Samuel J. Tilden House

Historic house in Manhattan, New York

United States historic place

Significant dates

Samuel J. Tilden House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
New York City Landmark

(1872, before being combined and redone by Vaux)
40°44′15″N 73°59′14″W / 40.73750°N 73.98722°W / 40.73750; -73.98722
Built	c. 1840s; altered extensively 1884^[2]
Architect	Calvert Vaux
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.	76001251^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 11, 1976^[1]
Designated NHL	May 11, 1976^[3]
Designated NYCL	March 15, 1966

The Samuel J. Tilden House is a historic townhouse pair at 14-15 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1845, it was the home of Samuel J. Tilden (1814–1886), former governor of New York, a fierce opponent of the Tweed Ring and Tammany Hall, and the losing presidential candidate in the disputed 1876 election. Tilden lived in the brownstone from 1860 until his death in 1886.^[4]^[5] From 1881 to 1884,^[6] Calvert Vaux combined it with the row house next door, also built in 1845, to make the building that now stands,^[7] which has been described as "the height of Victorian Gothic in residential architecture" with Italian Renaissance style elements.^[8] Since 1906 it has been the headquarters of the National Arts Club, a private arts club.

Description and history

The Samuel J. Tilden House is located on the south side of Gramercy Park, facing the park across Gramercy Park South between Irving Place and Gramercy Park West. It is a four-story sandstone structure, its exterior finished mainly in pink sandstone with ashlar finish. Pink marble is used in the entrance surrounds, and shiny stone material studs some of the horizontal stringcourses. The building interior retains many Victorian features dating to the Vaux redesign, including parquet floors and floor-to-ceiling wood paneling. Further carved details have been preserved by the National Arts Club and are displayed in basement spaces.^[4]

The rowhouses were built in the 1840s, after Gramercy Park was laid out by Samuel B. Ruggles. Tilden acquired first Number 15, and later Number 14, in the 1860s, and lived in the combined units until his death. During these years, Tilden rose to prominence for successful battling the political machine of Tammany Hall in city politics, and became Governor of New York in 1875. He ran for president in 1876, winning the popular vote, but losing the electoral college to Rutherford B. Hayes in a politically controversial process. The election is widely considered to mark the end of Reconstruction after the American Civil War. In those tumultuous times, he had both rolling steel doors and a secret escape tunnel.^[9]

The house was extensively restyled in the 1880s by Calvert Vaux, transforming it from the Greek Revival to a more Italianate Victorian style. Since 1906, the house has been occupied by the National Arts Club, a private arts club. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966,^[6] and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It is the only known residence associated with the life of Tilden.^[3]^[4]^[5] It is located in the Gramercy Park Historic District.

References

Notes

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5. pg 206
^ ^a ^b ResourceType=Building "Samuel J. Tilden House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-18. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c Alexander, Cathy A. (September 1975). "Samuel J. Tilden House" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. National Park Service. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b "Samuel J. Tilden House" (pdf). Photographs. National Park Service. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
^ ^a ^b New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., p.86
^ "Gramercy Park Historic District" at the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
^ "National Arts Club Designation Report" New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (March 15, 1966)
^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5. p.207

External links

Media related to National Arts Club at Wikimedia Commons
Samuel J Tilden website

East Side of Manhattan (14th–34th Streets, east of Fifth Ave)

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

14th–23rd Sts	15 Union Square West 18 Gramercy Park 44 Union Square 91-93 Fifth Avenue 121 East 22nd 889 Broadway 935–939 Broadway Bank of the Metropolis Century Building Church Missions House Consolidated Edison Building Decker Building Everett Building Flatiron Building Lincoln Building Madison Square Park Tower One Madison Samuel J. Tilden House Scheffel Hall Scribner Building Society for the Lying-In Hospital Spingler Building Stuyvesant Apartments The St. George Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site United Charities Building Zeckendorf Towers
23rd–34th Sts	2 Park Avenue 3 Park Avenue 4 Park Avenue 29 East 32nd Street 69th Regiment Armory 203 East 29th Street 277 Fifth Avenue Appellate Division Courthouse of New York State Carmel Place CBS 30th Street Studio Chester A. Arthur Home Demarest Building Emmet Building The Grand Madison Kips Bay Towers Madison Belmont Building Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower Metropolitan Life North Building New York Life Building New York Merchandise Mart New York School of Applied Design for Women United States Post Office Waterside Plaza
Former	Jerome Mansion Madison Square Presbyterian Church (1854) Madison Square Presbyterian Church (1906) St. Leo Church

