After the Civil War, Harlem attracted many distinguished New Yorkers, with horses of millionaires racing along what is now St. Nicholas Avenue, and such august visitors as Ulysses S. Grant cheering them on. Development exploded during the 1880s with the advent of the elevated railroad, which made the area accessible and desirable to downtown New Yorkers. For the next 30 years, Harlem was New York’s most fashionable neighborhood, boasting an opera house (founded by Oscar Hammerstein in 1889), a Philharmonic orchestra, and even a yacht club.

By the turn of the century, most of the grandiose brownstones had already been built in Harlem, as was one of New York’s grandest apartment houses – Graham Court, an Italian Renaissance palazzo commissioned by William Waldorf Astor in 1899.

The early 20th Century witnessed the famous Harlem Renaissance, which fueled the area’s surging economy by day while packing in the crowds at clubs like the Savoy, Small’s Paradise and the Cotton Club by night. Harlem jazz legends like Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington came into the spotlight, as did great literary figures such as W.E.B. Dubois, Langston Hughes and Ralf Ellison.

Today, Harlem is in the midst of a second Renaissance, with many of its distinguished grand estates, mansions, brownstones and apartment houses being restored to their original splendor. The Normandie, built circa 1900, is one such example, and we welcome you as the first residents of this extraordinary historic transformation.

A century ago, a bygone generation was “Puttin’ on the Ritz” along Lenox Avenue. The time has come to rediscover that mystique along with the world-class culture, architecture, academic and religious institutions, retail and transportation facilities, and the diverse inhabitants that make Harlem so unique and sought after a 21st Century destination .