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New York Racquet and Tennis Club Top Ten New York Clubs

architect

McKim, Mead and White

location

370 Park Avenue

date

1918

style

Renaissance Revival

construction

limestone and stucco. Possibly steel frame.

type

Club

 

images

 

 
Designed as a Renaissance Revival building, architects McKim, Mead and White used a style -- based on the Italian palazzo -- that was popular for men's clubs in England ever since it was imported to the United States in the 19th century. An early example of this style is India House (the former Hanover Bank) located at Hanover Square. In the early 20th century, this style continued to be popular with fashionable patrons. Unlike Richard Carman, the architect/builder of India House, these architects had studied in Europe and had a better understanding of Renaissance proportions and details. In response to its site, the height of the club was made exactly two times greater than the width of Park Avenue. It was completed soon after the construction of Grand Central Terminal and catered to the residents of fashionable apartment buildings that lined Park Avenue in the early 20th century. McKim, Mead and White also designed two other men's clubs, the Metropolitan Club and the University Club, that were considered New York's most prestigious private clubs in their day.

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