Barbizon Hotel for Women

History and architecture

The Barbizon Hotel for Women was built in 1927-28 as a residential hotel and clubhouse for single women, who at that time were moving to New York City in record numbers to take advantage of new professional opportunities opening to them. The demand for inexpensive housing for single women led to the construction of several large residential hotels in Manhattan. Of these, the Barbizon, which was equipped with special studio, rehearsal and concert spaces to attract young women pursuing careers in the arts, became the most renowned.

Its residents included many women who later became prominent actresses, writers, designers, and professional women, including author Sylvia Plath, who wrote about her residence at the Barbizon in The Bell Jar. The Barbizon also promoted women’s organizations and arts organizations, providing meeting space to groups such as the National Junior League, Arts Council of New York, and women’s college clubs.

Designed by the prominent hotel specialists Murgatroyd & Ogden, the 23-story Barbizon Hotel is an excellent representative of the 1920s apartment hotel building, and is notable for the high quality of its design. Its vigorous stepped-back massing reflects the influence of the 1916 zoning resolution and in particular the design of Arthur Loomis Harmon’s Shelton Hotel. The Barbizon’s design is distinguished by the complex arrangement of setbacks and recessed courts, which create subtle transitions between the various elements of the design, and by the masterful handling of its eclectic mixture of North Italian Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance ornament.

The richness of the building’s exterior brickwork that varies considerably in hue and texture, the careful proportioning of its details, and its dramatically massed roofline with its 18th story Gothic arcades and chapel-like crown have also won critical acclaim.

The Barbizon underwent alterations in the 1980s and 1990s and was recently converted into condominiums but still retains its significant architectural features and historic associations.