Felix M. Warburg House
Encyclopedia
The Felix M. Warburg House is a mansion
located on 1109 Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street in the Upper East Side
in New York City
. Today the Jewish Museum (New York)
is located there.
mansion, built 1908 to designs by architect C. P. H. Gilbert, was constructed for the philanthropist Felix M. Warburg
(d.1937).
Warburg purchased from Perry Belmont
a lot that measured 100 feet along Fifth Avenue, but required Gilbert to cover only half of it with his house, permitting a side lawn fifty feet across on the avenue. When it was completed, Warburg's father-in-law Jacob Schiff
feared that it was ostentatious and would incite envy and anti-semitism. The Warburgs specified that they were pleased with Harry Sinclair's house and would like something similar, with details likewise drawn from the Late Gothic Hôtel de Cluny, Paris.
His widow Frieda Schiff Warburg had tried to donate the house to a cultural institute but failed and finally sold the mansion in 1941 to developer Henry Kaufman
and the architect Emery Roth
, who intended to redevelop the site into a into an eighteen-story apartment building. After the developers' plans fell through, the mansion reverted to Mrs. Warburg.
In January 1944, she donated the family mansion as a permanent home for the Jewish Museum, and the site opened to the public in May 1947. The building was expanded in 1963 and again in 1993 with a discrete mid-block addition by Kevin Roche
that blends seamlessly with Gilbert's French Gothic.
Mansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
located on 1109 Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street in the Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Today the Jewish Museum (New York)
Jewish Museum (New York)
The Jewish Museum of New York, an art museum and repository of cultural artifacts, is the leading Jewish museum in the United States. With over 26,000 objects, it contains the largest collection of art and Jewish culture outside of museums in Israel. The museum is housed at 1109 Fifth Avenue, in...
is located there.
History
The six-story Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
mansion, built 1908 to designs by architect C. P. H. Gilbert, was constructed for the philanthropist Felix M. Warburg
Felix M. Warburg
Felix Moritz Warburg was a member of the Warburg banking family of Hamburg, Germany.- Biography :He was a grandson of Moses Marcus Warburg, one of the founders of the bank, M. M. Warburg . Felix Warburg was a partner in Kuhn, Loeb & Co.. He is known as a leading advocate of a Federal Reserve...
(d.1937).
Warburg purchased from Perry Belmont
Perry Belmont
Perry Belmont was an American politician and diplomat.-Biography:He was born on December 28, 1851 in New York City to August Belmont. His brothers were Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and August Belmont, Jr....
a lot that measured 100 feet along Fifth Avenue, but required Gilbert to cover only half of it with his house, permitting a side lawn fifty feet across on the avenue. When it was completed, Warburg's father-in-law Jacob Schiff
Jacob Schiff
Jacob Henry Schiff, born Jakob Heinrich Schiff was a German-born Jewish American banker and philanthropist, who helped finance, among many other things, the Japanese military efforts against Tsarist Russia in the Russo-Japanese War.From his base on Wall Street, he was the foremost Jewish leader...
feared that it was ostentatious and would incite envy and anti-semitism. The Warburgs specified that they were pleased with Harry Sinclair's house and would like something similar, with details likewise drawn from the Late Gothic Hôtel de Cluny, Paris.
His widow Frieda Schiff Warburg had tried to donate the house to a cultural institute but failed and finally sold the mansion in 1941 to developer Henry Kaufman
Henry Kaufman
Henry Kaufman is a Jewish American economist and financial consultant.Born in a small village named Wenings in Germany as son of a butscher...
and the architect Emery Roth
Emery Roth
Emery Roth was an American architect who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 30s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details...
, who intended to redevelop the site into a into an eighteen-story apartment building. After the developers' plans fell through, the mansion reverted to Mrs. Warburg.
In January 1944, she donated the family mansion as a permanent home for the Jewish Museum, and the site opened to the public in May 1947. The building was expanded in 1963 and again in 1993 with a discrete mid-block addition by Kevin Roche
Kevin Roche
Kevin Roche is an Irish-American architect known for his creative work with glass.Born in Dublin, Roche spent his formative years in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork before he graduated from University College Dublin in 1945. He then worked with Michael Scott from 1945-1946...
that blends seamlessly with Gilbert's French Gothic.