The Hearst Building is always a beautiful sight to find.  Some say they never have seen it.  I wonder how it can’t be missed.  Although the building now houses several other businesses including a Starbucks, 20 cast bronze medallions of animals are above the front door and it is very hard to miss their astonishing beauty (circa 1938).

The Lobby of the Hearst Building.  Here you can see one of the original elevators, there are three.  All gold, all original, except for one that has been updated for today’s code. It leads to a new dance club.  They were known in the day to be the fastest elevators in the City at the time.

Here are some of the beautiful carved columns and Seals inside.  The Seals are gold (14K gold leaf) and the rest speaks for itself.  Just a bit of the outstanding workmanship of this building’s art carved out of marble as the focus of this room.  Considering it is not a large room in today’s buildings, it is stunning how much the eye has to adore in this space set in time.

Patterns are everywhere. Gold gilded blocks behind the marble framed glass inserts are stunning.  They have adorned the walls since 1938 when Julia Morgan was hired to finish the exterior and lobby.  This is the view from inside standing at the elevators looking outward.

The staircase behind the entrance of the lobby.  If you walk back beyond the lobby and look up, this is what you see.   The floors have bronze handrails and I guess if you are one who loves to exercise, this is the way to go.  There are 13 stories to this building.