F128 .H7H7 4^ -y^' "> •a^ • "^<'. .^ :.<^%?'t:^ -ft.. .A' »v ■^^^^ ^' ^^'% \^\ .0 ^^^ 5 * A Of. *.t %. V ^^ ^. THE GILT ROOM in cream and dull pink ; but the entire upholstering is of a character that defies comparison in the Louis Seize and Adam^s style. The furniture of this room is also a reproduction of the 2)eriod Avhich the architectural and decorative designs represent. Nothing of it is objectionable to the artistic eye : all is made in extreme simplicity, combining suffi- cient strength which is remarkable of the Louis Seize period, and it would be indeed difficult to find such a reception room in the hotels of x\merica. The utmost care was bestowed both in design and selection of materials^ and the effect produced by the grouping togetlier of so HOLLAND HOUSE beautiful a collection of semi-antique decorations, furni- ture and upliolstering is very charming. And now to the Gilt Room — a A^eritable reproduction of the Gilt Room in historic Holland House, London. The style is Elizabethan, with some additions of the Jacobean period. The wainscoting and columns are models of decorative art. Heraldic devices — representing the crests, etc., of the Earls and other principal members of the house of Holland — adorn the panels, and have a very charming effect among the medallions, jleur de lis ;and gold crown ornaments which stand so artistically against the gold and crimson back ground. The wood work and furniture are peculiarly beautiful, and the recessed or curved legs of the chairs, tables and other furniture remind one forcibly of those famous pictures of the Elizabethan period. The olden style fire places in the Gilt Room are pecu- liarly l^eautiful specimens of the decorative art. Over the mantels are some exquisite designs, some of which are copies of the celebrated paintings which adorned old Holland House. The chandeliers are of Flemish work- manshi23, and all in all, this Gilt Room is so pleasing in its artistic perfection, that one feels as if to linger there would be to experience that kind of hapj^iness which only the memories of the past can conjure u}). But, before leaving this reproduction of a room of the time when a ^'Maiden Queen" ruled England, we must BOLL AND HOUSE not "forget whereon we tread." The floor is of English parquet — the first of its kind ever hiid in the United States. And now we shall ascend towards where begins the series of magnificent sleeping apartments. At either corner on the Fifth Avenue side are Bridal suites, and these two are, without compare, the most elaborately fur- nished and decorated bridal suites in any modern hotel. One is after the Rococo style of the Louis XY period and the entire furnishings, even to the wall covering, was especially designed and manufactured in Satin Broche. Some of the hangings are in a Brussels point lace — a per- fect reproduction of the Rococo period — and this lace was made to order, to suit the designs of the Louis Quinze epoch. The brass bedsteads and furniture of this room are as perfect specimens of their kind as can be found in America ; but in evervthinp*, as well as in the fabrics and furniture, the appointments are as beautiful as possible. The other Bridal suite is tapestried and furnished in exact fac simile of the style of the Old Empire. Tlie upholstering of this suite is of an entirely new fabric, and is used here for the first time in America. It was designed for the room, and as both tlie designs and man- ufacture were executed by French tapestry-artists, the accuracy of the Empire style was assured. As in the Louis Quinze room, Brusells point lace is also used and manufactured especially to suit the exquisite design. HOLLAND HOUSE Here, also, the funiitiire is in the style of tlio period ; but there is in this bridal suite, as is there in tlie other, and in every bedroom in the hotel, an innovation in American sleeping appartments. In a corner of the room an odd looking little closet stands ; despite its oddity it is most ornamental, for the same amount of decorative art was bestowed upon it as upon the most costly decoration of the room. The use of this closet is what makes it peculiar. A petite door in the hall or corridor opens into this closet ; another opens from the sleeping room. Here the occupant of the room may place his clothes and shoes upon retiring, and in the morning he will find them again, brushed and cleaned. Truly one of the most perfect accommodations in any existing hotel. Leaving the Bridal suite, the visitor is taken through a maze of elegant bedrooms and suites. Each one is furnished and decorated in a distinctive style — in keeping Avith the individual architecture — and in each, in addition to the other elegant appointments, there is an electric indicator of peculiar construction. By means of this instrument a guest may call for upwards of sixty different articles, and it is delivered in his room as quickly as a hall boy can ascend by the splendid elevator system. Every one of the 330 bedrooms are furnished