Rhinelander Mansion
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Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House
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(2010)
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| Location | 867 Madison Avenue Manhattan, New York City |
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| Coordinates | 40°46′18″N 73°57′58″W / 40.77167°N 73.96611°WCoordinates: 40°46′18″N 73°57′58″W / 40.77167°N 73.96611°W |
| Built | 1895–98 |
| Architect | Kimball & Thompson |
| Architectural style | French Renaissance |
| NRHP Reference # | 80002727 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 6, 1980 |
| Designated NYCL | July 13, 1976 |
The Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House is a French Renaissance revival mansion located at 867 Madison Avenue on the corner of East 72nd Street in the Lenox Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Completed in 1898, it was designed by the architecture firm of Kimball & Thompson and has been more specifically credited to Alexander Mackintosh, a British-born architect who worked for Kimball & Thompson from 1893 until 1898.
Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo, the New York heiress who commissioned the mansion, never actually moved in.
The mansion was modeled on the chateaux of the Loire Valley in France. Architecture critic Henry Hope Reed Jr. has observed about it:
The fortress heritage of the rural, royal residences of the Loire was not lost in the transfer to New York. The roof-line is very fine....The Gothic is found in the high-pitched roof of slate, the high, ornate dormers and the tall chimneys. The enrichment is early Renaissance, especially at the center dormers on both facades of the building, which boast colonnettes, broken entablatures, finials on high bases, finials in relief and volutes. In fact, although the dormers are ebullient, ornamentation is everywhere, even in the diamond-shaped pattern in relief on the chimneys (traceable to Chambord).
The first floor was a large center hall with rooms on each side for reception and servants activities. The second floor housed the main salon, the dining room and the butler's pantry. The third floor was where the master bedroom was located while the fourth floor housed the servants quarters and guest bedrooms.
Although the house had been commissioned by Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo, the eccentric heiress never moved into it, preferring to live across the street. The building remained vacant until 1921, at which time the first floor was converted into stores and two apartments were carved out of the upper four floors. Commercial enterprises which have used the location at various times include an antique store, Christie's auction house and a Zabar's-owned restaurant.
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