The West 67th Street Artists Colony Historic District was listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1985. Then, in 1990, West 67th Street was given New York City landmark protection as part of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. The Spring House Tour will share the histories of five of the Historic District's seven artists-loft studio buildings:


Read on to learn a bit about each of the featured artists-studio loft buildings*:

*From the National Register Designation Report, written by Andrew S. Dolkart, 1985.
To read the full National Register Designation Report, click HERE.

From The New York Times , March 1915				Number 1 :: the Hotel des Artistes; George Mort Pollard, architect, 1915–18. The Hotel des Artistes is the most prominent building on West 67th Street. The building has large studio windows on both the north and south elevations. The street facade is ornamented with large areas of Gothic ornament executed in limestone and terra cotta. The two–story limestone base contains quatrefoils, pinnacles, and a trefoil cornice arcade with corbels in the form of heads; figures in. the form of artists project from this second floor cornice. On the third floor level, directly above the main entrance to the building, is a limestone pavilion with flamboyant arches and niches. At the upper levels of the building are terra–cotta arches and pinnacles. The interior vestibule and lobby of the building is medieval in inspiration with Gothic ornament and a beamed ceiling. There are murals in the lobby and in the adjoining restaurant.
From The American Architect and Building News , January 1907				Number 15 :: Central Park Studios; Simonson, Pollard & Steinam, architects, 1904–05. The Central Park Studios has a two–story limestone base with a projecting entrance vestibule ornamented with Gothic arches, pinnacles, bosses, and gables. The middle section of the building is faced with brick enlivened by pulled bricks set in a rhythmic pattern. The upper three floors are ornamented with Gothic arches, gables, and buttresses. The Gothic lobby contains groups of murals executed by various artists associated with the colony.
From The Architectural Record, October 1903				Number 27 :: Sixty–Seventh Street Studios; Sturgis & Simonson, architects, 1901–03. The earliest of the studios, the Sixty–Seventh Street Studios established the form common on the block. The building is notable for the sophistication of its molded brick window enframements and for the Gothic detail and multi–paned windows of its street front. Shallow rooftop gables have been removed.
From Architecture, April 1907				Number 33 :: Atelier Building; Simonson, Pollard & Steinam, architects, 1903–05. The Atelier is faced with brick laid in Flemish bond with random burned headers. The limestone base has a projecting vestibule with extremely ornate Gothic floral ornament that is enlivened by carved human heads, animals, and birds. The top level resembles a romantic medieval castle gate and is detailed with Gothic pointed arches, panels, foliate bands, and corbels.
From The New York Times , November 1915				Number 50 :: Shape & Bready, architects, 1916–17. Erected with soundproof apartments, this brick and terra–cotta building has the look of an Elizabethan manor house expanded to apartment house scale. Among the notable design features are shields, multi–paned windows, drip moldings, a Gothic entrance and lobby, and a parapet railing with quatrefoils, crockets, and other ornamental forms.