__FORCETOC__ The Joseph Raphael De Lamar House is a mansion at 233 Madison Avenue at the corner of 37th Street in the Murray Hill neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The house, currently the

Consulate General of Poland, New York City The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York City () is a consular mission of the Republic of Poland in the United States. It was inaugurated in 1919. The consulate is located in the Joseph Raphael De Lamar House at 233 Madison A ...

, was built in 1902–1905 and was designed by C. P. H. Gilbert in the

Beaux-Arts style Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpor ...

. The De Lamar Mansion marked a stark departure from Gilbert's traditional style of

French Gothic architecture French Gothic architecture is an architectural style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre-Dame Cathedral, Reims Cathedra ...

and was instead robustly Beaux-Arts, heavy with rusticated stonework, balconies, and a colossal

mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

roof. The mansion is the largest in Murray Hill, and one of the most spectacular in the city; the interiors are as lavish as the exterior.

History

Joseph Raphael De Lamar Joseph Raphael De Lamar (September 2, 1843 – December 1, 1918) was a prominent mine owner and operator in the western United States and Canada, as well as a financier and speculator, from the late 1870s until his death in 1918. Early life ...

was a Dutch-born merchant seaman who made his first fortune in

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and metallurgy during the 1870s-80s silver-lead rushes to Colorado and Idaho, and 1890s gold strikes at

Mercur, Utah Mercur is a historical hard rock mining ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, United States. In 1891, it became the site of the first successful use of the cyanide process of gold extraction in the United States, the dominant metallurgy today. Its ...

and Delamar, Nevada. He had this residence built as his ''entrée'' into New York society. It was to be a family residence, but soon after it was built De Lamar and his wife divorced. The 1910 census taker found De Lamar in residence with his daughter Alice, by then 15, and nine servants, a typical ratio for the time. De Lamar died eight years later in 1918 at the age of 75. His obituary in '' The Boston Daily Globe'' described him as a "man of mystery" and an accomplished organist. He left an estate worth $29 million (equal to $ in ) to his daughter, who continued living in the house for a short time before moving to an apartment at

740 Park Avenue 740 Park Avenue is a luxury cooperative apartment building on the west side of Park Avenue between East 71st and 72nd Streets in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was described in ''Business Insider'' in 2011 as "a l ...

. The mansion was sold to the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

. In 1923 the National Democratic Club purchased it for its headquarters. In 1973, the Republic of Poland bought the mansion for $900,000 (equal to $ in ) to house its

Consulate General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in New York. The interior has been thoroughly cleaned and renovated and retains all of its many period features. Since 2008 the consulate has also been regularly illuminated at night. The De Lamar Mansion was designated a landmark by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1975, and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1983.

Gallery

File:Joseph Raphael De Lamar House 005.JPG, Neo-baroque cartouche with floral painting at the ceiling File:Joseph Raphael De Lamar House.jpg, One of the representative rooms with ceiling paintings and gilded stucco File:Joseph Raphael De Lamar House 008.JPG, Staircase with leaded glass skylight

References

Notes Further reading *

External links

{{Authority control 1905 establishments in New York City Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City C. P. H. Gilbert buildings Houses completed in 1905 Houses in Manhattan Madison Avenue Murray Hill, Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Second Empire architecture in New York City Gilded Age mansions

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links