Business & Economy
The Chronicle in 1911 reported that the ‘loftiest’ hotel in the South would be built in Houston.
This story ran in the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 29, 1911. The words and headlines are reprinted.
Houston’s greatest builder, Mr. Jesse H. Jones, has worked out and adopted plans for Houston’s greatest building — the new hotel that is to rise on the site of the present Rice Hotel. Actual work is to begin as soon as present leases expire in the fall of the present year.
The new building, furnished, will involve an expenditure of approximately $2,000,000. Adding to this sum the value of the real estate, estimated at present Main street prices, will give a total investment in the new hotel of about $3,000,000.
For months Mr. Jones has been at work on plans that are to result in giving Houston this monumental structure, the one long felt want of the community, a public necessity that many men at many times have sought to build.
Financing the hotel proposition has proven too much for individuals and committees in the past and it was not until Mr. Jones took the job of giving Houston its greatest commercial asset, a modern hotel, that headway was made.
A few weeks ago definite announcement was made that the hotel would be built and that work would begin this year. Soon after this announcement was made people who lived in the vicinity and those who passed by a certain corner in Edgewood saw a strange structure under construction. It was too wide and too long for a residence of any description. “A House of Mystery” it was called. Afterward it was ascertained that Mr. Jones was building in wood, one floor at a time, a model of what he will erect in steel and stone, and which is destined to be the loftiest building in the South.
Some Hotel Features.
The new hotel, not yet named, but which may be called the Houstonian, from an exterior standpoint, is fairly well indicated by the picture which accompanies this article. Many distinct and costly features are planned for the interior. An enormous and beautifully decorated lobby will be a ground floor feature. On the second floor will be the palm garden and parlors.
In addition to a stupendous banquet hall and ball room the hotel will be equipped with special cafes for ladies and grill rooms for gentlemen. A magnificent pipe organ will be installed in the ball room. A roof garden on top will supply outdoor life to patrons in a climate where outdoor life is especially attractive.
On Historic Site.
The building will be located on the corner of Main street and Texas avenue, the site now occupied by the Rice Hotel. This historic spot has long been recognized as “the center of Houston.” It is the traditional “headquarters” for gatherings of all sizes and descriptions, whether a local committee meeting, or a national convention. For a quarter of a century it has been famous throughout Texas and the whole South as a social center, a gathering place for business men and travelers, a place to meet friends and to make new acquaintances. At present more than ever before is it a pivotal point; or, with Houston’s rapid growth in business houses and office buildings, the Rice Hotel corner has become the geographical center of the whole business district. The growth to the south along Main street has been marked by
the Stowers building, the Texas building, the magnificent new Carter building and others. To the west the march of progress is shown by the Chronicle building, the Majestic Theatre and the new Auditorium. On the east is the new Federal building, the Thalian Club and the handsome Union Station. While to the north is a section that will always hold its own as the “Wall Street” of Houston. Thus it is seen that if a circle were drawn about the business district of the city, the radii would converge at the site to be occupied by the new hotel.
Details of the Building.
The building to be constructed on this ideal site is one that will be not only a credit to Houston and the state of Texas but will stand as a monument to the progress of the great Southwest and the “Spirit of the New South.” It is to be, down to the smallest detail, a type of the great modern hostelry. Towering 18 stories above a two-story basement, and crowned by a handsome tile roof and a roof garden, it will be the first among Houston’s many attractive buildings to catch the eye of the newcomer.
The main entrance on Texas avenue will open into the splendid lobby of white Italian marble, surmounted by artistic mural decorations, with a ceiling of picturesque frescoing. An entrance from Main Street will also lead to this rotunda. Adjoining the office will be found the rooms occupied by the telephone booths, telegraph offices, a well-equipped newsstand and a carriage office, as well as the handsomely appointed writing room, a library, and on to the rear the bar and grill.
The basement will be occupied by a large barber shop, having in connection extensive facilities for Turkish and Russian baths, a commodious hat room, a steam room, shower and dressing rooms and a comfortable cooling room. The billiard room will contain 20 tables and is to be the best appointed in the South.
A mezzanine floor with a balcony overlooking the lobby will have lounging rooms, parlors, and the main dining room, all opening to an outside balcony extending along the whole front of the building.
Plans for Four Cafes.
To the cafes very special attention will be given. There are to be four of these, beautifully decorated, and fulfilling all needs from the gentleman’s grill and the breakfast room to the elegant palm room and dining hall, all arranged and located to best serve the convenience of all classes of patrons. In addition to these there will be the private dining rooms, in sizes and appointments suitable to the smallest dinner party or the most elaborate banquet. A most important feature will be the banquet hall and concert room. This gallery will be built and decorated with a view to providing a place appropriate for both public and private entertainments. Entrances, dressing rooms and other facilities are to be so arranged that this room, together with the smaller parlors, will make the hotel the ideal place for private bridge parties, receptions, dances or musicales, as well as a place for concerts, lectures, conventions or banquets.
For the housing of guests there are to be 500 rooms, 450 of which are to be equipped with private bath. The building is so planned that every room will be an outside room, with exposures not on a court or air shaft, but out, overlooking Houston. Adequate elevator service is to be provided, together with kitchen facilities on each floor for the serving of meals in the rooms. Many rooms are arranged en suite, while all the others have commodious closets and vestibules.
The roof will be truly a garden. Situated at a height of about 300 feet, overlooking all the surrounding country, above the noise and bustle of the streets, above the dust, where the breezes will be unbroken; decorated with ornamental lights, with palms, flowers and shrubs with an excellent orchestra and an unexcelled cuisine. It will prove the Mecca for throngs of people, not only on the warm summer evenings but also through the afternoons and early evenings of balmy springs and autumns.
From basement to roof garden the new hotel will cater to the comfort and pleasure of all its patrons and will prove a show place for visitors from all parts of the country. It will induce the traveler from coast to coast to break his long journey by a week’s stay in Houston, and will bring visitors from all sections to spend the winter luxuriously in this mild, salubrious climate.