Barbizon 63
The Barbizon (known since 2005 as Barbizon 63), is a building located at 140 East 63rd Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was for many decades a female-only residential hotel for young women who came to New York City for professional opportunities, but still wanted a "safe retreat" that felt like the family home. The Barbizon was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2012. History. The Barbizon 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. 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.