1 East 60th Street, The Metropolitan Club
A spectacular 1893 extravaganza by McKim, Mead & White, the Metropolitan Club is chiefly the work of the firm’s leading partner Stanford White and may be his most flamboyant New York City design, especially when compared to Charles McKim’s University Club at 54th and Fifth. McKim’s building is a highly ornate but sober monument to collective intellectual worth; White’s building is a peon to the urban high life, champagne, ladies’ slippers and all.
Founded by J.P. Morgan in response to a friend being blackballed by an older club, the Metropolitan Club’s interiors are correspondingly sultanic in their detailing. A 1913 addition by Ogden Codman Jr. added a discreet wing of bachelor’s quarters, originally available for – sob! – $25 a night!
The building is a New York City landmark.