St. George Hotel, Winchester Kentucky
This hotel was erected by the George brothers, prominent local businessmen, and stands on the site of the old Winchester Hotel, a two-story wood frame hotel and business block. Because of its location near the train station, this hotel catered to railroad travelers.
The structure is an unusual combination of Queen Anne and Neocolonial architecture which functioned as a major hotel in town since it opened in 1904. For one year it was the finest hotel in town but was superceded by the larger Brown-Proctor when that hotel opened in 1905.
The most prominent feature is the four-story round towner on the corner, capped by a conical roof. Stepped gables accent the two major elevations at the roofline. The main entrance is set within a two-story porch and features elaborate lettering set over a gothic archway.
The building measures sixty by one hundred sixty feet and has brick masonry bearing walls with wood floor joists. An unusual steep gable parapet roof conceals the main flat roof of the building.
The ground floor is divided into several rectangular store spaces. A broad flight of steps leades from the street to a large central space on the second floor which was used as a lobby and dining hall. Surrounding this skylighted space are a series of small hotel rooms.
The interior second floor lobby area was remodelled about 1950, at which time the rooms were also updated. The ground floor commercial spaces have been modernized many times and now feature imitation wood paneling, pegboard, and suspended ceilings.
