Hotel Pierre

Dissatisfied with the "democratization of public manners," French Restauranteur Charles Pierre Casalasco organized a group of financiers to build a hotel. Built on the site of the old Gerry Mansion, the Pierre as it would soon be called, rose 41 stories and cost an estimated 15 million dollars to build (an extravagant sum at the time.) Designed by Schultze and Weaver, its most eye-catching feature is a top is modeled after Mansart's Royal Chapel at Versaille. Society turned out in force for its opening in1930 and the Pierre quickly earned a reputation as one of the city's finest hotels for a time. However, the great depression took a toll on the Pierre and it went into bankruptcy in 1932, just two years after its opening. J. Paul Getty ended up buying it in 1938 and converted some of the hotel rooms into apartments. Since its conception, despite its fiscal travails, the Pierre has attracted many notable inhabitants, including (to name a few) Sumner Redstone, Edward St. Aubyn, and Aristotle Onassis.