The High Line Hotel

180 10th Avenue | also 182 10th Avenue, 415 West 20th Street, 470 West 21st Street | Chelsea | built 1931

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Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1823

    Clement Clarke Moore writes 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' on the estate around this site

    Clement Clarke Moore inherited the Chelsea estate of his grandfather Thomas Clarke and wrote his 1823 Christmas poem on the property. He grew apples in an orchard where the hotel now stands. In the 1820s he gave that land to the Episcopal Church, and it became the home of the General Theological Seminary.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1878

    Dean Eugene Hoffman hires Charles C. Haight to design an Oxford-style campus on the Chelsea orchard land

    The seminary's Chelsea land, once Clement Clarke Moore's apple orchard, stayed largely empty until Eugene Augustus Hoffman was appointed dean in 1878. Hoffman brought in the architect Charles C. Haight to plan a Neo-Gothic campus on the pattern of Oxford and Cambridge. The building that became the High Line Hotel, at Tenth Avenue and West 20th Street, was completed as student housing in 1895.

    “…the land remained mostly undeveloped until 1878 when Eugene Augustus Hoffman was appointed dean. Hoffman hired architect Charles C. Haight to design a Neo Gothic-style campus…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1895

    Charles C. Haight's seminary dormitory is completed at Tenth Avenue and West 20th Street

    Eugene Augustus Hoffman, appointed dean of the General Theological Seminary in 1878, hired architect Charles C. Haight to design a Neo-Gothic campus modeled on Oxford and Cambridge. This building, finished in 1895, was built as student housing.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1899

    Hoffman Hall is completed within the seminary complex

    Hoffman Hall was finished in 1899 as part of the seminary's building campaign. It is now the High Line Hotel's event and meeting space. The campus was the work of architect Charles C. Haight, whom dean Eugene Augustus Hoffman had hired.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 2005

    The old dormitory starts housing guests of the seminary's Desmond Tutu Conference Center

    In 2005 the former student dormitory began lodging visitors for the General Theological Seminary's Desmond Tutu Conference Center. Financial strain later pushed the seminary to sell off some of its buildings, beginning in 2010, and this one was among those it sold.

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 2012

    September

    The Brodsky Organization and MCR Hotels buy the seminary dormitory

    The seminary, facing financial problems, began selling some of its buildings in 2010. In September 2012 it sold this dormitory to the Brodsky Organization and MCR Hotels. Roman and Williams designed the interior and decor of the hotel that followed.

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 2013

    March 29

    Intelligentsia plans its first East Coast coffee bar in the hotel lobby

    Curbed reported in March 2013 that the High Line Hotel, due to open in May, would put a lobby coffee bar run by the Chicago brand Intelligentsia in the former seminary dormitory. It would be the brand's first East Coast outpost. The front courtyard was to become a cafe later that summer, and the backyard was set aside for cocktails and dining.

    Source: Internet Archive

  8. 2013

    March 29

    The hotel's designers plan to keep the dormitory's stained glass, mantels and staircases

    When the seminary sold 180 Tenth Avenue to the Brodsky Organization, with MCR Development as co-owner of the hotel, the red-brick building was to become a 60-room hotel. Curbed reported in March 2013 that the designers were keeping the stained glass, moldings, pine floors, mantels and staircases. The building dates to 1895, when it was built as student housing modeled on the Oxford and Cambridge campuses.

    Source: Internet Archive

  9. 2013

    May

    The High Line Hotel opens in the former seminary dormitory

    The High Line Hotel opened in May 2013 with 60 guest rooms in the Collegiate Gothic building. Its furnishings include Victorian and Edwardian antiques, vintage typewriters and Tiffany lamps. The hotel also has an Intelligentsia coffee shop and a seasonal restaurant in its front garden.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 72 buildings with stories in Chelsea