Gorham Building

History and architecture

This elegant commercial building, constructed in 1904-05 for the Gorham Manufacturing Company, contained its wholesale and retail showrooms, offices, and workshops. Designed by Stanford White of the prominent architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the eight-story building is an adaptation of an early Florentine Renaissance style palazzo incorporating a two-story arcade, a four-story mid-section, and a two-story loggia. Crowned by an impressive copper cornice that projects eight feet from the building, it also features bronze friezes and balconies, designed by White and crafted by the Gorham company, and bas-relief sculpture by Andrew O'Connor.

The Gorham Building, one of the early commercial palaces built on Fifth Avenue, north of 34th Street, early in the twentieth century, was widely praised for the beauty and artistry of its design. In 1923 the building was sold to Russeks, a women's apparel store, which occupied it until 1949. Since 1960, the building has been occupied by both retail and office tenants. Despite changes to the Fifth Avenue storefronts, the building remains a striking reminder of the role of Fifth Avenue as an elegant shopping street in the early years of the twentieth century.