A HOTEL EVOLVES

This hotel was used in a horror film I just saw called "The Innkeepers." I can't really recommend the movie but the hotel, which was real and not a set, was interesting. The hotel's seen a lot of changes in the last century and I thought it might be fun to trace them, and pass judgement on the architects who made them.

This hotel is called "The Yankee Peddler." In a comment Bougieman identifies the location as Connecticut, and my guess is that the picture above was taken about a hundred years ago. I love the long porch and the gazebo-type structures on the corners.

Later on the hotel (above) was renovated and enlarged. An annex was butted up against its right side. Of course we all wish the old hotel had been permitted to stand unmolested, but the new addition isn't horrible. It continues the dominant lines of the old building, and the street view is still somewhat pleasing. 

Notice the exterior of the old hotel has been altered. No more gazebo corners, no more tall trees, no more shutters on the side of the windows, no more chimneys or nifty crawlspace vents, no more high Victorian-style arches supporting the porch roof. 

I notice the entrance now has a Teutonic or Mayan look. It's more austere. Now there's a little fence around the porch roof, and that seems to work. 

A little later (above) and the side porch has been removed. There's only the front porch now. That's a big, big change for the worse. The building's character depended on the porch. 

Still later, it appears (above) that the buildings have been white-washed...or is that a tint added by the photo developer?

Here's the present hotel. The porch is completely gone and a new facade fronts onto the street. The new look is far from perfect, but the renovation could have been worse and the architect succeeded in giving the place a lively feel.

Even so, I still miss the wrap-around porch with it's gazebos and fleet of rockers. People like to look at other people. I also miss the chimneys and trees, and I'd have re-instated the storefronts on the bottom of the annex. Those would provide more visual interest for pedestrians.

If this were a modern building, built from scratch, I would have recommended using the roof space for a garden restaurant. Rooves are the most neglected asset of current architecture.