Richford Arms consists of 100 one bedroom apartments. Each of our apartments has a unique floor plan, and offers 510-540 sq. ft. of living space. Our units are furnished with an electric stove, refrigerator and garbage disposal. All of our apartments have ample closet space with additional secure space for storage on the ground floor of the building.

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Richford Arms has an ideal central location, with easy access to all local attractions, and all the conveniences of the city.  The building is located across the street from the main park in Downtown Erie. The Richford Arms officers you independent living with the appropriate support service referrals when needed. Our goal is to provide maintenance free, safe and affordable housing

History of Richford Arms:

For over 200 years there has been a hotel at the Northeast corner of State Street and North Park Row. The first was an Inn built by Rufus Reed in 1795, which was later destroyed by fire. Next, was a brick building, built in 1828 by Joshua Beers. The building was purchased and renovated by Hiram Brown in 1835, and was named the Eagle House. Very little is known about the Inn other than it was destroyed by fire in 1851.

When stagecoach service became available, a new five-story building known as the Brown’s Hotel was built by the owner of the Eagle House, Hiram Brown. This was taken over in 1869 by a gentleman named Colonel Freeman H. Ellsworth and was renamed the Ellsworth House. Colonel Ellsworth gutted the interior and invested $30,000 into building renovations. Later, the building was acquired by William L. Scott who, after a few unsuccessful years, destroyed the hotel in 1891. From then until 1926, the lot stood vacant. W. L. Scott had planned to build another hotel on the property but died before the project could be completed.

Finally in 1927, a new 10-story brick building was built and named the Ford Hotel. This was part of an exclusive lodging chain with locations in New York, Pennsylvania and Canada. In the 1930’s the Ford Hotel boasted 400 rooms with baths at a price of no more than $2.50 per person, and offered many luxuries for it’s time. This was later renamed the Richford Hotel in the 1940’s.

In 1967 the building was purchased by Christine Pleger, the manager of the Velvet Room. The Richford was well known because of it’s “exotic” night life, mainly due to the Velvet Room, which was a bar and dance club featuring female performers.

The building was purchased by investors in 1978 and was renovated into 100 apartment units, called the Richford Arms. The apartments were available to the elderly of Erie by the middle of 1979. The building continues to serve the aging and disabled population today.