One of the Last Gilded Age Mansions in Manhattan: Payne Whitney Mansion

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Tour the magnificent Payne Whitney Mansion on 5th Avenue! Delve into the Gilded Age's opulence, architectural wonders, and the mansion's incredible transformation.
Location: Manhattan, NY
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William C. Whitney Mansion: • What Happened to the W...
Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress, Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, Tom Murphy VII
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[@kenziej4301]

Gawd if ever a city should’ve been preserved as once was, it’s NYC. NYC gilded age estates were so exquisite and a marvel to take in more so than a modern skyscraper.

[@MojoPin1983]

@Kenzie J *God,* not “Gawd.”

[@LarimaBeyondBorders]

@@MojoPin1983 Good Gawd and oh Lawd!!😂

[@newtexan1]

I think you mean Gaudy. Absolutely awful looking house. This was a group of people that had no taste, just money. There is no cohesion to the house whatsoever.

[@nonegone7170]

@@MojoPin1983 Doesn't matter how you spell it, still not a real thing...

[@nette9836]

​@@nonegone7170 How can you tell who is an atheist? Don't worry, they'll feel a bizaare need to tell you when someone is using a very basic word in the vernacular without any religious connotation being necessarily implied. 🙄

[@LJB103]

Unfortunately for the Whitneys, they sold the mansion without ever knowing that the "Young Archer" is not a copy but an original early Michelangelo (realized in 1996 by art historian Kathleen Weil-Garris Brandt ). Excellent video.

[@Psychol-Snooper]

Fortunate for everyone else. Otherwise it might have stayed in private hands.

[@LJB103]

@@Psychol-Snooper Or it might have gone to a museum where anyone can see it. This building is now one step removed from being "private hands."

[@Psychol-Snooper]

@@LJB103 It's in The Metropolitan Museum of Art right now, and I'm certain it will always be kept in museum whatever it's fortunes. It's not like France would sell it! XD

[@LJB103]

@@Psychol-Snooper Originally it was lent for only 10 years (2009 - 2019). I hope it's still there. France wouldn't sell it, but they probably would prefer to see it in the Louvre for their benefit and pride.

[@LJB103]

@@Psychol-Snooper Yes, but it's easier for most Americans to get to NYC than Paris. I'd like to keep it here. Of course, the British would like to have Blue Boy back in the UK, so this is another whole can of worms.

[@ricardosanfernando7378]

In Argentina we stil have houses of the gilded age and many of them are fully conserved as in their glorious days

[@jesseleeward2359]

Romania aswell has houses from that era. I don't know what it is called for other countries. But the flamboyant decor was in a few places. In Romania it was to attract tourism I think.

[@christopherkraft1327]

I'm glad to see that this lovely mansion still exists today!!! 🙂

[@ShirleeKnott]

me too!

[@arslongavitabrevis5136]

The "lovely mansion" is a pathetic, empty shell thanks to Payne Whitney's son who sold it to a developer who practically destroyed it (as always, chasing "the almighty dollar"). What is the aesthetic value of a historical mansion or palace when all its precious furnishings have been taken away? ¡ZERO! I have seen pictures of the interior and is crap!

[@Polemodrome]

And it's our culture themed building! Such a nice regalia for us, french! =p

[@marthamarlette1193]

This house was never the French Embassy. Embassies are in capital cities, such as Washington, DC. This building housed the French Consulate in New York.

[@ccnomad]

Marquee sign, 4:14, lower left.

[@arslongavitabrevis5136]

Correct, nowadays it is a cultural center run by the French embassy

[@amialal4510]

Martha Marlette. Exactly. I was going to comment on this mistake myself, and was glad to have found your comment. Thank you!

[@arslongavitabrevis5136]

@@amialal4510 You are welcome! Have a nice day!

[@gonzalogonzalez4220]

Let me add my name to the embassy/consulate error.

[@denverdubois5835]

I find it rather sad that the son sold off his parents' beautiful home instead of raising his own family there. I love a homestead that future generations can always return home to--grand mansion or humble, comfy house, it doesn't matter--it's just the idea of home that matters.

[@drinny26]

Everything ends once the inheritance hits that one family member who cares more about themselves than anyone else.

