1.5) that the female figures of the Erechtheion represented the punishment of the women of Caryae, a town near Spart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carolus-Duran
Charles Auguste Émile Durand, known as Carolus-Duran (Lille 4 July 1837 – 17 February 1917 Paris), was a French painter and art instructor. He is noted for his stylish depictions of members of high society in Third Republic France. Biography He was the son of a hotel owner. His first drawing lessons were with a local sculptor named Augustin-Phidias Cadet de Beaupré (1800–?) at the Académie de Lille; then took up painting with François Souchon, a student of Jacques Louis David. He went to Paris in 1853, where he adopted the name "Carolus-Duran". In 1859, he had his first exhibition at the Salon. That same year, he began attending the Académie Suisse, where he studied until 1861. One of his early influences was the Realism of Gustave Courbet. From 1862 to 1866, he travelled to Rome and Spain, thanks to a scholarship granted by his hometown. During that time, he moved away from Courbet's style and became more interested in Diego Velázquez. Upon returning to France, he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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