The Ansonia

Another classic New York City landmark is the subject of today's blipfoto. Here is the beautiful Ansonia Hotel, located on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

The luxurious Ansonia, built between 1899 and 1904, has been home to many notable residents, including Babe Ruth and Angelina Jolie, along with many musicians including Yehudi Menuhin, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, Enrico Caruso, and many others. I've learned that there was a kitchen on every floor with chefs cooking for the residents of that floor, and a cattle elevator that allowed the Ansonia's builder, William Earle Stokes to stable dairy cows on the hotel's roof.

But for me, the most noteworthy feature was that it was home to my mother's voice teacher, back in the days when she was taking singing lessons!


Former home to Plato's Retreat