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La Posada Hotel um 1930

Mary Colter's masterpiece

In the 1920s, Harvey decided to build a major hotel in the center of northern Arizona. “La Posada”—the Resting Place—was to be the finest in the Southwest. Construction costs alone exceeded $1 million in 1929. Total budget with grounds and furnishings was rumored at $2 million (about $40 million in today’s dollars). La Posada opened May 15, 1930, just after the stock market crash of 1929, and remained open for just 27 years.

In 1957, the hotel closed to the public. The museum-quality furnishings were auctioned off in 1959. In the early 1960s, much of the building was gutted and transformed into offices for the Santa Fe Railway. Several times over the ensuing 40 years, the building was nearly demolished, as recently as 1994 when the railway announced its plans to move out for good. 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation found out about La Posada’s peril and added it to their endangered list — where it came to the attention of Allan Affeldt. But La Posada was never for sale. Allan Affeldt purchased it from the Santa Fe Railway after learning that the property was in danger.  This daunting task entailed negotiating for 3 years with the railroad and resolving various legal, environmental, and financial obstacles. He established La Posada LLC to take on the enormous risk and complexity of the estimated $12 million restoration.

http://laposada.org/history/

 

2021 Fictional Ghost Tour

In 1902, Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter started working for the Fred Harvey Company as an architect, designer and decorator.  Defying current trends, Colter designed her buildings to reflect the history of their locations and faced off with engineers and contractors who dared to contradict her designs.  Her reputation as a “foremost American architect” and a “brilliant lady” spread.  Colter was also known for her chain-smoking habit and outspoken manner which contrasted with the restful, beautiful spaces she designed and decorated.

 

The La Posada was Mary Colter’s crown jewel and favorite building.  She created an entire history for the building to drive her design and décor.  The famous hotel opened on May 15, 1930, defying the Great Depression.  Colter poured her heart into the hotel, designing not just the building but the décor, the staff uniforms, the art and the serving china.  She loved to sit on the west-side balcony and watch the sunset, cigarette in hand.  When the hotel opened, she had to be asked to leave the site because she would go around “correcting” guests who did not appreciate her hotel correctly.

 

Railway travel was phasing out and in 1957, La Posada was put up for sale.  Fred Harvey had died and the Santa Fe Railway was forced to close many of the famous Harvey Hotels.  When she heard the news, Colter said, “There’s such a thing as living too long.”  She died a year later knowing that several of her masterpieces had been abandoned and torn down.

 

In 1964, La Posada was rescued from destruction by being converted to the Santa Fail Railway division office.  The hotel was stripped and converted to cubicles or used as storage.  That was when office staff began seeing “a woman in blue” striding through the hotel with a determined look on her face.  She always left the smell of cigarette smoke in her wake.  Sightings continued through 1995 when the BNSF Railway closed their headquarters, once again risking the destruction of La Posada. 

 

In 1997, after three years of negotiations, Allan Affeldt, Tina Mion, and Dan Lutzick purchased La Posada Hotel and began the monumental task of restoring its grandeur.  Hotel guests, staff, and visiting “ghost hunters” have all reporting sightings of “a woman in blue”.  She’s been seen in guest rooms, leaving a wisp of smoke behind her despite the lack of any known cigarettes in the area.  On quiet evenings, just as the sun is setting, she is often seen striding toward the western side of the hotel and up the curved staircase toward her favorite balcony.

Ort Winslow
Autor sameemac
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Tourismus
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La Posada
Route 66
Winslow
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Prairie Rose Publications
Urheber
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Zugeordnete Touren Fictional Ghost Tour 2021

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