November 8, 2025 • 39 mins
The Barbizon Hotel wasn’t just a place to stay — it was a promise. For generations of young women arriving in New York City with stars in their eyes, the Barbizon was their first taste of independence, sophistication, and hope. Behind its elegant brick façade and strict “ladies only” rules, it offered safety, sisterhood, and a chance to become someone. Its residents included models, debutantes, writers, and actresses — women like Sylvia Plath, Grace Kelly, and Joan Didion — all drawn to its mix of exclusivity and possibility.
But within its pristine halls, whispers of loneliness, heartbreak, and obsession grew louder. The Barbizon’s walls have seen more than polite conversation and shared dreams — they’ve witnessed despair, scandal, and death. When tragedy struck within the hotel’s walls, it shattered the illusion of glamour and exposed the darker side of ambition and isolation in mid-century Manhattan.
In this chilling episode of Chillworthy, we explore the Barbizon’s haunting legacy — from its glittering beginnings to the night a dreamer’s life was cut short. Was it an accident? A desperate act? Or something far more sinister? Step inside the Barbizon, where every hallway tells a story — and not all of them have a happy ending.
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DISCLAIMER The content presented on Chillworthy, including all episodes, transcripts, social media posts, and associated materials, is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The podcast does not offer legal, medical, psychological, or professional advice of any kind. While the hosts—Brent and Talia—make a good faith effort to ensure that the information shared is based on publicly available sources and is as accurate as possible at the time of recording, Chillworthy does not guarantee the completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any statements made. Listeners should be aware that cases may involve ongoing legal proceedings or developments that evolve over time. The hosts are not licensed attorneys, journalists, law enforcement professionals, or forensic experts. Opinions expressed in the podcast reflect the personal views of the hosts and do not represent factual determinations or official findings. All individuals named or discussed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Any resemblance to real individuals or entities, outside of those explicitly named, is purely coincidental. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by any legal authority, news outlet, or investigative body. By listening to Chillworthy, you acknowledge and accept these terms and agree not to hold the hosts or producers liable for any inaccuracies, misstatements, or interpretations derived from the content.
But within its pristine halls, whispers of loneliness, heartbreak, and obsession grew louder. The Barbizon’s walls have seen more than polite conversation and shared dreams — they’ve witnessed despair, scandal, and death. When tragedy struck within the hotel’s walls, it shattered the illusion of glamour and exposed the darker side of ambition and isolation in mid-century Manhattan.
In this chilling episode of Chillworthy, we explore the Barbizon’s haunting legacy — from its glittering beginnings to the night a dreamer’s life was cut short. Was it an accident? A desperate act? Or something far more sinister? Step inside the Barbizon, where every hallway tells a story — and not all of them have a happy ending.
Click here to leave a donation to support the podcast
Click here to see all links
Find us on socials:
Instagram: @chillworthypodcast
Bluesky: @chillworthypodcast
Skylight: @chillworthypodcast
Youtube: @chillworthypodcast
Tiktok: @chillworthypodcast
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/chillworthy--6229613/support.
DISCLAIMER The content presented on Chillworthy, including all episodes, transcripts, social media posts, and associated materials, is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The podcast does not offer legal, medical, psychological, or professional advice of any kind. While the hosts—Brent and Talia—make a good faith effort to ensure that the information shared is based on publicly available sources and is as accurate as possible at the time of recording, Chillworthy does not guarantee the completeness, timeliness, or reliability of any statements made. Listeners should be aware that cases may involve ongoing legal proceedings or developments that evolve over time. The hosts are not licensed attorneys, journalists, law enforcement professionals, or forensic experts. Opinions expressed in the podcast reflect the personal views of the hosts and do not represent factual determinations or official findings. All individuals named or discussed are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Any resemblance to real individuals or entities, outside of those explicitly named, is purely coincidental. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by any legal authority, news outlet, or investigative body. By listening to Chillworthy, you acknowledge and accept these terms and agree not to hold the hosts or producers liable for any inaccuracies, misstatements, or interpretations derived from the content.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to Chillworthy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
A podcast we're two best friends discuss mysteries, murders, and
anything in between for your enjoyment.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So if you're ready to hear some chilling and unsettling cases,
you're in the right place, happy listening. Hello, Hello, everyone,
Welcome back to another episode of Chillworthy with Brent and Talia. Everybody,
how's your day going?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's going very well. How about you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Oh wonderful? It's all right. So we are doing a
back to back, which means that there's no more books
to speak about, you know, but I will do the
next superstition, which is of course a C because last
time we did. Do you remember B for what B is? Four?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Hum beans? Now let me think bugs? Bees, book? What
the hell? Don't tell me? I know it?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Birds? Birds? Yes, all right, let's see, all right, let's
talk about crickets.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh for c.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Now, as you remember from Mulan, crickets are good luck.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I've never seen milanow, so I do not remember. Well
they are, okay, I remember like it being a thing.
Wasn't it being a thing? I guess it is a thing.
Finding them in your house is good luck.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yeah, and you're not supposed to kill them, which I
mean that goes without saying here, but.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, I have to say I lived in a house
where there were crickets, and there was oodles of bad luck.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So the crickets did well. Maybe it could have been
worse luck.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Oh god, well.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Maybe they're the wrong kind of cricket.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, I know, I like your attitude where it could
have been worse without the crickets. So fine, thank you,
that's nice. You know, when I was a kid, Yeah,
and I had a little gecko, a little little guy.
Excuse me, I don't know what kind of gecko it was,
(02:34):
because like we have a sleppherd, a slepherd, we have
a I was gonna say a spotted right you you
tell me. Maybe spotted is not in the work in
the name, but I think it is. And she's like
a big girl. This was like a little little guy, okay.
(02:55):
And that's what we and by we, I mean my
mom fed the echo. Yeah, crickets, I remember that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Well. I know that they are a popular thing to
buy in pet stores too, you know, have other pets eat,
so I've never I've never owned a pet that has
had to eat another pet.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh no, interesting.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Because also like. It also makes me sad when you
when I go in like for these fish, and then
you'll see people come in and they're like, oh, do
you have any like feeder fish?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Oh? And who does that?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Like turtles? And shit?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Hit, I didn't know that turtles eat fish. I mean,
I need turtles eat fish. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, they're like ten cents of fish or something.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Are they guppies?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No, they're like goldfish. I guess. Oh, but god, it's horrible.
And then part of me was thinking I should put
them in here, a little safe haven for these feeder fish.
But I don't think they because they're cold water, they're
not going to mix with the tropical the tripics.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Nice idea that you have.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I know, I do think people who have ponds should
start there. Forget the fancy cooy go in to pet
co and say can I have fifteen feeder fish please?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Who you feeding this to? None of your business? And
then you right, because that's what actually happened in front
of me. Somebody had a bag of a bag of crickets. Yeah,
ye yah, a bag of crickets, and the cashier very cheerly,
was like, and who are these guys going to be
eaten by. And the mom was like, oh, a frog.
