Nathaniel L. McCready House

The Nathaniel L. McCready House, also known as the Harkness Mansion, is a mansion at 4 East 75th Street on the Upper East Side of New York City. Completed in 1896 for Nathaniel L’Hommediue McCready, Jr., during the twentieth century it was occupied by Thomas J. Watson, Rebekah Harkness, whose name became associated with the building when she used it as the offices of the Harkness Ballet. In 2011, the home was purchased by Larry Gagosian, who demolished the mansion's interior.

Not to be confused with the Edward S. Harkness House, also called the Harkness Mansion.

Construction

The mansion was built for Nathaniel L’Hommediue McCready, Jr., a stockbroker, and his wife, Jeanne Borrowe McCready.[1] The McCreadies purchased two plots on 75th Street in 1894, and commissioned Trowbridge, Colt & Livingston to design a 50-foot (15 m)-wide French Renaissance-inspired mansion.[1] The building was completed in January 1896 with interior floor space of 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2). The building's limestone facade a second-story iron balcony are characteristic of many houses constructed on the same block in following decades.[2]

Ownership

The house was sold to V. Everit Macy and Edith Carpenter Macy in 1917, who converted it to a rest house for American combatants in World War I.[1] After the war, the house passed to Stanley Mortimer and Elizabeth Livingston Hall. They redecorated the home with Stanley Mortimer's art collection.[1]

In 1940, the house was sold to Thomas J. Watson, founder of IBM.[3] During his residence there, Watson used the house to entertain heads of state from the United Kingdom, Greece, Brazil, and Uruguay.[1] Watson died in 1956 and the home was sold to Eva Fox, widow of Hollywood producer William Fox.

The property became known as the Harkness Mansion when it was sold to Rebekah Harkness in 1964.[4]:445 Harkness' uncle-in-law, Edward S. Harkness, had established a mansion across the street about 50 years before.[2] She used the home to host the Harkness Ballet and other cultural pursuits, but disbanded the ballet in 1975.[5]:445

In 1987, the home was sold to Jean Doumanian, a film producer, who began renovating it in 2001.[2] In 2006, the home was sold for $53 million to J. Christopher Flowers, a private equity broker, who began an interior renovation of the home.[6][7] After the housing market crash, Flowers sold the property in 2011 for $36 million to Larry Gagosian.[8][9] Gagosian, an art dealer, began a four-year gut renovation led by architect Annabelle Selldorf, demolishing the entire structure except for the limestone facade.[10] In the final months of the renovation, an ironworker was killed when he fell from a second-story balcony.[11]

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References
  1. Miller, Tom (28 February 2015). "The N. L. McCready Mansion -- No. 4 East 75th Street". Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. Gray, Christopher (25 March 2001). "Streetscapes/75th Street Between Fifth and Madison Avenue; Stately Limestone Mansions With a Sense of History". New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  3. "Upper East Side Historic District Designation Report" (PDF). Landmarks Preservation Commission of the City of New York. 1981. p. 751. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  4. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot & Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  5. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot & Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7.
  6. Keil, Braden (12 October 2006). "Gimme Shelter". New York Post. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  7. Abelson, Max (24 February 2009). "Record-Holding Harkness Mansion, Bought for $53 M., Asking $49.95 M". New York Observer. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  8. Kershaw, Sarah (2 September 2011). "Sold for $36,500,000". City Room. New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  9. Gould Keil, Jennifer (18 August 2011). "Art of the Deal". Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  10. Dailey, Jessica (18 January 2013). "What's Happening at Larry Gagosian's UES Megamansion?". Curbed NY. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  11. Smith, Emily (25 March 2015). "Death at Gagosian's NYC mansion". New York Post. Retrieved 18 February 2016.

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