with equal excellence and elegance — each room having a HOLLAND ILOUSE distinctive style of architecture accompanied by exact fabric reproductions of tlie periods they represent. And now we shall once more enter one of the elevators and 2)ass upwards through the six stories. The Billiard Koom on the ninth floor is a feature that cannot fail to be appreciated by the guests of Holland House. These parlors are furnished in tlie simple elegance that character- izes such halls of amusement in old English mansions — magnificent billiard tables, perfect heating apparatus. From the basement, where are situated the boilers and engines, wine cellars and culinary department, up to this floor the entire building is absolutely fire-proof. This was the first consideration with the proprietors and architects, and to assure that Holland House should be as proof against fire as was possible, they had a special building material manufactured which was subjected to the most crucial test as to its fire-proof quality. These tests were satisfactory ; a special porous lining was inserted in the walls, arches and partitions to add to the indestructibility of the building ; asbestos packing was used wherever a possibility of danger of over heating from the steam pipes could be apprehended, so that, as a matter of fact, Holland House stands to-day a positively fire-proof building, as it certainly is one of the most elegant, as well as beautifully furnished hotels in existence. 'V^ A^^i ^t::rc '^c-^ ^rt: / c 1^^^^ UP FIFTH AVENUE FIFTH AVEX UE is the promenade of America. Eveiy cosmopolitan will admit that fact, whether a resident or a visitor of Xew York. In the tide of fashion that sweeps up one side and down the other, making the cobhle stones and pavements fairly pulsate with life and gayety, the handsomest private equipage, the finest horses, the best dressed men and the prettiest women in the world, may be seen any day in the week from September till July. For a distance of three miles there are not a hundred feet of unimproved property on either side of the Avenue, and there is scarcely a single house the whole length of the famous thorouo-hfare that is not in some wav individ- HOLLAND HOUSE ualized by the prominence and distinction of present or previons owners. Men and women make the history of the world, but it is in their homes that the sacred pages are preserved. Xo stranger can see Xew York without traversing- the length and breadth of Fifth Avenue, any more than the blood can complete its circulation without going through the aorta. It is the great artery of fashion, the highway of pleasure, the meridian of delight. The sybarite may make the journey in a drag, a tandem cart, or a carriage as delicately suspended as the cradle of a nobly born baby, bat the ease and elegance of all these are eclipsed by the S23lendid outlook to be had from the roof of a three- in-hand stage coach. But the uptown driver is slow, for at every corner and between corners passengers are picked u|) so deliberately, that any one with half an eye can see every thing along the way and side issues as well. The very first house on the right, facing the Arch, belonged to dear old Peter Cooper, long since canonized by the people of Xew York. A"ou can^t mistake the old mansion, with its bright red paint and bright green ivies — blood and grass. Xature's colors — the grand old humani- tarian call them — and snow white colonial columns. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, who left a leg in the Battle of Gettysburg, lives on the Xortheast corner of X^inth Street, in that tall red brick house. Tio-er lilies and tuber HOLLAND HOUSh roses gTow in the garden, the only one in all Fifth Avenne. The first chnrch on the Avenne is the Ascension, very high socially and financially as well as in ritnal It was to Miss Jnlia Rhinelandei% who died abroad in 1890, that this chnrch is indebted for the magnificent painting of the Ascension which adorns the chancel and on which La Farge worked steadily for two years The First Presbyterian Chnrch has a frontage of an entire l^lock from Eleventh to Twelfth Streets. Xo. 60 is the city house of Mr. Edward F. Searle, who married Mrs. Hopkins from whom he inherited the fabu- lous sum of $30,000,000, It is a square building sur- rounded by an iron fence and a woven wire screen, and ten months in the year remains as closely barred as a 23rison. The residence of the late August Belmont stands at Xo. 109, and directly opposite is Chickering Hall where some of the greatest geniuses of the century made their first appearance before an American audience, to read, lecture, speak, sing or perform. Arthur Burden Townsend's house is Xo. 131, James Arthur Burden and family live at Xo. 139, and just off the Avenue, one house west in Twenty-second Street, stands a tall brown building with an annex over which a knotted wisteria lovingly entwines its cool green arms. Here S. F. B. Morse, the great telegrapher, lived for years with his study