Casa Monica Hotel
Encyclopedia
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The Casa Monica Hotel is a historic hotel located in St. Augustine, Florida
, in the United States
. The Casa Monica Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the United States and is a member of the "Historic Hotels of America" National Trust.
, a notable Victorian architecture
enthusiast and social reformer who earned a place in Florida history for interesting Henry Flagler in investing in the state. The construction material was poured concrete
, of which Franklin Smith was a leading experimenter. The original exterior finish was natural, leaving horizontal pour marks visible, and matching other grand Flagler era structures in downtown St. Augustine. Unfortunately, the exterior was altered by covering with a modern material (stucco) in the 1960s. The architectural style was Moorish Revival and Spanish Baroque Revival, in which Smith was also a pioneer promoter. His own winter home, Villa Zorayda
, just a block to the west, was the first Moorish Revival building in the Ancient City. The hotel's Sun Parlor was the most notable interior room, but it was gutted after the hotel closed. Its details were unfortunately later demolished and have yet to be restored.
Soon after completing the hotel Smith ran into financial difficulties and sold the Hotel including all fixtures, furnishings, linen, and all other chattel for $325,000-USD to oil and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler. Upon purchasing the hotel Henry Flagler renamed the Casa Monica to the "Cordova Hotel". Flagler, a founder, with John D. Rockefeller
, of the Standard Oil Company, already owned two hotels in St. Augustine, the Ponce de Leon Hotel
(now Flagler College
) and the Hotel Alcazar (now City Hall and the Lightner Museum
). From 1888 - 1902 the hotel featured parties, balls, fairs and charity events. The famous travel agency "Ask Mr. Foster" had its headquarters in the hotel. It was started by Ward G. Foster of St. Augustine, became a national business, and was owned for a time in the 20th century by Peter Ueberroth
, one time Commissioner of Baseball. The building once featured an historic marker as the birthplace of the agency, but it has been removed in recent years.
In 1902 a short bridge was constructed over Cordova Street that connected the second floors of the Cordova Hotel (formerly Casa Monica) and the Hotel Alcazar. At the completion of the bridge the Cordova Hotel was again renamed, this time to "Alcazar Annex". In 1903 the Alcazar and Alcazar Annex were considered one hotel and advertised as "enlarged and redecorated". In 1932, the conjoined parts of the hotel were closed due to the great depression. In 1945, the bridge between the Annex portion (Casa Monica Hotel) and the Alcazar Hotel was removed.
. Dr. King went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
a few months later. The renovation took over 6 years to complete. It was finally dedicated as a courthouse in May 1968, and filled that role until the 1990s, housing government offices and archives as well as courtrooms. A notable feature of the courthouse were murals by the artist Hugo Ohlms, whose distinctive work was also featured in the nearby Catholic Cathedral and at the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge (another civil rights landmark, where the arrest of Mrs. Peabody, the 72 year old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, while trying to be served in a racially integrated group, made national headlines in 1964). The Ohlms murals were removed when the courthouse was remodeled into its second incarnation as a hotel. Also removed were the stained glass scales of justice that had been in the quatrefoil window over the main door.
chain, then set up his own Kessler Collection of lodgings, purchased the building from St. John's County for $1.2 million and began to remodel the building to once again become a hotel. The county Tax Collector's office and Property Appraiser's office were given until 1998 to relocate, so workers had to avoid a section of the building for several months. The renovation was completed in less than 2 years and opened in December 1999 under the original name of the "Casa Monica Hotel" (the name came from Saint Monica
, the North African mother of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, for whom the Ancient City is named). Richard Kessler and architect Howard W. Davis decided to keep the historic Moorish Revival
style of the hotel. Tina Guarano Davis painted the Moorish-style woodwork in the hotel lobby. The Casa Monica sign on the Cordova Street side of the hotel covers over an earlier sign for the St. Johns County Courthouse. State historic preservation officials told them to preserve the courthouse sign, so they covered it over rather than removing it. The huge flagpole on top of the hotel is actually a lightning rod.
, South African Nobel Peace Prize
winner and anti-apartheid crusader, and Rev. C. T. Vivian
, civil rights leader and co-worker with Martin Luther King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
, as well as the King and Queen of Spain during their lightning 2001 visit to St. Augustine. There was a brief stir in 2004 when it was reported that former Beatle Ringo Starr was staying at the hotel and playing at local nightclubs and bars, but the man proved to be an impostor.
