Norwood is a private club that draws its membership from the creative arts and in addition to basic sustenance aims to provide members with a salon of discovery through talks, tastings and stimulating events as well as being an active sponsor of creative talent in the New York area. The club was founded in 2007 by owner Alan Linn in a historic brick brownstone in Chelsea built in 1845 for the wealthy merchant Andrew Norwood. The elegant red-brick building has been given a contemporary feel by British designer Simon Costin. Inside is a perfectly preserved 1847 mansion with 13 fireplaces, huge mahogany doors and intricate plaster crown molding. Hidden touches abound, like the carved bird pecking a flower among the mantelpiece's Carrarra marble foliage. It has a cast-iron balcony, setting off lounge windows that stretch from the floor almost as high as the 15ft ceilings. Each level has a different look and atmosphere – from the grand, private dining room on the lower level, complete with a long table and antique artworks, to the funky bar and club room, with its blood-red walls and velvet banquettes, and the garden, lit by paper lanterns hanging from the trees.