Stanford White
Personal information
Name	Stanford White
Nationality	American
Birth date	November 9, 1853(1853-11-09)
Birth place	New York City, New York, USA
Date of death	June 25, 1906 (aged 52)
Place of death	Manhattan, New York City, New York State
Work
Significant buildings	Rosecliff Washington Square Arch New York Herald Building Savoyard Centre - Detroit

Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 524 - Battle of Vézeronce, the Franks defeat the Burgundians Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Manhattan Island, in New York Harbor, is much the largest part of the Borough of Manhattan, one of the Five Boroughs which form the City of New York The City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Rosecliff, built 1898-1902 is one of the Gilded Age Mansions ref>Newport summer houses were always referred to as "cottages" no matter how grand they were See Washington Square Park (disambiguation Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City 's 1700 public The New York Herald was a large distribution Newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835 and 1924 Savoyard Centre (1900 also known as State Savings Bank, is an office building at 151 Fort Street in Detroit, Michigan. Events 694 - Egica, a king of the Visigoths of Hispania, accuses Jews of aiding Muslims sentencing all Year 1853 ( MDCCCLIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 524 - Battle of Vézeronce, the Franks defeat the Burgundians Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction McKim Mead and White was a prominent architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century Beaux Arts architecture denotes the academic classical Architectural style that was taught at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found to this day in places like Sea Gate, Brooklyn. Sea Gate is a private gated community that was built at the far western end of Coney Island at the southern tip of the New York City borough of His design principles embodied the "American Renaissance". This article is all about the American Renaissance in architecture and the arts In 1906 White was murdered by millionaire Harry K. Thaw, leading to a widely-reported trial.

Birth

Stanford White was the son of Shakespearean scholar Richard Grant White and Alexina Black Mease (1830–1921). William Shakespeare ( baptised Richard Grant White ( 23 May 1822 &ndash 8 April 1885) was a Shakespearean scholar who was born and died in New York

McKim, Mead and White

Washington Square Arch

A quote by Stanford White: Two men set off to build a dream; for one it ended with a scheme. See Washington Square Park (disambiguation Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City 's 1700 public The other saw the scheme as part and portion of the work of art. For the one the dream was finished when; the drawings were done. He laid down his pen. The other made the dream complete; with bricks and mortar and concrete. Some argue that an architect; should stick to plans and not erect. But we prefer to build our plans; not trusting them to others’ hands. If our approach to some is new; submit this history for review ‘Twas in the 16th century; the Vatican sought to build, you see. They hired a master builder who; would draw the plans – then see it through.

Stanford White's architectural career began as the principal assistant to Henry Hobson Richardson, the greatest American architect of the day, creator of a style recognized today as "Richardsonian Romanesque. Henry Hobson Richardson ( September 29, 1838 &ndash April 27, 1886) was a prominent American Architect of the 19th Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of American Architecture named after Architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity " In 1878, White embarked for a year and a half in Europe, and when he returned to New York in September 1879, he joined Charles Follen McKim and William Rutherford Mead to form McKim, Mead and White. Charles Follen McKim ( August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was one of the most prominent American Beaux-Arts Architects William Rutherford Mead (1846 &ndash 1928 was an American Engineer, a part of the McKim Mead and White firm McKim Mead and White was a prominent architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century

