Hampshire House

[1] The building now known as New York City's Hampshire House was the brainchild of an Italian immigrant, Eugene E. Lignante, who came to America in 1891 on the SS Cheribon at the age of 11 with his parents.

With the increasing development of high-rise structures in the city during the early 20th century, Eugene changed career paths working in real estate, building and construction.

In the final redesign, Caughey and Evans created a new plan: an apartment hotel with 34 floors, called Central Park Suites.

The New York Times described it as “an adaptation to the modern tall building of the Georgian style such as is found in many old homes in the County of Hampshire, England.

The exterior will be a black and white chromium steel.”[5] The Central Park South building was envisioned as a narrow tower with a dome, but the plans were changed to a 36-story apartment hotel in the Regency and Art Deco styles.

[7] The developers field plans for Hampshire House in early 1931,[8] and the New York Title and Mortgage Company gave the builders a construction loan of $2.2 million in March 1931.

[10][5] That July, the New York Title and Mortgage Company sued to foreclose on the property, claiming that the main contractor had quit just before the building was completed.

[24][25] Hampshire House was listed as a new way of luxurious living of suites, and proximity to a lot of the most famous amusement sites.

[28] The trustees hired Dorothy Draper, an interior designer, in order to make people want to live in a building which was at some point an empty shell on one of the most visible streets.

There were several famous celebrations including: Bee Gees performance in 1971,[30] Eubie Blake’s 90th birthday party, Calvin Klein’s wedding,[31] among others.

[33] Lawton Mackall says: "decor by Dorothy Draper creates [the] illusion that this is [the] dining room of a fabulous country estate looking out through [the] orangerie.

The Hampshire House replaced a news stand in its lobby (as seen in many hotels), to direct New York Times delivery to each resident in the co-op.

Some of the first residents in the building, according to the New York Times included Ann Morgan, Rodman Wanamaker 2nd, Edward Rice, and Charles Warren.

[38] Some of the other guests included Lucille Ball,[39] Ingrid Bergman,[40] John Wayne, Greta Garbo,[41]Peter Sellers, and Django Reinhardt,[42] among others.