Seelbach Hotel, 500 South Fourth Street, Louisville

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,56-LOUVI,25-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Built from to the neo-classical hotel includes a Rathskeller, one of only two known ensembles of the famous Rookwood pottery on a large scale. The Rathskeller was patterned after a German rathskeller. PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION A. Physical History: 1. Date of erection: The major portion of the hotel was begun in November and opened May 1, A large addition to the # hotel was planned in late begun in and opened December 31, Included with the work of the addition was the construction of the Rathskeller. 2. Architect: Architect of the original portion of the hotel was Frank M. Andrews, a noted designer of hotels in New York, Washington, Cincinnati, and elsewhere. The addition was designed by Andrews in collaboration with McDonald and Dodd, local architects.

Paul Moosmiller of New Albany assisted in the design, especially with the interior details. 3. Original and subsequent owners: The Seelbach Hotel is located at the southwest corner of South Fourth and Walnut Streets on lot 65 of Block 13-E in the city of Louisville. The following references to the title of this lot are found in the Jefferson County, Kentucky Deed Books. Deed, May 25, recorded in Deed Book page John Coleman and Susan Coleman, Spalding Coleman and Eliza R. Coleman, Katherine Clare Coleman, Thomas F. Coleman, Elizabeth Coleman, Nanno Coleman, and Margaret Elizabeth Du Pont Coleman sold the original lot for the hotel to Louis Seelbach for 19u3 Deed, May 25, recorded in Deed Book page Louis Seelbach and Marie H. Seelbach conveyed the lot to the Seelbach Realty Company.

SEELBACH HOTEL HABS No. (Page 2) Deed, January 31, recorded in Deed Book page Dumesnil Brothers Company sold a lot at the rear of the hotel to Louis Seelbach Deed, January 31, recorded Deed Book page Henrietta Ormsby sold a lot at the rear of the hotel to Louis Seelbach. Deed, November 23, recorded in Deed Book page Louis Seelbach and Marie H. Seelbach conveyed the above two lots to The Seelbach Realty Company. Deed, February 27, recorded in Deed Book page Seelbach Realty Company conveyed the property of the hotel and its lots to Smyser and Stoll, trustees. Deed, February 27, recorded in Deed Book page Smyser and Stoll, trustees, sold the hotel to Liebling Realty Company. Deed, May 16, recorded in Deed Book page Liebling Realty Company sold the hotel to Adolph Reutlinger.

Deed, November 1, recorded in Deed Book page Adolph Reutlinger and* Mary F. Reutlinger sold the hotel to The Seelbach, Inc. Deed, May 31, recorded in Deed Book page The Seelbach, Inc. sold the hotel to Eppley Hotels Company. Deed, May 31, recorded in Deed Book page Eppley Hotels Company sold the hotel to Eugene C. Eppley Foundation, Inc, Deed, May 31, recorded in Deed Book page Eugene C. Eppley Foundation, Inc. sold the hotel to Sheraton-Midcontinent Corp. Deed, November 30, recorded in Deed Book page Midco Hotels Corp. sold the hotel to Gotham Hotels, for 4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: H.

Probst (New York) general contractor Bowling Green White Stone Company .limestone Columbian Marble Quarrying Company (Rutland, Vermont) .marble Grainger and Company (Louisville) iron SEELBACH HOTEL HABS No. (Page 3) Jos.

McWilliams and Company (Louisville) mechanical and electrical equipment Stirling Consolidated Boiler Company boilers Vandiver (Atlanta, Georgia)...steam heating and plumbing Horn and Brannen Manufacturing Company (Philadelphia) fixtures Monahan Brothers (Chicago) plaster Struck and Brother (Louisville) .doors, mantels, and interior trim American Compressed Air Supplying Company (Milwaukee) cleaning apparatus Bridgeford and Company (Louisville).,., cooking ranges National Fireproofing Company .clay tile and metal fireproofing Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company (Louisville) hardware The Rookwood Pottery Company of Cincinnati supplied the tile and pottery for the walls and floor of the Rathskeller at a cost of Rookwood also executed a large drinking fountain, the largest single piece of pottery ever fired up to that time, for the main lobby of the hotel in and a large Gothic clock case for the vestibule of the Rathskeller.

The once famous Rookwood Pottery was established in at Cincinnati. Intended to emulate the achievements of foreign art # potteries displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, Rookwood attained amazingly high standards of quality in hand-decorated pottery almost until its demise after the Second World War. Rookwood also created whole ensembles of tile-decorated rooms. 5. Original plans and construction: No original plans are known to exist. Prom Louisvile Today, published in comes the following account: "The Rathskeller is the most famed feature of this hotel andd deservedly so. Its walls are made of the famous Rookwood tile and pottery, and were built at a cost of for the walls alone. It is a true reproduction of the famous drinking hall of one of the old castles on the Rhine.

