held a mortgage-burning ceremony to mark payment of the $389,000 owed on the West 57th Street building. But in 1945 members began considering a move to a "simpler clubhouse." The club has been housed since 1947 in a 1900 clubhouse designed by Richard Howland Hunt at 5 East 66th Street. (The building had been commissioned by Margaret Shepard as a gift for her daughter, Mrs. William Jay Schieffelin.) In 1977, the Club amended its constitution to admit women. Constitution Lotos Club Medal of Merit The Lotos Club issues a Medal of Merit; previous recipients include general David Petraeus, scientist James D. Watson, flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, and puppeteer Bil Baird. The Club also awards a Foundation Prize and an Award of Distinction. Notable members Brooke Astor Mikhail Baryshnikov Kathleen Battle Andrew Carnegie Walter P. Chrysler Mary Higgins Clark Samuel Clemens George M. Cohan Hume Cronyn Mario Cuomo David Dinkins Dwight D. Eisenhower Renee Fleming Gilbert and Sullivan Alan Gilbert Solomon R. Guggenheim William Randolph Hearst David M. Heyman Marilyn Horne Leslie Howard Alleyne Ireland Sir Henry Irving Joseph Koch Angela Lansbury Leonard Liebling Wynton Marsalis Margaret Mead Burgess Meredith Peter O'Toole William S. Paley Christopher Plummer Julian Rix Linda Saidel Charles M. Schwab Cyrus Ingerson Scofield Bobby Short Beverly Sills Stephen Sondheim Isaac Stern Elaine Stritch Susan Stroman Moses J. Stroock Arthur Hays Sulzberger Jessica Tandy J. Walter Thompson Orson Welles P. G. Wodehouse Tom Wolfe James Wolfensohn Frank Winfield Woolworth Andrew Wyeth Yo-Yo Ma James D. Watson See also List of American gentlemen's clubs Notes External links A Brief History of the Lotus Club (1895) Lotus Leaves: Stories, Essays and Poems (written by various Lotus members including Mark Twain); 1875, 1887 Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the Turn of the 20th Century A New York Art Resources Consortium project. Exhibition catalogs from the Lotos Club. 1870 establishments in New York (state) Clubhouses in Manhattan Clubs and societies in the United States Culture of New York City Gentlemen's clubs in New York City Organizations established in 1870 Upper East Side