Hotel Glendale (Glendale Flats Apartments)

Hotel Glendale was built from 1924 to 1925 and features the Beaux Arts Classical style. The six-story building is made up of two wings, with an angled corner where the wings meet, at the street corner. The hotel, on the upper five stories, formerly used the first-floor doorway at the angled corner as its main entrance. In 1994, Hotel Glendale became a National Register of Historic Places listing; it has been on the Glendale Register of Historic Resources since 1977. The ground-floor commercial spaces now contain a coffee shop, restaurant, barbershop, retail space, and a tailor shop while the five upper stories hold Glendale Flats apartments.

The population of Glendale more than doubled from 1920 to 1924, rising from roughly 14,000 to 42,000. A group of men formed the East Glendale Advancement Association in the early 1920s and decided to construct a new hotel in the "fastest-growing city in California." Funding was sought by offering public subscriptions to stock in the newly formed Glendale Hotel Company. Local realtor Charles W. Ingledue played a key role in making the hotel a reality.

The architects for the Hotel Glendale were Arthur G. Lindley and Charles R. Selkirk; initial plans in 1923 called for a larger building but were scaled down due to budget issues. Kinne and Westerhouse served as the contractors for what ended up as a six-story building. These same professionals were involved in designing and building another Glendale structure at the same time, the Alexander Theatre (also a Clio entry). From the beginning, the Hotel Glendale was designed to cater not only to tourists or vacationers but longer-term residents by housing them on different floors. Elevators took the short-term guests to their rooms on the fifth and sixth floors. Longer-term apartments of single and double suites were placed on the second through fourth floors.

The Hotel Glendale took the three-part form typical of Beaux Arts buildings of its kind, with a base, shaft, and capital, similar to an architectural column. Some of the decorative elements resembled Spanish architecture. The first-floor commercial facades were faced with smooth concrete; the upper floors (two through six) of the hotel were covered in brick. Along the second floor, cast concrete balusters were meant to resemble a balcony; paired brackets decorate the entablature above the first floor. Cast concrete decoration marked the sills below and the cornice above the sixth-floor windows. When the building was constructed in late 1924 to mid-1925, the main entrance was on the ground floor at the angled corner.

The hotel's grand opening was held in July 1925. Glendale Avenue was closed to celebrate with a street dance. A costume ball and dinner were held, and a reception featured a live orchestra. The manager in 1928 was Robert W. Mosher; hotel rooms were advertised as "comfortably furnished, with plenty of heat, ventilation, and with or without bath." A newspaper ad from May 1930 used the tagline "Enjoy home comforts at Hotel Glendale" and touted monthly rents of $65 including "breakfast, dinner, dancing, bridge, etc." Summer rates for hotel rooms ranged from $1.50 to $6.00 nightly.

The building's significance lies in its exterior architectural appearance and its relation to the local building boom of the 1920s. The Hotel Glendale was the second building in the city to reach above four stories. It is the best-preserved and largest example in Glendale of the Beaux Arts Classical Revival Commercial style. The interiors of the commercial spaces have been updated a number of times; new windows and tilework were added in the early 1980s. The interior of the former hotel portion of the structure also has undergone many updates over the years, for fire safety and other reasons.

When the Hotel Glendale building was documented for listing in the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1990s, the ground-floor commercial spaces held a cafe at the angled corner, a barber shop, a guitar shop, a jewelry store, a tailor, and a travel agency. The second bay from the corner, along Glendale Avenue, had been modified to provide a new entrance into the upper-floor apartments. The apartments, Glendale Flats, include 76 efficiency and larger units.

Anderson, Carson. Cameron, David. NRHP nomination of Hotel Glendale, Glendale, California. Edition updated from 1991. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1994.

Anonymous. "Hotel Glendale." Eagle Rock Sentinel (Eagle Rock) February 10th, 1928. 6-6.

Apartments.com. Glendale Flats, Apartments.com. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 20th, 2023. https://www.apartments.com/glendale-flats-glendale-ca/76fhnnx/.

City of Glendale. Glendale Register of Historic Resources, Glendale Register of Historic Resources. September 1st, 2021. Accessed July 20th, 2023. https://www.glendaleca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/12452/637715527191700000.

Hotel Glendale. "Enjoy home comforts at Hotel Glendale." Eagle Rock Sentinel (Eagle Rock) May 9th, 1930. Advertisements sec, 11-11.