(04:38):
And the girl was like, oh, I wasn't sure. I
was thinking like maybe an iguana or something. I don't
think she said iguana, but I thought, give me the
hell out of here. Anyway, back to this, so the
cricket is considered a house spirit oh shit, and brings
good luck to the dwellers of said home. Interestingly enough, though,
(05:01):
the cricket is also said that he will take his
luck with him when he leaves. So if he leaves
the house, so does the luck.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That was my problem because they would like ebb and
flow with like you could hear them and then not
hear them.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Right, isn't there an Office episode where Michael does a cricket?
Isn't that?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I'm like trying to remember.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Anyways, So in Japanese English and American Indian, they all believe,
you know, in the inherent luck of these little creatures.
So another little fun fact is that it's thought to
be bad luck when it leaves by your chimney. Now,
I don't know how many crickets are doing.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
That, but scaling the chimney wool.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Oh God, listen to this. It's it's terrible to kill one. Yes,
we picked up this. It is also dangerous to imitate
a chirp. I don't know, but I just did that.
So my apologies to the spirit, Yes to the house spirits. Yeah,
(06:13):
I was just paying hommage. Last, but not least, the
cricket is a super fortune teller and knows if rain
is coming, if death is near, and even if a
lover is coming back.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Odd.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So I don't know how it knows that any of
those things, right, So basically I need to listen for
the birds chirping in the east to bring good love
and ask some of these crickets if Joe, Tom or
(06:51):
Harrier coming back whomever. So anyway, that is crickets everyone.
What were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
I was gonna say that reminds me and I didn't
say this in the last episode, how like they can
predict death in that book that I mentioned last time
that I had started, or that I was going to
start the Road to Tender Hearts, And I said about
did I talk about this how the cat predicts death
at the nursing home.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, I thought I did, so I also started this
book a couple of days ago, and.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You were talking about party.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And the author, I forget what her name is. She
wrote Unlikely Animals and it was an excellent book.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But this isn't the Ocean on the Boardwalk, lady, Now,
I mean Christmas on the Boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
No, I knew who you meant, now, Annie Hartnett, I'm
almost certain I mentioned this two episodes.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well maybe you did. I don't remember it, but well.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
She also wrote rabbit Cake, didn't read that one that
is about like a little girl whose mom passes away.
Sounded very sad, but like summer. And then this one,
The Road to Tender Hearts, is her most recent release.
It is so good so far, but oh my gosh,
(08:11):
it is literally within the first seven to like ten
percent the amount of tragedy that happens in this book.
But it's written in like this dark comedic way. Oh
my god, it's so well done. But if you need
to buckle up and prepare yourself trigger warning wise, like
if you're going to start this book. But all of
(08:33):
that to say, when the book starts, they're talking about
this cat pancakes and heat pancakes, and he is in
a retirement home and when he starts like flittering around
certain residents. They die pretty shortly.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I mean I've heard of that in real life.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, oh I know.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Not like as a superstition, but just like as sometimes
like there are animals and nursing homes who know those
types of things. Oh shit, I never heard that, right,
So I don't know, I've just heard about that before,
and I think it is usually cats.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
But mm hmm, yeah that makes sense. I feel like
they're deep thinkers. Sure. But yeah, this book is crazy
and I would love to like just spoiler alert that
first seven percent of what happens, but I mean it
would obviously ruin it for so many people. And it's
(09:28):
just it is a wild beginning to It's the most
wild beginning I've ever read in a book. I'm not kidding.
It's if anyone has read this book, please comment. And
I feel like I don't even need to be you know,
in the way of like, oh my gosh, Like so
I feel validated that I'm not crazy. I know I'm
not crazy. This book is insane. I mean, I know
I'm crazy, but I'm about this.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotcha.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
All right, So I'm going to do the case today.
And it was actually suggested.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
By my mom, by your mom.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Shout out to her. She sent me an article that
I had never heard of any of this, and I
thought it was very fascinating. So it's partly about a
place but also about a murder. Okay, so the place
is the Barbizon Hotel. Have you ever heard of it?
Speaker 1 (10:20):
No, barbaraal what's that? Isn't that like a shave cream? Okay? No?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
That makes me think of Jurassic Part I was just
gonna say that, Barbasol. Yeah, is that what you said?
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Anyway? Yes, okay, this, yes, just so you can see
this is the building. Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah. Which it's insane because related to books real quick
as I'm looking and you know, doing my research this okay,
So you would not like these books, I don't think.
But there's this author named Fiona Davis and she does
a bunch of historical fiction and a lot are based
(11:08):
in New York, like Manhattan. And I read The Lions
of Fifth No, I didn't. I didn't. I want to
read the Lines of Fifth Avenue. I've read The Spectacular
and there's one by her called The Dollhouse, and I
never like read it. It's on my want to read
list and the picture is this middle picture of the Barbezon.
(11:30):
Oh okay, So apparently that's what that one's about. And
I didn't know that the Barbizon was also referred to
as the Dollhouse, which I'll explain. Why isn't that insane?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Do you need to lie down for a little or
are you going to be okay? To keep going with
this realization.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I'll try to press on.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
All right, well, just be careful you and.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
The chillers I shill. Okay, So I apologize this episode
is going to be almost like more so of a
history lesson oh fun, because I there were not as
many details at all about the murder that I would
have liked to share, Like I could barely find anything.
It was very sad. But I also think it's important
(12:14):
to talk about that because I don't think it's a coincidence.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
All right, okay.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
So the Barbazon opened in nineteen twenty seven on East
sixty third and Lexington. This was a groundbreaking women only
residential hotel in Manhattan. It was one of the largest
and most refined of its kind, so it catered to
middle and upper class young women, particularly those entering professional fields.
(12:40):
Like secretarial work, modeling, journalism, or the arts.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Can I ask a question, surely a residential hotel? Do
you mean like an apartment building or what what is
it called? Why do why do they call it a
residential hotel?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
So it had like a setup of you, So it
wasn't like apartments. You'd have like a room and potentially
a bathroom if I were. If I not remember, well,
I guess remember too from my research if I understood,
but I explain what was offered?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Okay, So it was it was a legit place. People
lived there. Okay, yes, okay, So.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It offered like luxury amenities or like facilities like it
had the swimming pool available. It had a gym, which
that was not normal for that time. I was led
to think a rooftop garden, which I feel like that's
common in the city, library, lecture halls, music rooms, and
then services hairdresser, dry cleaner, pharmacy. Sounds lovely well, but
(13:50):
it enforced strict restrictions on mail access to promote safety
and propriety. The other thing like the pro call or
entrance protocol, acceptance protocol, whatever you want to call it,
for perspective residents, So the women had to submit letters
(14:11):
of recommendation and interview with the assistant manager May Sibley,
who assessed applicants on age and appearance, grading them from A,
B or C a's which were the younger attractive women
were prioritized, while older or less visually appealing women faced
rejection or were assigned lower tier accommodation.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Sound a little less lovely now, riddle me this. Were
there any male workers?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Good questions?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Imagine?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So? Okay, I just wondering.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
The hotel was named after a friend they.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Judged on an attractive level as well. I don't believe
so no, okay, I didn't know, like the hot ones
were only working on level A.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So the hotel was named after a French art movement,
yet quickly became nicknamed the Dollhouse. Due to its glamorous
and carefully curated atmosphere, It served as a cultural buffer
between feminine independence and societal expectations. It offered women a
respectable chaperone space. Why were you shining that? In my eyes?
