With the crime-comedy caper back on Hulu, let’s recap the lore surrounding the beloved fictional NYC apartment building at the center of the show
By Scarlett Harris, Architectural Digest, August 29, 2004
Over the last three seasons of Only Murders in the Building, fans have come to know the Arconia, the fictional building where Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) reside, as a sort of fourth main character. And though season four of the Hulu crime-comedy caper, which premiered on August 27, will see our beloved trio of podcasters travel to Los Angeles, their NYC building will remain their home base—there’d be no show without it. Before you settle in to watch the latest season, here’s everything you need to know about the Arconia and the real-life building used as its exterior.
The Arconia and The Belnord
The fictional Arconia is a prewar entire-block apartment building on New York City’s Upper West Side, inspired by real buildings in the neighborhood like the Apthorp, the Dakota (where John Lennon was shot and where Rosemary’s Baby is set), and the Belnord, the exterior which is used as a filming location for Only Murders in the Building.
While the Arconia was designed in the show by architect Archibald Carter, the Belnord was originally constructed in 1908 by architectural firm Hiss and Weekes. The 225 West 86th Street complex initially had 175 apartments, increasing to 225 in the 1940s, with a final bump to 231 flats during its most recent redesign by Robert A.M. Stern Architects in 2018. The condos overlook an interior courtyard—which at the time of construction was the largest interior courtyard in the world and remains one of the largest in New York City today—featuring landscaped gardens and fountains. Everyone from Martha Stewart to Lee Strasberg, Marilyn Monroe’s acting coach whom she would visit there, have called the Belnord home. No doubt they would be ripe podcast subjects if OliMabel (the triptych’s group name, according to Oliver, who claims “the Charles is silent.”) had encountered the blonde bombshell or M. Diddy.
“With its floor-through dwellings, celebrity penthouse, secret passageways, and camaraderie between residents both longtime and new, the Arconia is a world within itself.”