White designed the second Madison Square Garden (1890; demolished in 1925), The Cable Building—the Broadway cable car power station (611 Broadway, 1892), Madison Square Presbyterian Church, the New York Herald Building (1894; demolished), the First Bowery Savings Bank, at the Bowery and Grand Street, 1894, Washington Square Arch (1889), Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square, and the Century Club, all in New York City. Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four Arenas in New York City. The Bowery Savings Bank of New York City was chartered in May of 1834 and was changed in November 1985 to The State Bowery Savings Bank Bowery (ˈbaʊɚi or /ˈbaʊri/ is the name of a street and a small neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. See Washington Square Park (disambiguation Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City 's 1700 public The Judson Memorial Church is located in Greenwich Village of Manhattan on the south side of Washington Square Park. The City of New York He helped develop Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower (his last design). Wardenclyffe Tower (1901 &ndash 1917 also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early Wireless Telecommunications Aerial tower designed by White designed the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland (1887), now Lovely Lane United Methodist Church. He also built Cocke, Rouss, and Old Cabell Halls at the University of Virginia and rebuilt The Rotunda (University of Virginia) in 1898 after it burned down three years earlier (his re-creation was later reverted back to Thomas Jefferson's original design for the United States Bicentennial in 1976). The University of Virginia (also called UVa, UVA, Mr Jefferson's University, or The University) is a highly selective public research The Rotunda is a building located on the grounds of the University of Virginia. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence The United States Bicentennial was celebrated on Sunday July 4, 1976, the 200th Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence He also designed the Blair Mansion at 7711 Eastern Ave. in Silver Spring Md now being used as a Restaurant.

McKim, Mead and White also designed the American Academy in Rome, which crowns the Gianicolo hill, and looks across the city to the Villa Medici and the Borghese gardens. An imposing edifice, the American Academy is built in the style of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the north and south wings of which McKim, Mead, and White designed in 1911.

Homes and cottages

In the division of projects within the firm, the social and gregarious White landed the majority of commissions for private houses. His fluent draftsmanship was highly convincing to clients who might not get much visceral understanding from a floorplan, and his intuition and facility caught the mood. White's Long Island houses have survived well, despite the loss of Harbor Hill in 1947, originally set on 688 acres (2. Long Island is an island located in southeastern New York, USA, its western shores directly across from Manhattan, from which the island stretches Harbor Hill was a spectacular Long Island mansion built from 1899-1902 in Roslyn New York, commissioned by Clarence Hungerford Mackay. 78 km²) in Roslyn. Roslyn (/ROHZ-lin/ is a Village in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. White's homes are of three types, depending on their locations: Gold Coast chateaux, neo-Colonial structures in the neighborhood of his own house at "Box Hill" in Smithtown (White's wife was a Smith), and the South Fork houses from Southampton to Montauk Point. For other senses of this word see Château (disambiguation. A château (plural châteaux) is a Manor house or residence Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England Montauk Point State Park is located in the hamlet of Montauk at the eastern tip of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York.

Among his Newport "cottages", Rosecliff (for Mrs. Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles (48 km south of Providence Rosecliff, built 1898-1902 is one of the Gilded Age Mansions ref>Newport summer houses were always referred to as "cottages" no matter how grand they were Hermann Oelrichs, 1898-1902) adapted Mansart's Grand Trianon, but provided this house built for receptions, dinners and dances with fluent spatial planning and well-contrived dramatic internal views en filade. Hermann Oelrichs (born June 8, 1850, Baltimore Maryland, died September 1, 1906, aboard SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse Jules Hardouin-Mansart (Paris April 16, 1646 &ndash Marly-le-Roi, France May 11, 1708) was a French Architect whose The Grand Trianon was built in Versailles by Louis XIV, and it was designed to be a place where he and his close family could escape from the hectic life of court at the

Metcalfe House floorplan: the simplest Stanford White plan still provided a separate double circulation for servants, in the L-shaped Back Hall

