THE BARBIZON
The Hotel That Set Women Free
Sure, Manhattan’s got the Plaza, the Algonquin and the Waldorf Astoria.  But young women with a suitcase and a dream checked into The Barbizon.  The iconic hotel was built on 140 East 63rd Street in Manhattan in 1927 at the height of the Roaring Twenties. It was intended to be a haven for “modern women” seeking careers in the arts.  It became a magnet for ambitious young women who wanted adventure, independence and big-city careers.  Not to mention fame and fortune, too.  Actresses like Grace Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Ali MacGraw, Jaclyn Smith, Phylicia Rashad and Cybill Shepherd.  Writers like Joan Didion, Diane Johnson, Gael Greene and Meg Wolitzer.   Mademoiselle magazine interns, Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School students, models from the Ford Agency and just about every other young woman trying to make it in Manhattan stayed in one of the Barbizon’s 700 tiny rooms with matching floral curtains and bedspreads. There, they (finally!) had everything men did: daily maid service, cultural programs, workout rooms, private dining.  Yet, there’s more to this story than the famous women-only hotel.  The Barbizon shines a bright light on the social history of American women and a rapidly changing city throughout the 20^th century. The hotel was converted into multimillion-dollar condominiums in 2007.

Extra points if you can name the author who fictionalized her time at the Barbizon Hotel in a semi-biographical novel first published in 1963 under the pseudonym “Victoria Lucas.”

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