a photographic study of holabird and roche's stevens hotel exterior ornamental bedford limestone ornament

the following images highlight an in-depth photographic survey of the massive exterior carved bedford limestone sculptures adorning the facade of hoabird and roche's stevens hotel (1927). the exterior limestone was executed by the indiana limestone company, bedford, ind.

the beaux-arts hotel was developed by james w. stevens, his son ernest, and their family who ran the illinois life insurance company and owned the hotel la salle, also designed by Holabird and roche. the stevens featured 3,000 guest rooms, cost approximately $30 million to construct, and boasted of a virtual "city within a city.” the stevens housed its own bowling alley, barber shop, rooftop miniature golf course (the "high-ho club"), movie theater, ice cream shop, and drug store.

while researching the hotel's construction, i poured over several stonemasons and quarries tied to the trades associated with stone dressing, carving, installation, and so on. i managed to track down an amazing image of a tradesman sculpting one of the whimsical hotel stevens bedford limestone "statues" in their carving shop. additional images of the company's work can be readily accessed by searching through indiana university's online image collections, including one identified as 'building a nation: indiana limestone photograph collection." the majority of the stevens hotel images are parked there.

further reading:

note: the period images above, were acquired by the bldg. 51 musuem archive. the 8 x 10 silver gelatin prints were made for the indiana limestone company after the stone monuments or sculptures were completed in their shop. it's interesting to see them in an isolated setting (e.g., before they transported to chicago and installed in the stevens) with controlled lighting used to capture any and all detail shortly after being sculpted and cleaned.

LATEST IMAGES FROM THE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CHICAGO ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT PHOTOGRAPHIC SURVEY