In his "informal" shingled cottages, there were usually double corridors for separate circulation, (illustration, left) so that a guest never bumped into a laundress with a basket of bed linens. Bedrooms were characteristically separated from hallways by a dressing-room foyer lined with closets, so that an inner door and an outer door give superb privacy (still the mark of a really good hotel). White lived the same life as his clients, not quite so lavishly perhaps, and he knew how the house had to perform: like a first-rate hotel, theater foyer, or a theater set with appropriate historical references. White was an apt designer, who was ready to do a cover for Scribner's Magazine or design a pedestal for his friend Augustus Saint-Gaudens' sculpture. Augustus Saint-Gaudens ( Dublin, March 1, 1848 &ndash Cornish New Hampshire, August 3, 1907) was the Irish He extended the limits of architectural services to include interior decoration, dealing in art and antiques, and even planning and designing parties. Interior decoration or decor is the Art of decorating a room so that it is attractive easy to use and functions well with the existing Architecture He collected paintings, pottery, and tapestries. Tapestry is a form of Textile art. It is woven by hand on a vertical Loom. If White could not procure the right antiques for his interiors, he would sketch neo-Georgian standing electroliers or a Renaissance library table. Electrolier was the name for a fixture usually pendent from the ceiling for holding electric lamps The word is analogous to Chandelier, from which it was formed Outgoing and social, he possessed a large circle of friends and acquaintances, many of whom became clients. White had a major influence in the "Shingle Style" of the 1880s, on Neo-Colonial style, and the Newport cottages for which he is celebrated. The Queen Anne Style is a style of architecture, furniture and decoration that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century manifesting itself in

Mansions and social clubs

Clubhouse of the Atlantic Yacht Club at Seagate, as it appeared in the 1890s. The Atlantic Yacht Club is a family-oriented yacht club located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn. Photo by John S. Johnston. John S Johnston (c1839- December 17 1899 was a late 19th-century maritime and Landscape Photographer.

He designed and decorated Fifth Avenue mansions for the Astors, the Vanderbilts (in 1905), and other high society families. The Astor family is a significant Anglo - American family of German descent notable for their prominence in Business, society, and This article details the family of Cornelius Vanderbilt For other uses see Vanderbilt (disambiguation. His Washington Square Arch still stands in Washington Square Park, and so do many of his clubs, which were focal points of New York society: the Century, Metropolitan, Players, Lambs, Colony and Harmony clubs. See Washington Square Park (disambiguation Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City 's 1700 public See Washington Square Park (disambiguation Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City 's 1700 public His clubhouse for the Atlantic Yacht Club, built in 1894 overlooking Gravesend Bay, burned down in 1934. The Atlantic Yacht Club is a family-oriented yacht club located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn. Gravesend (pronounced "GRAVES end" not "grave SEND" is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn Sons of society families also resided in White's St. Anthony Hall Chapter House at Williams College (now occupied by college offices). St Anthony Hall, also known as Saint Anthony Hall and The Order of St [1][2] Pictured at: [3]

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. Seville ( Spanish: Sevilla, see also different names) is the artistic cultural and financial capital of southern Spain. The red velvet swing became a focal point of press coverage of the trial.

Death

During the suggestive chorus song, "I Could Love a Million Girls," at the premiere performance of the musical revue Mam'zelle Champagne at the Madison Square Roof Garden (a building that he had designed 15 years previously), White was shot point blank in the face and killed by Harry K. Thaw. Mam'zelle Champagne was a musical revue with book by Edgar Allan Woolf, music by Cassius Freeborn, produced by Henry Pincus which opened June 25 Thaw was the jealous millionaire husband of Evelyn Nesbit, a popular actress and artist's model, with whom White had a manipulative and sexual relationship when she was 16 (to his 47). (Florence Evelyn Nesbit ( December 25, 1884 &ndash January 17, 1967) was an American artists' model and chorus girl The initial reaction was one of good cheer as elaborate party tricks amongst the upper echelon of New York Society were common at the time. However, when it became apparent that White was dead, hysteria ensued. William Randolph Hearst's newspapers sensationalized the murder, and it became known as the Trial of the Century. For other people named William Randolph Hearst see William Randolph Hearst (disambiguation William Randolph Hearst I (April 29 1863 &ndash Trial of the century is an Idiomatic phrase used to describe certain well-known court cases Years later, White's son, Lawrence Grant White would write bitterly, "On the night of June 25th, 1906, while attending a performance at Madison Square Garden, Stanford White was shot from behind [by] a crazed profligate whose great wealth was used to besmirch his victim's memory during the series of notorious trials that ensued. " White was buried in St. James, New York. St James is a Census-designated place (CDP in Suffolk County, New York, United States.

