The Ansonia Building

The Ansonia building dominates the street with its ornate Beaux-Arts facade, but its most eccentric chapter took place on the roof. Its developer, William Earle Dodge Stokes, believed a luxury hotel should be self-sufficient, so he maintained a working farm on the seventeenth floor. Residents could count on fresh milk and eggs delivered daily from cows, goats, and chickens housed right above their suites. Stokes even installed a specialized cattle elevator to transport the livestock to their rooftop home, though the Department of Health eventually shut down the operation in nineteen oh seven.