Hotel Pontchartrain (1907)

03 / The story of this place

What was here?

The Pontchartrain opened on October 29, 1907, on the site of the Russell House, designed by George D. Mason with McKim, Mead & White consulting, and it was Detroit's biggest and most lavish hotel yet, with Tiffany Studios interiors. It started with 298 rooms on ten floors, and a five-story addition in 1909–10 brought a convention hall and about 150 more rooms. Its Woodward Avenue bar became the young auto industry's informal meeting room, where engineers spread out blueprints and pitched inventions to the Dodge brothers, William Durant, Louis Chevrolet and the Lelands. Newer hotels with private baths made it obsolete within a decade; the First and Old Detroit National Bank bought it, it closed at midnight on January 31, 1920, and it was demolished that spring.

• Nicknamed the “Mother of Motors”
• Tiffany Studios interiors
• Grew to 15 stories in 1909–10

Architect

George D. Mason (McKim, Mead & White consulting)

What’s there now?

The First National Building (Albert Kahn), opened in March 1922, stands on the site.