Joseph Pulitzer Residence - New York City
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  Joseph Pulitzer Residence - New York City (St. Louis Dispatch)
   
  Joseph Pulitzer Residence - New York City (Wurtz Bros., 1950)
Joseph Pulitzer Residence

11 East 73rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10021





Joseph Pulitzer (portrait by John Singer Sargent, 1909)  
Portrait by John Singer Sargent (1909)  
Joseph Pulitzer, who was instrumental in raising monies for the base of the Statue of Liberty and whose newspaper empire led to the founding of the School of Journalism at Columbia University and the Pulitzer Fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue, had previously lived in a 33-foot-wide mansion originally built for Charles Tracy Barney at 10 East 55th Street. That mansion had been designed by McKim, Mead & White, and burned in 1900, leading Pulitzer to commission architect Stanford White to design a new mansion for him on a 98-foot-wide plot he purchased at 11 East 73rd Street.

White's design was based in large part on the Palazzo Pesaro and the Palazzo Rezzonico in Venice, both designed in the 17th Century by Baldassare Longhena. The limestone-clad, 4-story structure has a rusticated base with a step-up entrance with a pair of rusticated columns that leads to a step-up lobby that opens onto a very large and impressive entrance hall with a quite grand staircase.

The large second and third floors are colonnaded and have large arched windows. The top three floors have balustraded balconies. Those on the second floor are not continuous. There is relatively little façade decoration apart from a large bandcourse beneath the third floor balconies. In his excellent book, "Luxury Apartment Houses of Manhattan" (Dover Publications, Inc., 1992), Andrew Alpern noted that Pulitzer's eyesight had greatly deteriorated by the time he had commissioned the design and that White had prepared plaster models for him to handle.

"While the design of the outside of the house had been developed in a way that took Pulitzer's blindness into account, the interior made no such concessions. Completed in 1903, it was the sort of lavishly grand pastiche of period styles that had made Stanford White the architect and interior designer most sought out by the socially secure and the arrivistes alike. It was a visual feast that Pulitzer could hear described to him but could not enjoy himself."

Pulitzer died after living in the mansion for only eight years. The family moved out, but could not find a buyer and kept it vacant for a few years. In 1930, his sons leased it to some investors who planned to replace it with a new apartment building but the Depression made them abandon those plans and in 1934 the house was leased for 20 years to Henry Mandel, a leading residential real estate developer who hired James E. Casale to design a conversion of the building into apartments that would retain the façade and many of the lavish interiors. Some duplex units were created as was a street entrance into the garden at the west end of the building that led to Pulitzer's bedroom and study. Alpern wrote that the major loss of this plan was the salon, which measured 24 by 48 feet with a 19-foot ceiling, and that the former squash court and basement swimming pool were converted into apartments. Mandel, however, did not proceed with Casale's plans and returned the property to Pulitzer's sons who did. Three years later, Alpern continued, "the completed venture was sold to the Astor family estate as an investment property." The estate's trustees sold the building in 1952 to a company that planned to replace it with a 13-story apartment building but that plan was also abandoned the building was converted to a cooperative.

Carter B. Horsley
           
  Aeolian Organ, Op. 924 (1902) in Joseph Pulitzer Residence - New York City
   
  Aeolian Organ, Op. 924 (1902) in Joseph Pulitzer Residence - New York City
Aeolian Company
New York City – Opus 924 (1902)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 13 stops, 13 ranks




The Contract (signed March 11, 1902) states that the Aeolian Company would build a new organ for a consideration of $7,500, that would be "set up complete and ready for use on or before October 1st, 1902." The organ was "to be located in the main hall, bracketed out from the wall and resting upon a substantial floor, or platform, which shall be provided, together with an ornamental screen to encase the instrument, by the purchaser." The console was located on the main floor and had casework in harmony with the surrounding woodwork. The organ was voiced on 3" wind pressure.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Principale Grande
61
8
   Corno di Caccia, bass
21
8
   Baritono
61
4
   Violetta
61
8
   Viol Pomposa
61
8
   Clarinetto, treble
40
8
   Corno di Caccia, treble
40
8
   Clarinetto, bass
21
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Cello
61
4
   Flauto Ottava, treble
40
8
   Viola
61
4
   Flauto Ottave, bass
21
8
   Viol Sourdine
61
8
   Voce Umana, treble
40
8
   Flauto
61
8
   Voce Umana, bass
21
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Contra Basso
30
        
               
Accessories
    Aeolian Tempo     Pedal Organ to Aeolian
    Aeolian Reroll     Swell Tremulant
    Great Organ to Aeolian     Motor Starter
    Swell Organ to Aeolian      
               
Combination Pistons
    Great Organ Piano Comb. Piston   Swell Organ Piano Comb. Piston
    Great Organ Mezzo Comb. Piston   Swell Organ Mezzo Comb. Piston
    Great Organ Forte Comb. Piston   Swell Organ Forte Comb. Piston
               
Pedal Movements
    Balanced Crescendo Pedal   Great to Pedal Reversing Pedal
    Balanced Swell Pedal    
           
Sources:
     Dolkart, Andrew S. and Matthew A. Postal. Guide to New York City Landmarks (Third Edition). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2004.
     "Joseph Pulitzer's New Home." The New York Times (Apr. 13, 1900).
     Pulitzer Prizes website: http://www.pulitzer.org
     Smith, Rollin. The Aeolian Pipe Organ and its Music. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1998.
     Stern, Robert A.M., Gregory Gilmartin and John Massengale. New York 1900: Metropolitan Architecture and Urbanism 1890–1915. New York City: Rizzoli International Publications, 1983.
     Trupiano, Larry. Contract (Mar. 11, 1902) and Factory Specification of Aeolian Organ, Op. 924 (1902).

Illustrations:
     Lewis, James. Color photos of organ and staircase.
     Sargent, John Singer. Portrait (1909) of Joseph Pulitzer.
     Unknown photographer. B&W exterior. Columbia University.
     Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.). Photo (1950) of exterior. Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.