[@debbiegomez2818]

The world was changing quite a bit once the children of gilded-aged parents were in adulthood. There was also the stock market crash and a lot of families lost their wealth. By that time, the world wasn't living in such a state of decadence, and they could no longer afford the upkeep of homes like these. Not saying that's the case here but that is generally why a lot of the gilded-aged homes here in NY were not kept in the families.

[@BlackGirlLovesAnime6]

@@drinny26 why is he obligated to stay in a house he didnt choose? lol its selfish to force him to stay when he doesnt want to

[@krisvictoria3307]

Very true

[@kelb6073]

I'm sure most people would be very happy to keep a mansion, but it's not always possible. Especially back then the world was changing fast. By the early 1900s families were having a harder time keeping up with these homes and certainly by the great depression.

[@sprague49]

3:32 Son Jock Whitney coined the term 'crewcut' while on the rowing team at Yale. He was a major investor in Technicolor and Selznick International Pictures, the company that produced "Gone With The Wind". He put up half the money to secure the rights from Margaret Mitchell. Later he was appointed US Ambassador to the UK by President Eisenhower.

[@dougcargill6730]

This is actually two houses. The Whitney house is the one with the bowed front (on the right as seen from Fifth Ave). The one to the left (the Henry Cook House) still has the original Stanford White interiors and sold in 2012 for $42 million. It’s one of the most spectacular houses in NYC.

[@SOLOIIguru]

I walked by these and stopped in my tracks, I was speechless

[@kevinhanson6106]

@doug Cargill Thank you for that interesting footnote.

[@katiegrundle9900]

did i hear that right, stanford white was killed

[@darraghmallon9703]

@@katiegrundle9900 yes he was shot on the roof of madison square garden by Evelyn Nesbitt's husband, allegedly for raping her a few years before. It was a huge scandal at the time

[@KayRay424]

@@katiegrundle9900Yes…interesting story.

[@Jmpd1117]

The Michelangelo in the front hall turned out to be authentic and had been ignored until the late 1990’s when it was reassessed and is now considered so important it is on permanent loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[@garywait3231]

Thanks for another delightfully informative video. As an American cultural historian, I delight not only in the decorative aspects of your presentations, but in the light they shed on the lives of those who built and occupied these marvelous buildings. One interesting footnote to this one: Helen Hay Whitney was the daughter of John Hay, who was Lincoln's private secretary and, with John Nicolay, his co-biographer; and subsequently Ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of State under McKinley. Several years ago, I spent two summers cataloging the Hay library at his summer home, The Fells, on Lake Sunapee, N.H., where the Whitneys undoubtedly visited. The house, now restored, is open to the public, and might make a suitable subject for one of your This House episodes.

[@redstateforever]

John Hay is one of those really important historical people who no one has ever heard of.

[@catherineblack2970]

It's across the street from Central Park at 74 street and 5th avenue.

[@daradoe9415]

I enjoy all of your videos, but my favorites are the Manhattan gilded age mansions.👍

[@bally_malone8]

Incredible home

[@tudorjason]

Absolutely stunning!

[@MrMagi95]

The Michelangelo sculpture in the gallery is not a reproduction. It is genuine.

[@bobolpatrick3789]

Merci pour la découverte et vive la France !

[@chesterthawkins7510]

This luxury is beyond belief!

[@TheJojo01902]

A beautiful edifice! It’s nice to see a Manhattan mansion survive to our day structurally intact. Although it’s no longer a residence, it serves an important purpose as an embassy.

[@noureddinenewyorkcity9456]

FYI, like all embassies, the French Embassy is in Washington DC. Greetings to you, all.

[@rebeccablakey2637]

This home was so tastefully decorated and very thoughtfully built. Amazing that the home is still standing and is repurposed.

[@bambinaforever1402]

Tastefully? 🤮it looks awful

[@jonathanbowen3640]

Gilded age was renowned for being often vulgar and new money.

[@helendavies1326]

I appreciate that this was a different age, but what went through my mind was money evidently does not buy taste!

[@danamarcotteseiler7423]

​@Helen Davies everyone's taste different

[@kayregulski6828]

Totally awesome!

