From cushy private clubs to sprawling mansions, they defined luxury The great fortunes of America?s Gilded Age, built up by legendary families such as the Astors, Vanderbilts, and the Whitneys, helped pay for some incredibly fancy homes. Only one architectural duo, William Adams Delano and Chester Holmes Aldrich, can lay claim to designing an outsized number of these grand estates, and putting their mark on early 20th century ideas of luxury.
The Delano & Aldrich partnership owes much of its success to their refined take on classical styles, which moved beyond the Beaux Arts trend popularized at around the turn of the century and instead elevated detailed Neo-Georgian and Neo-Federal designs. They also owe quite a bit to their deep connections to New York city?s elite. They met while working the office of Carrère & Hastings, then a pre-eminent architecture firm, while helping to draft the partnership?s winning submission to redesign the New York City Library. They decided to strike out on their own, and after studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, they reunited and launched what would become a extensive and influential career. Connections with friends and family often led to expensive commissions for private homes and fancy social clubs, many of which featured their signature exterior, brick with a limestone or white marble trim. From Manhattan residences to manor homes and even a renovated balcony at the White House, the duo aimed for glamorous, el...