Stanford White - Personal Life

Personal Life

White impressed others as a witty, kind, and generous man. The newspapers frequently described him as “masterful,” “intense,” “burly yet boyish.” A sophisticated collector of all things rare and costly, artwork, and antiquities —White was also a dedicated connoisseur of teen-age girls. A practiced voluptuary, he was a calculating seducer who used intermediaries to disarm the girl he had marked as his new conquest. He maintained a multi-story apartment on 24th street in Manhattan with a rear entranceway, its interior design intended to fulfill one primary purpose— function as an opulent, seductive lair where White and his female conquests could "wine and dine" in seclusion. One green hued room was outfitted with a red velvet swing, which hung from the ceiling suspended by ivy-twined ropes. This is where Evelyn Nesbit, a popular chorus girl and model, and other young women "in varying degrees of undress" would provide the entertainment. There are conflicting accounts of whether this swing was in the "Giralda" tower at the old Madison Square Garden, or in the nearby building on 24th street. Most sources seem to concur that the notorious swing was a feature of the 24th Street location.