It is one of the most quaintly beautiful Rathskellers in this country, and really one of the sights of Louisville." 6. Alterations and additions: The Rathskeller itself remains basically unaltered. However, the original Flemish oak furniture which was designed for this room has since been removed and later furniture was added. Lighting was changed in the to the present fixtures. SEELBACH HOTEL HABS NO. (Page 4) B. Historical Context: The Rathskeller has been the scene of numerous banquets and fetes held by and for various individuals and groups. Long a popular banquet room, it is now being restored. PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION The ten-story, flat-roofed neo-classical hotel has rusticated walls at the first and second floors and brick walls at all other floors.

The main (east) entrance is highlighted by three elaborate balconies at the second floor. Light-color quoins accentuate the building against the dark-color brick walls. Large windows of arched and double types are in the rusticated wall area only, while the rest of the floors, except the tenth floor, have simple rectangular openings of one-over-one sash windows. All latter windows have light-color lintels and keystones. The tenth floor is lined with triple windows, and between these windows is the festoon motif. In addition to the balconies at the main entrance, simpler balconies on the second and ninth floors give more character to the building. The heavy cornice between the ninth and tenth floors is denticulated and is supported by paired brackets.

The interior possesses rich works that are of far greater significance than that of the exterior. The lobby is executed in the grand manner, and includes polychrome ceilings with various pattern motif, marble columns with Corinthian capitals and an open-well stairway with a continuous railing whose design is reminiscent of Oriental style. A mezzanine likewise in the grand manner is atop the lobby. The elaborate woodwork in the walls and columns in the Billiard Room and in the mantlepieces in the hotel rooms is noteworthy. The Rathskeller, located in the basement, is dominated by impressive vaulted ceilings that rest on columns bearing the famous Rookwood ceramic pelican figurines.

Its walls are faced with tile which was also manufactured by Rookwood and are accentuated with Gothic elements. PART III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION A. Early Views: A view of elevation of wall is in Greater Louisville, Illustrated, published in by National publishing Company, Louisville. A view of the hotel is in Louisville Today, published in by Sam McDowell Anderson. B.

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS KY,56-LOUVI,25-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

1. Primary and unpublished sources: Deed Books, County Clerk's Office, Jefferson County Courthouse, Louisville, Kentucky. SEELBACH HOTEL HABS No. (Page 5) 2. Secondary and published sources: Louisville Today, published by Sam McDowell Anderson, booklet. The Seelbach, Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, booklet.

Newspaper clippings: "'The Seelbach' Opens in Welcome to Thousands," Courier-Journal, May 1, "Hotel A Magnificent Creation in Construction and Furnishings," Courier-Journal, May 1, "Crush at New Hotel Doors," Louisville Times, May 1, "Seelbach Stockholders Get Theirs First," Louisville Times, May 1, "Seelbach1s is Opened," The Evening Post, May 2, "Louisville's Million-Dollar Hotel Opened Yesterday," Louis- ville Herald, May 2, "Seelbach Opens, Big Crowd Out," Louisville Herald, May 2, "Louisville's New Hostelry, 'The Seelbach,'" Courier-Journal, May 7, "Decide to Build," Courier-Journalt October 25, "Local Architects Selected to Plan Addition to the Seelbach," Courier-Journal, October 29, "Banquet to the Seelbachs at the Seelbach," The Evening Post, December 31, "Rathskeller Makes Its Debut," Louisville Times, December 31, "Some of Louisville's Modern and Up-to-Date Hotels Which House Thousands," Courier-Journal, March 25, Prepared by: David Arbogast Architectural Historian National Park Service August and Susan McCown Historian Historic American Buildings Survey Spring SEELBACH HOTEL HABS No.

(Page 6) PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION The project was undertaken by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in cooperation with the Preservation Alliance of Louisville and Jefferson County, Inc. Under the direction of John Poppeliers, Chief of HABS, the project was completed during the summer of at the HABS Field Office in Louisville by Prof. John Haggard, (Syracuse University), Project Supervisor; David Arbogast (Columbia University), Project Historian; Mary Oehrlein, Project Foreman; Bayer Lee (City College of New York), Architect; and Mary M. Herd (University of Tennessee) and Charles Raith (University of Cincinnati) , student asssistant architects.

Susan McCown, a HABS staff historian in the Washington, office, edited the written descriptive data in the spring of for transmittal to the Library of Congress. HABS staff photographer Jack E. Boucher took the photographs of the structures in