St. Johns county Commissioner Mark Miner issued this statement on the issue:
"The Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise certainly have the legal right to forbid their employees from wearing an American flag pin. However, their inability to discern between the flag of our nation and other pins and buttons that their policies forbid is of great concern to me. St. Johns County is home to nearly 2...0,000 military veterans and is made up of an ideologically and culturally diverse population whose collective love for the United States is second to none. I want to make clear that the actions taken by the Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise do not represent the patriotism shared by St. Johns County residents and businesses."
"I hope Kessler Enterprise will act quickly to correct the disrespect they have shown the flag of our great nation and end the embarrassment they have brought upon St. Johns County."
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Casa Monica Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the United States and is a member of the "Historic Hotels of America" National Trust.
History
The hotel was opened in 1888 by Franklin W. SmithFranklin W. Smith
Franklin Webster Smith was an idealistic reformer who made his fortune as a Boston hardware merchant. He was an early abolitionist, defendant in a civilian court-martial in 1864, author, and architectural enthusiast who proposed transforming Washington, D.C...
, a notable Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
enthusiast and social reformer who earned a place in Florida history for interesting Henry Flagler in investing in the state. The construction material was poured concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, of which Franklin Smith was a leading experimenter. The original exterior finish was natural, leaving horizontal pour marks visible, and matching other grand Flagler era structures in downtown St. Augustine. Unfortunately, the exterior was altered by covering with a modern material (stucco) in the 1960s. The architectural style was Moorish Revival and Spanish Baroque Revival, in which Smith was also a pioneer promoter. His own winter home, Villa Zorayda
Villa Zorayda
Villa Zorayda at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. It was built by the eccentric Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith in 1883 as his private home in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. On September 23, 1993, it...
, just a block to the west, was the first Moorish Revival building in the Ancient City. The hotel's Sun Parlor was the most notable interior room, but it was gutted after the hotel closed. Its details were unfortunately later demolished and have yet to be restored.
Soon after completing the hotel Smith ran into financial difficulties and sold the Hotel including all fixtures, furnishings, linen, and all other chattel for $325,000-USD to oil and railroad tycoon Henry Flagler. Upon purchasing the hotel Henry Flagler renamed the Casa Monica to the "Cordova Hotel". Flagler, a founder, with John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
, of the Standard Oil Company, already owned two hotels in St. Augustine, the Ponce de Leon Hotel
Ponce de León Hotel
The Ponce de León Hotel was an exclusive hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, built by millionaire developer and Standard Oil co-founder Henry M. Flagler and completed in 1888. The Hotel Ponce de Leon was designed in the Spanish Renaissance style by the New York architects John Carrere and Thomas...
(now Flagler College
Flagler College
Flagler College, is a private four-year liberal arts college in St. Augustine, Florida, USA and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008.The college has been named in recent years by US News & World Report as one of the southeast region's best comprehensive liberal arts colleges, and is included on...
) and the Hotel Alcazar (now City Hall and the Lightner Museum
Lightner Museum
The Lightner Museum is a museum of antiquities, mostly American Victorian, housed within a historic hotel building in downtown St. Augustine, Florida, USA. The building, in a Spanish Renaissance Revival style, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.The museum occupies three...
). From 1888 - 1902 the hotel featured parties, balls, fairs and charity events. The famous travel agency "Ask Mr. Foster" had its headquarters in the hotel. It was started by Ward G. Foster of St. Augustine, became a national business, and was owned for a time in the 20th century by Peter Ueberroth
Peter Ueberroth
Peter Victor Ueberroth is an American executive. He served as the sixth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1989. He was recently the chairman of the United States Olympic Committee; he was replaced by Larry Probst in October 2008....
, one time Commissioner of Baseball. The building once featured an historic marker as the birthplace of the agency, but it has been removed in recent years.
In 1902 a short bridge was constructed over Cordova Street that connected the second floors of the Cordova Hotel (formerly Casa Monica) and the Hotel Alcazar. At the completion of the bridge the Cordova Hotel was again renamed, this time to "Alcazar Annex". In 1903 the Alcazar and Alcazar Annex were considered one hotel and advertised as "enlarged and redecorated". In 1932, the conjoined parts of the hotel were closed due to the great depression. In 1945, the bridge between the Annex portion (Casa Monica Hotel) and the Alcazar Hotel was removed.
