The stylistically unusual town house at 59 East 79th Street, built in 1908-09 for John H. and Caroline Iselin, was designed by the architectural firm of Foster, Gade & Graham with an eclectic combination of Northern Renaissance and French Classical forms. The building is representative of the large town houses erected on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in the early years of the 20th century as this area became the most fashionable residential quarter of the city.