Tiffany and Company Building

The Tiffany and Company Building, also known as the Tiffany Building and 401 Fifth Avenue, is an eight-story commercial building at

Tiffany & Co.'s president Charles T. Cook developed the building, which cost $600,000 and opened on September 5, 1905. The Tiffany store prospered through the 1920s, but it suffered through the Great Depression. After the company moved to a new flagship store on 57th Street in 1940, the building was occupied by American Red Cross and Textron in the 1940s. Henry Goelet of the Goelet family acquired the building in 1951 and renovated the lower stories, while the upper stories were occupied by Allied Stores from 1950 to 1973. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church bought the Tiffany Building in 1977 and used it as a newspaper office. Following a failed plan in the late 1980s to build a tower above the Tiffany Building, the upper stories were used as television studios. The Stahl Real Estate Company bought the building in 2000 and renovated the lower stories.

Site

The Tiffany and Company Building is at 401 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, at the southeast corner with 37th Street.^[4][5] The building's land lot is nearly rectangular, with a recess at its southeast corner, and has a total area of 17,048 sq ft (1,583.8 m²).^[4][a] It measures 117 ft (36 m) from north to south and 152 ft (46 m) from west to east.^[4][6] Nearby buildings include The Langham, New York hotel and 404 Fifth Avenue to the west; the Lord & Taylor Building one block north; 200 Madison Avenue to the southeast; and the Gorham Building at 390 Fifth Avenue to the southwest.^[4]

The residential core of Manhattan relocated north from lower Manhattan during the late 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, development was centered on Fifth Avenue north of 34th Street, where new department store buildings were quickly replacing the street's brownstones.^[7][8][9] One of the first new store buildings in the area was the B. Altman and Company Building, which opened in 1906.^[9][10] Other department stores such as Lord & Taylor, as well as specialty stores such as Tiffany & Co. and the Gorham Manufacturing Company, relocated during the 1900s and 1910s.^[11][12]

Architecture

The Tiffany and Company Building's facade (left) is inspired by that of the Palazzo Grimani di San Luca (right).^[13]

The Tiffany and Company Building was designed by

On Fifth Avenue, the outermost bays provided an entrance to the Tiffany & Co. store.^[20] Each of these outermost bays contained brass porticos with revolving doors.^[6] The three inner bays on Fifth Avenue contained plate-glass storefront windows at the first story. Each first-story opening was topped by a marble spandrel, as well as a tripartite second-story window with six panes.^[20] Because the site slopes slightly downward to the south, there was a level platform in front of the Fifth Avenue elevation, which was two to four steps above the ground.^[23] In 1952, the storefronts, porticos, and spandrels on the first story were removed.^[26] In addition, the first story (which was originally slightly above the sidewalk) was lowered to ground level.^[27] Several storefronts, with black-granite piers and spandrels, were installed in their place.^[23][28] The black granite was removed in 2002 and the original design of the ground story was restored, with new square piers and bronze storefronts.^[29] The pilasters at the ground story are lighter in color than those above.^[30]

On 37th Street, the third and fourth bays from west contained porticos similar to those on Fifth Avenue, while the remaining bays contained storefronts.^[6] The second story was designed with similar windows and spandrels as on Fifth Avenue.^[31] The center three bays are separated by single rounded columns. The rest of the bays are separated by pairs of square piers, similar to those on Fifth Avenue. The two westernmost bays were modified in 1952 to resemble the storefronts on Fifth Avenue. The third through sixth bays from west remain intact, except for the addition of black-granite spandrels at the mezzanine level.^[32] The seventh bay from west (the easternmost bay on that elevation) was retrofitted with a black-granite entrance,^[33] removed in 2002.^[29]

Second and third tiers

The second and third tiers are designed similarly with only minor differences. On both tiers, the windows are designed as double-height arches. The bays are separated by rounded Corinthian-style

