One East 70th Street Papers

These papers, dating from 1907-1931, chiefly document the construction and furnishing of Henry Clay Frick's New York residence at One East 70th Street. Materials include contracts, construction specifications, correspondence, architect's certificates, accounts payable vouchers, accounting and financial records, and inventories, as well as documentation of activities at the house after its construction, and maintenance and improvement of the property. These files do not contain blueprints of the house, or visual renderings (photographs, sketches, etc.) of any aspect of the design and construction process unless noted. For images of the house under construction, see the Wurts Brothers photographs in this repository.

The collection is arranged in eight series: I. Construction Contracts, II. Construction Notes and Correspondence, III. Construction Special Orders, IV. Construction Vouchers, V. Furnishings, VI. Financial Records, VII. Post-Construction and Estate Matters, and VIII. Daily Life.

Series I: Construction Contracts, 1912-1917, includes a bound index of contractors, lists of bids received, cumulative lists of contracts awarded, account summaries and trial balances, summaries of architect's certificates and bills on hand for payment, and files for each contract awarded. Contract files may contain correspondence, executed contracts, construction specifications, architect's certificates, and insurance and bond information. Correspondents include Thomas Hastings and his firm, Carrère & Hastings, construction superintendent D.B. Kinch, and the various contractors involved in the construction of the house. Contracts were issued for all aspects of the building process, from the wrecking and removal of the Lenox Library through the landscape surrounding the finished house. Multiple contracts were occasionally awarded to the same firm (e.g. Edward F. Caldwell & Co. and Cauldwell-Wingate Co.)

Series II: Construction Notes and Correspondence, 1912-1918, contains correspondence, notes, proposals, memoranda, estimates, auditor's reports, invoices, lists of subcontractors, and information regarding costs for labor, materials, insurance, and cartage. These materials document the progression of work at the construction site, as well as the billing, auditing, and payment of accounts. Construction expenses were closely monitored by auditors, and accounting discrepancies are frequently noted. Letters of Carrère & Hastings, superintendent D.B. Kinch, and Frick secretary F.W. McElroy appear throughout these files. This series also contains one letterpress copybook of Henry Clay Frick's outgoing letters during the construction and furnishing of One East 70th Street.

Series III: Construction Special Orders, 1913-1915, documents special orders for work not included among the general contracts in Series I. Folder contents typically include correspondence regarding proposals and acceptances, special order certificates issued by the architect, construction specifications, and itemized bills.

Series IV: Construction Vouchers, 1912-1914, consists of payment vouchers issued to firms, agencies, and individuals during the construction of the Frick residence at One East 70th Street. As was typical of Henry Clay Frick's accounting practices (see Henry Clay Frick Papers, Series III: Voucher Files for additional examples), vouchers were prepared and sent to the payee along with a check for the amount owed. These vouchers were receipted by the payee, and returned to Henry Clay Frick for his files as evidence of remittance received. Vouchers may have correspondence, invoices, or related documentation attached.

Series V: Furnishings, 1914-1924 and undated, contains lists of contracts and estimates, as well as letters, telegrams, notes, and invoices pertaining to the furnishing and decoration of One East 70th Street. As the principal decorators for the house, the files of White, Allom & Co. and Elsie de Wolfe comprise the bulk of this series. Their invoices and correspondence document the procurement of carpets, draperies, mantelpieces, furniture, wall coverings, light fixtures, and accessories for the house. Charles Allom's earliest letters discuss his plans for decorative treatment of various rooms, while later correspondence responds to Henry Clay Frick's frustration at work on the house that remained unfinished. Allom's files also document the changes to the Drawing Room after Frick's acquisition of the Fragonard panels in 1915. Elsie de Wolfe's letters detail the selection of antique pieces through various dealers in London and Paris. Other decorators, dealers, and contractors represented in this series include Duveen Brothers, through whom Frick purchased artwork and furnishings from the J.P. Morgan Collection, E.R. Bacon, who facilitated the purchase of a suite of Beauvais tapestry furniture from the Duke of Devonshire and supplied a set of antique silver wine coolers for the Dining Room, Maus, who overhauled the suite of tapestry furniture, and Gerald and Sydney Letts, who furnished the Bowling Alley and Billiard Room.

Additional material concerning the acquisition of objects from the Morgan Collection can be found in the Henry Clay Frick Papers, Series I: Art Files; the Eagle Rock Papers, Series: Furnishings; and the Henry Clay Frick Art Collection Files, all in this repository.

Series VI: Financial Records, 1907-1918, documents expenditures made during the construction and furnishing of One East 70th Street. Along with a summary of costs associated with the purchase of the property, this series contains canceled checks, monthly statements, and a check register from the Bankers Trust Co. special account established by Frick for the purpose of paying construction expenses. Also included in this series are a cash book, journal, ledger in which construction expenses were recorded by Frick's staff. For day-to-day expenses at One East 70th after construction was completed, see Series VIII: Daily Life.

Series VII, Post-Construction and Estate Matters, 1914-1924, contains inventories of the contents of One East 70th Street as well as Frick's garage property located at 129 West 51st Street. Inventories are grouped by type, namely collection property (i.e. items that would become part of The Frick Collection), estate property (items that became part of Frick's estate for distribution under the terms of his will), and personal property (items that were considered the personal property of Adelaide Frick and her daughter Helen). Additional materials in this series include specifications and contracts for the construction of the Frick Art Reference Library (referred to here as the 71st Street Extension), a file on the disposition of frames from the suite of Chatsworth furniture purchased in 1914, a file on the sculpture gallery proposed by Thomas Hastings but never constructed, a dispute with the city re: flagstones outside the residence, and documentation of a claim against W. & J. Sloane re: outstanding remittance for goods removed from the residence and sold.

The last series, Daily Life, 1914-1931, contains materials documenting the Frick family's activities and interests, along with household operations and expenditures. Of particular note are the household diaries, 1914-1919, which record guests to the house, luncheons, dinners and other entertainments, purchase and installation of paintings and other works of art, and comings and goings of family members. This series also contains notebooks with monthly compilations of household payroll and bills paid, summaries of dinners given at the house (e.g. guest lists, menus, music, etc.), inventories of books, wines, and liquors, and information about employees who served the Frick family at One East 70th Street, Eagle Rock, and other locations.