Andrew Carnegie Mansion, Pergola, 2 East 91st Street, New York County, NY

Significance: Andrew Carnegie, nineteenth-century industrial magnate and philanthropist, built a sixty-four room mansion from 1899 to 1902 on a large lot encompassed by 90th Street, 91st Street, and Fifth Avenue. It was located well north of where his social peers were constructing their residences so that he could acquire a parcel large enough to allow him to build a large private garden. This was a feature unique in Manhattan. Among the many outstanding features of the garden is a stone and timber pergola under which one can enjoy a comprehensive and shaded view of the garden.

The mansion was designed by the architectural firm of Babb, Cook & Willard in a Beaux Arts style interpretation of a Georgian country house. The garden was designed by Richard Schermerhorn, Jr. Despite its grand proportions, the house was in Carnegie's words, the "most modest, plainest, and most roomy house in New York." Carnegie retired in 1901 and oversaw his many philanthropic projects, including free public libraries and many cultural and educational facilities, from the mansion. He died in 1919 and his wife, Louise, lived in the house until her death in 1946.

The terrace and garden are located on the southern half of the property, which is enclosed by an elaborate cast iron fence with granite knee wall and piers capped with stylized acorns and urns, mirroring the detailing of the mansion. Georgian Revival details are also present in the pergola which is a focal point on the east side of the terrace which serves as the transition from mansion to garden. The design and layout of the garden is natural and romantic, a contrast to the Georgian formality of the mansion, terrace and site features.

The wood trellis with decorative rafter tails rests atop four free standing, rectangular columns constructed of granite. The east focal point of the pergola is an elaborately carved granite doorway composed of the same entablature surmounted by a segmental arch decorated with a medallion, ribbons and cornucopia. It is flanked by stone urns. The garden is accessed from the terrace of which the pergola is only one of its architectural features. Thus, the pergola is a focal point of the garden, an outdoor room, and a transition from interior to exterior.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N2256
Survey number: HABS NY-6398-A
Building/structure dates: ca. 1899 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 66000536