Penthouse Apartment of Robert M. Catts on Top of the Park-Lexington Building

In the early nineteen-twenties, Mr. Catts erected the 20-story Park-Lexington office building at 247 Park Avenue, adjoining the Grand Central Palace on the west, and on one of the top floors he had an apartment, which was referred to in the newspapers as one of the most magnificent dwellings in the city. 

Robert M. Catts and Associates, Who Last Week Acquired Control of the Structure Occupying the Block Bounded by Forty-sixth to Forty-seventh Street, Lexington Avenue and Depew Place, Propose to Erect New Hotel or Commercial Structure on Vacant Plot Adjoining the Palace on Park Avenue and Remodel the Palace Into Modem Office Building.
PROPOSED ADDITIONS TO GRAND CENTRAL PALACE

August 13, 1922

One of the most noteworthy of the big commercial buildings just started in the Grand Central centre is the twenty-story Park-Lexington Building, occupying the site over the railroad tracks on the east side of Park Avenue, between Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Streets. It is being erected by Robert M. Catts, who leased the property some time ago when he took over the adjoining Grand Central Palace on the Lexington Avenue block front between the same thoroughfares. Warren & Wetmore are the architects and the cost is placed at $2,000,000. The facades will be of ornamental terra-cotta and gray brick. There will be a  150-foot arcade from Park Avenue to the Grand Central Palace, combining many artistic features. It will make a new and attractive entrance to the exhibitions held in the Palace, and there will be a row of small stores on either side of the arcade. 

Park-Lexington Building 247 Park Avenue
The view is south towards Grand Central Terminal before the 1929 construction of the New York Central Building(Helmsley Building).

The Pan Am Building and the Shattering of the Modernist Dream - Building an office building over railroad tracks was not in itself new. The concept dated back at least to the turn of the century, with William J. Wilgus's master plan for the development of the Grand Central area with the new terminal at its core. The enormous difficulties and huge expense encountered in sinking the foundation footings of buildings on upper Park Avenue down fifty feet below grade through the New York Central Railroad's steel double-decked track structure to bedrock, then threading the foundation steel and other construction materials for a new building overhead through the two track levels without interrupting train service, had been encountered as early as 1923, with the building of the twenty-story Park-Lexington Building on Park Avenue. Space both for operations and for the storage of materials on the confined Park-Lexington site was severely limited, and workers had to operate from platforms suspended from above, as they could not erect anything from below that might obstruct the operation of trains. To avoid vibrations from trains, all steel for the new building had to be wholly independent of the railroad structure, with columns resting on steel billets supported on independent foundations, cushioned to minimize transmission of movement. The problems encountered in the Park-Lexington Building had been solved so successfully that it served as a model for the subsequent buildings on Park Avenue that mushroomed in its wake.

Penthouse Apartment of Robert M. Catts on Top of the Park-Lexington Building

In the nineteen-twenties Robert M. Catts, was described in newspapers of the period as the most "spectacular" real estate operator of the day. Mr. Catts may have been spectacular in his operations, but according to the newspaper reports he was also insolvent during most of his career. At one time he barricaded himself in the penthouse to avoid being served court papers.

Among the enterprises with which Mr. Catts was associated at various times, either as builder or owner, or both, were the Marshall Field Building, an unusual combination of apartment house and office building at 200 Madison Avenue; the Medical Arts Building at Fifty-seventh Street and Sixth Avenue, and the Cheney Silk Building. He was the originator of the plan by which Calvary Baptist Church on West Fifty-seventh Street became a combination apartment house and church.

In 1899 Mr. Catts eloped with Miss Ola McWhorter of Millington, Md., six months after he called at her house to solicit orders for pictures. They were divorced a few years later and in 1911 he secretly married Dorothy Tennant, actress, who scored a hit as the original widow in George Ade's comedy, "The College Widow". 

PAINTED CEILING IN THE DINING ROOM OF R. M. CATTS, NEW YORK. DECORATION BY ARTHUR CRISP
The ground in lacquer red, painted with Persian designs in old gold, blue, and antique white. Each of the four sides of the cove depicts a different method of procuring food.

Mr. Catts sold his interest in the buildings to August Heckscher, another large real estate owner, in 1923. The penthouse having several tenants until converted into offices.

July 17, 1960

A twelve-room duplex penthouse apartment on the roof of the twenty-story building at 247 Park Avenue has been converted into a thirty-five-room office suite.

