Allerton Hotel
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Architect: Murgatroyd & Ogden
Year Completed: 1924
Location: 140 E. Huron Street, Chicago, Illinois
Style: Italian Renaissance
The Allerton Hotel, also called Allerton House, opened in 1924 and was the first major hotel on North Michigan Avenue.
The architects based the 25-story hotel on their design for New York's Barbizon Hotel for Women (now simply named the Barbizon). The hotel was part of a chain of hotels for single professionals. Consistent with the times, the hotel reserved 14 floors for men and 6 for women. The men's floors and women's floors were serviced by different elevators.
To attract these single professionals, the hotel offered many social and sports amenities: an exercise room, a library, rooftop miniature golf, and scheduled social events such as dances and parties.
The hotel's style is northern Italian Renaissance. The setback at the top was required by a 1923 zoning law. Note the Hancock Center in the background of the picture.
The entire hotel recently underwent a $50 million renovation intended to restore the original Italian Renaissance style. As part of this renovation, the hotel was became the Allerton Crowne Plaza.