The interior was divided into seven above-ground stories and two basement levels.[22]^[24][25] The current first story was rebuilt at a lower height in 1952 to allow the installation of a mezzanine above it.^[22] The sub-basement is 25 ft (7.6 m) below the sidewalk. The floor slabs are about 2 ft (0.61 m) thick and the exterior walls are up to 5 to 6 ft (1.5 to 1.8 m) thick, much larger than in similar buildings.^[22] The building also used a steel superstructure,^[24] which allowed the use of thinner exterior walls, thereby permitting large glass windows at the first story and exposed spandrels on the fourth story.^[36][42] High ceilings and glazed windows allowed natural light to illuminate almost all of the selling spaces on the first to sixth floors.^[18][42]

As a fireproofing measure, the Tiffany store minimized the use of wood. In addition, all doors were made of steel and all windows were made of wire-glass with steel frames.

Six elevators originally served the building's upper floors.[22]^[43] The elevators were steel cages and were in the rear (eastern) part of the store.^[43][44] In 1952, two of the elevators were removed while the other four elevators were rebuilt.^[22][28] In addition to those, a lift allowed patrons to bring their valuables down to the basement vault. There was a private elevator for customers who had valuables in the vault.^[22] Wrapping around the elevator cabs was the main stairway, which was decorated with exedra and mythical creatures.^[42] The risers of the stairway were 8 ft (2.4 m) wide and were made of Formosa marble.^[25][45] The entire building was fitted with a pneumatic tube system.^[43][46] The basement contained three small generators and an ice machine; to prevent vibrations, the foundation of the basement was encased in a 1 ft-thick (0.30 m) layer of sand. Each floor had eight ventilation fans.^[43]

Interior

Basement

The basement contained a safe deposit vault and a valuables-storage department.^[25][47] The vault's ceiling was made of masonry. Its walls were 4 ft (1.2 m) thick^[47] and included steel plates measuring 22 in (560 mm) thick.^[38] The two vault doors were secured to the vault's steel frame by heavy bolts.^[29][48] The outer vault door was 14 in (360 mm) thick and was unlocked by three dials made of white enamel. The inner door was 8 in (200 mm) thick and was operated using a lever.^[29] Architects' and Builders' Magazine wrote that explosives or drills could not penetrate the vault.^[48] Inside were 2,036 safe-deposit boxes, each of which was secured by a double combination lock.^[49] The vault was so closely guarded that, when the vault experienced a minor fire in 1914, the store's security guards initially refused to let New York City Fire Department firefighters in.^[50] The safe remained in place even after Tiffany & Co. relocated in 1940.^[29]

The vault was accessed by a marble hallway with decorative gates at one end.^[29] There was also a safe-keeping department with Guastavino-tiled ceilings and marble walls. The coupon room was surrounded by white-glass walls.^[25] On the 37th Street side was the shipping department.^[49][25] Packages would be loaded in the basement, where they were then lifted to a vestibule at street level and loaded onto trucks.^[49][46]

First story

The original first story contained gray decoration.

The front of the second floor, facing Fifth Avenue, was used for selling Tiffany glass, statuary, and bronze merchandise.^[25][54] There were Ionic columns within this space.^[47] The rear of the second floor contained the president's and board of directors' offices,^[25][54] which were decorated with wood.^[43][47] The second floor also contained the counting rooms, correspondence, and mail order departments. Tableware, pottery, and glass were sold on the third floor, and the registry offices and the order department were also on that story.^[25][47] The fourth floor contained the photography, engraving, design, heraldic, and library departments. Goldsmiths, polishers, and diamond cutters worked on the fifth floor, while the sixth floor sold leather goods and clocks.^[25][44][47] Two of the upper floors contained wooden-tiled floor surfaces laid in a herringbone pattern.^[43]

The seventh floor, at the top of the building, was not in the original plans. It was only added after McKim, Mead & White realized that there was enough space beneath the metal roof.

