Caroline Schermerhorn Astor firmly established herself as the grand dame of New York society in the 1880s. The city’s old-money aristocracy, who could trace their ancestry back to the colonial era, gathered for a social season from November to February under the direction of Mrs. Astor, as she became known.
You would expect that a woman with her wealth and power would have a magnificent palace for her weekly dinner parties and annual ball. However, the “mansion” in which she spent most of her married life as she rose to prominence in society was shockingly a silent luxury. What is it all about, you will wonder!?
Today we will take you back to the times, when Caroline Astor was the face of New York’s socialite, to her majestic ballrooms at her primary mansion and the double mansion at 65th Street. We will go into details how and why the family moved out from their residence and what happened to the luxury landmarks after so many years and struggles between Astor family ancestors. Let’s move on!
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Mrs. Astor was born Caroline Webster Schermerhorn in 1830 to a wealthy Dutch family with a long history of ties to New York’s elite. Her early years were defined by exposure to the intricacies of high society and private education, which gave her a strong basis for the position she would eventually play and the most prominent mansion she would expose during her famous balls at Fifth Avenue.
Fifth Avenue, Mrs. Astor Mansion, 34th Street.
Constructed in 1856 on what was once Astor family farmland, the home is located on the southwest intersection of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. The family gifted the lot to Mrs. Astor and her husband, William Backhouse Astor, after the couple married.
It was in 1853 when Caroline wed William Backhouse Astor Jr., a railroad and real estate mogul, in Trinity Church. The couple remained members of the church for the rest of their lives, first making the trek downtown from their mansion on 34th Street, and later from an even larger mansion on 65th Street and Fifth Avenue after an Astor nephew built what would become the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
For more details, please check our video about Mrs. Astor