Americas Society - Incas Room Wallpaper

The property located at 680 Park Avenue in New York, New York was originally the residence of prominent New York financier Percy Rivington Pine. It was built between 1906 and 1911 in the neo-Federalist style by the well-known architecture firm McKim, Mead and White. Pine occupied the house until 1946, after which it was served as the Soviet Mission to the UN from 1946 to 1965. To save it from demolition, it was purchased by Rockefeller family member Marquesa de Cuevas in 1965 and donated to the Americas Society in 1966, then known as the Center for Inter-American Relations. It continues to serve as the home of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.

The interior was restored by the architecture firm Walker O. Cain & Associates in the late 1960s, who attempted to bring it back to the style of the original building. In 1970 it was designated a New York City Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012 urgent renovation needs were identified and restored, including replacing the slate roof, façade work, restoration of the entrance portico, and replacement of the original windows. Work was directed by Ivan Brice Architecture.

In 2021, EverGreene was contracted to assess and repair damages to the historic wallpaper in the Incas Room. A rare French scenic wallpaper, “Las Incas”, was created by legendary wallpaper manufacturers Dufour & LeRoy in 1811 and brought to the Americas Society 100 years ago. The wallpaper is a representation of French historian and writer Jean-François Marmontel’s “Les Incas ou la destruction de l’Empire du Pérou,” published in 1776. After a conservation assessment, the intricate wallpaper was cleaned, stabilized, re-adhered, and carefully in-painted as necessary.