Charles Tiffany was again planning to relocate the headquarters of Tiffany & Co. by 1902, but he died that year, before the company could relocate.^[67] Tiffany's successor as company president, Charles T. Cook, bought a site at Fifth Avenue and 37th Street from George C. Boldt in April 1903. The site cost $2 million and measured 159 ft (48 m) on Fifth Avenue by 151 ft (46 m) on 37th Street.^[68][59] At the time, this was the most anyone had ever paid for a commercial site in Manhattan.^[69] Cook planned to build a new headquarters on the site,^[70] hiring McKim, Mead & White to "build me a palace".^[13] McKim, Mead & White filed plans for a seven-story store with the New York City Bureau of Buildings in September 1903. The building was to measure 117 by 152 feet and was to contain a marble facade with cornices, three Atlas statues, and two entrances.^[71][72] The next month, the Charles T. Wills Company was hired as the building's general contractor.^[73] As the site was being excavated that October, the foundation walls collapsed, killing one laborer.^[74][75]

The building's

The new Tiffany Building opened on September 5, 1905.[38]^[80] At the time, the seventh floor was not complete.^[38] Within the first three minutes of the new store's opening, a customer had bought $9,575 worth of merchandise.^[46] The store's merchandise at the time ranged from $2,000 garters to $700,000 necklaces.^[69] In February 1908, the city government ordered that buildings on Fifth Avenue between 26th and 47th Streets had to remove stoops and vaults that encroached onto the street, as the city planned to widen Fifth Avenue.^[81] That December, McKim, Mead & White filed plans to remove the marble steps in front of the building.^[82][83] Three months later, the firm filed plans for a seven-story building to the south, later the Gunther Building. Although that site was owned by Tiffany & Co., the Tiffany store did not occupy that land lot.^[84][85]

Tiffany & Co. had been one of the earliest stores to move uptown to Fifth Avenue, which at the time was still primarily residential.^[12][86] In 1910, the New-York Tribune reported that the Altman and Tiffany buildings had prompted high demand "of high-class retail houses for locations on the avenue".^[86] Tiffany & Co. temporarily switched to making surgical instruments for the government during World War I. After the war, the company reverted to producing luxury items.^[69] The Tiffany store prospered through the 1920s, but it suffered through the Great Depression, recording net losses for the first time in its history.^[67] Nonetheless, the corner of 37th Street and Fifth Avenue "stood as the symbol of wealth in the richest shopping area in the country, if not in the world", according to The New York Times.^[87]

By the late 1930s, commerce on Fifth Avenue had relocated still further uptown to

For three years in the early 1940s, the ground floor was leased to the

Henry Goelet of the Goelet real-estate family obtained full ownership of the Tiffany Building in January 1951 in a series of transactions worth $8.5 million.^{[97][105][106]} He bought the leasehold from the Frueaoff estate, as well as the fee interest in the land, from the Astor estate, obtaining $1.5 million in short-term financing.^[97][106] Goelet had planned to lease the lowest stories to a "Midwestern department store", but this deal was canceled after the U.S. federal government demanded that the Office of Price Stabilization use the space.^[107] In 1952, Goelet detailed his plans to renovate the building. He planned to lower the first story slightly, add a mezzanine above it, remodel the storefronts, and add new air conditioning and elevators.^[28][108] Charles N. and Selig Whinston conducted the renovations, which cost $1 million. Ten tons of bronze and $1 million of marble were removed during the project.^[22]

The Gotham Hosiery Company leased the new mezzanine level in 1953,^[27][109] and American Bleached Goods opened a second-story office with two showrooms the same year.^[110] Other tenants in the 1950s included shoe chain Stuart Brooks Red Cross Shoes,^[111] as well as a Horn & Hardart restaurant.^[112] Goelet sold the Tiffany & Co. Building in 1957 to a syndicate of Nelson Properties Inc. and Burnebrook Manor Inc.^[113][114] Allied renovated the fifth to seventh floors in 1960, consolidating its marketing department there.^[115] Allied continued to occupy the Tiffany Building until 1973, when it moved to 1120 Avenue of the Americas.^[116] The surrounding stretch of Fifth Avenue had begun to decline by the 1970s.^[117] A Burger King fast-food restaurant had opened within the Tiffany Building by 1976.^[117][118]

