The Kleeberg Residence

The Kleeberg Residence stands as a prominent example of French Renaissance Revival architecture at the intersection of West 72nd Street and Riverside Drive. Designed by the prolific architect Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert and completed in 1898, this limestone mansion features an intricate facade adorned with cherubs, gargoyles, and scalloped shells. Its grand presence was intended to define the gateway to Riverside Drive, reflecting the Gilded Age ambition to transform this area into a residential rival to Fifth Avenue. The home was originally built for Philip and Maria Kleeberg, a wealthy couple whose time there ended in tragedy when Maria took her own life during a dinner party in 1903. Following this, the mansion saw a series of unconventional uses, including a period in the early twentieth century when it served as a sanitarium for the twilight sleep method of pain-managed childbirth. This medical use of the mansion famously drew the ire of neighboring residents. In the mid-nineties, the building was purchased by developer Regina Kislin, who embarked on a decades-long effort to convert the structure back from its previous use as multiple apartments into a single-family home. The renovation grew to include the excavation of space far below the street level to house modern luxuries like a swimming pool and home theater, all while attempting to preserve the original architectural details. The building remains a designated city landmark, recognized for both its stylistic significance and its role in the development of the Upper West Side.