HISTORIC
PHOTO:
BRUCE
COONS
COLLECTION
Hotel del Coronado
e historic landmark unveils a stunning restoration
T
HE HOTEL DEL CORONADO
has symbolized the town of Coronado
since it opened its doors in 1888. e
400-room beachfront resort was built
on a peninsula that had contained little
more than sage brush and jackrabbits.
For more than 134 years, the Queen
Anne Victorian hotel has hosted vacationers, presidents, and
Hollywood icons.
"e Del" remains one of America's largest wooden
buildings and had a leading role in the classic 1959 film
Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe. In 1977, the hotel
was designated a National Historic Landmark and was
memorialized on a U.S. postage stamp in 2012.
When the Hotel del Coronado originally opened, there
was a large covered veranda at the main entry. Since then,
significant alterations were made when windows were
replaced and enlarged, the grand chimney was removed,
railings were changed, and upper floor balconies were
enclosed. Most significant of all, the ground floor veranda
was pushed out 30 feet and eventually enclosed. By the
1970s, the veranda was gone.
BY DAVID MARSHALL, AIA
Detour
destinations
