29 East 32nd Street

The building at 29 East 32nd Street is a five-story stone structure in Richardsonian Romanesque style featuring rounded arches, thick masonry walls, and decorative stone carvings on its facade. Its design demonstrates the characteristic craftsmanship of the period with bold forms and hand-finished details.

Charles W. Romeyn designed this building in 1889 as the first permanent home of the Grolier Club, a society for book collectors and literary enthusiasts. The structure marked a shift when such exclusive groups began establishing their own dedicated spaces for collecting and sharing knowledge.

The building reflects an era when wealthy book collectors in New York created their own clubs to preserve and display their collections. Visitors can still see the specially designed rooms that were built for close study and appreciation of rare books.

The building is protected as a New York City Landmark and National Register of Historic Places listing, making it accessible to view from the street. Interior access is typically not available to the general public, but the facade and overall form can be appreciated from outside.

The original rooms contained specialized fixtures and furnishings designed specifically for examining and discussing rare books and manuscripts with great care. This thoughtful design reveals how seriously the members took their collecting passion.