IL_Chicago--German Room & Palm Room, LaSalle Hotel

(From: The Architects and the City: Holabird & Roche of Chicago, 1880-1918, Volume 1 By Robert Bruegmann, p. 331)

"Another eating area was the Dutch Room (or German Grill). It was noted for its enormous red brick supports which supported the heavy-beamed and paneled ceilings. The room was furnished with wooden and leather chairs and

had blue tiled walls and terra cotta tiled floors. It was here that electric grilling started in Chicago." (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Hotel) In "The Dutch Room...Several decorations on the walls and in the hood over the grille are in Rookwood tile." (From: Martin Roche, "Recent and Current Work of Holabird & Roche, Chicago" in The New York Architect, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 1909, unpaginated)

"Considered by some to be Chicago's most beautiful hotel dining room, the Palm Room featured an Italian fountain

after a model by Donatello as its centerpiece. [The Palm Room]... was built of cream-colored stone, Rookwood tile, and gray terra cotta, while featuring high-beamed ceilings." (From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Salle_Hotel) "The tympanums and spandrels in the arch decorations against the walls are filled with designs of fruits and flowers, and these are colored in low tones of purple, pinks and greens." (From: Martin Roche, "Recent and Current Work of Holabird & Roche, Chicago" in The New York Architect, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 1909, unpaginated)

Year Created:

c. 1909

Does Installation Still Exist?

No

If Not, What Happened?

"On June 5, 1946 a carelessly tossed cigarette ignited a fire in the pit of the Number Five elevator shaft of the hotel. Within minutes, the building, which was essentially a “fire trap”, was burning out of control. The flames shot upwards through the elevator shaft and sent fire along the ceiling from the north elevator to the mezzanine. The flames then spread further up, to the seventh floor, where they stopped. Deadly smoke filled the hallways though, reaching the top floor. Many of the guests, thinking that cries of “fire” were a prank, remained in their rooms. They ended up suffocating from the thick smoke.

As the fire spread, escape routes were cut off and desperate guests threw SOS notes to the street below, begging for rescue that never came. In those days, fire ladders only extended to the eight floor, making rescue impossible. Many of the guests hurled luggage from their windows and into the streets below, while others took the fatal plunge themselves.

In the end, the fire could be blamed on the owners themselves, who had shown a shocking lack of interest in safety. As early as 1927, they had been warned about the number of combustible draperies in the building, but failed to heed the warnings. Even worse, there were no instructions in the rooms as to where guests should go in the event of a fire.

Amazingly though, the hotel later re-opened, although it was demolished in 1976 and [an] office building now stands in its place."

(From: http://www.prairieghosts.com/chi_fires.html)

Location of Installation:

At the corner of Madison and LaSalle Streets.

Additional Information, Websites, Citations:

See also "The Use of Tile in the Interior Finish and Decoration of Hotels" by William Hagerman Graves in The Architectural Review, Vol. 2, No. 4, April 1913, pp. 46, 88-89. (Scroll down to, and click on the pdf "file") and Martin Roche, "Recent and Current Work of Holabird & Roche, Chicago" in The New York Architect, Vol. 3, No. 10, October 1909.

Submitted by and Year:

Submitted by Michael Padwee (tileback101"at"collector.org); July 2011