| William K. Vanderbilt House | |
|---|---|
 ThePetit Chateau in 1886. | |
 Interactive map of William K. Vanderbilt House | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Châteauesque (Renaissance Revival architecture) |
| Location | Manhattan |
| Coordinates | 40°45′36″N73°58′35″W / 40.76003°N 73.97647°W /40.76003; -73.97647 |
| Construction started | 1878 |
| Completed | 1882 |
| Demolished | 1927 |
TheWilliam K. Vanderbilt House, also known as thePetit Chateau, was aChâteauesque mansion at 660Fifth Avenue inMidtown Manhattan,New York City, on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. It was across the street from theTriple Palace ofWilliam Henry Vanderbilt, which occupied the entire block between51st and52nd Streets on the west side of Fifth Avenue.[1][2][3]
The mansion was built forWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt, second son ofWilliam H. Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam from 1878 to 1882.[4] Determined to make her mark in New York society, Vanderbilt's wifeAlva worked with the architect,Richard Morris Hunt, to create the French Renaissance-style chateau.[1][2] Her renowned fancy-dress ball, held here in March 1883 and attended by a thousand people, captured the public's attention.[4][3] The structure, a reflection of Alva's love of all things French, was one of the earliest chateau style mansions in New York City and served as inspiration for many later designs throughout the country by Hunt and others.[4]
It was sold to real-estate developerBenjamin Winter, Sr. in 1926, demolished in 1927,[5][6] and replaced by a commercial building for the fashion retailersHickson Inc.[7] In a draft of her memoirs, Alva, then Mrs. Belmont, merely noted the demolition in passing. The site is currently occupied by the660 Fifth Avenue office building.[1][2]
Although William Vanderbilt was involved in some of the design of the house, it was primarily a result of the collaboration of Alva Vanderbilt and the architect. Hunt used a blending of late French Gothic style andBeaux-Arts refinement for the design of the three-and-a-half-story mansion.
The elaborate asymmetrical facade was faced in grayIndiana limestone, with an irregular roof of blue-gray slate trimmed with copper. The masonry firm of Ellin and Kitson executed the extensive exterior and interior stone carving, reportedly employing more than 40 artisans. Contemporary architectural critics generally gave good reviews of the design, with most noting that this was not, as had previously been the case withCarpenter Gothic architecture, the pasting of Gothic detail onto an essentially American frame building.[4]
The interior was entered from Fifth Avenue via an entrance vestibule. The vestibule opened onto a 60-foot (18 m) long grand hall, which could be used to access all of the primary first floor rooms. The grand hall was faced inCaen stone, as was much of the interior. It was worked and carved with decorative relief. Forming a "T" off of the right-hand center of the grand hall was the stone grand staircase, with a huge elaborately carved fireplace on the opposite facing wall.[4]
The first of the principal rooms upon entering the grand hall from the east was the 18-by-14-foot (5.5 m × 4.3 m) library, with 16th century French Renaissancepanelling covering the walls. On the opposite side was the 33-by-18-foot (10.1 m × 5.5 m) parlor. It featured panelling in walnut, carved in the style ofGrinling Gibbons. Next to the parlor was theLouis Quinze-style 33-by-38-foot (10 m × 12 m) salon, designed and built in Paris byJules Allard. This room helped launch the taste in New York for French 18th century-style interiors. Its most important piece of furniture was an ebony secretary, now in theMetropolitan Museum of Art, that was built byJean Henri Riesener for the use ofMarie Antoinette at theChâteau de Saint-Cloud. The focal point of the salon was the ceiling, painted with a mythological scenes byPaul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry. He had recently completed ceiling paintings for thePalais Garnier.[8] Beyond the salon was the 20-by-27-foot (6.1 m × 8.2 m) breakfast room and an adjoining butler's pantry. At the western end of the grand hall one entered the banquet hall. At 50 by 35 feet (15 m × 11 m) and two stories high, it was the largest room in the house. It was Gothic in style, with seven foot highwainscoting, topped with Caen stone walls. One end of the room contained a massive double fireplace with marblecaryatids supporting an oak over-mantel byKarl Bitter. A second floor gallery topped the fireplace ensemble. The opposite end of the room featured a musicians gallery. The banquet hall was illuminated by a large stained glass window by Eugène Oudinot.[4]
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