in the vine-draped annex, and here HOLLAND LLOUSE he died and was honored with all the ceremony and pomp the world can pay to greatness. Xo. 141 is the city home of the Cuttings, and Xo. 143 is the residence of Clarence A. Seward. Unquestionably the greatest thoroughfare on the Western Continent is at the junction of Fifth Avenue, Broadway and Twenty-third Street, where at certain hours of the working day upwards of 800,000 human beings are swept })ast in the tide of travel forever rolling on towards the goal of Eternity. At this busy point Madison Square charms the sight, for here the grass is green and lovely the entire year, as if to rest the eye of the world weary. Here the children play and mock the birds and chase the butterflies ; here the smartest nurse maids in America may be seen, and here the gentle and gifted George Francis Train sits by the hour, day after day, charming the birds out of their nests and the babies out of their wagons with the magic of his voice and the treasures of his pockets. AV. H. Seward, in all the nobility of state, sits at one corner of the Square ; opposite stands Farragut in bronze, on one of the most classic pedestals St. Gaudens ever designed ; across the Avenue is the General Worth mono- lith, with his Mexican victories written in granite, while one block to the right is the Madison Square Garden, with its sky scraping tower and minaret as clear as a cameo cut against the landscape. This - is one of the magnificent HOLLAND HOUSE buildings of the city, and perhaps the largest music hall in the world. The only private residence between Twenty-third and Twenty-eighth Streets is No. 244, the town house of Mrs. Paran Steyens, a lady who is a millionaire a dozen times oyer. In the corner of Twenty-ninth Street is the Calumet Club in the yery shadow of which nestles the Little Church Round the Coi'ner, where tlie birds and the flowers make the air musical and sweet, and Avhere so many mortals haye been married, or chanted to the Narrow house, softly, tenderly and lovingly. The Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, organized in 1G28, is on the north-west corner of Twenty- ninth Street. It was chartered by William III in 1G96, and the old bell cast in Amsterdam two-hundred years ago ornaments the church yard. It is the goodly neighbor of Holland House, and on its Dutch oak door is the benignant ^" all are welcome.'' Mrs. William Astor's house No. 350, while a most unpretentious building, is a perfect store house of old bronzes, tapestries, marbles and rare paintings. This lady never refurnishes or remodels, being content with the mellow tones time puts on her belongings. Across Thirty-fourth Street is the marble mansion of the late Alexander T. Stewart, now the magnificent home of the Manhattan Club, separated from the exclusive Knickerbockers by an art gallery. HOLLAND HOUSE Mrs. Coleman Dravtou, nee Astor, makes her home in the city at Xo. 37-4. Mrs. S. S. Whiting and her daughters live next door ; the Kernochan family own ]^o. 384. Col. Eobert CI. IngersoU's, No. 400, is one of the happy homes in Xew York, culture rather than fashion being the characteristic of the people who frequent it. At Xo. 414 lives Mrs. Orme AYilson, one of Mrs. Astor's daughters ; at Xo. 417, Laurence Turnure ; at 421 Judge G. P. Andrews ; at 425, Austin Corl)in, and at Xo. 429 lives Henry Berg, nej^hew and heir of the humanitarian. The Pells live in Nos. 436 and 438, and on the corner of Fortieth Street, No. 459, is the beautiful home of Frederick AV. Vanderbilt, where his father lived before the brown stone palace up the Avenue was ever thought about. Before giving it to his son, W. H. Vanderbilt had it remodeled, and a fortune was spent on the finishings, which are elaborately designed in oak, mahogany and other rich Avoods. Passing the Union League Club, corner Thirty-ninth Street, and the Republican Club, the sumptuous homes of the Misses Furness, the Kingslands and the Kipps, brings the stage coach to the old Croton aqueduct, which makes the eastern boundary of Bryant Park. On the east side of the Avenue, just above Forty- second Street, stands the brown stone house William M. Tweed spent a quarter of a million fitting up in French HOLLAND HOUSE style, and which could not hold the avalanche of wedding- gifts that were sent the time of his daughter's marriage. At Xo. 501 is the Drawing-Room Club where tlie ultra fashionables meet weekly in faultless dress for their salon. Century Club has its entrance at No. 7 West Forty-third Street ; No. 500 is Eussel Sage's home, and the Church of the Heavenly Rest is between the residences of Gen. Thos. T. Eckert and John T. Sherman. Temple Emanuel, between Forty-third and Forty-fourth Streets, is the pride of the gifted Rabbi, Lewis May. At 538, the Fourth Universalist, Dr. C. H. Eaton is authority, and Jay Gould's 1700,000 brown stone is on the north- east corner of Forty-seventh Street, perfumed and beauti- fied by the hybrid roses and rare orchids