Fifth Avenue
Hop a bus, take a car / Hail a cab and there you are
On Fifth Avenue (old Fifth Avenue)
Ev’ry Joe, ev’ry Jane / Walks along that dreamer’s lane
On Fifth Avenue (that’s Fifth Avenue)
Where they stop, window shop, and their hopes are so high
Pricing rings, pretty things that they can’t afford to buy
But they smile, they don’t care / Ev’ryone’s a millionaire
When you’re strolling on Fifth Avenue
(From “Fifth Avenue,” lyrics & music by Mack Gordon/Harry Warren)
J. J. Astor residence (1893)
This mansion, located at 840 Fifth Avenue, New York City, was the home of millionaire businessman John Jacob Astor IV, who died when the Titanic sank.
Home of Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1894)
A T Stewart residence at 34 5th Avenue
This mansion was built around 1869, by architect John Kellum (photo from 1899)
Home of William K Vanderbilt
These photos show a street view of the William Kissam Vanderbilt residence, which was located at 660 Fifth Avenue, New York City. (Photo 1 from 1897, photo 2 from 1903)
ALSO SEE: Beautiful homes in old Detroit (early 1900s)
Residence of Mrs Paran Stevens
The 244 5th Avenue New York City home of the society leader Marietta Reed Stevens (photo from 1894)
Senator William Clark’s home
This 5th Avenue mansion of former Senator William A Clark reportedly cost $7,000,000 (photo from 1910)
MORE: New York City views (1917)
W V Lawrence residence
Mansion home located at 969 Fifth Avenue in New York City (photo from 1891)
Mansion home of Mr Griswald, 5th Ave., New York City
Located at 857 Fifth Avenue — at the northeast corner of 5th and 67th Street. Home number 858, next door, was the residence of Thomas F Ryan.
MORE: The new mansion home of Claus Spreckels (1897)
Brokaw house
Isaac Brokaw mansion, designed by Rose & Stone, with an apartment house in the background. The New York City mansion was located at 5th Avenue and East 79th Street, and was demolished in 1965. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2010)
2 Responses
It’s a darn shame that there was so little regard for the history and stunning architecture that these beautiful homes represented. Sadly, during the 30’s thru the 70’s, we failed to appreciate the treasures contained within our nation’s major cities, so we allowed these magnificent buildings to be demolished and then replaced with some of the most mundane, nondescript, boring box buildings with little to absolutely no architecture value whatsoever. Henceforth, many of our cities’ older buildings are actually quite ugly and are seen as a blight to the skylines of those same cities. Thankfully, character is once again being introduced into many of our newest buildings, but in a completely different style that mixes the ultramodern with an often unique take on styling from the mid to late 1800’s.
I definitely agree with everything you said I think it is a terrible loss in he name of progress. Now city are saving the exteriors of this architecture in cities like Dallas and New Orleans, it’s a shame they did not think to do this sooner!