(15:28):
And it still supported their ambitions, whether in their careers
or their personal relationships. Okay, so many emerging stars and
people like in the arts lived like it became their home,
such as Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, who apparently famously threw
her clothes off the roof of it and that image
(15:52):
she later used in her book The Bell Jar. I
don't know like anything about Sylvia Plath, like mem.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I'm just looking at you blankly.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And Nancy Reagan also lived there for a period of time.
So gymnastics refinement training, which makes me think of Titanic
and art classes you.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Do, like I mean, like balancing a book on your
head and stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Well, I suppose, but I was thinking how like the
Unsingable Molly Brown had to like teach Leonardo? Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,
cable etiquette. Do you like Titanic? Did you like that movie?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Like a lot, like did you love it?
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I think there I had a slight obsession for a
while because everyone was obsessed with it. So I remember
like back then there used to be all those like
trivia tests like what was the color car that they
hit in? And like all those things.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
You know, where was that I.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Got me online? But I just I just remember like
people were really obsessed. I did, ironically just see a
TikTok of Kate Winslet rewatching Titanic, and she talked about
the scene where they get on the front of the
boat and she's like, I'm flying you know that one? Yeah,
(17:16):
And she said they shot that in a way that
they couldn't people could not access them makeup hair, So
in between takes, she said she had her makeup and
Leonardo DiCaprio's makeup like down in her bra on both sides,
and she was redoing their makeup because she was like,
(17:37):
every time we kissed, if we had to reshoot it,
she was like, then I would have a bunch of
makeup on because they made him look tanner and he
would have like not as.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Much inter resting tidbit. So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah. Yeah, So gymnastics, refinement training in art classes were
not uncommon to have offered to the women there.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
The residents were expected to maintain a quote ladylike appearance
and social poise at all times. Yeah. The barbizons exclusivity
carried like darker undertones of the older permanent residents were
sometimes dubbed just the women, and when the younger arrivals
(18:26):
were there, they viewed these older women like with pity
and that they were less than.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now Why is somebody choosing to live here?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think because it's just a comfortable, safe setting.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Doesn't sound so comfortable to me? Safe perhaps, right, sounds
kind of mean.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
A devil they know. As societal norms evolved postwar, women
moving toward independence, co ed housing, and the new career
pathways caused the like crazy appeal at first of the
barbizons like sheltered environment to wane. So eventually, in nineteen
(19:12):
eighty one they started admitting men, and then it was
later converted into luxury condos. So that's just little tidbits, Okay.
So the resident that I would like to focus on
is a woman named Ruth Harding. So the Barbazon's assistant
(19:34):
manager told The New York Times that she probably lived
there for about two years, approximately late nineteen seventy three
to August of nineteen seventy five, So at that time
it was still operating as a women only residential hotel.
I think residential hotel means if you want to live
there permanently, not your socks off, but if you just
(19:55):
want to go in there for like a weekend, like
a hotel, that's like fair, kay to.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Back to your question of like what the appeal was.
I think the other thing is like, so what it
basically says is like the little box that like Ruth
checked with just her life the Barbizon. So at that
time while she was there, like obviously it was still
operating as a woman only hotel, but it protected single
(20:23):
women of all ages. And I think that was like
another like obviously I said safety, but I think that
was like it was like a familiar, cozy little niche.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I mean, I can get that part. I just don't
understand why they had to be mean, that's my only
you know, I mean anyway, Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
So Ruth fit a profile. You know, she was single,
she was elderly. She she had no known close kin
or any regular visitors. She paid for a private room
with a bathroom, and this was one of the hotels.
Price here. She was paying seventy to seventy seven per week.
(21:04):
So there was nothing listed anywhere of why she, like
if a specific event precipitated her choosing the Barberzons, you know,
why she ended up there, just that it was, you know,
the hotels set up suited women by.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Themselves welcome us.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
So at the time of her death, you know, she
was late seventies, she was not employed. The hotel staff
told The New York Times that she, like, none of
this could be verified, but she had made mention to
people of being an actress, a journalist, a ballerina, and
quote everything else. Jeez, So I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I fancy.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
There was just no confirmed profession focus an entertainer, right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Like the Moira Rose basically yeah, good call, well hello, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
That just reminded me. I think I already said this
to but maybe not. How there's this commercial with David
in it with a woman, and my mom mentions this
commercial all the time that it reminds her of us,
and like he's in like a window washing thing.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I think, I don't know what the commercial is, but
I know the commercial you're talking. Yeah, I have seen it,
but I don't I'd never paid attention to it.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
It is funny. I did find it after, like she
mentioned it multiple times, like when she would see it,
and you know it should be laughing and she's not wrong.
I do see the similarities between the interaction. Okay, so,
so multiple residents described Ruth as bright and eager for conversation.
(22:43):
Hotel staff remembered her, you know, definitely being talkative yet friendless,
which uh broke my heart.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
I'm going to say friendly, and I was like, why
are you saying it's so sad?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I know, I had to reread it, like in when
I was looking her up and I couldn't. It didn't
like compute when I right it, like wait, what is
this thing? So she was often seated in this green
armchair that they had in the lobby. She'd ask for
a newspaper and she would chat with quote, almost anybody
(23:14):
who came in the door. She was seen as lonely,
but quote, anything but senile. She was a solitary figure
who wandered down to the lobby each night in her
nightgown and coat, and she chatted mostly with the escorts,
waiting to take the younger women out because they could
not go up. Oh so yeah, okay. So August fifteenth,
(23:39):
nineteen seventy five, she was seventy nine years old, and
she was found strangled in the bathroom of her private
suite on the eleventh floor. So the luxury of her
room was pretty notable. She had a very rare space
there with this private bathroom. And I think I mentioned
this earlier, how she paid seventy seven about per week,
(24:02):
so that would be four hundred and sixty two dollars
in present day.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Okay, a day, a night, whatever, a week.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I'm so sorry, right yes, a day.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
A night whatever. Very loosey goosey, right now, A day,
an hour, a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So this is where basically there's like nothing like I
tried finding things so many different ways. Police later reported, quote,
no clues exist, I'm sorry, not one. I mean there
were no suspects, no next of ken, which I think
(24:46):
had a huge part to play in this, and her age,
no leads. There was a detective, Sergeant James Stewart. He
said that there were abrasions on her throat, but we
have nothing else. I mean fourth century into the room.
