Lo and Behold, we are back with another Where & When. I’ve missed doing these for a while, so let me take advantage of a little time I have to present to you another little challenge with a little history attached to it: 
This one has a bit of irony attached to it, considering what it is. If you can tell us what this building is and when this building existed, you will win a box of Thin Mints (because the Girl Scout cookies we ordered months ago have arrived and I feel inordinately generous in my imagination). You will get a quart of milk to wash them down if you can tell us the ironic stories with this structure as well. A bonus box will be thrown in if you can tell us the name of the building beside it in the background.
Most of you know the rules of this game, but for those who don’t or need a refresher: to win, you should be the first person to answer all of the questions above in one post, plus you must show your process of finding the answer. You can utilize any methods you find feasible to find the answer, but you must not peek at the photo credit link because that’s cheating. If, however, you happen to find the link on your own in the course of research, then you will be excused. Everyone else who answers after the winner will receive a cold cream soda of choice. Usually we award a cold root beer for the winner unless there’s a special or seasonal occasion for something more apropos to the occasion.
You are encouraged also to share your research or memories about the site in the picture, in the spirit of cooperation and fostering education. Above all, have a good time and I hope you learn something new.
Have fun and we’ll discuss later!
[Photo credit: Wiki Commons]
Gilded age homes New York City didn't bring this up.
But irony.
Hmmm, irony = iron = steel = Andrew Carnegie.
Gilded age homes New York City Carnegie brings up this page:
http://www.elegran.com/edge/2012/02/remembering-the-mansions-of-manhattans-gilded-age
Which starts off with Henry Clay Frick's home, but that seems to be gone now, replaced with a museum.
Hm, interesting. I don't know off hand. Something about it screams "Vanderbilt!"
Oh, that's what 'irony' means, very good!
I have a little extra clue, but when I used it to Google I got what might be there now. Okay, I'll just say: I found the Ansonia, which this obviously is not.
Also, it's beaux art, in case that helps, rbj.
[1] Soooo, what exactly is this place, then? You're definitely on the right track, but I need a name. (P.S.: It's not Frick...)
Or is it Vanderbilt's? 70-71st streets & 5th Avenue. Getting lots of contradictory information.
Aha! And just like that, I found it.
It's the Charles Schwab House, which once stood west of the current site of the Ansonia. 73rd and 74th between West End and Riverside. Schwab was indeed a steel magnate. This pinterest site came up when I added "steel magnate" to "west 73rd st beaux art mansion".
It was constructed from 1902 to 1906, replaced in 1948 by a Schwab House apartment building.
I think I have another interesting irony, but it's going to have to wait a little while.
[3] Tee-hee, I've unintentionally conditioned you guys to expect sublime context in my postings, though it certainly put you all in the right frame of mind >;)
[6] Good show! Can't wait to hear your report on the ironic (mis)fortune of this site...
I have to share with rbj, because the "irony" thing helped me find it (and I didn't get that joke myself).
However, I did see the W 73rd St sign in the picture, which apparently rbj did not!
The other irony I had in mind is that once I id-ed the thing and tried to google up more info, I found this Daytonian in Manhattan site, run by a native Ohioan (although I guess Toledo and Dayton are not exactly neighbors).
Schwab was a steel megamillionaire, and the only one who built on the West Side, which was very unfashionable and the was project considered ill-advised; he overbuilt for the neighborhood. But it was the biggest of the biggies, which was just what Schwab wanted. An aerial photo on that Daytonian site shows the mansion situated overlooking Riverside Park, with gardens befitting a Newport mansion.
Is there another intended irony? Is it that the land for the mansion was purchased from an orphans' charity?
[9] Read the history section of it's Wiki page. There are a number of ironies, one of which is not mentioned in the article itself, but that current New York residents can certainly attest to.
[10] Now that I think about it, it's not impossible to suspect that this was another, lesser spoken of influence on the Xanadu estate of Charles Foster Kane. It existed around that time, and may have been in the same deteriorating condition as in the movie. Interesting...
I've been to the Vanderbilt house in Asheville. It's awesome.
That's all I got...