- Villard Houses
Infobox_nrhp | name =Villard Houses
nrhp_type =
caption = Exterior of the Villard Houses
location= 29 1/2 50th Street, 24--26 East 51st Street, and 451, 453, 455, and 457 Madison Avevenue,New York, New York
lat_degrees = 40 | lat_minutes = 45 | lat_seconds = 29.22 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73 | long_minutes = 58 | long_seconds = 30.91 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1882
architect= McKim, Mead & White
architecture= Renaissance, Other
added =September 02 ,1975
governing_body = Private
refnum=75001210 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The Villard Houses are located at 451 Madison Avenue in the Manhattan Borough of New York City between 50th and 51st Street. The building was constructed in 1884, designed by the architecture firmMcKim, Mead and White three years after they started their company. The houses were commissioned byHenry Villard , then president of theNorthern Pacific Railway , shortly before his railroad empire began to crumble. Ownership of the building changed through many hands throughout the century.In 1968, the
Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the complex an historical landmark. Restoration and construction for a new hotel complex was proposed by real estate developer Harry B. Helmsley who constructed the 51-story Palace Hotel tower directly behind the original building. The project was designed by architectsEmery Roth & Sons andHardy Holzman Pfeiffer in 1977 and completed in 1980. [1]The original building was restored in 2003 and office space was furnished for city preservation group The Municipal Art Society, as part of an agreement to save the building from demolition. Exterior shots are used on the TV series "
Gossip Girl " as the hotel where the van der Woodsen family lives.Notes
External links
* [http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4354 Villard Houses] Wired New York -
December 21 , 2003
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06EEDB1E3CF932A15751C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink] The New York Times -December 21, 2003
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