Who was around that night? Were these men who were
coming in for the younger girls? Was one of them
flittering around upstairs? Nobody saw anything full of these people?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
This was what does what does a random man have
to kill an almost eighty year old woman for that?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Shit happens all the time.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
But I'm saying he's got to sneak up into an
all women's I picture I pictured somebody else like I'll
like a resident.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Oh, the one in the women or.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
One of the girls. So, I mean, I don't know,
But who the hell am I? Yeah, yeah, I just
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I just I mean I couldn't even find who found
her body. I don't know if it was hotel staff,
another resident, another visitor. It is not specified. Everything is
unspecified in reports. And also I was couldn't find this either,
But like, how long was she floating around in her
room that no one even knew? Like she comes down
every night? Did that tip anybody off? Did they go
(25:59):
looking for her becase because she wasn't coming downstairs because
she had no one and no one was coming to
see her. Did she just die up there and they
I mean, I don't know if they were cleaning the
I have no idea. I don't know if they were
responsible to clean their own room. I'm assuming not with
it being the hotel setting. But so there was limited documentation.
(26:20):
There's no available record of anyone at the hotel staff
or residents being formally interviewed by police after the murder.
Journalists and historians have noted that even longtime members of
the NYPD's cold case squad from that era have no
recollection of the case. I don't know about that, well,
lots of stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sounds strange, right, It.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Just quickly faded from both public and officials memories, no
follow up interviews or any reinvestigation documented that you know,
they reopened it, so, you know, no known connections with
other you know people, suspects, no clear evidence. So despite
the severity of this crime, the case went cold and
(27:05):
was just largely forgotten. So by the mid seventies, the
Barbezan's sheen had just considerably dimmed, if you will, you know,
once this like glittering residence for young ambitious women, it
just struggled. The hotel struggled under the weight of societal
change and then just to financial strain. So the feminist
(27:29):
movement that championed independence, coupled with the rise of modern
coh ed housing and condos made a single sex rule
bound establishment just outdated, you know, like frumpy dumpy, Not
frumpy dumpy, but just what's the word, like, what's the word.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Restrictive? Old fashion? Old fashion?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Thank you? Yes, So occupancy plummet where the hippest cats, right,
So the hotel became unprofitable. Its guests were just older,
eccentric people. They often were becoming permanent residents, not the
hopeful starlets. You know that it once nurtured so many
(28:13):
communal spaces like the restaurant, the coffee shop there had closed.
At the time of Ruth's murder, only about one hundred
and thirty rent controlled residents remained.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
So although one hundred and thirty that's not.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I think no correct, but by the size of how
that building looked, I think it was. My impression was
that it was much larger originally, or a larger number.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, So the murder of Ruth didn't just like unsettle
the hotel. It kind of symbolized the Barbizon's downfall. So
the glamour was gone. You know, there were now like
whispered rumors of violence. The aging building was kind of
taking a hit and looked like a little bit neglected.
You know. Time was marching on and it just wasn't
(29:02):
what it was when it first started. It just didn't
have that same appeal in the clits. So that same year,
manager David Teitelbaum attempted a revival. He investigated, he invested
half a million dollars in renovations, including the laundry facility,
(29:24):
the health club, the lobbies and the hotel, and occupancy
rebounded briefly, but the hotel's identity had just shifted irrevocably.
That murder did something to that place that the renovations
could not compete with. Basically, does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
So years years years later, in two thousand and six,
the Barbazon closed. It was gutted, and it was converted
into luxury condominiums and that was it. So it's still
there today. So now it's called Barbezon sixty three, which
I'm assuming because it's on East sixty third.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Reasonable.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
So you can rent or purchase an apartment there, no thanks.
It says currently there are ten units for sale, but
like I can't when you so you can put in
like I am interested in buying, all right, and I
am interested in renting, and you can't find anything out.
(30:31):
It's like just to put your information in and send
a message to inquire. So I don't know what anything costs.
It has the phone number for real estate, for management
and for the doorman. We'll give them a call up, right,
So it says every feature in the apartments of Barbezon
sixty three, you make a statement in luxury elegance and style,
(30:53):
the soaring ceilings, the Bolivian rosewood hardwood floors, the marble
accented baths, the French casement window, the top of the
line gourmet kitchens. These are just a few of the
many deluxe characteristics of the luxury apartments. Residents will also
be able to use the facilities of Club Salon, a
club that consists of a magnificent library, a large dining room,
(31:17):
and a movie screening room. Besides the pre war characteristics,
a luxury concierge service lends the classic culture of a
bygone era. So I would imagine it's absolutely outrageous too purchase.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Oh I'm sure there. So yeah, Well, God bless her.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh exactly, Rest in peace, Ruth. And just it really
makes me sick that I think, you know, the fact
that she had no known family, being seventy nine years old,
you know, based off her own telling of her life
like very sort of scattered and inconsistent, couldn't really nail
(32:05):
down what she had been up to throughout her life.
And maybe she obviously had money, well exactly exactly, but
like so not knowing much about her fine, but I
feel like that's why it was so easy, like with
her age and just being by herself. Why it was
so easy to like, we don't know. Maybe it was
a cover up, who the hell knows, but it just
(32:27):
makes me sick for her. And justice was never carried
out for her and probably never will.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Well I doubted at this point.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yes, yeah, I just found a picture of what one
of the condos in there looks like. So okay, a
three bedroom apartment is three million, five hundred thousand, wowsa.
It's been on the market for forty seven days. Apartment
(32:56):
nine E is a one bedroom two million, one hundred
and fifty hours. Oh and there's these photos and very
very modern, I mean, absolutely gorgeous. But you'd have to
take my computer.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Oh kind of screwl about Oh wow, Yeah, not not
at all what I was thinking. Well, I mean, you know,
it's very tragic that we know nothing about the lady
besides that she died there. I know, but like you said,
(33:39):
from those not like you said, like you showed me
with those pictures. I mean it's a beautiful place now, well.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Even those ones. I was just showing you though, of
how it looked back in the early days. Yeah, I mean,
beautiful building, beautiful full architecture, and what a time to
be alive. Man, I'm rather strict, Yes, yes, strict ship.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
You wouldn't be in there.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
No, I would not know, you would not would not.
I think though for an elderly person, I can see
the appeal of like safety in numbers being taken.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Cares absolutely agree.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, I really want to read this behavior. Get out
of here.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
No cursing like a saying.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
I don't curse badly on this.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
I'm fantastic.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, thank you. I'm quite shocked at myself. I feel
like you curse more than I do. Even on here.
You say things, But do you think it's hat would
you live there now? Like in one of I mean
that a few mills laying around.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
If that was the only death, it doesn't sound too bad.
