CONSTRUCTION







NEW   PALACES   ON   FIFTH   AVENUE

The Changes at Col. John Jacob Aster's Pictured—Houses for Edwin Gould,
J. B. and B. N. Duke, and j. B. Clews—Excavating for an Apartment House.





FIFTH AVENUE has seen more new houses under con¬
struction in the past two years than for a long previous
period of years. Mr. James B. Clews' limestone house at the
north corner of Soth st is in the hands of the decorators. A
large use is being made of Caen slone in the principal rooms,
and, the exterior being all limestone, the dwelling has a very
substantial appearance. The plans are by Horace Trumbauer,
of Philadelphia, and are being worked out by the John T.
Brady Company as the builder. At the south corner of 89th
st the stone house for Mr. B, N. Duke is now in the plasterers'
hands. C. P. H. Gilbert is the architect and the flrm of D. C.
Weeks & Son is the builder.

Excavating has commenced by Canavan Bros, for the third
really high class apartment house lo be erected on the avenue.
The site is the north corner of- Slst st, with dimensions of
102.2x125. The corner to be improved was formerly owned by
August Belmont. He purchased it eight years ago, intending
al that time to erect his city home there. The corner is one
of the two or three pieces on upper 5th av that are not cov¬
ered by restrictions, and after long negotiations Charles R,
Fleischmann and James T. Lee, who comprise the Century
Holding   Co..   succeeded   in   getting   Mr.   Belmont's   consent   to





At the north corner of 78th st. adjoining the residence of
Harry Payne Whitney, a white marble mansion is being erected
from plans by Horace Trumbauer by the John T. Brady Co.
for Mr. James B. Duke. This house will have a frontage of
72 ft. and a depth of 140. The masons are now laying the
walls of the first story. The Edwin Gould house at the south
corner of 7oth st is enclosed. It is a limestone building, from
plans by Carrere Sc Plastings, with the J, W. Bishop Co. as
builder. The old brownstone residence at 835 5th av, ad¬
joining the home of Mr. Isador Wormser, and recently pur¬
chased by Mr. John W, Herbert, of 31 Nassau st, from the
estate of Charles A. Gardiner, is being torn down, and the
John T. Brady Co. will erect from plans of Harry Allen Jacobs
a new residence for Mr. Herbert's occupancy.





THE  RESIDENCE OF COL,  JOHN JACOB ASTOR.

ALWAYS an object of interest, the Astor residence, as a met¬
ropolitan house of the most expensive class, has had
a new splendor added by the recent alterations. Some glimpses
within the portals are given in the accompanying illustrations.
Both the plan and design of this original building, the architect
of which was  the late Richard Morris Hunt,  was dominated by







Stb  .Avenue at 6olh  Street.





RECEPTION -ROOM—RESIDENCE





sell. At the same time that the company took title It secured
a building loan of $1,350,000. to run until 1920 McKim,
Mead & White are the architects. The house will be twelve
stories high and will contain but eighteen apartments. No
apartment will have less than seventeen rooms and there may
be one of twenty-eight rooms. The rentals will range from
$10000 to $26,000. making them the highest renting apartments
in the city. Six will he on the duplex plan. All the rooms
will be of large dimensions and w^ill be decorated as elaborately
as the most sumptuous private homes. The exterior of the
building will be in Italian Renaissance, the facade being of
Hmestone, with a highly decorated entrance, and the Slst st
side  will be ornamented with bay windows,





OF   COL.   JOHN   JACOB   ASTOR.

The   lale   Richard   M.   Hunt,   Architect,

a huge monumental staircase, which directly faced the entrance
hall, and which occupied a great deal of space. This staircase
belonged, like the art gallery, to the house as a whole, rather
than to the two separate sets of apartments into which the use
of the house was divided. When Mrs, Astor died. Col, Astor
naturally wished to have its plan adapted to the occupancy of
one rather than two families; and the task of making the change
was confined to Messrs, Carrere & Hastings. They were not
commissioned, however, to do away entirely with the old plan.
On the contrary, the idea was that only such changes should
be made as were indispensable to the adaptation of the house
to its new function, including, of course, such changes in the
design as necessarily accompanied the changes in the plan.    The