19 East 54th Street

Midtown | built 1900

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1899
March
Minnie Young builds a palazzo with her uncle's tobacco fortune
Widow Minnie Edith Arents Young commissioned this granite Italian Renaissance palazzo from architects Hiss & Weekes in March 1899, paying for it with an inheritance from her uncle Lewis Ginter, founder of the American Tobacco Company, who had died in 1897. She moved in with her sister Johanna Arents in 1900.
Source: Wikipedia
1920
Fashion designer Lucille, Lady Duff Gordon, leases the mansion
In 1920 Minnie Young moved to Park Avenue and leased her former home to the dressmaking house Lucille Ltd., run by designer Lady Duff Gordon, for $50,000 a year; the firm's creditors forced it into receivership there in 1922.
Source: Wikipedia
1944
May
The English-Speaking Union moves its headquarters into the house
The English-Speaking Union occupied the mansion as its headquarters starting in 1943, formally opening there in May 1944 and remaining for over a decade.
Source: Wikipedia
1963
Celebrity hairdresser Mr. Kenneth opens his salon in the mansion
From 1963 the building housed the salon of celebrity hairdresser Mr. Kenneth, its interior designed by Billy Baldwin. A fire destroyed part of it on May 16, 1989, ending the salon's long run there.
Source: Wikipedia

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