Culture

Shops, restaurants, nightlife	15 East ABC Kitchen Atomix Casa Mono The Clocktower Eleven Madison Park Jua Laut Old Town Bar and Restaurant Pete's Tavern Rezdôra Second Avenue Deli Union Square Cafe Upland The Water Club Wolfgang's Steakhouse
Theaters, galleries, art venues	Daryl Roth Theatre Fotografiska New York Gramercy Theatre Holographic Studios Irving Plaza Peoples Improv Theater Swann Galleries Vineyard Theatre
Hotels	George Washington Hotel Gramercy Park Hotel Hotel Deauville Hotel Giraffe Hotel Kenmore Hall Hotel Le Marquis James New York – NoMad Martha Washington Hotel The Roger Hotel W New York Union Square
Clubs	Colony Club National Arts Club The Players
Former	Benno The Coffee Shop Con Edison Energy Museum The Cutting Room Devi Fleur de Sel Jazz Standard Juni Veritas

Green spaces
Asser Levy Recreation Center Bellevue South Park Gramercy Park Stuyvesant Cove Park Stuyvesant Square Vincent F. Albano Jr. Playground

Education

Primary and secondary education	47 The American Sign Language and English Secondary School Aaron School Baruch College Campus High School British International School of New York The Clinton School The École Friends Seminary Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School Manhattan Trade School for Girls] PS 116 Salk School of Science School of the Future United Nations International School Washington Irving Campus
Higher education	Baruch College William and Anita Newman Library High School for Health Professions and Human Services Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing New York University College of Dentistry Norman Thomas High School

Religion
Calvary Church Chapel of Free Grace Church of the Epiphany Church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel Church of Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church of the Transfiguration, Episcopal Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El First Zen Institute of America Madison Avenue Baptist Church St. George's Episcopal Church St. Sebastian Church

Religion

Calvary Church
Chapel of Free Grace
Church of the Epiphany
Church of Our Lady of the Scapular of Mount Carmel
Church of Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen
Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
Church of the Transfiguration, Episcopal
Congregation Talmud Torah Adereth El
First Zen Institute of America
Madison Avenue Baptist Church
St. George's Episcopal Church
St. Sebastian Church

Health
Bellevue Hospital New York Eye and Ear Infirmary NYU Langone Medical Center Enid A. Haupt Glass Garden Hassenfeld Children's Hospital New York University Grossman School of Medicine Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine

Transportation

Subway stations	First Avenue Third Avenue 14th Street–Union Square 23rd Street (Broadway) 23rd Street (Park Avenue South) 28th Street 33rd Street
Other transport	East 34th Street Ferry Landing East 34th Street Heliport New York Skyports Seaplane Base
Streets	Avenue C FDR Drive Lexington Avenue Park Avenue South First Avenue Second Avenue Third Avenue 14th Street 23rd Street 34th Street

Related topics
East 17th Street/Irving Place Historic District Gramercy Park Kips Bay Stuyvesant Square Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village

See also: Manhattan Community Board 6

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in New York
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Albany Allegany Bronx Broome Cattaraugus Cayuga Chautauqua Chemung Chenango Clinton Columbia Cortland Delaware Dutchess Erie Essex Franklin Fulton Genesee Greene Hamilton Herkimer Jefferson Kings (Brooklyn) Lewis Livingston Madison Monroe Montgomery Nassau New York (Manhattan) Niagara Oneida Onondaga Ontario Orange Orleans Oswego Otsego Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond (Staten Island) Rockland Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Schuyler Seneca St. Lawrence Steuben Suffolk Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Ulster Warren Washington Wayne Westchester Northern Southern Wyoming Yates
Lists by city	Albany Buffalo New Rochelle New York City Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Manhattan Below 14th St. 14th–59th St. 59th–110th St. Above 110th St. Minor islands Niagara Falls Peekskill Poughkeepsie Rhinebeck Rochester Syracuse Yonkers
Other lists	Bridges and tunnels National Historic Landmarks
Category List National Register of Historic Places Portal