I don't mean to sound cavalier, but it's not like,
you know, it's not crazy like, oh this was the
sixth death in you know.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Like that one case. Sure, I don't know, but I
can't think of the hotel's name.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
That's who I was thinking of. Oh yeah, that's a
crazy that's a crazy place, and I want nothing to
do with that exactly. But the water tasted bad?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Oh how awesoul.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Hm hmmm. I mean, of course, every time I hear
about a hotel, I only think of Hotel Cortes every time.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Now, oh, and that's what it was based off of,
right with her?
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yes, but I'm saying even this, like I was thinking
about all these eccentric people living in a hotel like
Hotel Courte guys had a swimming pool and you know,
like other like ballrooms and stuff like that, kind of
like grandiose.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah. Yeah, well I want to read this book. I
I don't am very curious, right, I figured you did.
I will report back, I was gonna.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Say, but I'm going to hear about it anyways.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Sure you like it? Yeah, so well that's it. Sorry.
I didn't have more details on that true crime part
of it, but like I said, that just I think
is awful and upsets me greatly. You know that there
(36:50):
wasn't right much at all.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
So all right, Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
You're very welcome. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
It's been my pleasure. So I will go next time,
I am sure. So on that note, everyone stay safe
and stay hill.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Bye everybody.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thank you everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
You've just listened to Chilworthy. Thank you for joining us.
On this latest episode. While we strive to keep our
discussions engaging and lighthearted, we also wanted to take a
moment to acknowledge the real lives and events that are
at the heart of these stories.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
We try to approach each topic with a sense of
curiosity and respect fully aware of the impact these events
have had on the individuals and their loved ones. Our
goal is to honor their memories by keeping their stories
alive and shedding light on the mysteries that surround them.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe, rate,
and leave a review, and don't forget to join us
on the next episode of Chilworthy.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yeah
You're listening to Chillworthy.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
A podcast we're two best friends discuss mysteries, murders, and
anything in between for your enjoyment.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So if you're ready to hear some chilling and unsettling cases,
you're in the right place, happy listening. Hello, Hello, everyone,
Welcome back to another episode of Chillworthy with Brent and Talia. Everybody,
how's your day going?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
It's going very well. How about you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Oh wonderful? It's all right. So we are doing a
back to back, which means that there's no more books
to speak about, you know, but I will do the
next superstition, which is of course a C because last
time we did. Do you remember B for what B is? Four?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Hum beans? Now let me think bugs? Bees, book? What
the hell? Don't tell me? I know it?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Birds? Birds? Yes, all right, let's see, all right, let's
talk about crickets.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh for c.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Now, as you remember from Mulan, crickets are good luck.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I've never seen milanow, so I do not remember. Well
they are, okay, I remember like it being a thing.
Wasn't it being a thing? I guess it is a thing.
Finding them in your house is good luck.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Yeah, and you're not supposed to kill them, which I
mean that goes without saying here, but.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, I have to say I lived in a house
where there were crickets, and there was oodles of bad luck.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
So the crickets did well. Maybe it could have been
worse luck.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Oh god, well.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Maybe they're the wrong kind of cricket.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, I know, I like your attitude where it could
have been worse without the crickets. So fine, thank you,
that's nice. You know, when I was a kid, Yeah,
and I had a little gecko, a little little guy.
Excuse me, I don't know what kind of gecko it was,
(02:34):
because like we have a sleppherd, a slepherd, we have
a I was gonna say a spotted right you you
tell me. Maybe spotted is not in the work in
the name, but I think it is. And she's like
a big girl. This was like a little little guy, okay.
(02:55):
And that's what we and by we, I mean my
mom fed the echo. Yeah, crickets, I remember that.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Well. I know that they are a popular thing to
buy in pet stores too, you know, have other pets eat,
so I've never I've never owned a pet that has
had to eat another pet.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Oh no, interesting.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Because also like. It also makes me sad when you
when I go in like for these fish, and then
you'll see people come in and they're like, oh, do
you have any like feeder fish?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Oh? And who does that?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Like turtles? And shit?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Hit, I didn't know that turtles eat fish. I mean,
I need turtles eat fish. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Yeah, they're like ten cents of fish or something.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Are they guppies?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
No, they're like goldfish. I guess. Oh, but god, it's horrible.
And then part of me was thinking I should put
them in here, a little safe haven for these feeder fish.
But I don't think they because they're cold water, they're
not going to mix with the tropical the tripics.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Nice idea that you have.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I know, I do think people who have ponds should
start there. Forget the fancy cooy go in to pet
co and say can I have fifteen feeder fish please?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Who you feeding this to? None of your business? And
then you right, because that's what actually happened in front
of me. Somebody had a bag of a bag of crickets. Yeah,
ye yah, a bag of crickets, and the cashier very cheerly,
was like, and who are these guys going to be
eaten by. And the mom was like, oh, a frog.
(04:38):
And the girl was like, oh, I wasn't sure. I
was thinking like maybe an iguana or something. I don't
think she said iguana, but I thought, give me the
hell out of here. Anyway, back to this, so the
cricket is considered a house spirit oh shit, and brings
good luck to the dwellers of said home. Interestingly enough, though,
(05:01):
the cricket is also said that he will take his
luck with him when he leaves. So if he leaves
the house, so does the luck.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That was my problem because they would like ebb and
flow with like you could hear them and then not
hear them.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Right, isn't there an Office episode where Michael does a cricket?
Isn't that?
Speaker 1 (05:25):
I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
I'm like trying to remember.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Anyways, So in Japanese English and American Indian, they all believe,
you know, in the inherent luck of these little creatures.
So another little fun fact is that it's thought to
be bad luck when it leaves by your chimney. Now,
I don't know how many crickets are doing.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
That, but scaling the chimney wool.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Oh God, listen to this. It's it's terrible to kill one. Yes,
we picked up this. It is also dangerous to imitate
a chirp. I don't know, but I just did that.
So my apologies to the spirit, Yes to the house spirits. Yeah,
(06:13):
I was just paying hommage. Last, but not least, the
cricket is a super fortune teller and knows if rain
is coming, if death is near, and even if a
lover is coming back.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Odd.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So I don't know how it knows that any of
those things, right, So basically I need to listen for
the birds chirping in the east to bring good love
and ask some of these crickets if Joe, Tom or
(06:51):
Harrier coming back whomever. So anyway, that is crickets everyone.
What were you going to say?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
I was gonna say that reminds me and I didn't
say this in the last episode, how like they can
predict death in that book that I mentioned last time
that I had started, or that I was going to
start the Road to Tender Hearts, And I said about
did I talk about this how the cat predicts death
at the nursing home.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I don't think so.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, I thought I did, so I also started this
book a couple of days ago, and.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
You were talking about party.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
And the author, I forget what her name is. She
wrote Unlikely Animals and it was an excellent book.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
But this isn't the Ocean on the Boardwalk, lady, Now,
I mean Christmas on the Boardwalk.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
No, I knew who you meant, now, Annie Hartnett, I'm
almost certain I mentioned this two episodes.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Well maybe you did. I don't remember it, but well.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
She also wrote rabbit Cake, didn't read that one that
is about like a little girl whose mom passes away.
