Ahwahnee – New Lustre for the Crown Jewel – Part II

By Bennett Owen

Photo courtesy of Chris Dunstan

The magnificent façade only vaguely prepares the unsuspecting visitor for what awaits inside…an unlikely yet sumptuous amalgamation of art deco, American Indian and oriental influences housed in magnificent, monumental great rooms:

The California Room, The Writing room and the Dining room with its 34-foot high ceiling:

Photo Courtesy of Steve Corey

And in the Great Lounge, a fireplace big enough to park a model T in:

Photo courtesy of Ellipses Public Relations

Phyllis Ackerman and Arthur Upham Pope did the interior design, fighting pitched battles with Underwood to bring their marvelous vision to life.

Ms. Ackerman’s single most important victory was the design for the stained glass ceiling to floor windows in the Great Lounge…she described Underwood’s original plan an “execrable fenestration…” Obviously her skills at interior design far outweighed any knack for diplomacy.

Photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe

Ackerman and Pope were given carte blanche, responsible for all design specifications -- colors, floors, fabrics, rugs, beds, mattresses, linens, lighting fixtures, flatware. And the result was nothing less than sublime.

Photo courtesy of Ralphman

Ahwahnee made its debut on July 14, 1927 with a gala opening attended by the rich and famous of the day. By the time they departed, the hotel was all but stripped bare:

"...the beautiful people of the era, departed happily... laden with memories and ‚mementos’ ranging from pewter ink stands and ash trays to hand-loomed blankets and bedspreads! Among the items included in the astounding theft were prized Indian baskets which had been displayed on the mezzanine near the elevator...."

Gosh, and I still feel guilty for stealing a hotel bathrobe as a honeymoon memento.

Photo courtesy of The Restaurant Ware: Collectors Network

Little of the original decoration remains but renovations have been true to the vision of the creators.  The Ahwahnee is considered the crown jewel of National Park residences and as of March 17th (2011) that crown must include emeralds, as the grand hotel emerged from a month-long hibernation on Saint Patrick’s Day.  It was the last push in a multi-year refurbishing of the interior, along with a less publicized and vaguely ominous-sounding project termed ‘seismic retrofitting.’ 

For more information, the following websites are outstanding and indispensable:

American Buddha Online Library: Ahwahnee Hotel

Oriental Rug Review: The Grand Gesture

The Gilbert Stanley Underwood showcase will continue here at My-West…as soon as I can replenish my supply of superlatives.

Sunset on Half Dome. Photo courtesy of jurvetson

AHWAHNEE – NEW LUSTRE FOR THE CROWN JEWEL

by Bennett Owen

“…On entering The Ahwahnee one is conscious of calm and complete beauty echoing the mood of majesty and peace that is the essential quality of Yosemite…”

Ansel Adams         

Photo courtesy of flythebirdpath~} teddy

And the great photographer ought to know. He was a frequent breakfast guest at the lodge while recording the many definitive images we’ve come to associate with Yosemite.  Truly, if man could make his mark on such a rare and awesome spot of earth he could not have left a finer contribution than the Ahwahnee.  The words ‘rustic’ and ‘regal grandeur’ really shouldn’t be used in the same sentence but when writing about Gilbert Stanley Underwood’s masterpiece it’s impossible not to.  Here’s a small sampling of the VIPs who’ve slept at the Ahwahnee since its grand opening in 1927:

• Queen Ratna of Nepal
• The Shah of Iran
• King Baudouin of Belgium,
• Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie
• Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip

Photo courtesy of OpenRoad.TV

Mary Curry Tressider Suite. Photo courtesy of Ellipses Public Relations

American royalty also gravitates to the Ahwahnee:

• FDR
• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• John F. Kennedy
• Herbert Hoover
• Ronald Reagan

Not to mention the greatest Hollywood legends of all time.

Sure, they came for a first hand look at the wonders of Yosemite; the Half Dome; the Upper Falls; Glacier Point; the massive Sequoias. But you know they would have high-tailed it out of there by sundown if the choice of lodging were anything less grand.  And ‘grand’ is what National Park director Stephen Mather was looking for when he commissioned Underwood to design a hotel that would draw upwardly mobile guests to balance out the riff raff he felt was crowding out the canyon. What Mather got was the single manmade tourist magnet Yosemite has to offer.

Photo courtesy of Steve Corey

As in all of his national park masterpieces, Underwood sought to integrate the lodge into the landscape and in doing so achieved the impossible, adding to the perfect natural beauty surrounding the high mountain meadow the Miwok Indians called Ahwahnee.  With his keen and budget-busting eye for aesthetics, Underwood brought in five thousand tons of rough-cut, polished granite that perfectly mirrored the surrounding cliffs. He added 30-thousand feet of timber and for stability he poured additional tons of concrete into forms that made it look like redwood logs (yes, earthquakes and fires were a concern and construction factor in 1925, too).

Photo courtesy of Ellipses Public Relations

And here’s Ansel Adams’ son telling about how the Ahwahnee played a role in capturing one of the most famous photographs of all time.

Photo courtesy of naturemandala

Conclusion of AWHAHNEE – NEW LUSTRE FOR THE CROWN JEWEL tomorrow.