[@sergpie]

Some of these mansions in Manhattan are selling for upwards of $40,000,000. Absolutely insane, but nevertheless stunning abodes.

[@Beachdudeca]

I’m thinking the ground alone if they come with Air Rights would bring 40 MLN

[@sergpie]

@@Beachdudeca I'd think so, too, but a couple of them are completely turn-key and have been left with interiors bereft of anything. The NYC market is insane..

[@yvonneplant9434]

A lot of money...but nothing like them will ever be built again.

[@rosajimenez7777]

you can imagine the upkeep and taxes of those homes, you need to be a billionaire to afford them.

[@sweetz187]

@@yvonneplant9434 sadly you’re correct….now cookie cutter houses are built. No more real craftsmanship!

[@esteban1487]

First: Be born into a lot of money.

[@christinebenson518]

Second: have someone else pay for building and furnishing the home

[@LJB103]

Or..."rise early, work hard, strike oil (J. Paul Getty)"

[@LJB103]

@@christinebenson518 Remember, he and his sister Pauline would inherit the bulk of their uncle's fortune when he gave the ultimatum of supporting him or their father when he married a second time.

[@paco7992]

There is no second.

[@rickbrant4285]

Oh yes there us........KNOW someone politically powerful.... the original money came from US Government contracts! Kinda like Hunter Biden's connections have made him 10s of millions

[@huchlvr]

Both of them have Cleveland, OH ancestry. Helen Hay was the daughter of John Hay (Lincoln's secretary) and Clara Stone. Her father was Amasa Stone and her sister & BIL were Flora Stone Mather & Samuel Mather. Their Cleveland Gilded Age mansion still survives what's left of Millionaire's Row (Euclid Ave.). All of them are buried at Lake View Cemetery. . William Payne Whitney was the grandson of Mary Perry and Henry Payne. They were part of the famous Perry Naval family, which includes Oliver Hazard Perry and Nathan Perry. Most of the older members of the Perry/Payne family were born in Cleveland, but then moved to NY.

[@claudiocavaliere856]

Absolutely magnificent house! Good taste all the way! Amazing architecture and decoration! Fascinating! Congratulations! Very interesting and enjoyable video!

[@Javachacin]

You can go visit, it’s open to the public, at least the entrance area, you can look at the beautiful lobby area, the staircase and peak into the reception room, which you can’t walk into but see from outside. There’s a French book store towards the back (if you look at that main picture of the entrance, that back hallway now leads to the store) so there’s a lot of foot traffic.

[@brunodesrosiers266]

Embassies are traditionally found in capitals. In the US that is Washington; not New York City. So that more likely was a consulate. That said, Stanford White may have pushed the deco envelope a little too much on this one, especially on the inside. Great that this building is still standing today. Excellent, synthetic video, as always.

[@desertsunman5880]

The Rotanda made a real statement & ... Wm Payne was kinda cute ...👏🙋‍♂️😉😎

[@claudiamann7111]

Thanks so much for another great video. It's wonderful that all the glass was given back to the house.

[@jenpink4298]

Beautiful

[@vickilindberg6336]

Thank you fort mentioning the number of servants. That's always interesting.

[@Lad236]

A day gone by. Amazing house

[@moniquesilverans3842]

Trop de décorations tuent la décoration

[@litamtondy]

Good thing the French Embassy is taking care of the house. This way, it won't be sold to investors who would destroy it and build a skyscraper.

[@dojocho1894]

da ju use

[@creativo4ever564]

I don't think it could be developed. Its status is landmarked I believe.

[@byronskoretz7650]

Great podcast...shows money can be lost quickly.

[@Garland67]

Amazing interiors! The mirrored room is really stunning,

[@ursulabklyn_mia6148]

I went in that building accompanying a friend who needed a French tourist Visa in the mid 80s. I had no idea about its history but still admired the beauty of that building and the whole area.

[@TikiHi77]

It's still standing and wasn't stripped of everything. Thank goodness.

[@itsacarolbthing5221]

The house being sold off is horrifying.

