Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo
Encyclopedia
Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo (c. 1837 – May 27, 1914) was an American heiress known for commissioning the Rhinelander Mansion
located in Manhattan
at 867 Madison Avenue
on the south-east corner of 72nd Street
, designed in the 1890s by Kimball & Thompson
and completed in 1898. According to most sources, she never lived in the mansion, but chose to reside with her sister in a row house across the street from the mansion.
. In May 1877, she gave birth to Rhinelander Waldo
, a future Fire and Police Commissioner
of New York. Her husband Frank died in 1878. She received an inheritance in 1882 valued at $360,000 that consisted largely of real estate. By 1889 she had been in a relationship with lawyer Charles Schieffelin. She sued him in 1899 to reclaim $12,000 she said he had misappropriated from her that he said he was going to invest the money in various railroad securities. In a counterclaim, Schieffelin said that he had invested the money as directed and that the two of them were going to be married. Waldo responded that she would never have married Schieffelin because of his earlier divorce.
She bought a piece of property located at the corner of 72nd Street and Madison Avenue in 1882, announcing plans to construct a home that one journal called "quite unique in design". However, she did not go ahead with construction and lived with her sister Laura V. Rhinelander for many years in a row house on the opposite side of 72nd Street. Construction of the mansion was started in 1894 while she was living at the Savoy Hotel. She sold a portion of the property she had inherited around 1896 and used the proceeds to cover construction costs of $340,000, which were covered by a $195,000 mortgage. Completed by 1898, the four-story house, which included a ballroom lit by 1,000 light bulbs and furnished at a cost of $1 million, was never occupied during Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo's life. By December 1909, the dilapidated structure was going to be sold at auction to cover a $10,000 judgment, a similar amount in unpaid taxes and the $150,000 due on a mortgage. Waldo had earlier reached an agreement to sell the house through a broker, but reneged on the deal when the papers effecting the transfer were ready to be signed, saying "I don't think I'll sell" and walking out on the offer. Both houses that she constructed remained unoccupied and were subject to foreclosure proceedings in 1911 to cover judgments against Waldo. In September 1911 Waldo transferred ownership of the mansion to her sister Laura V. Rhinelander along with other property that Waldo owned in Lower Manhattan
on Washington Street
and Barclay Street. In 1915, The New York Times
reported that at her death on May 27, 1914, she was over $135,000 in debt, consisting primarily of a pair of loans she received from the L. V. Rhinelander Estate..
The Rhinelander Mansion was vacant until broken in 1921 into commercial use on the street level and two apartments on the four floors above. It now houses a showpiece clothing store of Polo Ralph Lauren
.
Rhinelander Mansion
The Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo Mansion is a French Renaissance revival mansion in New York City. Completed in 1898 it was designed by the architecture firm of Kimball & Thompson and has been more specifically credited to Alexander Mackintosh, a British-born architect who worked for Kimball &...
located in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
at 867 Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
on the south-east corner of 72nd Street
72nd Street (Manhattan)
72nd Street is one of the major bi-directional crosstown streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Where the west end of 72nd Street curves into the south end of Riverside Drive, the memorial to Eleanor Roosevelt stands in Riverside Park. At this end of the street is the landmarked...
, designed in the 1890s by Kimball & Thompson
Francis Kimball
Francis Hatch Kimball was an American architect practicing in New York City, best known for his work on skyscrapers in lower Manhattan and terra-cotta ornamentation. He was an associate with the firm Kimball & Thompson.-Life:...
and completed in 1898. According to most sources, she never lived in the mansion, but chose to reside with her sister in a row house across the street from the mansion.
Biography
Gertrude Rhinelander came from a family that had resided in New York since the 17th century and was born around 1837. She married stockbroker Frank Waldo in 1876, despite the fact that he had been bankrupted during the Panic of 1873Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
. In May 1877, she gave birth to Rhinelander Waldo
Rhinelander Waldo
Rhinelander Waldo was appointed the 7th New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor William Jay Gaynor on January 13, 1910. He resigned on May 23, 1911, less than two months after the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to accept an appointment as the 8th New York City Police Commissioner...
, a future Fire and Police Commissioner
New York City Police Commissioner
The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department, appointed by the Mayor of New York City. Governor Theodore Roosevelt, in one of his final acts before becoming Vice President of the United States in March 1901, signed legislation replacing the Police Board...
of New York. Her husband Frank died in 1878. She received an inheritance in 1882 valued at $360,000 that consisted largely of real estate. By 1889 she had been in a relationship with lawyer Charles Schieffelin. She sued him in 1899 to reclaim $12,000 she said he had misappropriated from her that he said he was going to invest the money in various railroad securities. In a counterclaim, Schieffelin said that he had invested the money as directed and that the two of them were going to be married. Waldo responded that she would never have married Schieffelin because of his earlier divorce.
She bought a piece of property located at the corner of 72nd Street and Madison Avenue in 1882, announcing plans to construct a home that one journal called "quite unique in design". However, she did not go ahead with construction and lived with her sister Laura V. Rhinelander for many years in a row house on the opposite side of 72nd Street. Construction of the mansion was started in 1894 while she was living at the Savoy Hotel. She sold a portion of the property she had inherited around 1896 and used the proceeds to cover construction costs of $340,000, which were covered by a $195,000 mortgage. Completed by 1898, the four-story house, which included a ballroom lit by 1,000 light bulbs and furnished at a cost of $1 million, was never occupied during Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo's life. By December 1909, the dilapidated structure was going to be sold at auction to cover a $10,000 judgment, a similar amount in unpaid taxes and the $150,000 due on a mortgage. Waldo had earlier reached an agreement to sell the house through a broker, but reneged on the deal when the papers effecting the transfer were ready to be signed, saying "I don't think I'll sell" and walking out on the offer. Both houses that she constructed remained unoccupied and were subject to foreclosure proceedings in 1911 to cover judgments against Waldo. In September 1911 Waldo transferred ownership of the mansion to her sister Laura V. Rhinelander along with other property that Waldo owned in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
on Washington Street
Washington Street (Manhattan)
Washington Street is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Running from 14th Street in the Meatpacking District at its northernmost end to its southern end at Hubert Street in TriBeCa, Washington Street is, for its entire length, the westernmost street in lower Manhattan...
and Barclay Street. In 1915, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that at her death on May 27, 1914, she was over $135,000 in debt, consisting primarily of a pair of loans she received from the L. V. Rhinelander Estate..
The Rhinelander Mansion was vacant until broken in 1921 into commercial use on the street level and two apartments on the four floors above. It now houses a showpiece clothing store of Polo Ralph Lauren
Polo Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...
.