Sounded very sad, but like summer. And then this one,
The Road to Tender Hearts, is her most recent release.
It is so good so far, but oh my gosh,
(08:11):
it is literally within the first seven to like ten
percent the amount of tragedy that happens in this book.
But it's written in like this dark comedic way. Oh
my god, it's so well done. But if you need
to buckle up and prepare yourself trigger warning wise, like
if you're going to start this book. But all of
(08:33):
that to say, when the book starts, they're talking about
this cat pancakes and heat pancakes, and he is in
a retirement home and when he starts like flittering around
certain residents. They die pretty shortly.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I mean I've heard of that in real life.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Yeah, oh I know.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Not like as a superstition, but just like as sometimes
like there are animals and nursing homes who know those
types of things. Oh shit, I never heard that, right,
So I don't know, I've just heard about that before,
and I think it is usually cats.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
But mm hmm, yeah that makes sense. I feel like
they're deep thinkers. Sure. But yeah, this book is crazy
and I would love to like just spoiler alert that
first seven percent of what happens, but I mean it
would obviously ruin it for so many people. And it's
(09:28):
just it is a wild beginning to It's the most
wild beginning I've ever read in a book. I'm not kidding.
It's if anyone has read this book, please comment. And
I feel like I don't even need to be you know,
in the way of like, oh my gosh, Like so
I feel validated that I'm not crazy. I know I'm
not crazy. This book is insane. I mean, I know
I'm crazy, but I'm about this.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I gotcha.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
All right, So I'm going to do the case today.
And it was actually suggested.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
By my mom, by your mom.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Shout out to her. She sent me an article that
I had never heard of any of this, and I
thought it was very fascinating. So it's partly about a
place but also about a murder. Okay, so the place
is the Barbizon Hotel. Have you ever heard of it?
Speaker 1 (10:20):
No, barbaraal what's that? Isn't that like a shave cream? Okay? No?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
That makes me think of Jurassic Part I was just
gonna say that, Barbasol. Yeah, is that what you said?
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Anyway? Yes, okay, this, yes, just so you can see
this is the building. Okay.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah. Which it's insane because related to books real quick
as I'm looking and you know, doing my research this okay,
So you would not like these books, I don't think.
But there's this author named Fiona Davis and she does
a bunch of historical fiction and a lot are based
(11:08):
in New York, like Manhattan. And I read The Lions
of Fifth No, I didn't. I didn't. I want to
read the Lines of Fifth Avenue. I've read The Spectacular
and there's one by her called The Dollhouse, and I
never like read it. It's on my want to read
list and the picture is this middle picture of the Barbezon.
(11:30):
Oh okay, So apparently that's what that one's about. And
I didn't know that the Barbizon was also referred to
as the Dollhouse, which I'll explain. Why isn't that insane?
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Do you need to lie down for a little or
are you going to be okay? To keep going with
this realization.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I'll try to press on.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
All right, well, just be careful you and.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
The chillers I shill. Okay, So I apologize this episode
is going to be almost like more so of a
history lesson oh fun, because I there were not as
many details at all about the murder that I would
have liked to share, Like I could barely find anything.
It was very sad. But I also think it's important
(12:14):
to talk about that because I don't think it's a coincidence.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
All right, okay.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
So the Barbazon opened in nineteen twenty seven on East
sixty third and Lexington. This was a groundbreaking women only
residential hotel in Manhattan. It was one of the largest
and most refined of its kind, so it catered to
middle and upper class young women, particularly those entering professional fields.
(12:40):
Like secretarial work, modeling, journalism, or the arts.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Can I ask a question, surely a residential hotel? Do
you mean like an apartment building or what what is
it called? Why do why do they call it a
residential hotel?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
So it had like a setup of you, So it
wasn't like apartments. You'd have like a room and potentially
a bathroom if I were. If I not remember, well,
I guess remember too from my research if I understood,
but I explain what was offered?
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Okay, So it was it was a legit place. People
lived there. Okay, yes, okay, So.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
It offered like luxury amenities or like facilities like it
had the swimming pool available. It had a gym, which
that was not normal for that time. I was led
to think a rooftop garden, which I feel like that's
common in the city, library, lecture halls, music rooms, and
then services hairdresser, dry cleaner, pharmacy. Sounds lovely well, but
(13:50):
it enforced strict restrictions on mail access to promote safety
and propriety. The other thing like the pro call or
entrance protocol, acceptance protocol, whatever you want to call it,
for perspective residents, So the women had to submit letters
(14:11):
of recommendation and interview with the assistant manager May Sibley,
who assessed applicants on age and appearance, grading them from A,
B or C a's which were the younger attractive women
were prioritized, while older or less visually appealing women faced
rejection or were assigned lower tier accommodation.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Sound a little less lovely now, riddle me this. Were
there any male workers?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Good questions?
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Thank you?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Imagine?
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So? Okay, I just wondering.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
The hotel was named after a friend they.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Judged on an attractive level as well. I don't believe
so no, okay, I didn't know, like the hot ones
were only working on level A.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
So the hotel was named after a French art movement,
yet quickly became nicknamed the Dollhouse. Due to its glamorous
and carefully curated atmosphere, It served as a cultural buffer
between feminine independence and societal expectations. It offered women a
respectable chaperone space. Why were you shining that? In my eyes?
(15:28):
And it still supported their ambitions, whether in their careers
or their personal relationships. Okay, so many emerging stars and
people like in the arts lived like it became their home,
such as Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, who apparently famously threw
her clothes off the roof of it and that image
(15:52):
she later used in her book The Bell Jar. I
don't know like anything about Sylvia Plath, like mem.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
I'm just looking at you blankly.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And Nancy Reagan also lived there for a period of time.
So gymnastics refinement training, which makes me think of Titanic
and art classes you.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Do, like I mean, like balancing a book on your
head and stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Well, I suppose, but I was thinking how like the
Unsingable Molly Brown had to like teach Leonardo? Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,
cable etiquette. Do you like Titanic? Did you like that movie?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Like a lot, like did you love it?
