Ogden Goelet Mansion (at right), ca. 1915.

The Goelet family arrived in New York in the 17th century and began their real estate acquisitions early on. Ogden Goelet, made rich by the inherited wealth of his bachelor uncle and father, commissioned architect E. H. Kendall to design him a grand mansion. The four-story stone home, complete with light moat and ornate dormers and chimneys, was even more extravagant on the inside, with interiors designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany's early design firm called Associated Artists. The home was finished in 1884 and celebrated with a small society party of 500! The home hosted lavish events for the next few decades before being razed in 1930, following the death of Odgen's wife the year before. It was the last large mansions on Fifth Avenue below Central Park to be demolished.