The club opened on 29 May 1874 with the aim to be available to both men and women. It formed under a committee formed of both sexes, under the presidency of James Stansfeld, Member of Parliament for Halifax. It had initially set the limit for members at 600, with some 350 elected two weeks prior to opening. The club came in for criticism because of its progressive view of women's rights, but also saw supporters join its ranks such as Edward Cortenay MP.
Club House
On the evening of February 20, 1891, a group of distinguished gentlemen, prominent in the civic, commercial, financial, and social life of the City gathered together for an important purpose. At this dinner were present Messrs. Samuel D. Babcock, George S. Bowdoin, Robert Goelet, George G. Haven, H. A. C. Tylor, William K. Vanderbilt, and William C. Whitney. After dinner they were joined by Messrs. John L. Cadwalader, Charles Lanier, Cornelius Vanderbilt, James M. Waterbury, and proxies were on hand from the Messrs. Ogden Goelet, Louis L. Lorillard, J. Pierpont Morgan, James A.
The Club was founded in 1889 as a traditional men's social club by a group looking for a club located in the rapidly-developing Park Slope area. The initial group of 25 charter members quickly grew to 300 and became the most prominent club in Brooklyn. Charles Pratt, Richard Schermerhorn, Edwin Clark Litchfield and Robert Pinkerton were early members. Of the hundreds of clubs in Brooklyn at the time, the Montauk Club is the only one still in existence.
The Rainier Club is a private club in Seattle, Washington; it has been referred to as "Seattle's preeminent private club." Its clubhouse building, completed in 1904, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was founded in 1888 in what was then the Washington Territory (statehood came the following year). As of 2008, the club has 1,300 members.
On May 1, 1877, The Lotos Club moved to the Bradish Johnson mansion at 149 Fifth Avenue at the corner of Twenty-first Street. The building was more spacious and suitable for the Club’s growing membership and its receptions and dinners.
In 1892, the Club moved to 556-558 Fifth Avenue, on the west side of the avenue south of Forty-sixth Street—the first home owned by the Club. The first formal dinner in the new clubhouse was held in honor of Mark Twain. The Club’s president, Frank Lawrence said, “The Lotos Club is ever at its best when paying homage to genius in literature or art.”
In 1909, the Club moved to a new and custom-built home 110 West 57th Street. Andrew Carnegie placed the necessary funds at the Club’s disposal when the Panic of 1907 made proceeding with construction of the building impossible.
In 1947, the Club moved to its present home at Five East Sixty-sixth Street. This five-story mansion is known as one of the finest examples of French Renaissance architecture in America.
The Players (often inaccurately called The Players Club) is a private social club founded in New York City by the 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth. The club is located in a mansion at 16 Gramercy Park, built in 1847. Booth bought the house in 1888, reserved an upper floor for his residence, and turned the rest into a clubhouse. The building's interior and part of its exterior were designed by architect Stanford White; its entryway gaslights are among the few remaining examples in New York City.