Blumenthal House, ca. 1915.

George Blumenthal was a German-born financier, philanthropist, and art collector who made the bulk of his fortune in foreign exchange on Wall Street. Blumenthal built two homes in New York City. The first was a 1903 midblock mansion on West 53rd Street. The second was this four-story limestone mansion designed by Trowbridge & Livingston on the former site of the Union Theological Seminary. The large home was laid out to house Blumenthal's large collection of art, including an interior patio complex originally produced for the castle of Vélex Blanco in Spain (and a working fountain from Florence). Blumenthal died in 1941 bequeathing the home and much of his collection to the Metropolitan Museum, of which he was President of the Board at his death. Today the museum has the interior patio on display, while the home itself was demolished in 1943 for a 20-story apartment building.