13. Edward S. and Mary Stillman Harkness House, 1 East 75th Street
Though grand in scale, the Harkness House is subtle in its classical ornamentation, much like the Frick Mansion. Designed in an Italian Renaissance style for the son of Ohio businessman Stephen V. Harkness, the home has many features that set it apart from its neighbors. For one, there is no grand ballroom inside. Instead, the home is divided into smaller intimate rooms. Take a peek inside here!
The modesty of the home is deliberate, even its name, which uses “House” instead of “Mansion.” The decoration that does adorn the house, however, holds meaning. The ornate fence which surrounds the property is said to be modeled after the fence which rings the Verona Scaligeri Tombs in Italy, a group of five Gothic funerary monuments that honor the Scaligeri family, who ruled in Verona in the 13th and 14th centuries.