brought daily from his country seat at Tarrytown. Mrs. George Gould's residence, the gift of her father-in-law, is the first house in East Forty-seventh Street, where the world renowned stock broker and railroad builder spends much of his leisure. At No. 583 the Roosevelts live ; No. 608 shelters the family of Ogden Goelet. which contains some priceless stained glass windows and transome. When in town Gen. Daniel Butterfield holds court at No. 616, and is a prominent figure in the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, located on the corner of Forty-sixth Street. Occupying the block between Fiftieth and Ffty-first Streets is St. Patrick's Cathedral, with its two lofty and HOLLAND HOUSE graceful spires ; it is built of gleaming white marble^ and is a most magnificent S23ecimen of architecture^, and by far the handsomest place of worship in America, 15,000 is its average congregation every Sunday. Back of this stately pile is the Archbishop's palace where all the visiting- dignitaries of the Church of Kome are entertained. The Vanderbilt mansions are on the west side of Fifth Avenue between Fifty-first and Fifty-second Streets. Mrs. W, K. Vanderbilt occupies one house with her bachelor son. Some idea of the magnificence of this house may be inferred from the fact that $1,000,000 Avas spent on the interior. Mrs. W. D. Sloane and Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard live in the adjoining houses, and across the street is the home of W. K. Vanderbilt who spent 1500,000 fitting up the white stone. One white marble mantle alone cost 113,000, it being a IGth century design, but reproduced by an Ameri- can artist. Mrs. Seward Webb and Mrs. McK. 'J'wombly, also Vanderbilts, live on the same side of the Avenue, just above St. Thomas's church. Mrs. Twombly's upper rooms are especially fine ; the Swiss w^ood carvings having been done abroad. Her dining-room is a reproduction of the one in Fontainbleau, once the pride of the first Napoleon. Mrs. Webb receives her guests in a lOtli Century di-a\ving- room done in white and gold. HOLLAND HOUSE Often during the season these two palatial houses are thrown into one for grand entertainments. Mrs. Twombly^s near neighbor is no other than John Rockfeller, of Standard Oil fame. Wm. Eockfeller's house is Xo. 039. Opposite the St. Luke's Hospital is the home of Calvin E. Bryce, and almost adjoining Dr. Hall's church is the private stable of Robert Bonner, where Maud S, the queen of the turf, lives, in a box stall of Georgia pine, with two grooms to care for her. Rev. John Hall's liome is considered the handsomest church house in Gotham. Ex-Secretary AYhitney's house is on the south-west corner of Fifty-seventh Street, and facing it is Cornelius Yan- derbilt's, both enveloped in Japanese ivy. The very Egyptian looking house on the south-east corner belongs to C. P. Huntington, which promises to eclipse, in magnifi- cence, everything in town. The wood carvings alone will take two years to complete ; the hangings are being made in India, and for the Turkish bath, not only the designs have been imported, but the natives who are to manage it. The last house on the Avenue is the home of the Veteran Club of the Seventh Regiment, and over the Plaza is the Central Park entrance, in and out of which rolls \'anity Fair iu the chariots of pleasure. CONSTRUCTORS AND FURNISHERS. architects. Geo. Ed. Harding & Gooch. GENERAL CONTRACTORS. C. (iraliam Sons & Co. STONE WORK. B. A. & G. N. Williams. CEMENT. J. B. King & Co. PAVING. Matt Taylor Paving- Co, TERRA COTTA WORK. Union Terra Lumber Cotta Co. BLUE STONE. W. S. Williams, Jr. MARBLE WORK Batterson, See & Eisele. STEAM FITTING. J S. Haley & Co. ELEVATORS. McAdams & Cartvvright. MOSAIC. The J. L. Mott Iron Works. Italian Marble Co. STEAM PUMPS. Henry Worth ington. DECORATOR. J. T. Hall. BRONZE WORK, PLUMBING SUPPLY &. ORNAMENTAL TILE WORK. 'I'lie J. L. Mott Iron Works. RADIATORS. Pierce Steam Heating Co. REFRIGERATORS. Lorillard Refrigerating Co. IRON PIPING. John Simmons & Co. WOOD WORK. Hall & Garrison. PLUMBERS. James Muir & Sons. EXTERIOR CORNICES, &,C H. Cary & Son. PARQUET. Prince & Muir. PLUMBER S MARBLE. P. Foley. KITCHEN. Bramball, Deane & Co. PLASTERING. Joliii Vannett. FURNITURE. DeGraaf & Taylor Co. SILVER WARE. (lorbain Mauiifaciuring Co. CARPETS AND TAPESTRIES. W. & J. Sloane. BRASS BEDSTEADS. Adams & Westlake Co. ELECTRIC LIGHT. United States Electric Co. ELECTRIC LIGHT FIXTURES. Edison General Electric Co. ELECTRIC LIGHT WIRES. Tucker k Hall. TELESEME. Ilerzog Teleseme Co. U. S. MAIL SHUTES. Cutler Manufacturing Co. GLASS. Heroy & Marrenner. GLASS WARE, ROYAL WORCESTER CHINA. Gilman Collamore & Co. LINENS. Frederick Loeser & Co. UNIFORMS. Browning, King & Co. BILLIARD TABLES. Brunsvvick-Balke-Collender Co. HARDWARE. A. G. Newman. SAFE. Marvin Safe Co. NEWS & THEATRE TICKETS Wm. Gavin & Co. LAUNDRY MACHINERY. Troy Laundry Macliiuery Co. CARRIAGES. Joseph Seaicli lK: Co. ^ ^ />//^% ^ .'^'^ r:^^k^ %^. ^ -^ "b V" ^ [)V