Hotel Vendome (San Jose, California)

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Hotel Vendome
Edward H. Mitchell 251 - Main Entrance, Hotel Vendome, San Jose.jpg
Hotel Vendome (San Jose, California)
General information
Architectural style Queen Anne style
Location549 North First Street,
San Jose, California, U.S.
Coordinates 37°20′44″N121°53′52″W / 37.345528°N 121.8977735°W / 37.345528; -121.8977735
OpenedJanuary 1889
ClosedApril 30, 1930
Technical details
Size11 acres (4.5 ha)
Design and construction
ArchitectsJacob Lenzen and Son, Architects
Other information
Number of rooms150

Hotel Vendome was a hotel active from 1889 until 1930 in San Jose, California. It was designed in Queen Anne style architecture, and has since been demolished. [1] It was a major resort with 150 rooms, extensive grounds, and offered excursions to local attractions such as Lick Observatory, the New Almaden Mine, and Alum Rock Park.

Contents

History

Hotel Vendome, 1910 The 1910 trip of the H.M.M.B.A. to California and the Pacific coast (1911) (14761785174).jpg
Hotel Vendome, 1910
Bathing Pavilion at the Hotel Vendome (c. 1900) Bathing Pavilion at the Hotel Vendome.png
Bathing Pavilion at the Hotel Vendome (c. 1900)

Hotel Vendome was founded under the incorporated business name of The Hotel Vendome Company by James Butterworth Randol (J. B. Randol, serving as president), T. S. Potts (as vice president), T. Montgomery (as secretary), Thomas S. Morrison, Lazard Lion (L. Lion), Gustave F. Lion, A. McDonald, M. C. Mabury, and W. P. Dougherty. [2] It was named after Paris's Place Vendôme, which was a common name used by hotels the late 19th-century in the United States. [3] This hotel was built on land that had previously housed the residence of Senator Cabell H. Maddox (commonly known as C. H. Maddox), at 549 North First Street in San Jose, California. [2]

The building was designed by the architecture firm of Jacob Lenzen and Son, Architects (firm led by Jacob Lenzen Jr., his brother Theodore W. Lenzen and Theodore's son Louis Theodore Lenzen Sr.). [3] It was designed in a grand Queen Anne style architecture, featuring three and half floors, a tower, a belvedere, and multiple porches. [3]

The hotel opened in January 1889, with a breakfast party. [4] Hotel Vendome had 150 rooms with en suite bathrooms, steam heat, Otis elevators, a ballroom, a barbershop, banquet rooms and kitchens. [5] It had 11 acres (4.5 ha) of landscaped grounds, which included numerous trees such as pines, elms live oaks, redwoods, palms, and various tropical plants. [3] [5] The Vendome Stables were located on the hotel grounds along San Pedro Street which housed 40 to 60 horses of the Mount Hamilton Stage Company. [5]

In the history of the hotel it experienced many small fires, which was common in this era. [5] In 1903, a new wing to the building was completed, it was three-story, 34-rooms. [3] [5] After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake in April, the Hotel Vendome experienced a collapse of the new wing, with an estimate of US $55,000 in damages. [6] [7] The wing housed 14 people when it collapsed, and one died. [5] Senator Cornelius W. Pendleton from Los Angeles was staying in the hotel wing when it was destroyed, he survived the event. [8]

The building was sold to new owners in October 1906, however the name of the new owner was not published. [9] The hotel was closed for repairs until May 1, 1907, and the wing was never rebuilt. [5] A few people were boarders at the Hotel Vendome, including city attorney Archer Bowden, [4] and actress Olivia de Havilland. [10]

Closure

By March 1930, a group of real estate developers purchased for US $125,000 the hotel and the grounds, in order to demolish the building and create a new housing tract. [11] [4] The purchase was led by J. Bradley Clayton, the vice president of First National Bank, and the vice president of James A. Clayton and Company, a real estate firm. [11]

Many of the local service clubs working for San Jose had asked the city to turn the land into a large public park, which never came to fruition. [4] The location of the former hotel resides around Losse Court, in the Vendome neighborhood (near Ryland).

References

  1. ↑ Seeing San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley . San Jose, California: San Jose Guide Publishing Company. 1904. p. 22 – via Internet Archive, The Library of Congress.
  2. 1 2 "The Hotel Vendome". The San Francisco Examiner . September 4, 1887. p. 12. Retrieved November 1, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Michelson, Alan. "Hotel Vendome, San Jose, CA (1888–1889) demolished". Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD). University of Washington.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Hotel Vendome, San Jose, Closes". San Francisco Chronicle . May 11, 1930. p. 54. Retrieved November 1, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hurley, Michael (March 2017). "Sourisseau Academy, Smith-Layton Archive Presents: Hotel Vendome" (PDF). SourisseauAcademy.org.
  6. ↑ "Will Rebuild The Hotel Vendome". The San Francisco Call Bulletin . November 20, 1906. p. 15. Retrieved November 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ "The Hotel Vendome Loss". The Pajaronian . May 3, 1906. p. 1. Retrieved November 3, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Pendleton Home Again, Was in San Jose Crash". Los Angeles Evening Express . April 20, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Hotel Vendome Changes Hands". The Sacramento Bee . October 10, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Fontaine, Joan (1978). No Bed of Roses. New York: Morrow. pp. 18, 23. ISBN   978-0-688-03344-6.
  11. 1 2 "Historic Hotel Vendome in San Jose To Be Razed". Santa Cruz Evening News . March 27, 1930. p. 7. Retrieved November 1, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
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