American Academy of Dramatic Arts

History and architecture

When Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White, designed this handsome Federal Eclectic building in 1905, his client was the Colony Club, the first women's organization in New York City to build itself a club house for social activities and an artistic center. The plan, accordingly, required spaces for assembly rooms, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, dining quarters and a roof garden, may of which were sure to be reflected on the exterior design.

The architect provided all of these facilities within six stories and a basement, on a narrow lot and in an individual manner. He chose a rather free version of the Federal Style. The grayish red brickwork with its admirable texture and color is very unusual in its pattern. A handsome white limestone is used for the window lintels, trim, cornice and stones at the corners. The second floor lounge is well expressed on the exterior by five arched window openings with French doors and sash above extending to a two-story height.

The doors lead to a shallow balcony, which is supported by thin pilasters and extends the entire width of the building. This provides a very pleasant shadow to accent the entrance and ground floor windows. A beautiful stone cornice crowned by a perforated railing separates the lower four floors from the curb roof and its five dormers, which give light and air to the dining room. Glass enclosures on top of the roof declare the presence of a delightful roof garden.

Donn Barber, Summing up Stanford White’s work three years after the completion of the building, wrote that this building was a "combination of rigid solidity and graceful delicacy which was always so cleverly combined and so characteristically treated in all of Mr. White’s work."