Ogle the Woolworth Building’s Stunning, Rarely Open Lobby | Armonk Homes

[All photos by Bob Estremera.]

The Woolworth Building‘s opulent lobby is 101 years old, and while it’s not a nice, pretty centennial, it’s still pretty darn old, immaculately preserved, and positively beautiful. While it used to be open to the public, it’s not anymore due to security concerns, so it’s only ogle-able to the folks who work in the building—we’re looking at you, SHoP Architects. Meanwhile, there are occasional tours of the neo-Gothic, gilded-to-the-nines space. Architectural photographer extraordinaire Bob Estremera went on one last week hosted by Landmark Branding, and though he’d try something different from his last glimpse inside, taking a slew of shots in both color and sepia-infused black-and-white. Compare and contrast two views of the same scene, and marvel at how the architectural details pop in the bi-chrome version and how dazzling the full-on color ones are. It’s positively grotesque! No, really, there are tons of those carved faces and figures, all of which are unique—the workers had a lot of fun, apparently. And, FYI, whoever ends up living in the 34 condos amazing condos being constructed on the landmark’s upper floors will have a separate lobby, which just goes to show that even money can’t buy this kind of beauty… but working for a cool company can