Monday, August 12, 2013

Joseph Raphael De Lamar House







Upon walking around the Murray Hill area of the city, I came across another gorgeous former mansion. I always tell you, in NYC, so good to just walk around and see what you find. I was blown away by the work on this place, and with my love for the Beaux-Arts style, not shocked that this was it's design. I find myself really drawn to these buildings, they are so opulent, we will never see this type of work again.

This is the Joseph Raphael De Lamar House, and in 1973 the Republic of Poland bought the mansion for $900,000.00 (good deal) to house it's Consulate General in New York.
                One of the representative rooms with ceiling paintings and gilded stucco copyright Gryffindor Wikimedia Commons
Joseph Raphael De Lamar was a Dutch born merchant seaman who made his fortune during the California Gold Rush. The mansion is located at 233 Madison Ave at the corner of 37th Street. The mansion was built in 1902-1905, designed by C.P.H. Gilbert, who was known for his design of French Gothic Architecture. 
The mansion is the largest in the Murray Hill section of Manhattan, and one of the most amazing in the city. It had me pretty speechless while I was admiring it and taking these photographs. Can you imagine living in a place like this?  
The place was built to be for De Lamar's family, but he divorced soon after it was completed. He lived there with his daughter Alice, based on the 1910 census, and about 9 servants. He died 8 years later in 1918, aged 75, and left 29 million to his daughter who lived there for a short while before moving into an apartment on Park Avenue.   
I love the cherubs on top of the doorway. So much detail are all over this fabulous piece of history. The De Lamar Mansion was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1975, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. 

Jan Karski statue in front of the mansion, a famous member of Poland's World War II underground 


Here is a wonderful article on the mansion from one of the BEST newspapers in the world, The New York Times STREETSCAPES  which makes you ooh and ahhh even more!!


Today's Words of Wisdom: Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. Frank Gehry  



Sign Up for Daily Emails
Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner
Share:

4 comments

Ivy, Phyllis and Me! said...

Good Morning Rosemary, This is a very impressive house and there is so much detail. I love what I think are cherubs above the door.... it is such a grand entrance to the house.
I felt quite sad to know De Lamar had divorced soon after building the house, as it would have taken so much time and effort to build it and then not to share it with his wife, who must have had quite a bit of input.
Best Wishes
Daphne

A Very Sweet Blog said...

What an exquisite mansion! The details inside and out are magnificent Rosemary. So gorgeous. I like that bench! I could just sit there and take it all in. HAHAHA Thanks for sharing.
http://www.averysweetblog.com/

Daryl said...

i have past there a zillion times but never gone in .. this was a wonderful post

Julie (Little Pink Rain Boots) said...

Stunning building. The cherubs over the doorway are just gorgeous. Thanks so much for following me, I love your blog and have followed back.

LittlePinkRainBoots.blogspot.com

Blog Design Created by pipdig