Stanford White

Stanford White (September 11, 1853 - June 25, 1906) was an American architect and the "celebrity" partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of formal and informal houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings. His design principles embodied the "American Renaissance". His personality outshone his partner Charles Follen McKim now seen as every bit White's equal as an architect, and his scandalous sex life eclipsed everything, for those who have no taste for architecture.

Mansions and social clubs

He designed and decorated spectacular Fifth Avenue mansions for the Astors, the Vanderbilts (in 1905), and other high society families. His Washington Square Arch still stands (see illustration), and so do many of his clubs, which were focal points of New York society: the Century, Metropolitan, Players, Lambs, Colony and Harmony clubs. He was noted for his womanizing and installed a red velvet swing in his bachelor-like apartment in the "Giralda" tower at old Madison Square Garden, where he entertained young women. The red velvet swing became a focal point of press coverage of the trial.

Related Topics:
Fifth Avenue - Astor - Vanderbilt - 1905 - ''see illustration'' - "Giralda" tower

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