adventureswithapostcardPonce de Leon Hotel – Roanoke, VA
Downtown Roanoke is home to many historic buildings that have lived several lives and taken on many new appearances over the years. One such building is the Ponce de Leon Hotel – or should I say the Trout House? Or should I say the Crystal Tower building? Or should I say the Ponce de Leon Apartments? You get the picture.
History [in 250 words or less]
It was the early 1800s. “Big Lick” (later to emerge into “Roanoke”) slowly was becoming a real settlement and the “nucleus” of the settlement was apparently a stone building built in 1797. This building, a well-known spot in town, was acquired in 1838 by a man named John Trout and affectionately dubbed the “Trout House”.
Flash forward to 1884. The Trout House had been passed to new owner Charles G. Smith, who transformed his building into a hotel: the “Commercial Hotel”. The hotel became quite popular, so, in 1888, Charles decided to upgrade and construction was started to expand his hotel; it opened Thanksgiving Day, 1890. Years passed and the “Commercial Hotel” continued to thrive. Expansions were talked about, plans were made…
Aaaand then the building caught fire in 1929 and was essentially destroyed.
Enter: the Ponce de Leon Hotel. This new hotel was resurrected from the ashes in the 1930s and designed in the chic art deco style of the time.
The next section of the hotel’s history is a little vague, but it transferred ownership at some point between the 30s and 50s and became the “Crystal Tower Motor Inn”. It was then sold to a developer in ‘67 to become the “Crystal Tower” office buildings. From 1970 until 2012, the office buildings of Crystal Tower remained in operation.The building was purchased in 2012 by developer Faisal Khan, who reimagined the hotel into modern apartments yet while also bringing back its historical charm.
Today
Today, the apartment complex remains in operation. Though the art deco accents and designs were hidden during its time as office buildings, the apartment restoration brought the style back to life.
One crazy feature that I have to mention is that the building was built on top of “Big Lick Spring”. The old hotel apparently had a stone pool that pumped water from this underground spring that was stocked with trout for their restaurant- CRAZY right?! The new owner is hoping to build a fountain that pulls from this spring and I, for one, cannot wait to see if it ends up happening. Mostly because on the back of this postcard, even, it says that, “occupying a prominent place in the lobby is the “Ponce de Leon Fountain of Youth””, so it’d be amazing to recreate yet another feature of this hotel!
Like a lot of the Roanoke postcards I have, this one is also blank. I’m usually really good about getting only ones that are written in, so the fact that this keeps happening is crazy to me. So, again, I will write what I would have written if I were the original owner of this card:
“You know of my love for water, so imagine my surprise when I’m met with a gorgeous fountain smack dab in the middle of the lobby. Who needs a room. I’m living in the fountain of youth.”
Like many historical buildings, the Ponce de Leon has quite the past. Because of its role in Roanoke history, I’m so glad it has been preserved. Standing on the corner of Cambell Avenue and Second Street, you can witness the Ponce de Leon “Hotel” and ponder what it would have been looked like in its 1930 heyday. I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing.
Map
References:
History of Roanoke County. (1912). George S. Jack & E. B. Jacobs.
O. Winston Link Museum: History Museum of Western Virginia. Link HERE
A Walking Tour of Roanoke, Virginia. (2011). Doug Gelbert. Read HERE
ABC13 News Article. Link HERE
Roanoke Star Article written by Gene Marrano. Link HERE
