Restoring the Hotel del Coronado: Front Entry & Porch

Restoring the Hotel del Coronado: Front Entry & Porch
By David Marshall, AIA
November/December 2021

When the Hotel del Coronado originally opened in 1888, the south facade of the building featured a large covered veranda with two stairways and many Victorian "gingerbread" flourishes. In the 133 years since, significant alterations were made, especially at the hotel's front entrance. Upper floor guestrooms were enlarged to replace balconies and the entry veranda had been expanded 30 feet south with a cycle of infilling and extending. By the 1990s there was no longer any veranda at all, only walls with false columns in front.

My firm, Heritage Architecture & Planning, was hired in 2017 to restore the hotel's south facade to look like it did in 1888. Heritage also provided preservation consulting for the lobby restoration designed by Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo and Wimberly Interiors. This was a dream job for a preservation architect like myself and it has been four challenging, engrossing, and rewarding years helping to see this project through.

The Secretary of the Interior's Standards require that historic fabric be retained and restored, missing features be reconstructed to match the originals and added features be designed to be compatible yet differentiated. This complex project called for an interwoven combination of these approaches.

Heritage felt it was essential to reconstruct the exact size and shape of the original veranda and facade. To achieve the 1888 look, we needed to reconstruct the veranda and stairs 15 feet farther south than where they were originally located to allow for an enlarged front desk and the retention of critical operational areas.

The restoration design included a new ADA ramp, a porte-cochere, restored ridge-cresting, 90 double-hung replica windows, and many custom light fixtures. Historic colors were also restored, including the dark red window sashes and the veranda ceilings in traditional "haint blue," a light blue-green. Historic features requiring removal, such as wood siding, ceiling coffers, and guardrails, were carefully documented, labelled, and salvaged for restoration and reuse. All work was designed and built consistent with the approved hotel Master Plan and The Standards.

One of the biggest challenges at the Del was trying to accurately recreate and reuse the historic railings that were 13 inches too short and had openings double the size allowed by today's building codes. Trying to resize the historic proportions would have destroyed their look, so the team installed frameless, laminated glass rails behind the historic railings to create a simple, safe, and transparent solution.

Perhaps the premier character-defining feature at the Del is its stained glass windows, yet most of these windows had been lost over time. There was no requirement in the master plan to reconstruct the stained-glass, but the ownership agreed that bringing back these colorful jewels would be the icing on the cake of this restoration project. Heritage worked closely with Bera Stained Glass Studios and SOHO's Executive Director Bruce Coons to interpret and finalize the window designs and select appropriate Victorian glass colors.

Currently, the last of the stained glass windows are being hand-fabricated, but visitors are welcome come by the Hotel del Coronado today to see for themselves how this special restoration project helps bring us back to 1888.

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Historic photo showing the south facade and entry veranda shortly after The Del was completed, ca.1890. Courtesy Bruce Coons

Historic photo of the entry veranda. Note the two sets of stairs and wood floor. Also note the stained-glass windows. Courtesy Bruce Coons

View of the south facade without the veranda, prior to restoration. Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

The same view after restoration. The railing of the reconstructed veranda is where the office walls were located in 2018. Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

Original hook-shaped rafter tails, eaves and wall shingles at the west side of the veranda were discovered in an attic space. These were restored and are now visible once again. Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

Much of the lobby woodwork had been painted over and/or re-stained. This photo shows a white oak ceiling after being stripped, prior to the application of new stain and shellac. Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

The historic "Coronation" window after restoration and reinstallation. The window was designed by The Del's architect James W. Reid who told the San Diego Union in 1887, "On it there will be an allegorical representation of Coronado... a young girl crowning herself with flowers and scattering them about. [It] will be one of the most prominent and artistic features of the hotel." Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

The restored lobby and enlarged front desk. Oak strip flooring was used for the lobby floor due to its durability and common use in Victorian architecture. Courtesy Hotel del Coronado

Replicated first floor brickwork and new stained-glass window by Bera Stained Glass Studio. Courtesy Heritage Architecture & Planning

The restored main entrance with new oak doors and a custom pendant light fabricated by Gibson & Gibson Antique Lighting. Three stained-glass transoms still need to be installed.

Teak planks with an oil finish were used for the veranda floor. Note the glass guardrails added to meet code.

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