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I think there I had a slight obsession for a
while because everyone was obsessed with it. So I remember
like back then there used to be all those like
trivia tests like what was the color car that they
hit in? And like all those things.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
You know, where was that I.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Got me online? But I just I just remember like
people were really obsessed. I did, ironically just see a
TikTok of Kate Winslet rewatching Titanic, and she talked about
the scene where they get on the front of the
boat and she's like, I'm flying you know that one? Yeah,
(17:16):
And she said they shot that in a way that
they couldn't people could not access them makeup hair, So
in between takes, she said she had her makeup and
Leonardo DiCaprio's makeup like down in her bra on both sides,
and she was redoing their makeup because she was like,
(17:37):
every time we kissed, if we had to reshoot it,
she was like, then I would have a bunch of
makeup on because they made him look tanner and he
would have like not as.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Much inter resting tidbit. So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Yeah. Yeah, So gymnastics, refinement training in art classes were
not uncommon to have offered to the women there.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Mm hm.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
The residents were expected to maintain a quote ladylike appearance
and social poise at all times. Yeah. The barbizons exclusivity
carried like darker undertones of the older permanent residents were
sometimes dubbed just the women, and when the younger arrivals
(18:26):
were there, they viewed these older women like with pity
and that they were less than.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Now Why is somebody choosing to live here?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think because it's just a comfortable, safe setting.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Doesn't sound so comfortable to me? Safe perhaps, right, sounds
kind of mean.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
A devil they know. As societal norms evolved postwar, women
moving toward independence, co ed housing, and the new career
pathways caused the like crazy appeal at first of the
barbizons like sheltered environment to wane. So eventually, in nineteen
(19:12):
eighty one they started admitting men, and then it was
later converted into luxury condos. So that's just little tidbits, Okay.
So the resident that I would like to focus on
is a woman named Ruth Harding. So the Barbazon's assistant
(19:34):
manager told The New York Times that she probably lived
there for about two years, approximately late nineteen seventy three
to August of nineteen seventy five, So at that time
it was still operating as a women only residential hotel.
I think residential hotel means if you want to live
there permanently, not your socks off, but if you just
(19:55):
want to go in there for like a weekend, like
a hotel, that's like fair, kay to.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Back to your question of like what the appeal was.
I think the other thing is like, so what it
basically says is like the little box that like Ruth
checked with just her life the Barbizon. So at that
time while she was there, like obviously it was still
operating as a woman only hotel, but it protected single
(20:23):
women of all ages. And I think that was like
another like obviously I said safety, but I think that
was like it was like a familiar, cozy little niche.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
I mean, I can get that part. I just don't
understand why they had to be mean, that's my only
you know, I mean anyway, Okay.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
So Ruth fit a profile. You know, she was single,
she was elderly. She she had no known close kin
or any regular visitors. She paid for a private room
with a bathroom, and this was one of the hotels.
Price here. She was paying seventy to seventy seven per week.
(21:04):
So there was nothing listed anywhere of why she, like
if a specific event precipitated her choosing the Barberzons, you know,
why she ended up there, just that it was, you know,
the hotels set up suited women by.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Themselves welcome us.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
So at the time of her death, you know, she
was late seventies, she was not employed. The hotel staff
told The New York Times that she, like, none of
this could be verified, but she had made mention to
people of being an actress, a journalist, a ballerina, and
quote everything else. Jeez, So I'm not sure.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
I fancy.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
There was just no confirmed profession focus an entertainer, right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Like the Moira Rose basically yeah, good call, well hello, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
That just reminded me. I think I already said this
to but maybe not. How there's this commercial with David
in it with a woman, and my mom mentions this
commercial all the time that it reminds her of us,
and like he's in like a window washing thing.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
I think, I don't know what the commercial is, but
I know the commercial you're talking. Yeah, I have seen it,
but I don't I'd never paid attention to it.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
It is funny. I did find it after, like she
mentioned it multiple times, like when she would see it,
and you know it should be laughing and she's not wrong.
I do see the similarities between the interaction. Okay, so,
so multiple residents described Ruth as bright and eager for conversation.
(22:43):
Hotel staff remembered her, you know, definitely being talkative yet friendless,
which uh broke my heart.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
I'm going to say friendly, and I was like, why
are you saying it's so sad?
Speaker 2 (22:53):
I know, I had to reread it, like in when
I was looking her up and I couldn't. It didn't
like compute when I right it, like wait, what is
this thing? So she was often seated in this green
armchair that they had in the lobby. She'd ask for
a newspaper and she would chat with quote, almost anybody
(23:14):
who came in the door. She was seen as lonely,
but quote, anything but senile. She was a solitary figure
who wandered down to the lobby each night in her
nightgown and coat, and she chatted mostly with the escorts,
waiting to take the younger women out because they could
not go up. Oh so yeah, okay. So August fifteenth,
(23:39):
nineteen seventy five, she was seventy nine years old, and
she was found strangled in the bathroom of her private
suite on the eleventh floor. So the luxury of her
room was pretty notable. She had a very rare space
there with this private bathroom. And I think I mentioned
this earlier, how she paid seventy seven about per week,
(24:02):
so that would be four hundred and sixty two dollars
in present day.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Okay, a day, a night, whatever, a week.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I'm so sorry, right yes, a day.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
A night whatever. Very loosey goosey, right now, A day,
an hour, a lot, it's a lot.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
So this is where basically there's like nothing like I
tried finding things so many different ways. Police later reported, quote,
no clues exist, I'm sorry, not one. I mean there
were no suspects, no next of ken, which I think
(24:46):
had a huge part to play in this, and her age,
no leads. There was a detective, Sergeant James Stewart. He
said that there were abrasions on her throat, but we
have nothing else. I mean fourth century into the room.
Who was around that night? Were these men who were
coming in for the younger girls? Was one of them
flittering around upstairs? Nobody saw anything full of these people?
Speaker 1 (25:11):
This was what does what does a random man have
to kill an almost eighty year old woman for that?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Shit happens all the time.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
But I'm saying he's got to sneak up into an
all women's I picture I pictured somebody else like I'll
like a resident.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
Oh, the one in the women or.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
One of the girls. So, I mean, I don't know,
But who the hell am I? Yeah, yeah, I just
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I just I mean I couldn't even find who found
her body. I don't know if it was hotel staff,
another resident, another visitor. It is not specified. Everything is
unspecified in reports. And also I was couldn't find this either,
But like, how long was she floating around in her
room that no one even knew? Like she comes down
every night? Did that tip anybody off? Did they go
(25:59):
looking for her becase because she wasn't coming downstairs because
she had no one and no one was coming to
see her. Did she just die up there and they
I mean, I don't know if they were cleaning the
I have no idea. I don't know if they were
responsible to clean their own room. I'm assuming not with
it being the hotel setting. But so there was limited documentation.
(26:20):
There's no available record of anyone at the hotel staff
or residents being formally interviewed by police after the murder.
Journalists and historians have noted that even longtime members of
the NYPD's cold case squad from that era have no
recollection of the case. I don't know about that, well,
lots of stuff.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Sounds strange, right, It.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Just quickly faded from both public and officials memories, no
follow up interviews or any reinvestigation documented that you know,
they reopened it, so, you know, no known connections with
other you know people, suspects, no clear evidence. So despite
the severity of this crime, the case went cold and
(27:05):
was just largely forgotten. So by the mid seventies, the
Barbezan's sheen had just considerably dimmed, if you will, you know,
once this like glittering residence for young ambitious women, it
just struggled. The hotel struggled under the weight of societal
change and then just to financial strain. So the feminist
(27:29):
movement that championed independence, coupled with the rise of modern
coh ed housing and condos made a single sex rule
bound establishment just outdated, you know, like frumpy dumpy, Not
frumpy dumpy, but just what's the word, like, what's the word.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Restrictive? Old fashion? Old fashion?
