The Jefferson Hotel Richmond, Virginia

Masonry Construction, Feb, 2003 by Diana Granitto

When the Jefferson Hotel was designed in 1895, incorporating a motor court wasn't a consideration. More than a century later, the Richmond, Va., hotel has added a grand entry featuring a six-car porte-cochere in the ornate, neoclassical style of the original building. The renovation also includes a pool enclosure on the second level, two towers adjacent to the porte-cochere, and an expansion of the Lemaire Restaurant in the form of a glass conservatory-type pavilion sitting atop a granite base.

To ensure that the addition would blend with the existing historic architecture, the design team spent several days doing research in the archives of the local Valentine Museum. "We had some original drawings for part of the building," said Bill Shirey, principal of Marcellus Wright Cox & Smith Architects. "The hotel had been rebuilt after a substantial fire in the 1930s, and the museum had photographs documenting that."

Distributor Riverside Brick special-ordered brick that was similar in size and color to the original manufactured by Taylor Clay Products. The 12-inch long roman brick was used in several applications, including rustication, flat jack arches, three-dimensional jack arches, recessed panels, and classically inspired piers and columns. "We duplicated a lot of existing details," said Shirey.

The larger of the two new towers encloses the northeast corner of the pool room and features a granite base, limestone water tables, banded brick walls, classical pilasters with limestone capitals and bases, recessed brick panels with 1-inch radiused returns between the pilasters, and limestone balusters and accents. The middle portion of each tower uses rusticated brick with 1-inch radiused returns at the top and bottom of each band. Portal openings on both towers feature banded jack arches.

The walls of the pool enclosure are running bond brick with a three-brick corbel at the top of the parapet wall. Flat jack arches span the pool room windows. "The jack arches are U-shaped, 2-feet high by 2-feet wide and 2-feet deep, all bonded," stated Lee Roy Boschen of Boschen Masonry Inc. "We cut those ourselves and put them together. They were massive."

The porte-cochere piers are composed of granite bases, banded brickwork with 1-inch radiused returns, and limestone caps. The glass and metal roof is cantilevered 4-feet beyond the piers. The surface of the motor court features concrete pavers in a fish-scale pattern.

The $3.2 million renovation and pool addition earned the Jefferson Hotel the prestigious Mobil 5-star rating and Forbes magazine's ranking as the country's No. 1 hotel.

Project Team

Masonry Contractor: Boschen Masonry Inc., Ashland, Va.

Architect: Marcellus Wright Cox & Smith Architects, Richmond, Va.

General Contractor: Conquest Moncure & Dunn, Richmond, Va.

Structural Engineer: Dunbur Milby Williams Pittman & Vaughan, Richmond, Va.

Owner: Historic Hotels of Richmond, Richmond, Va.