Mather Inn

Mather Inn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Michigan State Historic Site
Location:	107 Canda St., Ishpeming, Michigan
Coordinates:	46°29′30″N 87°40′5″W / 46.49167°N 87.66806°W / 46.49167; -87.66806Coordinates: 46°29′30″N 87°40′5″W / 46.49167°N 87.66806°W / 46.49167; -87.66806
Built:	1931
Architect:	James H. Ritchie, Warren H. Manning
Architectural style:	Colonial Revival, Georgian revival vernacular
Governing body:	Private
NRHP Reference#:	78001505[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	December 20, 1978
Designated MSHS:	June 18, 1976[2]

The Mather Inn is a hotel in Ishpeming, Michigan. The inn served as housing for the cast of the classic 1959 movie Anatomy of a Murder, and was where Duke Ellington composed the movie's score.^[3][4][5] It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976^[2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^[1]

History

In 1875, Robert Nelson, the founder of Ishpeming, built a hotel in the city known as the Barnum House.^[6] Four years later, the Barnum House burned, and Nelson replaced it with another structure he called the Nelson House.^[6] The Nelson House stood until 1928, when it too burned. The loss of Ishpeming's finest hotel affected the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, which now had no place to house important guests.^[2]

Realizing the benefit of having a first-class hotel, William G. Mather, Cleveland-Cliffs president, financed the construction of the Mather Inn as a replacement.^[2] Mather hired Boston architect James H. Ritchie to design the building and turned to Warren H. Manning, a longtime associate, to design the grounds.^[2] The hotel is considered to be an excellent example of the work of both men.^[2]

The Mather Inn opened in 1932, and served the community for decades.^[6] In 1959, it served as lodging for the cast of the classic movie Anatomy of a Murder.^[6] In the mid-1980s, the Mather Inn Preservation Society was created to sustain it.^[6] However, the inn fell on hard times, and in 1987 it was closed and sold.^[6]

The inn was vacant for many years, but in 2004 renovations to the building were started.^[7] As of 2009, the inn is privately owned and is undergoing a renovation to turn it into luxury residences and office suites.^[6][8]

Description

The Mather Inn is a four-story rectangular building, constructed of concrete and steel with a brick facing.^[2] The front facade is divided into three bays, with a two-story portico sheltering the entrance in the center bay.^[2] The varied fenestration on the front, including bay windows flanking the center entrance and dormers on the hipped roof, make the facade architecturally interesting.^[2]

The public areas of the interior are panelled in pine,^[2] and include a sunken dining room and men's clubroom.^[6] There are forty-seven guest rooms, including three furnished apartments. On the exterior, the grounds contain uniform terraced gardens and a huge boulder rock garden.^[2] The inn is still substantially similar to its original state, having undergone few alterations.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} Mather Inn from the state of Michigan, retrieved 12/22/09
3. ^ Anatomy of a Murder Ishpeming Walking Tour, Peter White Public Library, Marquette.
4. ^ John Monaghan, "The movie that put Ishpeming on the map," Detroit Free Press, January 20, 2009
5. ^ Dennis McCann, "Marquette, Michigan remembers 'Anatomy of a Murder,'" Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Nov. 7, 2008.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} About the Mather Inn, retrieved 12/22/09
7. ^ Johanna Boyle, "Mather Inn renovation moving along," The Mining Journal, November 19, 2008
8. ^ Johanna Boyle, "Ishpeming stops work on Mather renovation," The Mining Journal, October 8, 2009

External links

• The Mather Inn