Rossmore Apartment House
Encyclopedia
The Rossmore Apartment House is a historic building in Downtown
Louisville
, Kentucky
, United States
.
. The facade and some of the interior was designed by local architect Kenneth McDonald.
The interior of the building was altered over the years and very few original details remained by the 1970s. The lobby's original marble floor did survive. The original apartments each had a private hallway with the rooms opening into it. The private halls, then opened onto a long public hallway. Some elements of this design remained after the conversion to hotel. Apartments consisted of four rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, plus a linen closet and a pantry. Each floor had private rooms at the rear for servants and the fifth floor contained storage rooms, one for each apartment.
When it first opened it was billed as "first metropolitan apartment house". At the time, local papers praised the building for importing the style and elegance of apartment buildings in cities like Chicago.
Ross sold the building in 1901 to Theophilus Conrad, but continued to operate a grocery on the first floor until 1904. Conrad owned several local apartment buildings, including St. James Apartments in Old Louisville
. The Rossmore was renamed the Raleigh Apartments for a brief time in the 1920s, but by 1923 it was listed as the Berkeley Hotel.
It was deemed historically significant in 1978 as an example of the Chicago school of architecture, as well as being one of the oldest buildings at the time in the Fourth Street commercial district.
Downtown Louisville
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west...
Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Description
The Berkeley Hotel is a five-story structure of red brick with stone and rusticated brick trim. The simplicity of line and detail, the hard-edged arches of radiating bricks, and the row of oriels on the south wall are all typical of the Chicago styleChicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
. The facade and some of the interior was designed by local architect Kenneth McDonald.
The interior of the building was altered over the years and very few original details remained by the 1970s. The lobby's original marble floor did survive. The original apartments each had a private hallway with the rooms opening into it. The private halls, then opened onto a long public hallway. Some elements of this design remained after the conversion to hotel. Apartments consisted of four rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom, plus a linen closet and a pantry. Each floor had private rooms at the rear for servants and the fifth floor contained storage rooms, one for each apartment.
History
The building was completed in 1894 when the block of Fourth Street it is located on was still residential, but the business district was spreading south towards Broadway. Within a few decades, Fourth Street north of Broadway would become Louisville, and Kentucky's, dominant commercial district. Recognizing a trend, Alonzo J. Ross, a local grocer and entrepreneur, purchased the lot in 1893 and commissioned the building.When it first opened it was billed as "first metropolitan apartment house". At the time, local papers praised the building for importing the style and elegance of apartment buildings in cities like Chicago.
Ross sold the building in 1901 to Theophilus Conrad, but continued to operate a grocery on the first floor until 1904. Conrad owned several local apartment buildings, including St. James Apartments in Old Louisville
Old Louisville
Old Louisville is a historic district and neighborhood in central Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is the third largest such district in the United States, and the largest preservation district featuring almost entirely Victorian architecture...
. The Rossmore was renamed the Raleigh Apartments for a brief time in the 1920s, but by 1923 it was listed as the Berkeley Hotel.
It was deemed historically significant in 1978 as an example of the Chicago school of architecture, as well as being one of the oldest buildings at the time in the Fourth Street commercial district.