The apartment was a relic of the lavish Nineteen Twenties. Its first occupant, in 1922, was the late Robert M. Catts, a well known real estate operator and the owner of the building at No. 247.

The building is just north of Grand Central Terminal, on the east side of Park Avenue between Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Streets.

Before World  War II, the apartment had a number of tenants who succeeded Mr. Catts, among them Jascha Heifitz, the violinist.

When office space became scarce after the war, the apartment was rented out for offices by William A. White & Sons, agents for the office structure. The duplex was recently leased to Wright Long & Co., accountants, and the law firm of Saul S. Silverman, and has been redesigned by Dallek, Inc., interior design firm.

The first floor of the duplex had two master bedrooms, a living room measuring 35 by 64 feet, a studio, dining room and gallery, all surrounded by a terrace.

The interior design of the duplex — a  melange  of French Gothic, which predominates, Italian Renaissance, and a touch of old Spain and the Far East— has been kept intact.

New walls, however, were built to divide the great rooms into offices, and some passageways were closed to re-route the traffic pattern. All the offices have been air-conditioned, and a new lighting system has been installed throughout.

The old dining room is now a conference room. Oak paneling and the ceiling which had been painted to resemble a medieval tapestry, have been retained and the travertine floor has been renewed by sanding.

The roof of his house has been transformed into a gorgeous garden, containing rare plants and statuary. The great East River bridges, in the background, supply striking contrast. Popular Science 1924

Mr. Catts died April 22, 1942, at the age of 63. He had remained active in the real estate business long after he gave up the Palace. A business associate was quoted saying that "Mr. Catts had more vision and initiative than any other New York realty operator and builder of his time."

Grand  Central Palace
A view of the Catts penthouse can be seen at the top.

For years the Grand Central Palace was one of the best known and heaviest trafficked buildings in the city. It provided the largest exhibit space available here until the completion of the New York Coliseum in 1956.

Thousands of New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors attended the annual flower, automobile and motor boat shows that made the Palace famous. 

During World War II the Government took over the Palace's exhibition hall as an Induction and Enlistment Headquarters for the armed services. 

After the war it was decided that the city needed a larger and more modern central exhibition center, and plans got

underway for the Coliseum. The Manhattan district office of the United States Internal Revenue Service occupied the Palace's exhibition space from 1953 until its demolition, and every year, at the approach of April 15, the old building was nearly as crowded as it was in its old exhibition days—but with taxpayers, not  flower lovers.

In 1963, 52 years after Grand Central Palace opened and a decade after the last show was held there, the building was demolished. A 44-story office tower, 245 Park Avenue, took its place. The adjoining Park-Lexington Building was taken down at the same time. 

Additional interior photos of the Robert M. Catts  penthouse - Views in an Apartment on the Roof of a New York Office Building

Louis 16th Splendor Reflected in City Home - 854 Fifth Avenue, New York City

This Distinguished Presentation of a Famous Period in French Building Is One of the Finest Examples in this Country.    It Recalls Marie Antoinette and Her Influence on 18th Century Art. 

Significant detail, skilfully introduced in the main facade, emphasizes the French feeling in the Mason house.

    IT has often been felt that the French type of architecture was better adapted to the country home than the town house but, on the contrary, it has been found peculiarly satisfying, particularly in cases where a certain standard of social life is maintained. Born in a period when the amenities of life occupied a greater part of the attention of the people than at almost any time in the world's history, it naturally reflects the same elegance and refinement and supplies an ideal setting for lavish entertainment of an important sort. The Louis 16th style which received its inspiration from the Greek has the classic purity of that period. One finds the large plane surfaces exposed with sufficient ornament to lend variety to the design. There is an exquisite delicacy about the style that never palls, any more than do the famous relics of early Greece, for based on the fundamental principles of the Orders, it rejoices in the rhythm of perfect scale and proportion.

  In upper  Fifth  Avenue  is  a handsome white stone and  marble residence, designed  in the style of  Louis 16th by Warren & Wetmore, New York architects, that is peculiarly reminiscent of Marie Antoinette and the gay court at Versailles in the latter part of the 17th and early part of the 18th centuries.   The refinement of the architecture of the times, shown in the  main  facade,  is  harmoniously reflected  in the interior,  where a great wealth of detail recalls the influence of the famous French Queen and her Royal Consort on the art of the period.

  Decorative effects are gained by ornamental detail of great refinement as in the Mason house, by the adaptation of a rarely beautiful frieze of carved stone and, in particular, by the distinction of the second tier windows with their classic pediments, pictorial stone rails and the carved framing about the windows upheld by corbels.

