Henry Phipps House

The Henry Phipps House once stood as a grand marble mansion on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighty-seventh Street. Constructed in the early twentieth century for steel magnate Henry Phipps, the residence was celebrated for its understated Italian Renaissance design, intentionally avoiding the ornate and sometimes excessive flourishes favored by many of his Gilded Age contemporaries. Phipps, a primary partner in the Carnegie Steel Company, used the privacy of his home to host philanthropic meetings, including the foundational discussions for organizations dedicated to treating tuberculosis in children. Despite its magnificence and a construction cost of roughly two and a half million dollars, the mansion was demolished in 1930, shortly after Phipps passed away. In a remarkable postscript to its history, the mansion's marble facade was salvaged by his widow and relocated to their daughter’s country estate in Brookville, New York, where portions of it were eventually repurposed during a modern renovation.