The Barbizon Hotel for Women, later known as Barbizon 63, was symbolic of the cultural change as women began to come to New York City for professional opportunities, but still wanted a "safe retreat" that felt like the family home. It is located at 140 East 63rd Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City.
History
Barbizon 63, 140 East 63rd Street, New York, NY - View our full listing for Barbizon 63 here: http://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/lenox-hill/barbizon-63-140-east-63rd-street/3503 Built in 1927 and converted into luxury condominiums in 2005, Barbizon...
It was built in 1927 incorporating a blend of Italian Renaissance, Late Gothic Revival, and Islamic decorative elements. It is a 23-story steel frame building encased in concrete and faced in salmon-colored brick with limestone and terra cotta decorative elements.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
For most of its existence, it operated as a residential hotel for women, with no men allowed above the ground floor, and strict dress and conduct rules were enforced. The hotel became a more standard hotel when it began admitting men as guests in 1981. In 2002, a $40 million renovation was completed and the name was changed to The Melrose Hotel. In 2005 the hotel closed and the building was gutted and rebuilt for condominium use and renamed Barbizon 63.
Even after the condo renovation, there were still 14 women living under the old arrangements at the hotel due to rent control in 2006.
The building includes a large indoor pool which is today part of an Equinox Fitness club, and air rights to adjacent properties were purchased when the building was constructed.
Famous residents
Female
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- Edith Bouvier Beale
- Lauren Bacall
- Ann Beattie
- Barbara Bel Geddes
- Candice Bergen
- Margaret Brown
- Betty Buckley
- Peggy Cass
- Joan Crawford
- Joan Didion
- Edna Ferber
- Camille Keaton
- Grace Kelly
- Cloris Leachman
- Ali MacGraw
- Dorothy McGuire
- Liza Minnelli
- Sylvia Plath
- Phylicia Rashad
- Madlyn Rhue
- Jessica Savitch
- Cybill Shepherd
- Mona Simpson
- Jaclyn Smith
- Elaine Stritch
- Gene Tierney
- Eudora Welty
- Gia Carangi
Male
- Ricky Gervais
In popular culture
- In the television series Mad Men, the Barbizon is noted as the place of residence of one of Don Draper's post-divorce love interests, Bethany Van Nuys. Don drops her off at the Barbizon in the 1st and 8th episodes of Season 4.
- In the 1967 Nick Carter spy novel The Red Guard, Carter books his teenage god-daughter into the Barbizon.
- In the 2015 Marvel TV Series Agent Carter, Peggy Carter lives in the Griffith, a fictional hotel heavily inspired by the Barbizon. Like the Barbizon, it is located on 63rd Street & Lexington Avenue.
- In Sylvia Plath's novel, The Bell Jar, the Barbizon is prominently featured under the name "The Amazon". The novel's protagonist (and Plath's fictional alter ego), Esther Greenwood, lives there during a summer internship at a fashion magazine. This event is based on Plath's real-life internship at the magazine Mademoiselle in 1953.
- In a debut novel called "The Dollhouse" written by Fiona Davis, the Barbizon Hotel/Barbizon 63 Condos is featured in a fictitious coming-of-age story that details two generations of young women whose lives intersect.
See also
- List of YWCA buildings
References
External links
- Official website
