Illinois House
Built: 1902
Architect: R.T. Newberry
Style: Neo-Classic (1900-1920)
About Neo-Classic (1900-1920)
Neo-Classicism is based on the Greek and Roman architectural orders and is used to describe buildings which show classic elements in their design. The style may feature pedimented porticos and large windows with single sashes. Since Greek influence is often stronger in this style, the arch is often not used, and the moldings are often kept simple.
Address: 201-207 W. Jefferson Street
Brief History:
1900 - Downtown Bloomington Fire of 1900 burned down the Windsor Hotel, which was the original structure on the site.
1902 - Open and managed by Frank Ewing as a luxury hotel (The Illinois). It had 180 rooms and offered many amenities like a full-service restaurant, barbershop, tailor, pharmacy, and millinery.
1925 – A sixth floor was added to the five-story structure that included a copper French Mansard roof. It was designed by Arthur L. Pillsbury.
1961 – The hotel was sold to developer Delmar Rowe and reopened as the Illinois House, featuring four meeting rooms and a grand ballroom.
1972 - Conversion for the newly named "Illinois House Building" into commercial and residential spaces underway.
1977 - Purchased by attorneys, John R. Luedtke, Darrell L. Hartwig, and Ralph T. Turner, who became their own tenants.
1987 - Top three floors were converted into dormitory-style living for Japanese employees of Diamond-Star Motors.
2003-2015 - A. Renee restaurant and wine bar occupied the lower-level corner space.
2019 - Retail, offices, and residential spaces, and the Mystic Kitchen and Tasting Room occupies the lower-level corner space.
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Architectural Description:
Originally a five-story building of brown pressed brick and rusticated stone in the Neo-Classical style.
The building’s façade is separated into three distinct zones by a limestone sill belt course between the first and second floors, and a belt course above the fifth story windows.
The first floor is punctured by limestone molded and scrolled Romanesque arched entryways. The doors are topped off by a fanlight window composed of stained and beveled glass. Contemporary imitation timber windows and clerestories also grace the two facades.
Windows on the second through fifth floors are ornamented with Federal style headers and vitrified brick.
Belt course between the fourth and fifth floors contains circular windows of brick and stone.
Fifth floor windows are made of wood as well. However, they are finished with a Romanesque style header of alternating brick and limestone.
French copper mansard roof , added in 1925, sits on projecting corbels and dormers.
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Interesting Fact:
Among the famous guests during the hotel's heyday was President Theodore Roosevelt.