Schinasi Mansion

The Schinasi Mansion stands as the last remaining free-standing, single-family residence in Manhattan. Built in 1909, this white marble jewel box occupies a prominent corner on Riverside Drive. Its creator, Morris Schinasi, was an immigrant from the Ottoman Empire who amassed a fortune by introducing Turkish tobacco to the American market. He commissioned William Tuthill, the same architect who designed Carnegie Hall, to craft this neo-French Renaissance palace for his family. While other industrial titans built their homes along the busy corridors of Fifth Avenue, Schinasi bet on the quiet, riverfront elegance of the Upper West Side.