Latter 20th century
In February 1962, St. John's County Commission voted to purchase the former Casa Monica Hotel for $250,000 USD for use as the St. John's County Courthouse. In 1964 the lobby of the then-vacant hotel was used to house police dogs that were used against civil rights demonstrators during St. Augustine's greatest modern historic event: the mass campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King and Dr. Robert Hayling that led directly to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
. Dr. King went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
a few months later. The renovation took over 6 years to complete. It was finally dedicated as a courthouse in May 1968, and filled that role until the 1990s, housing government offices and archives as well as courtrooms. A notable feature of the courthouse were murals by the artist Hugo Ohlms, whose distinctive work was also featured in the nearby Catholic Cathedral and at the Ponce de Leon Motor Lodge (another civil rights landmark, where the arrest of Mrs. Peabody, the 72 year old mother of the governor of Massachusetts, while trying to be served in a racially integrated group, made national headlines in 1964). The Ohlms murals were removed when the courthouse was remodeled into its second incarnation as a hotel. Also removed were the stained glass scales of justice that had been in the quatrefoil window over the main door.
Renovation
In February 1997, Richard Kessler, who had previously been involved with the Days InnDays Inn
Days Inn is a motel chain headquartered in the United States. Founded in 1970, it is now a part of the Wyndham Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, which was formerly a part of Cendant...
chain, then set up his own Kessler Collection of lodgings, purchased the building from St. John's County for $1.2 million and began to remodel the building to once again become a hotel. The county Tax Collector's office and Property Appraiser's office were given until 1998 to relocate, so workers had to avoid a section of the building for several months. The renovation was completed in less than 2 years and opened in December 1999 under the original name of the "Casa Monica Hotel" (the name came from Saint Monica
Saint Monica
Saint Monica may refer to:*Saint Monica, a Christian saint and mother of Saint Augustine*Saint Monica , a 2002 Canadian film...
, the North African mother of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, for whom the Ancient City is named). Richard Kessler and architect Howard W. Davis decided to keep the historic Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
style of the hotel. Tina Guarano Davis painted the Moorish-style woodwork in the hotel lobby. The Casa Monica sign on the Cordova Street side of the hotel covers over an earlier sign for the St. Johns County Courthouse. State historic preservation officials told them to preserve the courthouse sign, so they covered it over rather than removing it. The huge flagpole on top of the hotel is actually a lightning rod.
Present day
Today the Casa Monica Hotel operates as part of the Kessler Collection headquartered in Orlando, FL and is the only hotel in St. Augustine to be given AAA's Four-Diamond award and is a member of the Preferred Hotels organization.Notable guests
Among the notable guests and speakers in the hotel since it reopened have been Archbishop Desmond TutuDesmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, South African Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner and anti-apartheid crusader, and Rev. C. T. Vivian
C. T. Vivian
Cordy Tindell Vivian is a minister, author, and was a close friend and lieutenant of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. during the American Civil Rights Movement. Vivian continues to reside in Atlanta, Georgia and most recently founded the C. T. Vivian Leadership Institute, Inc. Rev...
, civil rights leader and co-worker with Martin Luther King in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
, as well as the King and Queen of Spain during their lightning 2001 visit to St. Augustine. There was a brief stir in 2004 when it was reported that former Beatle Ringo Starr was staying at the hotel and playing at local nightclubs and bars, but the man proved to be an impostor.
Controversy
The hotel created a controversy when they sent an employee home on Thursday, October 13, 2011 for refusing to take off an American Flag lapel pin that he claims he has worn to work every day for two years.St. Johns county Commissioner Mark Miner issued this statement on the issue:
"The Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise certainly have the legal right to forbid their employees from wearing an American flag pin. However, their inability to discern between the flag of our nation and other pins and buttons that their policies forbid is of great concern to me. St. Johns County is home to nearly 2...0,000 military veterans and is made up of an ideologically and culturally diverse population whose collective love for the United States is second to none. I want to make clear that the actions taken by the Casa Monica Hotel and Kessler Enterprise do not represent the patriotism shared by St. Johns County residents and businesses."
"I hope Kessler Enterprise will act quickly to correct the disrespect they have shown the flag of our great nation and end the embarrassment they have brought upon St. Johns County."
External links
- Casa Monica Hotel - St. Augustine Hotel
- Kessler Collection - Kessler Collection
- Historic Hotels of America National Trust - Historic Hotels of America
- Preferred Hotels - Preferred Hotels
- David NolanDavid NolanDavid Nolan may refer to:* David Nolan , co-founder of the United States Libertarian Party* David Nolan , American author* David Nolan , British author of I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World...
, Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984).