The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellectual life, the club was chartered in 1865 for the "promotion of literature and art". The club is not affiliated with any other University Club or college alumni clubs. The club is considered one of the most prestigious in New York City. The University Club's predecessor, the Red Room Club, was founded in 1861 when a group of Yale College alumni founded the club to extend their collegial ties. Once the University Club received its charter, it struggled with financing, and from 1868 to 1879 the club had no permanent clubhouse and relatively few members. The club was reorganized in 1879 and became a popular social club, being housed at John Caswell's residence until 1883 and then at the Jerome Mansion until the current clubhouse was completed in 1899. Women were not permitted to become members until 1986, and are today highly represented within the membership. The current clubhouse, a nine-story granite-faced Renaissance Revival structure, was designed by Charles Follen McKim, a member of the club. It contains three main floors with a reception area at the first story, a set of library rooms on the fourth story, and a dining area on the seventh story. There are various mezzanines with bedrooms and club rooms as well, in addition to a bath and swimming pool in the basement. The clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City designated landmark. History Early years In late 1861, a group of Yale College alumni from the classes of 1859 to 1861 formed the Red Room Club to continue their collegial friendship. The club initially held meetings at the family house of Francis Edward Kernochan at 145 Second Avenue in Manhattan. During the winters of 1862 and 1863, the club met on Saturdays in one room of the Kernochan house, dubbed the "Red Room". According to a later Harper's Weekly magazine article, the club had no regular organization; the only common trait was that the members were Yale alumni. The club met at 7 West 30th Street during 1864 after Kernochan's father Joseph fell ill, interfering with the activities of the club. Cofounder Henry