On that spot from 1883 to 1926, filling an entire city block, stood the Cornelius Vanderbilt II house, which still holds the record for the largest private residence ever built in New York City. Stop at the Guerlain counter—the company made perfume in the Gilded Age—and try to imagine a five-story Caen stone entrance hall soaring overhead, opening in turn to a book-lined library, a grand salon, a two-story ballroom, a “Moorish”-style smoking room, and a dining room that also served as the art gallery. Next door, right on Fifth Avenue, the house enjoyed its own stable and a private garden.
...more
