In the 19th century, Charlotte Goodridge held lavish receptions for New York's high society in her mansion on Fifth Avenue at 28th Street.
The brick and limestone building, recognizable by its Italian Renaissance style, still stands and, now with a 24-storey tower, has just been transformed into a new luxury hotel that rightly celebrates the neighborhood's golden age: The Fifth Avenue Hotel.
Its new owner, Alex Ohebshalom, entrusted the renovation to the star designer of the moment, Swedish Martin Brudnizki, and American architect Perkins Eastman. The brief was to reproduce the glamorous, sophisticated spirit of the era in all 153 rooms, some with terraces, and in all public areas, restaurants and bars, including the Portrait Bar, a highly successful, intimate setting. Motifs and colors galore, works of art (including a tapestry by Pae White), photos (by William Klein, Melvin Sokolsky...), antiques (faceted mirrors, Chinese furniture), precious objects (Murano glass chandelier) or unexpected items (crystals of all shapes)...
The eclectic, exuberantly designed interiors evoke the home of an epicurean, collector and world traveler - the very profile of Alex Ohebshalom, a modern-day vagabond who criss-crossed the globe, from Morocco to Burma, Botswana to the Faroe Islands.
