The Plymouth Hotel is located at 336 21st Street in the Collins Park neighborhood. It was designed by Anton Skislewicz in 1940, as a three story Art Deco Streamline Moderne building. Skislewicz additionally was the architect on the distinctive Breakwater Hotel at 940 Ocean Drive. The design of the Plymouth took its inspiration from the 1939 New York World’s Fair. With a large protruding pylon tower marking the entrance; eyebrows above the windows; narrow vertical slits and bands in the facade. The interior boasts an elaborate oval lobby with a white Carrara marble tile floor and two exquisite murals by Ramon Chatov.
The hotel hosted many important historical moments, such as housing GIs during World War II. After serving many years as a dorm for the New World Symphony’s young musicians in the 1980’s – 1990’s, the hotel became noticeably rundown. However, Barbara Baer Capitman still used Steven Brooke’s color photograph of the corner exterior of the Plymouth to adorn the cover of her 1988 book entitled “Deco Delights”.
In 2017, the hotel went through an extensive renovation with fabulous design updates, keeping to its Art Deco origins but with a contemporary twist, creating a special luxury boutique venue. Shown are MDPL archival photographs and postcard of the Plymouth Hotel through the years. Color and black and white photo by Steven Brooke
