Architecture
The hotel was designed by George Miller, the architect of the Lillian Massey building of the University of Toronto, many other public buildings in the city, as well as a large number of formerly grand residential buildings in the Parkdale neighbourhood. The building permit was issued in September 1889 for a value of $30,000.
The Hotel was designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style - in the period a popular style for public buildings such as train depots, churches, and libraries. The architectural style of the Gladstone is characterized by the rough cut stone and brick and by the dramatic arches over the windows and porch entrances. The Hotel tower is also characteristic of the style. The cupola was removed in 1930 due to disrepair.
The Gladstone is a fine example of a Victorian Hotel with intact plaster moldings in the grand hallways. The two restored pillars in the hotel's Melody Bar are unique in Toronto in that their faux marble finish was rendered in true European fresco technique. No other architectural pillars such as these exist in Toronto. The meticulously restored Victorian elevator is one of the last hand-operated elevators in Toronto
Zeidler Partnership and Eb Zeidler were the architects for the historic restoration of the hotel.
Read more about this topic: Gladstone Hotel (Toronto)
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