The Statler Hotel
Take a peek at this crazy street shot. Who would not want to have a good time here?
The Statler Hotel opened in Cleveland in October of 1912. Originally, the Hotel had 700 rooms which were later expanded to 1,000 rooms. The Statler Hotel was actually part of one of America’s first hotel chains owned by E.M. Statler. The original Statler Hotel was built in Buffalo, NY in 1907. The Buffalo version of the Statler had a number of innovations that the Cleveland Hotel later improved upon including - a bathroom in every room, a light in the closet, and offering free stationary and pens (with the Statler logo of course) to every visitor. Tame innovations by today’s standards, but revolutionary at the time. The real innovation was the cost per room - $1.50 a night - E.M. Statler was expert in bringing refinement and prestige to the middle-class of America. The Cleveland Hotel was followed by others built under the Statler name in Washington D.C., Detroit, St. Louis, New York, Hartford, Dallas and Los Angeles. Truly the first national hotel chain.
During the 1930’s the Hotel was in its Golden Age and went through a number of expansions that included a new ballroom (as seen below):
Look at that ceiling! The expansion also provided a new Gentlemen’s Lounge and Library and a pretty interesting dining facility. There was a famous dining room in the building called the Terrace Room, unfortunately I have not found a photo of it yet. I did however find this photo of the Pompeian Room, another wild dining area. I love the open area under a glass dome and tall fountain right in the middle of the dining area. Classic. (I still cannot believe this room once existed in Cleveland. Marvelous.)
The lobby of the hotel was a real gem.
Here is another angle to view.
Where did our elegance go, Cleveland?
In 1954, the Hilton Chain acquired the Statler Hotels - and many considered the Cleveland hotel to be the crown jewel. Who woundn’t - it was a gorgeous hotel. In early 1971 new owners decided to make part of the facility office space and the building was renamed the Cleveland Plaza. Cleveland developer Carl Milstein purchased the building in 1980 and completed the conversion of the hotel property to all office. A famous Swingos restaurant was built on the first floor (parts of it are still there). In 2001, the storied property again went through a conversion this time from office to apartments and it remains so to this day.
The Statler Hotel Slideshow
http://www.slide.com/r/n9v-uSGJ4j_wnK_uwbtXOHsB-LyV-Egt?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original
Of note, the interiors of all the Statlers were designed by Louis Rorimer.
Here’s an except from the Ohio History website (which won’t load except in cache):
“Rorimer (1872-1939). Although this Cleveland-born German-American is now largely forgotten, he ranks as an historic leader in the field of decorative arts. Educated locally and in Europe, including the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, Germany, Rorimer (his family spelled its surname Rohrheimer and he briefly used “Rorheimer”) returned to Cleveland and launched a design firm in 1893. Later he merged his operations with a competitor, Brooks Household Art Company, to create Rorimer-Brooks, Inc. This company prospered. Cultivating a clientele of wealthy Cleveland-area residents and exploiting a profitable commercial market, the firm also captured the prosperous chain of Statler hotels.
Rorimer participated in the widespread movement away from the effeminate, cluttered and frequently helter-skelter Victorian look. He embraced early on the developing Arts and Crafts crusade inspired by two Englishmen, John Ruskin, a prominent art critic, and William Morris, a poet, decorator and artisan. Rorimer liked functional forms; the clean and practical lines associated with this movement appealed to him. Later he embraced another modern style, Art Deco. Yet Rorimer did not reject all designs of the past; he showed considerable eclectic tendencies. “Rorimer’s fluency in both traditional and modern idioms characterized his contribution to twentieth-century American interior design,” argues Pina. “The compatibility between traditional and modern design elements was something Rorimer believed in, and his work demonstrates that a designer can select one without rejecting the other” (p. 3). Rorimer’s importance is considerable and wide-ranging. For one thing, he introduced the works of some important European designers to America; for example, he brought notice to the bronzes of Rembrandt Bugatti. Similarly, he served as an influential patron of culture, particularly in Cleveland and New York, and both the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art benefitted from his talent and generosity. Rorimer even sought to improve popular tastes; in fact, he viewed his work for the Statler Hotel Company as a “chance to educate and elevate the American cultural level” (p. 73); perhaps he had some success.”
H. Roger Grant The University of Akron
Google “Ellsworth Statler in Buffalo” for more about the Statler/Rorimer connection and these elegant hotels. The one in Buffalo was demolished and replaced with a repugnant sports arena.
“Ellsworth and the Statler Hotels” is informative, too.
By the way, Rorimer also designed the Silver Grille and many other interiors of note in Cleveland. That was Cleveland’s heyday when the Cleveland School was in its glory. Rorimers still live here in Shaker Heights.
Susan:
This is great stuff! I had no idea. Cleveland surprises me everyday.
Michael C. DeAloia
i love your blog, great !
Good blog! And I would like to share with my friends.
Great to see your blog here..I worked at the radio stations (WMMS/WHK) on the 12th floor of the office tower from 1986-1992 when we moved to Tower City. They still had elevator operators in the back..one being Alice who would always call out \12!\ when you reached the floor. There was still an older ND RETIRED Prominant RETIRED attorney who LIVED in the building still wore a suit every day we used to see on the way down. He didn;t seem much to care that the Statler Hilton became an Office Tower. Definitely a beautiful building full of history and char
acter.