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Thank you? Yes, So occupancy plummet where the hippest cats, right,
So the hotel became unprofitable. Its guests were just older,
eccentric people. They often were becoming permanent residents, not the
hopeful starlets. You know that it once nurtured so many
(28:13):
communal spaces like the restaurant, the coffee shop there had closed.
At the time of Ruth's murder, only about one hundred
and thirty rent controlled residents remained.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
So although one hundred and thirty that's not.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
I think no correct, but by the size of how
that building looked, I think it was. My impression was
that it was much larger originally, or a larger number.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, So the murder of Ruth didn't just like unsettle
the hotel. It kind of symbolized the Barbizon's downfall. So
the glamour was gone. You know, there were now like
whispered rumors of violence. The aging building was kind of
taking a hit and looked like a little bit neglected.
You know. Time was marching on and it just wasn't
(29:02):
what it was when it first started. It just didn't
have that same appeal in the clits. So that same year,
manager David Teitelbaum attempted a revival. He investigated, he invested
half a million dollars in renovations, including the laundry facility,
(29:24):
the health club, the lobbies and the hotel, and occupancy
rebounded briefly, but the hotel's identity had just shifted irrevocably.
That murder did something to that place that the renovations
could not compete with. Basically, does that make sense?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (29:46):
So years years years later, in two thousand and six,
the Barbazon closed. It was gutted, and it was converted
into luxury condominiums and that was it. So it's still
there today. So now it's called Barbezon sixty three, which
I'm assuming because it's on East sixty third.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Reasonable.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
So you can rent or purchase an apartment there, no thanks.
It says currently there are ten units for sale, but
like I can't when you so you can put in
like I am interested in buying, all right, and I
am interested in renting, and you can't find anything out.
(30:31):
It's like just to put your information in and send
a message to inquire. So I don't know what anything costs.
It has the phone number for real estate, for management
and for the doorman. We'll give them a call up, right,
So it says every feature in the apartments of Barbezon
sixty three, you make a statement in luxury elegance and style,
(30:53):
the soaring ceilings, the Bolivian rosewood hardwood floors, the marble
accented baths, the French casement window, the top of the
line gourmet kitchens. These are just a few of the
many deluxe characteristics of the luxury apartments. Residents will also
be able to use the facilities of Club Salon, a
club that consists of a magnificent library, a large dining room,
(31:17):
and a movie screening room. Besides the pre war characteristics,
a luxury concierge service lends the classic culture of a
bygone era. So I would imagine it's absolutely outrageous too purchase.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Oh I'm sure there. So yeah, Well, God bless her.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Oh exactly, Rest in peace, Ruth. And just it really
makes me sick that I think, you know, the fact
that she had no known family, being seventy nine years old,
you know, based off her own telling of her life
like very sort of scattered and inconsistent, couldn't really nail
(32:05):
down what she had been up to throughout her life.
And maybe she obviously had money, well exactly exactly, but
like so not knowing much about her fine, but I
feel like that's why it was so easy, like with
her age and just being by herself. Why it was
so easy to like, we don't know. Maybe it was
a cover up, who the hell knows, but it just
(32:27):
makes me sick for her. And justice was never carried
out for her and probably never will.
Speaker 1 (32:33):
Well I doubted at this point.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Yes, yeah, I just found a picture of what one
of the condos in there looks like. So okay, a
three bedroom apartment is three million, five hundred thousand, wowsa.
It's been on the market for forty seven days. Apartment
(32:56):
nine E is a one bedroom two million, one hundred
and fifty hours. Oh and there's these photos and very
very modern, I mean, absolutely gorgeous. But you'd have to
take my computer.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
Oh kind of screwl about Oh wow, Yeah, not not
at all what I was thinking. Well, I mean, you know,
it's very tragic that we know nothing about the lady
besides that she died there. I know, but like you said,
(33:39):
from those not like you said, like you showed me
with those pictures. I mean it's a beautiful place now, well.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
Even those ones. I was just showing you though, of
how it looked back in the early days. Yeah, I mean,
beautiful building, beautiful full architecture, and what a time to
be alive. Man, I'm rather strict, Yes, yes, strict ship.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
You wouldn't be in there.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
No, I would not know, you would not would not.
I think though for an elderly person, I can see
the appeal of like safety in numbers being taken.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Cares absolutely agree.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Yeah, I really want to read this behavior. Get out
of here.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
No cursing like a saying.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
I don't curse badly on this.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
I'm fantastic.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, thank you. I'm quite shocked at myself. I feel
like you curse more than I do. Even on here.
You say things, But do you think it's hat would
you live there now? Like in one of I mean
that a few mills laying around.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
If that was the only death, it doesn't sound too bad.
I don't mean to sound cavalier, but it's not like,
you know, it's not crazy like, oh this was the
sixth death in you know.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
Like that one case. Sure, I don't know, but I
can't think of the hotel's name.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
That's who I was thinking of. Oh yeah, that's a
crazy that's a crazy place, and I want nothing to
do with that exactly. But the water tasted bad?
Speaker 2 (35:39):
Oh how awesoul.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Hm hmmm. I mean, of course, every time I hear
about a hotel, I only think of Hotel Cortes every time.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Now, oh, and that's what it was based off of,
right with her?
Speaker 1 (35:51):
Yes, but I'm saying even this, like I was thinking
about all these eccentric people living in a hotel like
Hotel Courte guys had a swimming pool and you know,
like other like ballrooms and stuff like that, kind of
like grandiose.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
Yeah. Yeah, well I want to read this book. I
I don't am very curious, right, I figured you did.
I will report back, I was gonna.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
Say, but I'm going to hear about it anyways.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
Sure you like it? Yeah, so well that's it. Sorry.
I didn't have more details on that true crime part
of it, but like I said, that just I think
is awful and upsets me greatly. You know that there
(36:50):
wasn't right much at all.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
So all right, Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
You're very welcome. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
It's been my pleasure. So I will go next time,
I am sure. So on that note, everyone stay safe
and stay hill.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
Bye everybody.
Speaker 3 (37:17):
Thank you everyone.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
You've just listened to Chilworthy. Thank you for joining us.
On this latest episode. While we strive to keep our
discussions engaging and lighthearted, we also wanted to take a
moment to acknowledge the real lives and events that are
at the heart of these stories.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
We try to approach each topic with a sense of
curiosity and respect fully aware of the impact these events
have had on the individuals and their loved ones. Our
goal is to honor their memories by keeping their stories
alive and shedding light on the mysteries that surround them.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe, rate,
and leave a review, and don't forget to join us
on the next episode of Chilworthy.
Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yeah
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