Hotel Brexton
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| Hotel Brexton | |
|---|---|
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  Location within Maryland | |
| General information | |
| Location | 868 Park Ave, Baltimore, Maryland |
| Coordinates | 39°18′04″N 76°37′08″W / 39.301125°N 76.618794°W |
| Completed | 1881 |
The Hotel Brexton, in Baltimore, Maryland, is in a Queen Anne-styled building which was built in 1881. It was built as a residential hotel, for Samuel Wyman, who was a Baltimore merchant.[1] It is a member of the Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[2]
It is a six-story building, made of Baltimore pressed brick and Scotch sandstone.[1][3]
Wallis Simpson
The hotel was home of Bessie Wallis Warfield (1896–1986), who later became known as Wallis Simpson, the American divorce for whom Edward VIII abdicated, during her formative years. Historical accounts differ as to Warfield's time at the hotel. One suggests that in 1896, her mother took a small apartment and brought Bessie here following her father's death,.[3] Another account is that T. Wallis Warfield and Bessie moved, at the end of summer 1896, to the then run-down Brexton Residential Hotel, which was T. Wallis's last home; he died November 15, 1896.[4] The Washington Post suggested that Simpson and her mother moved to the Brexton in 1905.[5]
Building
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The Brexton was built as a six-story Queen Anne-style residential hotel. It has a spiral staircase from the lobby to the fifth floor of its north turret.[6] Noted architect Charles Cassell designed the building. Cassell was a founding member of the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the designer of the Stafford Hotel on Mount Vernon Place, Stewart's Department Store on Howard Street, and the First Church of Christ Scientist on University Parkway.[7] The hotel opened to the public in 1891 with 60 rooms and was later turned into an apartment building.[7]
The Hotel Brexton is a member of the Historic Hotels of America, which requires that a hotel must be at least 50 years old and be listed in or be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places to qualify. It also received the 2010 Historic Preservation Award from Baltimore Heritage, Inc., the city’s nonprofit historic and architectural preservation organization.[6]
In the 1970's, the Brexton building closed due to changes in the city's building codes, and fell into disrepair spite of an attempt in the 1980's to get it back up to code. In 1987 Roger Wood established the Brexton Renaissance – a non-profit organization and registered Maryland charitable organization which served as the focal point for all things related to the Brexton. After several other attempts to renovate the property fell through, it was finally bought by Richard Naing of RWN Development Group who spent $4.5 million to restore and upgrade the unique building. Working with architect Kann Partners of Baltimore, in less than three years RWN restored the exterior to its original appearance and reconfigured the interior to create 29 unique and individual guest rooms with large private baths, contemporary and comfortable furnishings, and 21st-century amenities such as flat-screen TVs and wireless Internet access.[6]
The building sat vacant for over two decades before RWN Development (and local architect Donald Kann) completed a top-to-bottom restoration in 2010. The work included replacement of over two hundred windows that had rotted or disappeared and the restoration of the original spiral stair. The Hotel now has twenty-nine rooms (including a "Wallis Warfield Simpson" suite, named after the hotel's most famous occupant) and is part of the Historic Hotels of America network."[1][5]
It became the Hotel Brexton in 2010.[2] In 2011, Richard Naing, of RWN Development Group, purchased the building and restored it.[8] Lonely Planet guidebook said, in 2018 that it had "recently been reborn as an appealing, if not overly lavish, hotel"[9] It was closed for repairs and renovations in 2018, after being damaged by a lightning strike. It was then a 29-room hotel, and was occupied by guests, and "the lightning zapped and destroyed 17 of the hotel’s televisions, said Anthony Naing, the owner’s son and the hotel’s general manager."[8] In 2021, it was not currently open.[10] and it remains closed in 2022.
References
- ^ a b c Johns Hopkins. "Hotel Brexton". Explore Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ a b "Hotel Brexton". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
- ^ a b "Hotel Brexton: History". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
- ^ King, Greg (May 2011). The Duchess of Windsor. ISBN 9780806535210.
- ^ a b Sachs, Andrea (3 January 2013). "A Baltimore hotel fit for a duchess". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ a b c https://www.thedistractedwanderer.com/2010/08/brexton-hotel-baltimore.html |title=The Hotel Brexton - One of Baltimore's Best! Linda |date=August 12, 2010}}
- ^ a b Gunts, Edward (20 January 2010). "Landmark city hotel regains some grandeur". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ a b Colin Campbell (May 31, 2018). "Baltimore's Hotel Brexton to close for renovations after lightning strike; owner hopes to sell property". Baltimore Sun. See also press release version of story with additional details
- ^ Planet, Lonely; Walker, Benedict; Armstrong, Kate; Atkinson, Brett; Bain, Carolyn; Balfour, Amy C.; Bartlett, Ray; Benchwick, Greg; Bender, Andrew; Benson, Sara; Bing, Alison; Bodry, Catherine; Bonetto, Cristian; Brash, Celeste; Cavalieri, Nate; Clark, Gregor; Grosberg, Michael; Karlin, Adam; Kluepfel, Brian; McCarthy, Carolyn; McLachlan, Craig; Bell, Loren; Harrell, Ashley; Bremner, Jade; Lioy, Stephen; Johanson, Mark; Balkovich, Robert (April 2018). Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781787019515.
- ^ "Baltimore Hotel | Hotel Brexton Baltimore | A Baltimore Boutique Hotel". www.brextonhotel.com.
External links
Media related to Hotel Brexton at Wikimedia Commons- Official website
