{"nrhp_refnum":"83001733","name":"Houses at 647, 651-53 Fifth Avenue and 4 East 52nd Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"647, 651-53 5th Ave. and 4 E. 52nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.75958217300007,"lon":-73.97611945099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Three adjacent former private mansions at 647 and 651-53 Fifth Avenue and 4 East 52nd Street in Manhattan, built between 1902 and 1905 and later converted to commercial use.","why_significant":"The nomination argues they are rare survivors of the Beaux-Arts residences that once dominated this stretch of Fifth Avenue. They are tied to prominent families such as the Vanderbilts and were designed by leading architects of their day. Early, sensitive conversions to commercial use helped them survive.","narrative":"Three former townhouses on Fifth Avenue at East 52nd Street, built between 1902 and 1905, survive from the era when New York's wealthiest families lined the avenue with lavish residences. No. 647, a marble French neo-Renaissance house by Hunt & Hunt, was built for the Vanderbilt family and is described as the sole surviving Vanderbilt mansion of its kind in Manhattan. No. 651-53, a limestone neo-Italian Renaissance corner house by Robert W. Gibson, was completed for Morton F. Plant. No. 4 East 52nd Street, a smaller neo-classical house by C.P.H. Gilbert, was built for Edward Holbrook. Beginning in 1917, the buildings were converted to commercial use, housing the art dealers Gimpel & Wildenstein and the jeweler Cartier. Architects including W.W. Bosworth made restrained alterations that respected the original designs. Today the buildings remain in commercial use and recall the avenue's turn-of-the-century residential character and its shift to elegant commerce after World War I.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"No. 647: Hunt & Hunt, Charles Fraser, F. Verpilleux; No. 651-53: Robert W. Gibson, William Welles Bosworth; No. 4: C.P.H. Gilbert, Pearsell & Mills","architectural_style":"French neo-Renaissance (No. 647); neo-Italian Renaissance (No. 651-53); neo-classical (No. 4 East 52nd Street); Beaux-Arts","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; the buildings are altered but in good condition, and all three were converted from residences to commercial use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.067457-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001733.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001733/3e32eb5b41-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001733/3e32eb5b41-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"ajay_suresh","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartier_Building_-_NYC_(51395758693).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">ajay_suresh</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cartier_Building_-_NYC_(51395758693).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319636","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q120783922"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/houses-at-647-651-53-fifth-avenue-and-4-east-52nd-street-83001733/"}