Archives

White's extensive professional outgoing correspondence and a small body of architectural drawings for his own residences are held by the Drawings and Archives Department of Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University. The Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library is one of twenty-five libraries in the Columbia University Library System and is located in Avery Hall on the Morningside Heights Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. The major archive for his firm, McKim, Mead & White, is held by the New-York Historical Society. The New-York Historical Society is an American organization located in New York City and dedicated to the preservation of the city's history

Photo gallery

Sculpture in Madison Square. Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan

Plaque at the base of the sculpture in Madison Square,

New York American on June 25, 1906. Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan

Fictional works based at least in part on the Thaw/White murder

• The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955 movie)
• The 1975 historical fiction novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow was adapted into the two below works:
  • The film Ragtime. Ragtime is a 1975 Novel by E L Doctorow. This work of Historical fiction is mostly set in New York City from about Edgar Lawrence Doctorow (born January 6, 1931, New York New York) is an American Author whose critically acclaimed and award winning fiction Ragtime is a 1981 motion picture based on the Historical novel Ragtime by E
  • The musical Ragtime. Ragtime is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and music by Stephen Flaherty.
• "Dementia Americana" - A long narrative poem by Keith Maillard (1994)
• My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon – play by Don Nigro
• La fille coupée en deux – movie by Claude Chabrol (2007)

A fictionalized Thaw also appears in Jed Rubenfeld's 2006 novel The Interpretation Of Murder. Keith Maillard (born 28 February 1942 in Wheeling, West Virginia) is a Fiction author and Poet. Don Nigro is an American playwright his plays Anima Mundi and The Dark Sonnets of the Lady have both been nominated for the National Repertory Theatre Foundation's Claude Chabrol (klod ʃaˈbʁɔl in French (born 24 June 1930 Paris) is a French film director and has become well-known since his first film Jed Rubenfeld is the Robert R Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale Law School.

Notes

The building in which White maintained his "love nest", including the notorious red velvet swing on which he seduced Evelyn Nesbit, stood at 22 West 24th Street in Manhattan. (This building was not designed or constructed by White. ) In October 2007, the building (more than 100 years old) abruptly collapsed; fortunately it was unoccupied at the time, and there were no injuries.

References and further reading

The "White Literature"

• Baker, Paul R. , Stanny: The Gilded Life of Stanford White, The Free Press, NY 1989
• Collins, Frederick L. , Glamorous Sinners
• Lessard, Suzannah, The Architect of Desire: Beauty and Danger in the Stanford White Family, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1997 (written by White's great-granddaughter, a Whiting Award-winning writer for The New Yorker)
• Langford, Gerald, The Murder of Stanford White
• Mooney, Michael, Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White: Love and Death in the Gilded Age
• Roth, Leland M. , McKim, Mead & White, Architects, Harper & Row, Publishers, NY 1983
• Samuels, Charles, The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
• Thaw, Evelyn Nesbit, The Story of My Life 1914
• Thaw, Evelyn Nesbit, Prodigal Days 1934
• Thaw, Harry, The Traitor
• Uruburu, Paula, American Eve Riverhead 2008

Architecture

• Samuel G. White, with Jonathan Wallen (photographer), The Houses of McKim, Mead and White 1998. Lavish illustrations.
• Wayne Craven, Stanford White: Decorator in Opulence and Dealer in Antiquities, 2005. Stanford White as an interior decorator and a dealer in the fine and decorative arts

External links

• Colorized photo of Stanford White
• Randall's Lost New York City Cable Building is included as a special resource.
• "Stanford White on Long Island" a museum essay on White's residential projects
• "Harry Thaw's trial" Scans of a dinner program with Jurists autographs
• New York Architecture Images-New York Architects-McKim, Mead, and White Firm history with images
• Stanford White's Gravesite