Adolphus Hotel

1321 Commerce - 1912; additions 1916, 1926, 1950; restored 1981 (NR, RTHL, D)

In 1910, Adolphus Busch of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association proposed to the City of Dallas an offer they could not refuse.  He offered to buy the City Hall property at the corner of Commerce and Akard streets to build the 20 story hotel.  The city took him up on his offer and in 1912, the landmark hotel opened.    When it was constructed, the French Renaissance Beaux Arts structure was the tallest building in Dallas.  The architectural firm of Barnett, Hayes, and Barnett from St. Louis designed the red brick and gray granite building that is crowned by a slate and bronze mansard roof.  At the corner of the building is a Budweiser beer bottle shaped turret.   On the inside, the hotel continues the luxury.  Many interior spaces feature lavishly detailed wood trim, vaulted ceilings, and marble.  The French Room is known world wide for its fine cuisine.  When it opened, the American Institute of Architects called it "the most beautiful building west of Venice." 

The hotel was so successful that in 1916, a U-shaped 14 story addition was constructed to the west of the original building.  This addition was designed by Lang & Witchell of Dallas.  Another 23 story addition, designed by Sir Alfred Bossom who was an eccentric English Architect,  was placed between the two towers, but rose to the rear of the property in 1926.  This tower is 312 feet high and is taller than the original hotel.  Bossom also designed the Magnolia Building across Akard Street.  These two additions, although less ornamented, were similar in appearance to the original building.  In 1950, another 22 story addition was built to the rear of the complex with a small frontage along Main Street that was leased for retail uses.  This addition did not match the appearance of the earlier additions.  At one time, the hotel had 1,200 rooms. 

In 1981, the original building was restored, and the remaining structures were remodeled.  The architects for the restoration were the Jerde Partnership of Los Angeles with Beran & Shelmire of Dallas as Associate Architects. This work included unifying all public areas of the additions with interior finishes that matched the original building, knocking off the top of the 1916 addition and stepping down the remains into multiple rooftop terraces, closing the areas between wings with false fronts, and applying banded two color stucco over all of the additions.  This made the additions read as one unit, with the original tower set apart from them.  There are 435 guest rooms within the hotel.