The Many Faces of the Palace Hotel

The Palace Hotel in Ukiah has gone through many face transformations throughout the years.

From the 1890s to 1950s, the facade of the building was constantly being painted, pushed and pulled, and added to in the name of modernization and being up to date.  Around 1917, an addition was added to the back of the hotel that extended to School Street, equipped with modern conveniences such as steam heating, flush toilets, and electrical wiring.  The concrete addition in the late 1920s brought in a car garage to accommodate the growing popularity of automobiles. In the early 1920s the facade was modernized with a slick covering over the brick and the ornate balcony was replaced with a simple awning.  The facade received further modernization when the first floor was recessed back slightly and the cast iron columns were boxed in and covered from sight.  Through these 60 years there is the trend of stripping the building of ornament and detail and slimming it down to it's basic components, aligning with the architectural ideals of the time.

It's interesting that now, in the 21st century, we are pushing into an increasingly technological society, and sometimes it seems as if we have lost control of our dependence on modern conveniences.  In reaction to this I think that there is a movement to grab hold of values of the past, or to the remnants of a more simple life.  Because of this historic renovations have more value than ever.  Although we have the technology to cover the building in a glass bubble or transform it into futuristic steel contraption, we will not do this because we appreciate the value of it's original design. The final face transformation of the hotel, hopefully, will rewind the dial back 120 years.

Vision for the future facade at the Palace.