Dylan Hotel (New York City, New York)

 hotel, clubhouse

177-foot, 16-story Neo-Classical hotel competed in 1911 as a 12-story clubhouse. Designed by York & Sawyer as the Chemists' Club, it offered club facilities enjoyed by doctors, lawyers, engineers and other professions. There were also three laboratories for rent in which a chemist could conduct experiments. The Chemists' Club was founded in 1898 as an outgrowth of the American Chemical Society. At its founding, the club had 154 members. The purchase of the land for the new club building was pushed for by the then-president of the club, Professor of Chemistry Morris Loeb of New York University. The club sold the building in the 1970s, although it is still active, meeting at the Penn Club on West 44th Street.

The 5-bay facade has a 4-story base, divided into upper and lower parts. The lower part is clad in rusticated limestone, resting on a low granite water table. There are three entrances, in the middle and end bays, each with a small set of steps cut through the water table. The main entrance is in the center, with recessed double glass doors and transom framed by a limestone surround with a rope molding, and bands of rosettes at the sides; at the top is a stone panel with the words "CHEMISTS' CLUB", and a pair of scrolled brackets supporting a cornice with four small lions' heads. A pair of wrought-iron light sconces are attached to the wall on either side of the main entrance. The east bay has a small metal-and-glass service door, with a metal vent above it, and the west bay has a wooden door entrance to the Benjamin Steakhouse, with a rounded black canopy extending out over the doorway. The other two bays have tall windows.

The 2nd floor has five almost-square openings for windows with stone sills. There is a projecting stone balcony over the middle three bays, supported by four pairs of squat brackets ornamented with ornate foliate carvings; those outer pairs are spaced closely together. A very ornate, pale grey-green iron railing with palm frond designs fronts the balcony, with a pair of flagpoles projecting from the corners. The 3rd & 4th floors have flat, fluted pillars flanking each bay, with Corinthian capitals supporting an entablature with a dentiled cornice capping the base. The three middle bays at the 3rd floor have molded surrounds with scrolled brackets supporting triangular pediments. The outer bays have elaborately carved panels above the windows instead of pediments. The 4th-floor windows in all five bays rest on stone sill bands with Greek-fret patterns. The three middle bays also have molded surrounds.

The upper floors are also clad in light-colored stone, more lightly rusticated. The end bays have recessed single-windows with stone sills, while the middle bays have taller tripartite windows divided by narrow colonnettes, above the 5th floor, which has single-windows with stone surrounds at the middle bays. The two piers between the middle bays, as well as the spandrel panels between floors are ornamented with elaborate carvings. A projecting stone balcony with wrought-iron railing fronts the full 11th floor, supported by paired iron brackets at each pier. A stone cornice caps the 11th floor, with the 12th floor set back.

In 2000 the building was renovated by architect Jeffrey Beers into the Dylan Hotel, named after Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The penthouse levels were added during the conversion, set far back from the front facade and not visible from the street. There is a light well at the middle of the east elevation, which is clad in red brick. The hotel is now operated by Eurostars Hotels, and features the Alchemists' Suite, a vaulted chamber designed to evoke an alchemist's laboratory. There are 107 guest rooms in total.

www.dylanhotelnyc.com/
www.thechemistsclub.com/history/