  Curiously enough we have comparatively few examples of pure Louis 16th architecture in this country but many done in the florid Rococo or the later and ornate Renaissance. Those done in the former fashion today arouse little or no enthusiasm on the part of the laity but, on the contrary, a feeling more or less of aversion.

Main Stair Railing. Residence of R. L. Beeckman, Esq., 854 Fifth Ave.. New York.    Warren & Wetmore, Architects.
Made by The Gorham Company.

  The influence of Versailles can be traced in innumerable instances, but the particular feature that dominates the design and strikes the keynote of the general treatment is the superb replica of the grand staircase in the Petit Trianon, so indissolubly associated with the vivacious but ill-fated French Queen. To find revealed in a modern city home such an intimate personal expression of the tastes of such a famous personage, so faithful a friend not only to art but to the American colonies in their inception, is highly dramatic and in the light of this superlative example of 18th century art, one is drawn very close to this notable character in history so that all preconceived knowledge falls away and there rises in its place a very human figure in whose appreciation of beauty, at least, we moderns can enthusiastically share.

Reminiscent of the gay court at Versailles in the time of Louis 16th is this palatial staircase, patterned after that in the Petit Trianon.

  The stair well reaches up to a highly decorative skylight, partially screened in ornamental bronze, gilded with dull gold. Covering the vast wall space above the stairs is a very rare old Tenieres tapestry, adding immeasurably to the splendor of the interior. There is a richly carved marble mantel with other decorative marble furnishings of an appropriate sort such, for example, as tall urns with heavy pedestals for flowers or ferns, and ornamental benches.   Even the dressing room and the lift are delightfully French of the Louis 16th period, the former suggesting the influence of the chatelaine of the Petit Trianon. Mirror and console, flowered walls and decorative frieze are all delightfully feminine and in accord with the spirit of the times.

  From the palatial hall, faced entirely with stone, rises majestically the white marble stairs, flanked by a richly wrought iron balustrade. An ornamental iron newel, above a semi-circular base of three broad steps decorates the stair rail, the treads and risers perfectly proportioned, and the whole feature in scale with the noble apartment. The staircase winds gracefully by several turns to the formal suites above and although the stairs are supported to the first turn by an enclosing wall, from this point on they are free standing, a constructional feature that adds a sense of buoyancy that is little short of inspiring. 

A cove ceiling and rich crimson damask wall hangings with draperies closely allied in color and texture are all delightfully French of the Louis 16th period.

One end of the reception room, illustrative of the refinement of wall treatment in the days of Marie Antoinette

The treatment of the mantel and chimney piece, with painted oval, is distinctly characteristic of the times.

   At the head of the stairs is the grand salon where daintily paneled walls, decoratively treated and the painted overdoors again remind one of Versailles.   Hangings of crimson damask, in which fabric the larger pieces of furniture are also done after the manner of the period, lend a rich effect and the various commodes, gueridons and shapely chairs, mostly antiques, are in harmonious accord.

Superb in size and decorative magnificence is the grand salon, the walls ornamented in the fashion of the period, with crystal chandeliers of 18th century pattern and rich crimson satin hangings.

Daintily painted walls mark the grand salon, with overdoors reminiscent of the work of Boucher fils.

Breaking sharply away from the prevailing French style, the treatment of the dining room, of great grandeur, follows Italian precedent.

Done in Italian Renaissance, the dining-room doors have an air of great dignity, in accord with their surroundings.

  The bed room suites show the walls largely paneled in white, often with cove ceiling and showing light and graceful moulding treatment, with overdoors charmingly treated with painted decorations. One showing a medallion of cupids and flowers suspended by a ribbon suggestive of the work of Boucher fils***Boucher & Son***, is of unusual refinement and charm. Not a few of the pieces of furniture, the chairs in particular, still retain the graceful Louis 15th curves with others having the straight line and other technical likenesses to the work of the later period, but all blended after the manner of decorative treatment in the reign of Louis 16th.

To find so many authentic pieces of the late 18th century is quite remarkable, for in the reaction of the transition of the period against the florid Rococo a hiatus ensued and from the death of Louis 15th and the accession to the throne of his successor, quite a time elapsed before the style attained maturity and in the interim most of the original drawings of Louis 16th furniture were lost. Fortunately, many examples of the type were preserved and from them the style, supposed to have been inspired  in great measure by Madame de Pompadour, were reconstructed.   Recently however, according to a high authority, many of the original designs have been traced.     

