User:Jack Sebastian/Astor Courts

Astor Courts (alternatively called Ferncliff Casino) is a Beaux-Arts sporting pavilion set on 50 acres in Rhinebeck, New York. It was extravagantly designed by notorious architect Stanford White in 1902 for John Jacob Astor IV, who later perished in the RMS Titanic disaster. Completed two years later, a 1913 pictorial in The New York Times described it as an "amusement hall" that had cost $1 million to build.

After Astor's death, the building shifted over time from a pleasure palace to private home before being remodeled into a religious convent and eventually an old-age facility, until purchased in November 2004 by Kathleen Hammer and Arthur Seelbinder for $3.2 million dollars. The restoration to the original, which required over three years to accomplish was performed by Sam White, the great-grandson of the original architect, Stanford White.

History
Initially conceived as a playground for the American aristocracy,

In 1964 Brooke Astor gave the home to the Catholic Church

Design features
Initially described in the 1907 American Architect and Building News :"Tennis and squash courts building for Col. John Jacob Astor, Rhinebeck, N.Y. Messrs. M'Kim, Mead & White, architects: 'The building is erected on a high bluff above the Hudson River and commands extensive and beautiful views across and up and down that stream. It is, of course, intended solely for the entertainment of the owner's guests and to provide a place where tennis may be played at all seasons. The outer walls are of stuccoed brick; the foundation of rubble stone; the roof is of Bangor slate. the reception-hall has a curved stone mantel with touches of gold in its ornamentation. The living-room has a circular bay overlooking the Hudson and much dark maroon is used its coloring, which makes a pleasing contrast with the palms which form an important part of the interior decoration of the building. The tennis court has a floor of earth, steam-rolled to a very perfect surface; its upper walls are of Gustavino construction, with steel trusses supporting the sky-light above. the room containing the swimming-pool is lined with marble up to the springing-lline of the groined arches and floored with the same material. The pool or plunge itself is lined with white glazed tiles, and the water which supplies it is pumped from the river into a detached and elevated filter which it passes by gravity to the basement, where it is heated to any desired temperature before being delivered into the pool.'"

The Beaux-Arts style mansion was completed in 1904 and sits upon on 50 acres. The expansive main living area has five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms and spans between 13-15,000 square feet. The truly stunning details include the indoor clay tennis court topped with a glass ceiling and framed by Gothic arches and a white marble pool surrounded by arches and graced with a pale sky blue ceiling.

Trivia and additional information
While the indoor swimming pool had been introduced in London in the 1860's, Astor Court features the first residential indoor swimming pool in the United States.

Current status
The home currently serves as a private residence for hammer and Seelbinder and has a listed worth of $12 million dollars.

Further Readings
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