Late 1970s to present

In 1977,

By 1991, the top floor was available for lease. Its broker described the space as being "ideal for a fashion or accessories showroom, or a television or video production company" due to its high ceilings.[55] The Image Group then leased 70,000 sq ft (6,500 m²) in the building,^[129] spanning four stories.^[29] The company taped The Ricki Lake Show on the seventh floor.^[129] The Image Group also produced The People's Court in the building, and American Eagle Outfitters occupied two floors by the end of the 20th century.^[29] In 2000, the Stahl Real Estate Company bought the building, evicted three retail tenants, and began restoring the space. After the renovations, Stahl leased out 8,800 sq ft (820 m²) on the ground floor and 9,500 sq ft (880 m²) in the basement.^[29] The piers at the ground story were restored, although they were much lighter in color than the original piers above them.^[30]

Reception

When the building opened, Architects and Builders magazine said the interior color scheme "has been treated by a master hand".^[24] Henry James described the building as "a great nobleness of white marble... with three fine arched and columned stages above its high basement".^[40][130] James described the building as having been designed "within the conditions of sociable symmetry", complementing McKim, Mead & White's other buildings on Fifth Avenue, including the Knickerbocker Trust Company Building, the Gorham Building, and the clubhouses of the University Club of New York and Metropolitan Club.^[130] Architectural Record wrote: "Compared to the Gorham Building, the Tiffany Building is by way of being frivolous".^[131] Henry Olmsted Jr. said: "Architects and Capitalists are awakening to the splendid returns obtained from building construction embodying the best skill and materials money can purchase", with the Tiffany Building being one such example.^[21]

When the building was renovated in the 1950s, architectural writer Lewis Mumford disapproved of the changes, saying there should be a "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Buildings".^[30] In the late 1970s, Paul Goldberger said the Tiffany and Gorham buildings were "splendid examples" of Renaissance palazzos on Fifth Avenue, even though the style "did not remain the favored architectural motif of the avenue for too long".^[132] Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable described the Burger King's presence at ground level as part of "the mutilation of Fifth Avenue",^[117][118] while Robert A. M. Stern described it as an "indignity".^[133] By 1990, Christopher Gray had described the building as "a notorious object lesson in how not to treat a landmark"; at the time, the facade was extremely dirty.^[41] Even after the lower section of the facade had been restored in the 2000s, Gray described the restored section as being like "a pair of khakis dipped in bleach".^[30]

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

• "Commercial Palaces". Architects' and Builders' Magazine. Vol. 38, no. 7. W.T. Comstock. February 1906. pp. 178–185. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
• Lowe, David (1992). Stanford White's New York. Doubleday.
  OCLC 24905960
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• Olmsted, Henry Jr. (August 15, 1905). "Essentials and Costs of a Modern Jewelry Store—the Tiffany Building". Architecture. Vol. 12, no. 2. p. 119.
  ProQuest 903883110. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link
  )
• Purtell, Joseph (1971). The Tiffany Touch. Random House.
  ISBN 978-0-394-46159-5
  .
• Stern, Robert A. M.; Fishman, David; Tilove, Jacob (2006). New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium. New York: Monacelli Press.
  OL 22741487M
  .
• Stern, Robert A. M.; Gilmartin, Gregory; Massengale, John Montague (1983). New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism, 1890–1915. New York: Rizzoli.
  OCLC 9829395
  .
• Tiffany and Company Building (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. February 16, 1988.
• Tiffany and Company Building (Report). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. June 2, 1978.
• White, Samuel G.; White, Elizabeth (2008). Stanford White, Architect. Rizzoli.
  OCLC 192080799
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiffany and Company Building.

• Retail website
• Images from Architectural Record (pp. 219-221)