James B. Duke House

James B. Duke House
James B. Duke House
Location 1 E. 78th St., New York, New York
Coordinates 40°46′35″N 73°57′50″W / 40.77639°N 73.96389°WCoordinates: 40°46′35″N 73°57′50″W / 40.77639°N 73.96389°W
Area less than one acre
Built 1909
Architect Trumbauer, Horace
Architectural style French Classical/Louis XV
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 77000956[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP November 10, 1977
Designated NYCL September 15, 1970

The James B. Duke House is located at 1 East 78th Street, on the northeast corner at Fifth Avenue, in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. The house is one of the great extant mansions from "Millionaire's Row". James Buchanan Duke was one of the founding partners of American Tobacco Company and the owner of Duke Power.

History

Architect Horace Trumbauer's design of the house drew heavily upon the Hôtel Labottière (1773), Bordeaux, by the Bordeaux architect Etienne Laclotte, architect of numerous hôtels particulières in Bordeaux.[2] The similar treatment of the central bay with its recessed entrance and window on the piano nobile, and the channeled rustication are particularly salient features shared by both urban town houses.

Construction was completed in 1912, and the three members of the Duke family—James B., his wife Nanaline, and their daughter Doris—lived there with their staff part of the year. In 1952, Nanaline and Doris donated the building to New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. Robert Venturi renovated the building for academic use in 1958. The main reception rooms on the ground floor retain many of the original furnishings and decorations, while the Institute's library and faculty offices have colonized the eight bedrooms of the second floor and the servants' quarters on the third floor.[3]

A Landmarks of New York plaque was erected in 1959 by the New York Community Trust. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.[1]

The engagement party scene in the film Arthur was filmed here in 1980/81. In March 2007, the pilot for the ABC drama Dirty Sexy Money was filmed here.

See also

References

Notes

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Further reading

External links

Media related to James B. Duke House at Wikimedia Commons