New York Yacht Club, 1908. Founded in 1844, the New York Yacht Club has long been the home of New Yorkers' most prestigious yachtsmen. From the beginning the New Yorkers distinguished themselves. Winning America’s Cup in 1857, the New York Yacht Club successfully defended it twenty-four times in a row before losing in 1983, the longest winning streak measured in years in the history of sports. Its current (and primary clubhouse) was built in 1901 following a series of lesser homes throughout the city. The NYYC commissioned the architecture firm Warren & Wetmore to design them a permanent home in 1898. The resulting Beaux-Art design established Warren & Wetmore’s reputation and in 1987 was designated at National Historic Landmark.

New York Yacht Club ca. 1970 A fanciful version of Beaux Arts architecture, the main facade introduces, between columns, a series of bay windows in the form of sixteenth-century galleon sterns. The pergola which once graced the third floor contributed a further air of lightness and gaiety to this club designed by Warren & Wetmore.

New York Yacht Club Building ARCHITECT: Warren & Wetmore DATE: 1899-1900 STYLE: Neo-Grec The New York Yacht Club Building is a brilliant synthesis of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts’ tenets of character and composition. It was the first commission of the architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore and helped to establish their reputation. The building’s facade was influenced by the Ecole’s highly expressive neo-Grec movement which established the role of character as one of the school’s two primary design tenets. Among the facade’s notable characteristics are its carefully executed asymmetrical composition, its clear expression of the interior plan and its daring use of nautical symbols.