Cut from a solid block of marble is the balustrade perforated with scroll and acanthus motif that rises from the second floor.

  While the grand stairway ends at the second floor, the feature is transferred and carried up from another point with equal brilliancy of design and execution. Of the same white marble, the balustrade is exquisitely carved out of solid blocks of the material in a rich perforated design in which the acanthus motif enters.


  France at the time the new style came into existence, about 1750, was in a state of confusion. The preceding reign had gone so far along the road of extravagance and exotic taste as to call down upon its head abundant criticism, for its fantastic elaboration, especially in interior decoration and furniture. An excess of or ornamentation was to be seen in the furniture which abounded in such motifs as broken curves, shells, scrolls and the like. There was also a profuse use of mirrors, with the background of the rooms done in white and gold while baroque detail was popular in wall treatment.

  The situation, when Louis Quinze came to the throne, showed, as one wise person suggested "the architectural tendency pulling in one direction, the decorative tendency in another." The whole period was distinguished by the strong architectural reaction in favor of simplicity and, while it has become historically known by his name, his influence upon it covered in all not more than thirty years.

  Everywhere at this time the English influence was dominant and English ideas were in the air. It was during the time when the Brothers Adam were startling England with their marvelous craftsmanship, and their work bore the imprint of refinement and simplicity, based on a great devotion to the classic style. It is the Adam influence that is so strongly felt in the development of the French style.

  It was from 1730 to 1790 that the Louis 16th style prevailed and in the sixty year interim there were several different phases of the same expression that showed themselves but the general characteristics were in all respects those by which it had subsequently been known. And, while the ruler of the Court of Versailles lent the style royal favor and for 150 years it has borne his name, the honor of its origin or development should go to two French architects from the town of Lyons, Jean Nicholas Servandoy and Jacques Germain Soufflot who, imbued with the loftiest ideals, lent themselves to the task of recreating a declining style of architecture and establishing a type that has brought the homage of celebrated people all the world over to its feet.  The End.

  When these photos were taken 854 Fifth Avenue was owned by George Grant Mason. It was originally built for Robert Livingston Beeckman in 1905. Mason purchased house in 1912 fully furnished. Before being sold to the Yugoslavian Government(now Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia) in 1946, Emily Vanderbilt Sloane(White) owned property after selling her side of her father's house, 642 Fifth Avenue. Click THIS LINK to read more on the timeline of the property. Click THIS LINK for more on the Vanderbilt connection.

  Wikimapia location and Bing Streetside view.

Playhouse at "Florham"

   In 1922 Ruth Twombly commissioned architect Whitney Warren to design a pool and tennis-court building that she jokingly called her "playhouse" on the grounds of "Florham", her mothers estate. The Warren designed tennis house contained one of the finest indoor courts in the country. Its ultra-fast sand surface was watered twice daily for an extra-speedy bounce. A Grecian swimming pool, fifty by twenty-five feet, was decorated with wall and ceiling murals by Robert Chanler. The building contained changing rooms, guest rooms, and a handsome pine-paneled drawing room. Ruth employed a English barmen and a Swedish Masseuse. 

An aerial view of the "Florham" estate grounds showing the Playhouse in the foreground.

 Demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the College at Florham Student Center. Click HERE to see the Playhouse still extant.  

Playhouse with indoor tennis court, swimming pool, and "card room". The playhouse also had bedrooms where Mrs. Twombly and her daughters would stay when returning to "Florham" in the winter.

Another view of the Warren and Wetmore designed playhouse that was destroyed to make way for the College at Florham Student Center.

The Playhouse designed by Warren and Wetmore at "Florham"..

The rounded entrance to the Playhouse designed by Warren and Wetmore.

A close-up view of the rounded entrance to the Playhouse designed by Warren and Wetmore.

A view of the Chinese temple bell in the foyer of the Playhouse.

A view of the interior of the Warren and Wetmore designed Playhouse.

Pine-paneled Drawing-room at the Playhouse at "Florham". 

The swimming pool in the Playhouse at "Florham".

The swimming pool in the Playhouse at "Florham". Murals by Robert Chanler.

The swimming pool in the Playhouse at "Florham".

The pool in the Playhouse at "Florham". Murals by Robert Chanler.

A view of the tennis courts at the Playhouse at "Florham".

   Click HERE to view the model farm complex "Florham Farms".