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If these walls could talk, they would tell amazing tales of innumerable characters who have been writ large on the American cultural landscape ...

Many think of New York City as the cultural heart of America. Well, if this heart had a heart of its own, it would have to be the Hotel Chelsea. Notorious for being the location where Dylan Thomas fell into a terminal coma and where the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious murdered his girlfriend Nancy Spungen before dying of a drug overdose, the Chelsea is more remarkable for having helped breathe life into a vast array of modern musical, literary and artistic masterpieces.

Built in 1884 as New York's first luxury co-op apartment building, the Chelsea's West 23rd Street location was then at the center of Manhattan's theater district. Given its environs, it's no wonder the hotel played host to such illustrious figures as Sarah Bernhard and Lily Langtry. Since those early days, the stars of stage and screen, as well as of the art and literary worlds, have been descending upon the Hotel Chelsea as if it were the only game in town.

To this day, the hotel lobby and hallways are resplendent with the works of some of the famous painters who have stayed here. And the list of former guest's names reads like the index of a contemporary art history book: Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenberg, Andy Warhol, Diego Rivera, Jackson Pollock and Willem DeKooning are just the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks to its thick, sound-absorbent walls, the Chelsea Hotel draws writers and composers by the droves. Here is where Arthur Miller penned After the Fall and Incident at the Vichy, and William Burroughs fought various cravings while toiling on his pivotal Naked Lunch.

During their respective stays at the Chelsea, Bob Dylan wrote "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," Joni Mitchell composed her popular "Chelsea Morning" and controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe shot Patti Smith's portrait for the cover of her legendary debut album, Horses.

From the Beatniks to the peaceniks to the punks and beyond, proponents of the counterculture have always found a comfortable home at the Hotel Chelsea. You'll have to see it with your own eyes to truly understand why.

For and update on Patti Smith since her stay at the Chelsea, click here.