' M alhnrf-Afitnria FI F TH A VE NUE NEW YO R' A fi lia t e d H o t e ls ' u n de r t h e o wn er s h ip Of B OO M ER DU PONT PRO 'ERTIES COR 'ORATION TH E BE LLE V UE STRATF ORD Philadelphi a T LL D H E W Wa sh in t o n . I AR g , D C TH E WIN DSOR Montreal Elbe 5tmy of al l]' Malhurf-Aatnria B y EDWARD HUNGERFORD Ill u s t r a t io n s b y R YL LOUI S H . U 03119 51mg o f Eh' M alhnrf- Aamria N n O f 1 890 Ru m o r I the sp ri g the year , went through the streets of Ne w York town wh i s p ering that Wil liam Waldorf Astor was about to buil d a huge hotel upon t h e/s it e o f his house at the no rthwest corner of Fifth Avenue a n d “ - Thirty third Street . It is to have all of five ' t h l “ e . s hundred rooms, whisp ered y dame, five hundred rooms, an d more than half of them with p rivate baths . — She threw out other hints as well o f a tavern to be built with an elegance and finesse such as neither o a n y New Y rk, nor other city, for that matter, “ e had yet known . One certainly would xp ect ' the Astors to do the thing handsomely, was her final shaft . ’ ‘Villi a m Waldorf Astor had p ermitted the idea of a hotel upon the site o f his Thirty—third Street house to grow in his imagination . He talked it over at great length with his estate in ex e r i agent, Abner B artlett, a man whose p n ence and j udgme t he p ut large confidence . In the hotel idea Mr . B artlett had anticip ated his . a n d chief He had both imagination j udgment . Both were forever tempered with a vast sagae . e ity Into his j udgment there entered, even b fore William Waldorf Astor had fully made up his own mind, the determination that a great n e w hotel should be buil t at the Thirty- third Street corner . One day B artlett bespoke t hat determination . “ ' I think that we shall build that hotel , he said slowly . William Waldorf Astor turned his glance toward him . Doubt still ruled him . He was not quite convinced of the wisdom of the p roj ect . “ — It will never p ay, there at Thirty third ' Street, was his reply . “ ' “ Oh , yes , contradicted Abner B artlett . I have thought the thing all out and I am now ' positive that it will p ay . Astor was quiet for a few minutes . Finally ' he turned toward his agent , saying “ H ave you got a man to look after a house '' like that , if we should decide to build it The agent did not hesitate . ' I . have the man , he said, quietly ' ' Wh o ' “ l That man over in the little B e levue, in — Philadelphia George Boldt . W . B artlett knew Boldt ith Mrs B artlett, he was in the habit of going occasionally to the ’ B ellevue for a few days rest and vacation . Once B oldt had given up his own suite j ust to accommodate them . At that time there p robably was nothing else j ust like that little Philadelphia hotel in all a cre tion ' certainly not in the United States . It was really a very tiny tavern indeed , of red — brick it possessed b u t thirty- six sleeping rooms — r standing in B road Street . With its mansa d roof it was only four stories in height , all told, and it was not until a number of years after Boldt took it over that an elevator was installed n . withi it Yet it was a homey little place, and in 1 90 4 — when , , it was finally demolished upon the completion of the magnificent B ellevue Stratford upon an adjoining corner— its p assing was mourned sincerely by whole generations of old Philadelphians . George Boldt was the manner of man , then , who was chosen to make the operation of the new Astor Hotel— it soon was settled that it 4 — was to be called the \V aldorf his life work . He accepted after consultation with his wife . And ‘pl ans were made for the construction of a cce the house . Within a few weeks after the p l dt . tance by the B o s of the new house, Henry J r de n b e r h H a g , an architect who was to have considerable exp erience in the development o f New the m odern hotel in York , was engaged upon its p reliminary plans . And it was not long thereafter before t h e A st o r s moved out ‘ of their comfortable red - brick house and the wreckers were engaged in its demolition . In the late summer of 1 891 the gaunt steel framework of the new Waldorf began to show f itself over the edge of the tall , tight ence which the contractors had built about the site o f . the hotel Boldt , although never relinquish ing the full control of the B ellevue, took the house at 1 3 West Thirty—third Street 'imme di a t e l n o t y adjoining the Waldorf site', only as p ersonal living quarters , but also as an office until the new hotel should be finished . Liter On w . ally he slept the j ob , hen he slept at all At no time during the long p eriod of construe tion wa s he far from it . When he did go it was either to gain ideas or furnishings for the house . Th a t was long before the day of standardization in hotel furnishings 'years before some efficien cy genius was to evolve the idea of rooms exactly alike on each bedroom floo r o f the modern ur hostelry, and f nished alike, down to the smallest detail . The original intention was t o have the Wal dorf eleven stories in height . Finally, in def . w s erence to a request of Mrs Boldt , this a increased to thirteen stories . The wife of the p rop rietor of the new house had a sort of sup er , st it io u s ff a ection for the number thi rteen . S O thirteen stories into the blue skies over Mamb at tan went the brand new VVa ldo r f . F rom the first the idea was to create a super tavern with as little of th e t y p ical hotel features in evide nc e 5 as wa s humanly possible . There were to b e 53 0 450 rooms , of which some would be sleeping w 3 50 rooms . There ere to be p rivate bath a t r em en d rooms, feature which alone made a ous imp ression upon the high - grade travel i ng p ublic of the n ineties . Construction p roceeded slowly through the summer of 1 891 and 1 892 . In the latter year it was possible so to enclose the uncompleted building a s to p ermit the decorators and the ‘ furnishings to come into it . But at no time was the constr uction hurried . Few large buildings i n New Yo rk have ever been fabricat ed so del ib — w e r a t el y and so thoroughl y . This a s one of the ‘ few definite wishes of William Waldorf Astor. in The plans for the hotel having been finished, u compliance with his anno nced plan , the owner returned to England . The few orders or sug ges tions that he made in connection with the building o f the house were chiefly given by cable . As far as is known , he never entered it after its completion but twice, and then but f r o a few minutes each time . H e p assed quickly t hrough its corridors and did not lift his eyes from the floor . — it Finally was a wintry day in February, 1 893 ffi , when a great banner was a xed to the front of the new Waldorf . In large black let t ers New Yorkers read upon it Mr . Boldt announces the op ening o f ' T Wa f “ e dn e s da 1 5 the ldor , y, M arch , 1 893 . Temporary o fii ces at 1 3 West - Thirty third Street . The actual christening of the original Wal dorf took place on the evening of the 1 4th of m March . For onths it had been anticip ated as a large social function . A huge concert, in aid ’ of St . Mary s Free Hospital for Children and . R under the direction of Mrs ichard I rvin , formed the excuse for bringing a most r ep r e s en t a t iv e group of New Yorkers to the opening — of the new hotel . A dismal downpour a sh a rp sp ring rain 33 as doing its utmost to dampen the — party f a iled to keep a w a v a great throng of folk . More than fifteen hundred men and women attended the affair . The New York y y S mphon Orchestra , under the leadership of w alter Damrosch , hich had been donated for W '.