Benjamin N. Duke House

The Benjamin N. Duke House, also called the Duke–Semans Mansion and the Benjamin N. and Sarah Duke House, is a landmarked mansion located at 1009 Fifth Avenue at East 82nd Street in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1899-1901 and was designed by the firm of Welch, Smith & Provot in the Beaux-Arts style.[1]

Benjamin N. Duke House
The mansion in 2010
Location1009 Fifth Avenue at East 82nd Street
Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates40°46′43″N 73°57′45″W
Built1899-1901[1]
ArchitectWelch, Smith & Provot[1][2]
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts[1]
French Renaissance (interior)
NRHP reference No.89002090[3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 7, 1989
Designated NYCLFebruary 19, 1974[4]

History

The house was built speculatively by developers William W. Hall and Thomas M. Hall,[2] and not for a specific owner. Shortly after the mansion was completed in 1901, it was bought by Benjamin N. Duke, a tobacco, textile and energy industrialist and philanthropist, who was chairman of the American Tobacco Company at that time. Benjamin's brother, James, another tobacco entrepreneur, bought the house in 1907. He lived there until his own mansion at 1 East 78th Street – now landmarked as the James B. Duke House – was completed in 1912.[1]

After James Duke relocated, the mansion became the residence of Benjamin Duke's son, Angier Buchanan Duke, until 1919, when his sister Mary Lillian Duke married A. J. Drexel Biddle Jr., and the couple moved in. Later, their daughter, Mary Semans, took over the residence.[4][5] Members of the Duke family owned the mansion until 2006, when it was sold for US$40 million to Tamir Sapir, an American real estate mogul.[6]

Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim, at the time the richest person in the world, bought the mansion in 2010 for US$44 million.[7][8] In May 2015, Sotheby's marketed the house for $80 million, nearly twice the amount Slim had paid for it; the house became one of the most expensive public listings in New York.[9][10][11] Slim canceled the sale in early 2016 after no one expressed interest in buying the house at that time.[12] He placed the house for sale again in January 2023.[13][14]

The Benjamin N. Duke House, which is one of the few remnants of the many similarly luxurious mansions along Fifth Avenue facing Central Park,[4] underwent a restoration in 1985.[1] It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1974,[1] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[3]

Description

Designed by the firm of Welch, Smith & Provot from 1899 to 1901,[15][16] the house was built in the Beaux-Arts style with a French Renaissance interior, decorated mainly with Louis XV style furniture. The house is eight stories high, 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2) and measures 100 feet wide by 27 feet deep.

The basement and first floor have a limestone facade, while the upper floors are brick with heavy limestone trim. The house includes a staircase connecting five of the floors, as well as "gold-leaf trimmed fixtures and intricate friezes".[17] The roof has red tiling with copper and features two towers.[4] The mansion has a private staircase on the top floor that leads to a rooftop balcony. The builders put closets in the same location on every floor to facilitate the possible future installation of an elevator.

See also

References
  1. 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.173
  2. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19538-386-7. p.452
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  4. "1009 Fifth Avenue House Designation Report" New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (February 19, 1974)
  5. Kathleen LaFrank (May 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Duke Residence". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved March 25, 2011. See also: "Accompanying nine photos".
  6. Rich, Motoko; Neuman, William (January 10, 2006). "$40 Million Buys Ex-Cabby His Own Corner of 5th Avenue". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  7. Polsky, Sara (July 27, 2010). "Duke Semans Mansion Sale Closes at $44 Million". Curbed NY. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  8. The Real Estate Desk (July 28, 2010). "Carlos Slim Buys Duke Semans Mansion for $44 M." Observer. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  9. Green, Dennis (October 1, 2015). "We can finally peek inside the home of the world's second-richest man". Business Insider. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  10. Mashayekhi, Rey (May 6, 2015). "Carlos Slim asking $80 million for Duke-Semans Mansion". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  11. Clarke, Katherine (May 5, 2015). "Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim wants $80M for his massive Manhattan townhouse". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  12. Cameron, Christopher (January 9, 2016). "Carlos Slim's $80M UES townhouse is now off the market". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  13. McLaughlin, Katherine (January 26, 2023). "A Gilded Age Mansion in New York City Just Listed for $80 Million". Architectural Digest. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  14. Glanzer, Ted (January 21, 2023). "Carlos Slim Re-lists Manhattan Townhouse for $80M". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  15. The 1974 New York City landmark designation report speculates that the design was by Alexander McMillan Welch, who had worked with the Halls before founding the Welch, Smith & Provit firm with Bowen B. Smith and George Provot, but more recent sources list only the firm as architect.
  16. Roterman, Natalie (October 12, 2015). "Carlos Slim New York Mansion: Take A Look Inside The $80 Million Property For Sale". Latin Times. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  17. Plitt, Amy (October 1, 2015). "Finally, Go Inside Carlos Slim's $80M Upper East Side Mansion". Curbed NY. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
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