DescriptionPhotographs of the Racquet's Club, Short Hills, taken by Owen Lampe. Stewart Hartshorn commissioned the building from Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White to serve as a hall for his fledging "ideal community. The design is based on White's admiration of the rustic cottages of Brittany, with its wooden structure, gabled roof and round tower. The building was completed in the summer of 1880 and served many functions, including a Music Hall, Casino, and the first home of the Short Hills Day School. It was also an early meeting place for the Christ Church congregation (prior to the construction of the church in 1883). In 1946, the Racquet's Club of Short Hills purchased the building and adjacent tennis courts from the Hartshorn Estate. The Racquets Club burned down in a major fire in February 1978.