The Warren Green Hotel, also called the Warren Green Building or The Little Waldorf, is a historic building within the historic district of the Warrenton, Virginia. The building was originally built in 1819, then rebuilt in 1876 after a fire while operated as an independent hotel until purchased by the Fauquier County government in 1960. It is currently used as a county administrative and public meeting building.[1]
Prior to the Warren Green Hotel, the site was home to the Norris Tavern. Built by Thaddeus Norris in 1819, this tavern was later converted into the hotel.[2][3] This original structure hosted numerous notable events, including one stop of General Lafayette's Farewell Tour.[3]
Following its destruction in an 1874 fire, the property was rebuilt in 1876 by local architectJohn R. Spilman. Spilman also designed and built other notable local buildings such as the current Fauquier County Courthouse.[4][5] An annex of this new structure burned down again in 1909 town-wide fire; however, the main structure survived.[6]
1908 Sketch of the Warren Green Building
In 1909, PresidentTheodore Roosevelt stopped at the Warren Green Hotel while on a round-trip military training ride from Washington, D.C. to Warrenton, V.A. and back. During this stop, Roosevelt gave an address to more than one thousand individuals from the balcony of the building.[7][8]
The hotel often accommodated guests who visited Warrenton for the Gold Cup Races, a local horse race.[9] From 1924 to1926, Wallis Warfield Spencer lived on the second floor of the hotel as a method to obtain a divorce from her then-husband. She would later become the Duchess of Windsor.[3]
Following World War II, the hotel experience a gradual decline in visitors. Due in-part to this, the local County government purchased the hotel building in 1960.[1] Since then, the facility has been used for numerous administrative purposes.[10][11] In 2025, the County government began exploring a possible sale of the building.
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