Mrs. William B. Astor House, Fifth Avenue mansion in Upper East Side, Manhattan, United States
The Astor House was a double mansion at 840-841 Fifth Avenue featuring early French Renaissance design inspired by the Château de Blois. The building stretched across multiple floors with bedrooms, guest quarters, servants' areas, and grand reception halls designed for large entertainments.
The mansion was completed in 1896 as a double residence with Caroline Schermerhorn Astor occupying the northern section and her son John Jacob Astor IV in the southern wing. The dual arrangement reflected how wealthy families of that era housed multiple generations within connected spaces.
The mansion served as a center of New York high society in the late 1800s, drawing the city's wealthiest families to elaborate entertainments and social gatherings. The two-household structure reflected how the Astor family organized their lives, with each generation occupying separate but connected spaces.
The building occupied a prominent Fifth Avenue location, making it highly visible and accessible to visitors in the neighborhood. The large formal spaces required extensive staffing and regular upkeep to function properly for events and daily operations.
The dining room featured dramatic black marble walls accented with hunting scene tapestries and polar bear furs beneath a large crystal chandelier. These furnishings displayed the exotic hunting expeditions that wealthy Americans of the Gilded Age pursued across the world.
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