Hotel des Artistes
| Hotel des Artistes | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Address | 1 West 67th Street |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | George Mort Pollard |
Hotel des Artistes is a historic residential building located at 1 West 67th Street, near Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.[1] Completed in 1917, the ornate 17-story, 119-unit Gothic-style building has been home to a long list of writers, artists, and politicians over the years.[2]
History
[edit]In 1914, a group of artists—including Walter Russell, Frank DuMond, Willard Metcalf, and Penrhyn Stanlaws[3][4][5]—paid $250,000 to buy a parcel of land on the west side of Central Park with the plans of building Hotel des Artistes.[6][7] At the outset, they planned to erect a 20-story building where 10 stories would be dedicated to artists' studio space and the other 10 would be dedicated to apartments.[6]
Designed by George Mort Pollard, when it opened in 1917, the Hotel des Artistes boasted a large swimming pool, grand ballrooms, rooftop squash courts, a gym, and a restaurant.[5] Apartments had as many as six rooms apiece, and many of the units featured 20-foot lofted ceilings. Kitchens were small, as tenants were able to use their dumbwaiters to receive meals prepared in a kitchen on the second floor.[8] The building is also noted for its pastoral floor-to-ceiling paintings by Howard Chandler Christy, one of its earliest residents.[9]
In 1970, the building transformed into a full co-operative after a new owner purchased it. Several longtime tenants were evicted after a lengthy court battle.[10]
In 1975, violinist turned restaurateur George Lang took over the run-down ground-floor cafe and renovated it, bringing in new diners. Lang and his wife Gloria ran Cafe des Artistes until 2009, when they decided to close it during the recession.[11] In 2011, it reopened under new management as the Leopard at des Artistes.[11]
Noteworthy former residents
[edit]- Earnest Andersson, who had developed the concept of the Hotel des Artists, and owned several apartments therein[12]
- Rolf Armstrong
- Peter Benchley
- Howard Chandler Christy
- Noël Coward
- Harry Crosby: Writer Harry Crosby—nephew of J.P. Morgan—killed himself and his mistress, Josephine Bigelow, in the building in 1929.[13]
- Charles Dana Gibson
- Frank DuMond
- Isadora Duncan[2]
- Dean Fausett
- Edna Ferber
- Peter Gelb[14]
- Joel Grey
- Elizabeth Hardwick, writer
- Fannie Hurst,[1] novelist, died in her apartment in the building in 1968.[15]
- Ellsworth Kelly
- John Lindsay
- Peter Martins
- Willard Metcalf
- James Montgomery Flagg
- Alla Nazimova
- LeRoy Neiman
- Mike Nichols
- Gary Oldman
- Jean Pigozzi
- Alice Pike Barney
- Zasu Pitts
- Norman Rockwell[2]
- Walter Russell
- Gloria Schiff
- Penrhyn Stanlaws
- Richard Thomas
- Rudolph Valentino[16]
- Margaret Widdemer
- Alexander Woollcott
In popular culture
[edit]- Audrey Rose (1977): Hotel des Artistes plays a prominent role in the supernatural drama Audrey Rose. The film's set designers re-created one of the building's apartments on a sound stage in Hollywood.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Carter, James T. (November 2, 1958). "Books and Things". The Victoria Advocate. p. 24. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c Rush, George; Molloy, Joanna (June 15, 1995). "Fab West Triplex Just Isn't Good Enough for Babs". Daily News. p. 629. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Russell Heads Artists". The Sun. December 25, 1914. p. 13. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Plan Hotel des Artistes Solely for Illustrators". The Washington Times. February 10, 1915. p. 12. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ a b "Model Apartments for Artists on West Side". The New York Times. March 28, 1915. p. 95. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ a b "Hotel des Artistes to Go Up". The Sun. December 24, 1914. p. 14. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Art Pays the Artists". The Los Angeles Times. December 24, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Heller, Ann (January 23, 1985). "A Little Romance". Dayton Daily News. p. 21. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "Upper West Side". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. March 30, 1997. p. 93. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Meislin, Richard J. (December 13, 1976). "Painter, 80, Loses Studio in Eviction". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Grimes, William (July 6, 2011). "George Lang, Mastermind Behind Café des Artistes, Dies at 86". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
- ^ Slim, H. Colin (Summer 2009). "Lessons with Stravinsky: The Notebook of Earnest Andersson (1878–1943)". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 62 (2). University of California Press: 334–335 – via JSTOR.
In New York [Andersson] developed the idea for and was on the board of directors of the Hotel des Artistes ... By 1929 he had amassed at least a million dollars and owned several other apartments in the building...
- ^ "The lost, wild world of Caresse Crosby, notorious queen of 1920s Paris society". the Guardian. February 25, 2018. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Barbanel, Josh (June 14, 2017). "How a Manhattan Artists Colony Survived a Century of Changes". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
- ^ "Novelist Fannie Hurst Dies". Bennington Banner. February 24, 1968. p. 1. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ "NY Ghosts "Aggressive"". Press and Sun-Bulletin. October 31, 1996. p. 15. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Cain, Scott (April 17, 1977). "Coburn Film to Show Here at Last". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 190. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Christoper Gray's May 14, 2000, Streetscapes column: Hotel des Artistes, 1 West 67th Street; Cornerstone Building on a Block of Artists' Studios