Page 33 - A Narrative of the History of Roanoke Virginia

comprising what is now known as the east wing of the hotel. In 1890 it was
enlarged and at that point contained ninety-four rooms. On July 1st, 1898, a large
portion of the new structure was destroyed by fire, and the same was rebuilt, and
reopened in March, 1899.

The building is situated on an eminence from which can be viewed the city, as well
as a large part of the Roanoke Valley for miles around, being the center of a
panoramic display of unusual beauty. The general appearance of the property
suggests the private domain of some large landed proprietor, rather than a hotel.
The knoll upon which it stands is laid out as a park of ten acres, with broad,
well-kept walks and driveways, with fountains always playing and myriads of
flowers in bloom, with graceful hemlock hedges and rows of dwarf shrubs; with
numerous trees, whose verdure shades from the dense green of the magnolia to
the lustrous, shining whiteness of the silver maple, as the constant breeze plays
with the foliage.

The history of the Hotel has been carefully preserved over the years.On the hill
above the station the N&W built this grand hotel, the showpiece of the railroad
complex. The architecture may be Tudor Revival but it is clearly the Tudor of
prosperous America. Its park-like setting in the middle of the city provides an oasis
that has evolved with the interpretation of an earlier landscape plan. In spite of time,
fire, and remodels, the hotel's ever-growing and always distinctive profile
continues to dominate the city's northern hillside.

At this point in time, the hotel has been through so many changes that by now the
earliest sections date only from the 1930s. Nevertheless, a reflection of Pearson's
Tudor Revival design lives on in the hotel's many gables and dormers, false
half-timbering, stonework, patterned brickwork, multi-paned windows, and
ornamental bargeboards.

Entrance to the hotel is still part of Lind's original west wing design. His roughly
Y-shaped, six-story section with an asymmetrically placed seven-story tower has
an arcaded portico that opens to the spacious wood-paneled lobby. From here
stairs lead to the elevated Regency Dining Room, and on the other side of the
lobby stairs rise to the Oval Room.

Beyond the lobby, a long rectangular block extends north. The west wing alone
has a complex weave of spaces and shapes, and the hotel rambles on with wings
leading to other wings. By the time guests locate themselves in this warren it is
obvious this is far from the usual rectangular hotel with long, straight files of sterile
hallways. To make the hotel economically competitive, the rehabilitation in 1995
included construction of a low-rise conference center southwest of the west wing.
This center tries to harmonize with the hotel by using massing, materials, and
detailing that are modern echoes of the hotel's features.