This historic Beaux Arts hotel was the vision of Lewis Ginter, a cultured Richmond local who made good through imports and tobacco. He commissioned Carrere and Hastings, a renowned architectural firm from New York who also designed the Fifth Avenue Public Library and Henry Frick Museum. How about this lobby?!?
Oh that ceiling!
Legend has it that this staircase was the design inspiration for the one in the 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" in Scarlett O'Hara's Atlanta home. You might remember it from the scene where Rhett Butler sweeps her up in her red velvet robe for a night of drunken passion.
Plenty of cozy little nooks for relaxation and conversation:
Historic touches abound:
Opening in 1895, The Jefferson was elected in 1969 to the National Register of Historical Places. Of course you can't have a hotel named after a U.S. President without a statue of him:
Thirteen Presidents (so far) have stayed here, including Harrison, McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, Taft, both Roosevelts, Truman, Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, and Obama. Other notable guests include Charlie Chaplin, F. Scott Fitzgerland, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley. The hotel's restaurant is named Lemaire:
The food here was delish, especially the dessert!
What Daveland hotel post would be complete without a restroom shot? The ones here were especially photo-worthy!
I hope you enjoyed your tour of The Jefferson!
More Jefferson Hotel photos at my main website.
4 comments:
Boy their "HJ" logo sure looks like another buildings logo...albeit a bit haunted!
Going to concede with Darryl R, there. That logo looks really familiar. Why do I get the feeling Disney Imagineers took inspiration from this.
Glad I'm not alone in that thought. Obviously this style of plaque/lettering wasn't limited to this one establishment and it was a commonly used motif for the day, but it's nice to see a real world use of it aside from the usual haunted mansion one we're all familiar with.
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