Whom You Know Interviews Ward Morehouse III

Ward Morehouse III is the author of Inside the Plaza. Below is an excerpt from an interview he conducted with the blog Whom You Know.

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If you could live in any room in the Plaza disregarding that some of it is condos now, what would be your top five rooms and why?

I would live in 1) The Palm Court because of the sheer beauty of the room and memories of celebrating my 20th birthday there and all the times of just relaxing – and dreaming; 2) A corner suite on Central Park because of memories of celebrating the publication of my Plaza book there; 3.)Any suite on Central Park because it’s in one of these that Jay Gatsby and Daisy in The Great Gatsby spent a hot afternoon cooling off with the breezes of Central Park wafting into their room; 4) my family’s one-bedroom suite, rooms 660-662, facing the hotel’s interior courtyard because that’s where my father and I played “wolf”: he would climb into bed in his signature blue suite, put on a wolf’s Halloween mask, and jump out of bed growling when I opened the bedroom door; 5) the kitchen in my family’s suite where my father and I would light gunpowder in the sink and watch it flare up and smoke.

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Peachy Deegan went to the Plaza auction in 2005 probably over 40 times and went in every single room and regrets not owning a digital camera at the time…did you go to this sale and if so what did you purchase and did it have any sentimental meaning?

I didn’t go to the auction but have several mementoes from The Plaza, including a miniature porcelain bathtub to hold soap.

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Please tell us about your encounters with Eloise if you have had any!

I never met Eloise but have written about and interviewed Liza Minnelli, who lived at The Plaza with her mom, Judy Garland, and who speculation has it Kay Thompson patterned Eloise after. I also think that as a boy I ran to fast through the corridors of The Plaza myself to ever stop and meet Eloise or any little girl who was 6.

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For more please visit Whom You Know.

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Inside the Plaza

Ward Morehouse III, who himself did some growing up at the hotel, has collected all the Plaza’s gems, looked into all the nooks and crannies. In his newly revised and updated edition, Morehouse recounts the hotel’s recent $450 million transformation, with its 181 luxury condominium residences, 282 guest rooms and suites, and landmark public spaces, such as the Oak Room and Oak Bar.He has created a special and personal account of the only storybook castle in America where anyone who desires to can stay overnight.