The George F. Baker houses comprise a block of several adjoining residences owned by the Baker Family on the corner of Park Avenue and East 93rd Street. The location is one of the highest points in Manhattan, and the Bakers even arranged to have their own railroad spur built in the basement, linking their private railroad car to the tracks running underneath Park Avenue.

George F. Baker and J. P. Morgan, close friends and frequent allies, were America's most prominent bankers in the late 19th and early 20th Century years. Mr. Baker was the long-time Chairman and principal stockholder of The First National Bank of New York, which later became First National City Bank, later shortened to Citibank, as it is called today. Mr. Baker was known for his philanthropy, including building the entire original campus of the Harvard Business School in Boston during the 1920s.

The George F. Baker complex of houses is obviously an exception to CAHPT's focus on early 19th Century architecture. The Baker Houses are unmistakably early 20th Century, mostly built or started during the affluent 1920s. While the time period may be a hundred years later than my favorite early 19th Century neo-classical period, the architecture looks almost the same, illustrating the recurring popularity of the classical style of architecture.

The architect for most of these buildings, including the two I acquired (No. 67 and 69 East 93rd Street), was Delano and Aldrich, the most fashionable residential architects in New York City during the early decades of the 20th Century. Their style was classical, but with far more restraint and simplicity than the more exuberant Greek Revival forms of the mid-19th Century. The Delano and Aldrich style, at least for the Bakers, seemed early 19th Century - almost English Regency. The house has relatively high ceilings, tall windows extending to the floor, classical marble mantels, arched doors, and an elegant spiral staircase through the center of the house, bringing in light from a domed skylight above.

Especially notable on the exterior of the Baker complex of houses is the Ionic colonnade on the east façade of 69 East 93rd Street. The colonnade, consisting of four matched pairs of fluted Ionic columns two stories high, frames a second floor loggia. These tall columns provide an elegant backdrop to what was once the Bakers' "French Courtyard."

The cornerstone building of the Baker complex, 63 East 93rd Street was the residence of George F. Baker, Jr. It included a ballroom wing as well as the French courtyard. It is now owned by the Russian Orthodox Church.

The residence at 67 East 93rd Street was built for the senior George F. Baker in his old age. He died at age 91 in 1932, and there is some debate as to whether he actually got to live in the handsome brick townhouse that Delano and Aldrich designed for him. After the death of George F. Baker, Jr., some years later, his widow, Edith Kane Baker, moved into 67 East 93rd Street.

The final Baker to live in the family complex was George F. Baker IV, who sold 69 East 93rd Street to Richard H. Jenrette in 1988. This building now serves as administrative headquarters for Classical American Homes Preservation Trust.

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