page_title: The Davenport Hotel (Spokane, Washington)
section_title: Lobby
hierarchical_section_title: The Davenport Hotel (Spokane, Washington) / Lobby
caption_attribution_description: English: Main lobby of the Davenport Hotel, in Spokane, Washington.
context_page_description: The Davenport Hotel is a hotel located in Spokane, Washington. Commissioned by a group of Spokane businessmen, the hotel is named after Louis Davenport, its first proprietor and overseer of the project. Architect Kirtland Cutter designed the building in 1914. The Davenport Hotel was the first hotel in the United States with air conditioning, a central vacuum system, pipe organ, and dividing doors in the ballrooms. It is also the place at which the first Crab Louis was created and served. The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  The Davenport Hotel was completely restored by developer Walt Worthy in 2002 and operates today under the name The Historic Davenport Hotel within The Davenport Hotel Collection brand along with its three sister hotels.
context_section_description: The first fire in the lobby fireplace was lit in September 1914 by Kirtland Cutter. Hotel proprietor Louis Davenport decreed that as a symbol of hospitality. Originally wood-burning, the fireplace now burns natural gas. The fireplace is kept burning year-round, as a symbol of hospitality and still following Mr. Davenport's request. The painting above the fireplace depicts the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María - the ships Christopher Columbus used to discover the New World in 1492. Architecturally, the hotel has elements of Italy, France, England, Spain, and Imperial Russia.
  The lobby is inspired by the Spanish Renaissance style. The art glass panels in the ceiling give the hotel's single largest space an atrium effect. There is a separate glass roof above this one for protection. The ceiling beams are cast plaster with faux wood graining. Over time, much of the detail on these was lost to the eye due to decades of smoke in the lobby - both from the wood-burning fireplace and cigars/cigarettes. When the beams were cleaned in the renovation of 2000 - with spray bottles of Simple Green and toothbrushes - the burgundy, teal, and gold colors appeared as they were when new.
  Mr. Davenport explained the hotel's iconography this way in 1915:
  In the old Spanish homes it was the custom to display medallions carrying the portraits of honored ancestors and distinguished members of the family. This accounts for their frequent appearance throughout the lobby. Prominent in the ornamentation is the griffin. This, as used here, has the body of a lion, symbolic of strength, and the wings and head of an eagle, emblematic of alertness, swiftness and rapidity of execution. The dolphin, which figures in the ornamentation is always associated with mythology and sociability.
caption: Ornate main lobby
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