The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection (New York City, New York)

 hotel, Art Deco (architecture), 1928_construction, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

315-foot, 28-story Renaissance Revival/Art Deco hotel completed in 1928 for the American Hotels Corporation. Designed by Schultze & Weaver, it is complexly massed with ornamented setbacks, clad in limestone, reddish-brown brick, and terra-cotta, and features a differentiated base, continuous piers, and a distinguished skyline profile.

Above a 2- to 3-story limestone base, the upper façade is executed in red brick decorated with random projecting headers; windows, beginning at the 5th floor, have geometrically-patterned brickwork spandrels (traced in limestone at the 5th floor). Light courts begin above the 2nd floor of the base on both the west and north elevations. The historic recessed entrance on Lexington Avenue has been enclosed and converted into retail space.

On Lexington Avenue the base features a round-arched central entrance (now a storefront) framed by angled piers topped by eagles with shields, windows with engaged columns and blind tympana, sculptural features including rosettes, griffins, two seated human figures and four standing figures representing the seasons; arcaded windows at 3rd floor framed by columns with bases in the form of winged lions and capitals with human faces, carved foliate molding, and a paneled frieze with an eagle. There are two flagpole bases with eagle designs. The 2-story wings to the north and south have angled piers with Corinthian capitals supporting engaged columns topped by winged lions, blind tympana and an arcaded frieze with rosettes and griffins.

The upper floors are brick with random projecting headers, geometrically patterned spandrels, and terra-cotta detailing at the windows and parapets at the setbacks and adjoining walls. There is round-arched fenestration at the 21st floor with terra-cotta spandrels and lintels topped by avian finials. A tower with round-arched openings is capped by a pyramidal roof with a stone lantern; stone turrets also have pyramidal roofs, and there is a mansard roof on south wing with a chimney. The two storefronts in the wings flanked the original center entrance both have metal marquees; the center storefront has black marble piers, and a glass panel in the round-arch above it. There is a small statue of an eagle mounted at the northwest corner of the base, above a vertical sign with white lettering that is mounted on the chamfered corner (reading: THE LEXINGTON HOTEL).

The north facade's base on 48th Street has angled piers with Corinthian capitals supporting engaged columns topped by winged lions (some are replacements), blind tympana, and an arcaded frieze with rosettes and griffins. The recessed easternmost bay is brick with a round-arched service entrance with blind tympana in a keyed, stone enframement and double-arched window at the 2nd floor with a keyed, stone surround with a colonnette.

The upper floors are brick with random projecting headers, geometrically patterned spandrels, and terra-cotta detailing at windows and parapets at setbacks and adjoining walls. There are windows in the eastern light court with stone surrounds at the 3ird floor and thick stone sills at the 4th floor. The 21st floor has round-arched windows with terra-cotta spandrels and lintels topped by avian finials. Towers with round-arched openings are capped by pyramidal roofs, the western one with a stone lantern. The stone turrets also have pyramidal roofs, and there are bays of light courts with mansard roofs and a chimney at the east.

The main entrance is now at the center of the north facade. There is a tripartite storefront to the east, and two more to the west, although that closest to the entrance has been filled-in. A gold-and-brown metal marquee is suspended over the entrance bays, with the hotel name is white lettering on top. There is a white metal railing at the 3rd floor, fronting the central light court.

The 725-room hotel was formerly a Radisson, and is now operated by Marriott. From 1937 to 1966, the Hotel Lexington was the location of the famous Hawaiian Room, featuring Polynesian cuisine and the best in Hawaiian music and dance. Two years later it became the home of Chateau Madrid, a night club which had been established as an outpost for devotees of flamenco. It briefly served as home of Playboy’s Empire Club in the mid-1980s. The rooms are appointed with Herman Miller desk chairs.

Besides the lobby, the ground floor is occupied by The Stayton Room bar, and a Starbucks coffee. It was designated a New York City landmark in 2016.

www.lexingtonhotelnyc.com/
s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2559.pdf
usmodernist.org/AF/AF-1929-12-1.pdf
newyorkyimby.com/2016/07/landmarks-holds-hearings-on-de...