The R&T's current clubhouse was designed by William Symmes Richardson, a partner at
McKim, Mead, and White. The facility was built on a parcel offered for lease by a member of the club, Robert Goelet. Richardson, who had primary design responsibility for
Pennsylvania Station and the
Hotel Pennsylvania, proposed an integrated
Italian Renaissance style and his firm's proposal was presented to the membership for approval in April 1916. In addition to offering its members more spacious amenities, the move to Park Avenue afforded more consistent natural light for the skylit playing courts, as well a generally more desirable location. Construction began on December 20, 1916 and was completed on April 15, 1918. The builder was Mark Edlitz, and the estimated cost was $500,000. Board of Directors at this time included financier
Ogden Mills and sportsman
Harry Payne Whitney. The resulting building is about 200 feet by 100 feet (30 m x 60 m) and five stories tall. The exterior is stone and brick over a structural steel frame. According to the original plans, the interior contained three dining rooms, a
billiard room, library, lounge, gymnasium, swimming pool, five
squash courts, two court tennis courts, and two
racquets courts. Today, there are four singles squash courts, one hardball squash doubles court, one racquets court and two court tennis courts. The Club's court facilities are considered among the finest in the world. The structure is representative of the ornate private clubs constructed in New York City during the early 20th century. McKim, Mead and White had previously designed the
Harvard Club of New York City, the
Century Association and the
University Club of New York. It performs an important architectural role on
Park Avenue as a foil to the
Seagram Building, directly across the avenue, and the
Lever House, across 53rd Street, and other corporate structures in the glass-clad vocabulary of
International Modernism. The building was designated a New York City Landmark in 1979 and on July 21, 1983, the building was listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. The club sold its
air rights on Park Avenue to the developer of the
Park Avenue Plaza skyscraper in 1978. The glass-clad skyscraper rises in the middle of the block, immediately behind the club. ==Court tennis and racquets==