[@mrs.g.9816]

I'd never want to live in a huge mansion, but I'm so glad this building was preserved! Too bad the original furniture, rugs, etc. couldn't be kept. We Americans, especially New Yorkers, should respect old architecture and our history better. We should get away from the drab, cold towers and restore some art and humanity to our cities, even if it's not cost-efficient.

[@SusieQZee]

There’s no such things as beautiful architecture anymore. It’s all so boring.

[@dannybeun948]

Just perfect

[@judybertagna4527]

Only in America would a people destroy such exquisite mansions.

[@carolyn8271]

Opulence!

[@JulieWallis1963]

It’s nice to know that America _has_ *had* some culture. Shame it’s long gone. What a stunningly beautiful place, breathtaking.

[@stephensieg9976]

I would love to live there.

[@sheismymom]

they're all so beautiful

[@amandalong220]

When you go to visit the Albertine bookstore, you enter through that room/rotunda at 2:00. The statue in the middle is still there. You can peak inside the Venician room too! :)

[@jamesdavis5096]

Door surround I was looking for that architectural term. I was just calling it that giant waste of space thing above the door

[@christinebenson518]

My family's old home had transoms over every interior door, not counting the closet and pocket doors. I miss having solid wood doors in my house.

[@mattwhite2760]

Thanks, Ken. Fun watching.

[@davidplants]

You should do a video detailing how they disassemble and move and reassemble whole rooms. That's so fascinating!

[@sunnyscott4876]

Reminds me of the movie Sunset Boulevard 🌇.

[@hcad1364]

That architect had a hell of a mustache.

[@jimc4731]

You sure know how to make a good video!!! JIM ❤

[@haywardgarner4850]

Stanford White had been murdered….wait. What? Love these videos. Excellent historical story telling

[@ThisHouse]

His life was riddled with scandals. Hear more about his story in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qGfLi2yOoLWEfKMsi=PJ-_akoToUx8XtU0

[@chastidymann4370]

Sprinkle Sprinkle ✨✨

[@justinmirche]

Wow, this is amazing!

[@yvonneplant9434]

There were a bunch in Philadelphia too along Chestnut St. A few remain near Rittenhouse Sq and 18th and Walnut Sts.

[@philipcarol1]

wow! just wow! Thank you for sharing

[@MinnieTricks]

That’s quite a gift.

[@paulwillock3189]

It was a real michael Angelo not a copy

[@francymurphy2887]

So elegant ❤

[@user-sr9se8pd1d]

To Denver in the comments, I agree with you 100% ditto on that comment. Keep the Homestead the way it is that’s why I’m keeping our big house. I told my husband we are never selling our man house. I want my grandchildren to my children to always come home/even move back if they have to. The world is a very unpredictable place. I don’t know what’s going to happen I want them to always know. They can always come back to Gammy and pop‘s house. That’s my dream my generational dream. Why did the sun sell the house some children adjust so hateful

[@jrgnc1]

I love old mansions, but this one is gaudy and over the top.

[@Satu-zs7gm]

ironic since they one who built it was prominent old money, they were already rich and high rank since 17th century

[@junipersnow1]

Fk NYC... But if I ever visit again, will stop by for a tour, would be cool to see her favorite room. thanks

[@jiiig8667]

I hope they took all the lead out and the mercury too.. Really wasn't a great time to live. But it is very romantic and nostalgic

[@AliceLee-rj2ew]

Nice video.

[@vickilindberg6336]

No pressure in expectations of what you will become...

[@alesh2275]

3:12 sculptures of maidens supporting the mantle --> these are caryatids.

[@junesorenson279]

I wished that some of those buildings were left as they once were, but I also want to add that some of those same rooms are too gaudy, a saying ( too much is too much) But still Awe so BEAUTIFUL and a great part of the past.

[@BellaCroyda]

A majority of the mansions in NYC large and small are now consulates, museums, schools, and such. Many great ones are torn down. The outer boroughs lost 99% of these mansions.

[@janetcarbone4213]

Thankfully we still have some of them!❤. When did fed income tax come in? We’re the Gilded Age beneficiaries able to get around that then? 1913 if I remember my history

[@estherstephens1858]

I love the history of these homes that you share with us but more so the history of the people/person involved. I find myself “following up” on my own. For example the history of Stanford White. Smh. 🤦🏻

[@pmm3112]

I attended a business reception there and although it was quite elegant, I had no idea of what had been lost from the original interior design. Grand scale and lots of marble, but very commercial looking now in a grand 2nd floor reception room. Too bad so few can afford to live like in the guilded age.

