Ye Olde Hotel Chelsea

We don't hide our fascination/obsession with the Hotel Chelsea (they even mentioned it on their blog). So we couldn't be more excited to find out that there's a history of the hotel being written. From the hotel blog: "Sherill Tippins, the author of a forthcoming book on the history of the Hotel Chelsea, has been spending her time visiting the archives of famous former residents."

When the hotel was built in 1883 it was the tallest building in New York (until 1902). According to some receipts Tippins found from the late 1800's, a 3 to 4 room suite cost about $50-$100 per month, equaling about $1,000 to $2,000 today. A 10-12 room apartment (!) went for $167 to $250 per month, which translates to $3,000 to $5,000. Apparently these rents were considered outrageous, but "the Chelsea was built in the midst of a real estate boom and everyone was worried that housing prices were pushing out the middle class. (Not to mention the artists.)" Sounds familiar.

More on the historical findings here.