of the new home of the University Club" and said the structure lacked "nothing in the way of comfort or history". The New York Times said that "New York may well be proud of her newest building, the University Club structure", and the Sun labeled it "One of the Finest Buildings of the Kind" in the United States in a headline. Though the expanded clubhouse allowed 1,700 resident members and 1,300 non-resident members, the resident capacity had been reached shortly after the club was completed. By the end of 1901, the club had 2,800 members, of which nearly 2,000 came from four colleges: Columbia, Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. Alexander resigned as president of the University Club in 1899, having overseen the completion of the clubhouse. Lawyer Charles C. Beaman was elected as the president at the annual meeting in 1899, but he died at his Manhattan home the following year. Retired judge Henry E. Howland, characterized in The New York Times as "one of the best known lawyers in America", was elected as president in 1901. In the early years of the new clubhouse, the University Club hosted several events, such as dinners featuring Prince Henry of Prussia in 1902, a Chinese imperial party in 1906, and mayor George B. McClellan in 1908. After Howland stepped down as president in 1905, retired attorney Edmund Wetmore, who had been one of the club's cofounders, served as the club's president until 1910. Afterward, Benjamin Aymar Sands served as club president until 1913, when he was replaced by lawyer Thomas Thacher. In March 1916, the University Club obtained an option to buy two lots on 54th Street and 55th Street, which adjoined the existing clubhouse. The new acquisition on 54th Street was directly across from the houses of John D. Rockefeller and his son John Jr. at 4 and 10 West 54th Street respectively. McKim, Mead & White filed plans for a annex to the clubhouse in July 1916. The addition was projected to cost $100,000 and would provide more bedrooms for members and their guests. In June 1917, the club received a $1 million mortgage to fund the construction of the annex. Thacher was replaced as club president in 1919 by A. Barton Hepburn. After Hepburn's death in 1922, H. Hobart Porter was elected as club president that year. McKim, Mead & White designed a further expansion to the building in 1927.