[@catherinelee3298]

It is huge.

[@earllutz2663]

Thank you for another great video. With all the ever increasing tax laws and all the regulations, and inheritance taxes, and the like, it is sad, but a lot of the time necessary, for the family, to have to sell out, because they ( the family), can't keep up with all of the expenses, of the beautiful property.

[@gaylehunter7744]

Wow not torn down surly they need a parking lot

[@franciscadominga2905]

Es un edificio para verlo tal cual era originalmente.

[@lauriewarner4848]

What does it look like inside now?

[@kaspar_1982]

it appears that the service entrance has been hacked away to create another home called 973 5th ave and currently listed for 58 million dollars.

[@janedee6488]

Stanford White’s mustache needed it’s own zip code

[@TommyChardonneret]

Yet another grand video about the very rich and varied architectural history of these United States, but please permit one observation in correction? Perhaps someone (or someones) pointed this out before me, but because this French Republic owned building in is New York City and not Washington, DC, this is a "consulate" and definitely not the French embassy in America, which is of course in our nation's capital, i.e. Washington (THE swamp), DC. Thank you very much nonetheless!

[@thezmanchar]

I’m upset that all that furniture was auctioned off.

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

I could stand to live there.

[@lorizeppelina2286]

I was expecting to see a little more of the interior, given the title. Even though it's not the same, some comparison shots would have been nice. That or make it clear that this is a look back.

[@ferocient]

McKim, Mead & White is my favorite US architectural firm and Beaux-arts one of my favorite architectural styles, but I must say that this house -- especially the interior -- is a little over-the-top. Even for Beaux-arts this house is a little gaudy. The "Venetian Room" is just tasteless and, of course, this is the room that Helen made sure was preserved! :-\

[@sonnie6210]

Would be good to also hear how much that workmanship would actually cost today as well as the cash value, as back back then tradesmen would not have necessarily been paid as much I believe.

[@maxwalker1159]

Cool

[@user-gt8st3qf4o]

Color photographs would have been nice.

[@mediterraneanworld]

William Payne Whitney is Anderson Cooper's Great Uncle's brother. His great-Aunt, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney - who founded the Whitney Museum was married to the brother. Cooper tries to downplay just how significant his family was.

[@1Kent]

I thought I was going to see a house. Not an episode of Finding Your Roots.

[@edworldinmyhands1061]

Yeah the roots of blood sucking _trash_ 💩

[@1755ma]

Life is good, when you don't pay taxes.

[@user-sr9se8pd1d]

Just wondering if there was any information as to why the architect was murdered? It sounds fascinating? Why did the sun sell it just to have it broken up into little apartments. That’s not what the house was intended for.

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

I'm glad the French bought it. An American would have destroyed it.

[@jrjubach]

Anyone watch that Gilded Age show that was made by the guy who did Downton Abbey? This building reminds me of the houses in that show.

[@edworldinmyhands1061]

No we don't watch trash like this. So guess you like the gilded age unlike the people it made poor who had to live through it 🤮

[@docfmb1]

Way over the top

[@starsandlakes8576]

It's time for an American Renaissance.

[@cherylsemrau7100]

That's sad that the whole house wasn't preserved.

[@elmonteslim3711]

So many rich fools spent millions trying to build eternal monuments to themselves only to have them reduced to rubble a few years later.

[@edworldinmyhands1061]

THANK YOU!! While destroying the quality of life for millions of people. But the narrator sounds so enthused, filling his body with ESTROGEN, dancing with the thought of the money grubbers. Oh my the *_gilded age_* my nut sack just shrunk 🤮

[@jonnieinbangkok]

I doubt this building was ever the French embassy, as that would be in Washington DC; maybe it was a consulate before being converted to the cultural services role of today.

[@AngelLuisEspada1970]

Liked 😉👍

[@haroldmclean3755]

Some Excellently Executed Stonemasonary 👍