Gainsborough Studios

Central Park South today is better known for tourist carriages and overpriced hotels than working artists. But in 1908, a group of painters got tired of bad light and decided to build their own building.

It started in 1903, when artist V.V. Sewell publicly complained that finding a decent studio in New York was nearly impossible. A cohort of like-minded artists formed the Gainsborough Corporation, pooled resources, and commissioned an entire studio-apartment building designed around one simple requirement: uninterrupted northern light.

The result stands out sharply from its neighbors on the block. The lower levels of Gainsborough Studios are covered in intricate Victorian stone carvings, including a bust of Thomas Gainsborough himself. The upper floors are ornamented with bright Edwardian tiles made in 18th-century German pottery style, crafted by an artisan in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

To achieve the 18-foot ceilings the artists required — a rarity at the time — the developers filed the building as a hotel rather than a residential building. The interiors delivered: north-facing studios flooded with light, rich mahogany and oak woodwork, ornate balconies, fireplaces, built-in cabinets, and leaded glass doors.

For much of the 20th century, the building housed well-to-do artists of both sexes, sharing kitchen areas, a reception space, a laundry, and a private restaurant.

The building’s most sensational chapter came in 1924, when interior decorator Paul C. Leatherman held sculptor Helene M.R. White captive in his first-floor studio. Otherwise, the biggest scandal at Gainsborough Studios these days is the rent.

Location: 222 Central Park South, New York, NY