Listen up, Only Murders in the Building fans: The show’s fourth season is premiering on August 27 and—besides featuring a fresh murder investigation related to the death of Jane Lynch’s character, as well as a long-awaited Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd return (according to The Hollywood Reporter)—will once again take place inside the fictional Arconia building. In case you’re just as enamored as we are with the apartment complex where all the characters live, we have good news: You, too, can reside in the Arconia. Except it’s called the Belnord in real life (and, while its exterior shots are used on the show, we hate to break it to you that the Arconia’s apartment interiors are all filmed on a sound stage).
Here is everything you need to know about this famed Upper West Side building before laying eyes on it once more during season 4.
Where is the Arconia located?
The Belnord—aka the IRL name for the fictional Arconia—is located on New York City’s Upper West Side neighborhood, at 225 West 86th Street. The building is almost equidistant from Riverside Park to the west and Central Park—no introduction needed—to the east. In other words, it’s a prime location for getting to the bottom of some murders while living in high style.
Sense of place is further established through the Belnord’s grand entrance, what with its wrought-iron gates (a common New York tour group hot spot to stop at) and Roman-inspired frescoes that hark back to the building’s Italian Renaissance roots. If you’re an Only Murders fan, you’ve definitely familiarized yourself with this particular part of the building; after all, it’s where the three protagonists like to congregate during scenes of heated police activity.
What is the building’s history?
The 13-story building was originally constructed in a Beaux Arts style back in 1908 by architect H. Hobart Weekes of Hiss and Weekes. Since then, the building received the status of New York City landmark in 1966 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places 14 years later.
Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) updated the residences once they were purchased by HFZ Capital Group in 2015. The architecture firm was asked “to refresh the building and transform nearly half of its rental apartments into condominium residences suited to 21st-century living,” according to the architecture firm, which mostly revolved around significant interior improvements and minor Landmarks Preservation Commission–approved exterior touches.
RAMSA was behind the Belnord’s new marble-clad lobbies facing 86th and 87th streets (full-block residential buildings are a rarity in the city, BTW), kitchens bearing either cerused oak or white lacquer color palettes, new amenity offerings that make stepping out of the Belnord quite optional, and beyond. In total, the firm worked on 100 units with 22 unique configurations.
“One of the best things about working on the Belnord was returning the building and its apartments specifically to their original glory,” says Sargent Gardiner, a partner at RAMSA who worked closely on the project. “Quite frankly, the building was feeling a bit tired after 100 years.”
This is not to say the apartments didn’t have amazing bones, which made the redesign that much more gratifying. For instance, RAMSA tapped into their abundance of natural light. “It really is one of the greatest apartment buildings in New York, in part because it has six cores. That means every single apartment within the building is situated on a corner or has two exposures,” Gardiner continues. “This offers great light at different times of the day and wonderful views in different directions.”
ELLE DECOR A-List interior designer and architect Rafael de Cárdenas also worked to introduce a markedly contemporary style to the spaces while preserving their historical layers through “custom-designed and curated furniture, lighting, and artworks,” per 1stDibs.
What is the Belnord like inside?
Besides having kitchens with gussied-up appliances and Calacatta Gold marble countertops (not to mention primary bathrooms with gleaming Dornbracht fittings), the Belnord’s revitalized units benefit from white oak floors, Sub-Zero wine fridges, deep soaking tubs, and so much more.
Residents also now have access to over 30,000 square feet of amenities, including a dramatic residents’ lounge, where you can spend whole evenings recapping Only Murders season 4, and the decked-out Belnord Club fitness center (with its state-of-the-art equipment, sauna facility, and similar fixings). “We even designed a small basketball court, which was an opportunity to create something a little more modern within this beautiful classical context,” Gardiner says.
To be sure, those who are lucky to call the Belnord home also have the option of taking advantage of its the stunning interior courtyard redesigned by Edmund Hollander of Hollander Design. The Belnord’s website says it was the largest of its kind in the world when the building first opened; now it boasts a straight-out-of-Paris fountain, lush hedges, elegant benches, and seasonal flowers.
Persuaded to move in, like, yesterday? Act quickly: There are only two units available for purchase (Douglas Elliman Development Marketing is handling the exclusive sales and marketing for the building) and they’re both going to cost you well over $10 million.