Home

updated September 1, 2005

Clarence Mackay's Art, Armor & Tapestry

Beyond a doubt, the Mackay Harbor Hill mansion was designed to accomodate large collections. The picture below shows the great central hall filled with armor (two mounted knights flanked the large glass door at the north end of this hall - the sunlit French double doors). Gothic tapestries hung on both sides of the fireplace and below the Medieval stained glass windows at the upper level of this great hall. On the panelled wall opposite the fireplace (out of view in this picture) hung the largest tapestry of all, that of David and Bathsheba.  At least twenty antique battle flags added to the color of the hall.      Read a first hand impression of what the mansion was like.  To read Ken Hechler's description  Click here.                         Where are these works of art today? Click on links below:        Medieval Stained Glass Windows          Armor             Gothic Tapestry Collection

St Peter Cologne 1505-1525

St George Cologne 1505-1525

The plate below, from The Architecture of McKim, Mead & White in Photographs, Plans and Elevations, shows the first floor of Harbor Hill. The Main Hall is pictured above. The main floor between the columns on the north and south, and the east and west walls in the main hall was approximately 40' by 50' or 2,000 square feet. Add to this the 40' by 20' area north of the main hall and space for display and entertaining increases to 2,800 square feet.      The area labeled Entrance Hall and Stair Hall were also filled with armor and tapestries. A third mounted knight was displayed in the Stair Hall. The entrance hall plus stair hall was about 110' in length from the entrance to the Billiards Room on the east to the west wall by the staircase. The entrance hall was about 12' wide and added another 1,320 square feet for displays and guests at large functions.      Doing the math, Mr. Mackay had more than 4,000 square feet of primary space for his armor and tapestry collections. This does not count the additional space available for art of all types in the Salon, Stone Room, Dining Room and Billiards Room, plus the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Top of this floor plan is north

Home