Rossmore Apartment House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Rossmore Apartment House
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Front of the Apartment House
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 Location in Kentucky
Location in the United States
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| Location | 664 River City Mall, Louisville, Kentucky |
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| Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
| Built | 1893 |
| Architect | Kenneth McDonald |
| Architectural style | Chicago style |
| Demolished | 1981 |
| NRHP reference No. | 78001365 |
| Added to NRHP | November 14, 1978 |
The Rossmore Apartment House was an old building in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was a special place because it was one of the first big apartment buildings in the city. Sadly, it was torn down in 1981.
What Did It Look Like?
The Rossmore Apartment House, later known as the Berkeley Hotel, was a five-story building. It was made of red bricks with fancy stone details. Its simple design, strong arches, and rows of bay windows showed the Chicago style. This style was popular for buildings in big cities.
A local architect named Kenneth McDonald helped design the front of the building. He also designed some parts of the inside. Over the years, the inside changed a lot. By the 1970s, not many original details were left.
However, the lobby still had its beautiful marble floor. The apartments each had their own private hallway. Rooms opened into these private halls. These halls then connected to a longer public hallway. Each apartment had four rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom. They also had a linen closet and a pantry. There were also special rooms for servants at the back of each floor. The top floor had storage rooms for each apartment.
A Look Back in Time
The Rossmore Apartment House was finished in 1894. At that time, the street it was on was mostly homes. But the business area of Louisville was growing. It was moving south towards Broadway. In a few years, Fourth Street would become the main shopping area in Louisville.
Alonzo J. Ross, a local grocer, saw this trend happening. He bought the land in 1893 and decided to build the apartment house. When it first opened, it was called the "first metropolitan apartment house." Local newspapers praised the building. They said it brought the style of big city apartments, like those in Chicago, to Louisville.
In 1901, Ross sold the building to Theophilus Conrad. Conrad owned other apartment buildings in Louisville. Ross, however, kept his grocery store on the first floor until 1904. For a short time in the 1920s, the Rossmore was called the Raleigh Apartments. But by 1923, it was known as the Berkeley Hotel.
In 1978, the building was recognized as historically important. It was a great example of the Chicago school of architecture. It was also one of the oldest buildings in the Fourth Street business area at that time.
