From the late 19th century through the early 20th, the upper echelons of American society prospered in a way the country had never seen before, allowing the largely rural young nation to elevate itself, particularly aesthetically, to the levels of sophistication found in European metropolises. During the Gilded Age, magnificent buildings inspired by old-world grandeur popped up across the United States, primarily in cities, but also in the countryside as the retreats of the wealthy. One architectural practice dominated this market—McKim, Mead & White. Established by Charles McKim, William Mead, and Stanford White in 1879, the firm quickly rose to prominence with its Beaux Arts masterpieces heavily inspired from the trio’s travels through Europe. Among their works are the original Pennsylvania Station, Columbia University’s library, and the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, not to mention the Boston Public Library; a number of grand private homes in Newport, Rhode Island; and a renovation of the White House in Washington, D.C. In 1915, a four-volume compendium of the firm’s greatest works was first published, and in November 2018, it’ll be reprinted as a single volume with an introduction by Richard Guy Wilson and an essay by Leland Roth. Here we take a peek inside McKim, Mead & White: Selected Works 1879 to 1915 ( $100, Princeton Architectural Press ).
The Washington Square Arch in New York’s Greenwich Village was designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of George Washington’s inauguration.
The Gould Memorial Library was once part of New York University’s University Heights campus in the Bronx; the institution sold this campus to the City University of New York in 1973, and it now serves as a library for the Bronx Community College.
McKim, Mead & White built this Beaux Arts private residence for F. W. Vanderbilt in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park. Today it’s a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as a historic house museum.
The palatial Boston Public Library features a cloister-style courtyard. The building was the first large-scale Beaux Arts structure in America, opened in 1895, and it set a grand precedent for urban libraries.
The University Club in New York, a prestigious private social club, is housed in an Italian Renaissance–inspired building on 54th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Many of New York’s elite families built homes in Newport, Rhode Island, which today has some of the greatest examples of Gilded Age mansions in the country, including Rosecliff, built by McKim, Mead & White for Theresa Fair Oelrichs. It was inspired by the Grand Trianon of Versailles.
Financier J. P. Morgan commissioned McKim, Mead & White to design a grand library adjacent to his townhome in New York—the result is an incredible ornate building that today belongs to the Morgan Library & Museum.
One of the greatest losses in architectural history, the original Pennsylvania Station in New York was an incredible Beaux Arts masterpiece, complete with glass domes supported by steel frames. It was demolished in 1963.
For the second iteration of Madison Square Garden in New York City (the current structure is the fourth), McKim, Mead & White designed this Moorish-influenced tower based on the Cathedral of Seville.
McKim, Mead & White: Selected Works 1879 to 1915 .
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