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tehshadowbat II
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Built in 1892 as a luxury apartment house, the Lorraine Hotel was a prominent symbol of North Broad Street's newfound wealth. Architect Willis G Hale designed the ten story edifice, which for a time was one of the tallest structures outside Center City. U-shaped in plan, the building surrounded an interior courtyard to allow light into the two wings of apartments. In addition, the Lorraine was one of the first apartment buildings in Philadelphia to feature electric service.

In 1900, the building was purchased by the Metropolitan Hotel company and the name was changed to the Lorraine Hotel. This lasted until 1948, when Reverend Major Jealous Divine purchased the property.

Under Father Divine's watch the hotel was one of the first to be racially integrated and was open to all regardless of religion or background. Guest however had to follow strict rules dictated by the Divine Peace Movement: No Alcohol, smoking, foul language, or "undue mixing of the sexes". Female guests could only wear long skirts and had to stay in rooms separate from the men.

Social Welfare was central to the Peace mission and a public restaurant was opened on the first floor of the building where meals were served for just 25 cents. An additional dining room was opened on the top floor, along with a chapel that was converted out of a former auditorium.

The Divine Lorraine was closed in 1999 and sold the following year to a developer who planned to reopen the building as new apartments. However by the late 2000's it was revealed that the owners did not have the ability to renovate in the wake of the recession. In fact, the interior (which was mostly unaltered since the beginning) was gutted bare and all the woodwork and other elements were sold to antiques dealers. Graffiti soon covered all exterior surfaces and the many saw the once majestic structure as a blight with an uncertain future.

After being put up for sheriff's sale in 2012, the property was purchased by another developer. Three years later renovation began in earnest, with the facade cleaned and restored DIVINE LORRAINE HOTEL roof signs. Tenants moved into the first of the completed units in the fall of 2017.

Attribution Noncommercial Some rights reserved
Taken on: March 27, 2012
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Philadelphia urbex Philadelphia urbex Everybody's photos tagged with Philadelphia architecture Philadelphia architecture Everybody's photos tagged with divine lorraine hotel divine lorraine hotel
Sets appears in:   • Divine Lorraine Hotel   
Groups appears in:   • Philadelphia Urban Decay & Graffiti    • Abandoned Pennsylvania    more » • URBEX JUNKIES    • Urbex Daily    • Philly Ruins    « less
Camera: Sony DSC-H55, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, 4.2mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Sony DSC-H55
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure Time: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length: 4.2mm
ISO: 200
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program: Program AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
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