Exploring the Gilded Age Mansions and Memorials of Riverside Drive

During New York’s Gilded Age of opulence at the turn of the 20th century, Riverside Drive was supposed to overtake Fifth Avenue as New York City’s “millionaire colony.” And by the early 1900s, that transformation was well under way as the once sleepy carriage drive became lined with dozens of free-standing mansions boasting spectacular park and riverfront views. But what led its affluent residents to vacate their palatial homes and abandoned this center of luxury for good by the 1930s? It’s time to explore the rise, fall, and repurposing of Riverside Drive over the past century, with a special look at the few homes of this era that still remain.

Join New York Adventure Club as we uncover the opulent history and architecture of Riverside Drive—located on the banks of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, this beautiful stretch of land was once home to some of the world’s most notable business leaders and creatives before transforming into one of New York’s most spectacular parks.

Led by Esther Crain—historian, founder of Ephemeral New York, and author of The Gilded Age in New York—this unique experience down one of New York’s most storied streets will include:

• The origins of Riverside Drive, from the reasons it attracted some of the wealthiest residents of the day to why it doesn’t follow the rest of the Manhattan street grid
• A visit to the 1903 Rice Mansion with stories surrounding the owner’s beloved wife, who was so annoyed by Hudson River tugboat traffic beyond her landscaped grounds that she founded the Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noise
• A stop at the 35-room marble palace Schinasi Mansion—built in 1907 by a tobacco baron, this house has a Prohibition-era tunnel that led to the Hudson River
• Stories of the builders and barons, as well as artists and eccentrics, who made their fortunes and homes here
• A discussion of Edgar Allan Poe’s ties to the area, where he would sit and think while residing in a nearby farmhouse
• A look at the Schwab Mansion