New York City

The George F. Baker Houses is a complex of adjoining residences on East 93rd Street, built atop the highest point in Manhattan for the banker George F. Baker. Baker, one of the most prominent bankers in the late 19^th– and early 20^th-centuries, was the long-time Chairman and principal stockholder of The First National Bank of New York, which is now Citibank.

The Baker Houses, built in the 1920s by the architectural firm Delano & Aldrich, have an early 19^th-century – almost English Regency aesthetic, with high ceilings, tall windows extending to the floor, classical marble mantels, arched doorways, and an elegant spiral staircase through the center of the house that brings in light from a domed skylight above. Baker even arranged to have his own railroad spur built in the basement, linking his private railroad car to the tracks running underneath Park Avenue.

Noted preservationist, Richard H. Jenrette, gifted the houses to the organization he founded, the Classical American Homes Preservation Trust, upon his passing. The Baker houses are still filled with a mix of exceptional American and European 19th-century classical style furniture that Jenrette collected. Margize Howell, Co-President of Classical American Homes, will lead us through the stunning interiors of one of New York’s last remaining family compounds.