Gertrude Stein Suite unveiled at NYC's Renwick

New York’s historic Renwick Hotel, located at 118 East 40th Street, has completed a $30-million renovation to pay homage to the literary giants (including Steinbeck, Mann and Fitzgerald) who lived and worked there.

Gertrude Stein Suite is the first female author to be formally honored at The Renwick, and the Gertrude Stein Suite has a design aesthetic that makes use of Stein’s flowery writing and life in Paris.

The brand-new suite, located on the 10th floor of the hotel, was coordinated by Stonehill & Taylor’s senior designer, Kim Edwards, and evokes a classic French Salon with details like a vintage tea cart and a handmade tea set by ceramicist Alice Goldsmith. Stein was known for hosting salon nights in Paris, along with artists and friends like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

A shelf of Stein novels and vintage French milk bottles greet guests as they enter the suite. Near the door is a large wall bust stencil, a replica of the one painted by Picasso himself. Above the living room sofa hangs three string-art pieces by Jessica Clark, made especially to replicate the sketches that lined the walls of Steins Salon, as well as subtle nod her novel “Three Lives.”

The bedroom has other creative allusions to Stein’s writing, including a rosebud drawing made from a seeming infinite loop of her famous quote “a rose is a rose is a rose.” There are also copies of Stein’s works and books by her contemporaries, as well as sprigs of dried French lavender.