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Uncovering the History of the Hotel del Coronado
By Dean Glass
November/December 2024
 David Marshall, AIA, a preservation architect and longtime SOHO member, discusses the period features his team returned to the veranda, such as the stained-glass windows, light fixtures, and the ceiling's haint blue paint. Photo by Dean Glass |
 Commemorative booklet, filled with photos, both historic and new, and published by SOHO's Our Heritage Press. Additional copies are for sale at the Marston House Museum Shop. |
“History Uncovered,” a behind-the-scenes tour of the Hotel del Coronado restoration co-hosted by SOHO and the American Institute of Architects San Diego, offered an engaging and educational look at the venerable hotel's recent return to period grandeur. Led by preservation architect David Marshall, AIA, of Heritage Architecture & Planning and a former SOHO president, with assistance from the Del’s historian Gina Petrone, the two-hour tour went surprisingly quickly as there was so much to see and learn about.
The first part of the tour focused on the restored veranda at the main entrance, which once again features two sets of stairs—one originally designated for unmarried ladies. Replica light fixtures and stained-glass windows helped transport our group back to the 1880s. Enlarged historical photos illustrated the Del's original appearance and the multiple remodels over the years, many of which are now being undone.
As we approached the famous “Coronado” stained-glass window, we were startled to notice that one side of the balcony overlooking the beautifully restored lobby, along with the floor itself, slopes noticeably toward the wall at the end, making it a bit tricky to walk there. Just another architectural quirk of the hotel's storied past.
The restored Crown Room and adjacent Coronet Room look magnificent, with the detailed woodwork restored to its original splendor. The restored balcony practically cried out for a band to play. Here, we learned the story of the iconic crown chandeliers, which were adapted from an earlier design by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, who lived in the hotel for months at a time. We later saw one of Baum’s original chandeliers in the hotel's former power plant.
The tour’s high point was perhaps viewing the incredible floral-patterned fresco-secco created in 1888 by William Busch and Jacob Gumpertz on the ceiling of the ballroom's vestibule entry, which was rediscovered during restoration and has been meticulously repaired and restored. Marshall recounted a humorous tale of a worker who, while navigating a space above, inadvertently put his foot through the fragile fresco, adding an unexpected twist to the restoration process.
We ended by touring the hotel's historic ice house, laundry building, and power plant, which were recently converted to a Hotel Del museum, a pub, and offices/meeting spaces, respectively. We learned about the long history of these essential service buildings on the hotel's grounds and were impressed by how they have been adaptively reused in such interesting ways. (The laundry building's restoration received a SOHO People In Preservation award in 2021, and the ongoing hotel restoration was honored as the PIP Project of the Year in 2022.)
Once announced, the tour was so popular that an encore was scheduled, selling out within an hour due to overwhelming demand. Attendees received a colorful commemorative booklet, filled with photos, both historic and new, and published by SOHO's Our Heritage Press. Additional copies are for sale at the Marston House Museum Shop.
SOHO thanks the Hotel del Coronado and its staff, who donated their valuable time to make this tour possible.
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