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The Barbizon Hotel for Women is Now...What?

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 140 E. 63rd Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10021
January 11, 2010 at 2:34 PM | by | Comments (2)

Long before there was the cheesy Barbizon School of Modeling, there was the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York on 63rd and Lexington which was built in 1927. This where "all nice young ladies" stayed when they came to New York, including screen legend Grace Kelly. (See this New Yorker piece on the actress.)

According to an article in the NY Times a few years ago, the building had 700 tiny hotel rooms with just enough space for a desk, bed, dresser and a window. The bathrooms were shared and men were not allowed above the second floor. There was also a swimming pool inside so ladies could work on their fitness, we presume.

Over the years, the place was renovated numerous times to bring the room count down to about 300 (thank god!) and at one point even master hotelier himself, Ian Scrhager, expressed some interest in turning the place into one of his cooler-than-thou hotel properties.

Eventually, the place turned into the Melrose Hotel and an Equinox fitness club moved in. But as it goes with many old hotels in New York, developers converted this place into luxury condominiums a few years back. Curbed reports that funny Brit, Ricky Gervais, has scooped up a pied-a-terre there for $1.66 million.

While we love the idea of buying a slice of history, we're still having horrible 80s flashbacks with the name Barbizon, thanks to the silly modeling school commercials. We're not one for doing away with historical sites in NYC but a name change could be good here. Maybe something as classy as Grace Kelly?

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Barbizon Hotel

Very interesting article. Had to LOL at your comments re: the "cheesy modeling school" I attended but didn't graduate from Barbizon School of Modeling in San Diego, CA.  One thing you should know, though: the word "Barbizon" actually precedes both the modeling school and the hotel.  Barbizon was also an art movement that originated in France during the mid 1800s. They lived or near the village of Barbizon, France near the Fountainbleu Forest. There was even an "American Branch" of that art style in the late 1800s. Their painters tended to focus on rural scenes and realism in art.
Sabrina Messenger on April 9, 2010 at 10:22 AM #Permalink

Barbizon Hotel

Know anyone who stayed or lived at the Barbizon Hotel? I am researching for an article...what an amazing place.
I actually did myself...back in the 70's, it was memorable!!
missmuffett on October 5, 2011 at 1:38 PM #Permalink

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