This Hospital in OH Closed in 1981 is now Senior Housing


St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio
Date added: August 14, 2024
Front facade of main building (1983)

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St. Francis was founded by the Sisters of the Poor to care for the chronically ill and has become world renowned. Called "A Hospital with a Heart", for never denying admission to any sick or injured person, St. Francis has been a pioneer in providing such services as a physical rehabilitation department, a nursing school, a blood bank for rare blood types, and an intensive care unit. Of special note, is the fact that St. Francis was the only hospital West of the Appalachians in the latter part of the 19th Century to receive patients suffering from cancer. Some years later, in 1939, a cancer research laboratory and clinic under Dr. George Sperti (Institutum Divi Thomae) was opened, which was said to be without equal in the United States at that time. Other special services of the hospital have included tuberculosis victims, treating convalescent soldiers from World War I, and being the only hospital in Cincinnati that aided the needy aged. Conversion from a hospital to a senior citizens residence is a fitting continuance of this special service.

The Sisters of the Poor had originally built St. Marys Hospital in the West end of Cincinnati in 1858. Their construction of St. Francis recognized the need of an expanding city and the special services for the chronically ill and aged infirm, and to relieve the always overcrowded St. Mary's Hospital. The site, was located in the first major valley access to the growing western suburbs. Although topographically difficult, the site was an ideal location for construction of the facility.

The building dominates its site and displays distinct characteristics of the Queen Anne style in its polychromatic surface treatment of brick with stone banding, cupola, turrets and hip roof with stepped, paired and single gable dormers. The Queen Anne style was used by George Rapp in several other buildings including the German Protestant Orphanage, Christian Moerlein Brewery, German National Bank and Bavaria Building.

The architect, George W. Rapp, was a well-known Cincinnati architect and was also the first Building Commissioner for the City of Cincinnati. His accomplishments were recognized in an 1886 book on "The Industries in Cincinnati" detailing commercial and residential buildings he designed and noting his specialty in construction of breweries and malt houses for which Cincinnati was famous. The architectural firm continued under his son, while designing many significant projects until his retirement in 1960 as Cincinnati's oldest practicing architect.

Building Description

St. Francis Hospital is a 4 1/2 story Queen Anne style structure with raised basement of rock-faced ashlar stone. The building features polychromatic surface treatment of brick with stone banding. The irregular shaped building has a twelve bay center section with hip roof featuring paired and single gable dormers symmetrically spaced across the facade. The center section is terminated by end pavilions with corner turrets and hip roofs featuring stepped and single gable dormers. The windows have been replaced with 6/6 double hung windows with temporary wood infill between window and lintels. The lintels are flat except on third floor which have segmental arch lintels. A hexagontal center pavilion dominates the facade. The pavilion has a limestone base which features the main entranceway, double doors with round arched transom. The doorway is flanked by fluted Doric columns. The upper portion of the central pavilion exhibits a statue of St. Frances within a niche and a hip roof topped by a cupola.

The main lobby of the building has marble floors, a marble stairway, and marble wainscot. Ornate wrought iron railings rise from the lobby to the top floor with the open stairway forming the central focus highlighted by a stained glass skylight. Construction is masonry wall bearing with wood joists and floors. Elaborate stained glass windows dominate the chapel with additional stained glass features appearing at the entrance and in several other windows and skylights.

Building 1 is the main 4 1/2 story structure with phases 2 and 3 being added as the final elements of the main building. These form the main structure that was built in stages from 1888 to 1900 as the need determined more space and money was available. Phases 4 and 5 were built in 1958 and 1966 and are located to the rear of the structure. The major expansions were in the 1890s and maintained the integrity of the original style. The more recent additions were to the rear of the building and the basic structure has remained intact. With the elevation of the site and the building being constructed into the hillside, the front of Building 1 at 4 1/2 stories forms the focal point and demonstrates the large mass of the building.

St. Francis, located some 3 miles northwest of downtown Cincinnati, was built on the prominent site occupied by the German Independent Cemetery on Lickrun Pike, a major valley to the western suburbs. The structure is the focal point of the Cincinnati neighborhood known as South Fairmount and located nearby is Hamilton County's first prison which still stands as does St. Bonaventure Church which represents Romanesque architecture. Surrounding neighborhood structures are houses and local commercial buildings of the turn-of-the-century vintage.

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Front facade of main building (1983)
Front facade of main building (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio East elevation building 2 (1983)
East elevation building 2 (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio East elevation, northeast wing of building 1 (1983)
East elevation, northeast wing of building 1 (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio West elevation, North central wing, building 1 (1983)
West elevation, North central wing, building 1 (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio West elevation, building 2 between building 5 & 3 (1983)
West elevation, building 2 between building 5 & 3 (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio East elevation building #3 from upper floor of main building #1 (1983)
East elevation building #3 from upper floor of main building #1 (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Main Entrance (1983)
Main Entrance (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Cut stone (1983)
Cut stone (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Turrets on front facade (1983)
Turrets on front facade (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Double dormers, front facade (1983)
Double dormers, front facade (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Stepped brick and stone dormer at front facade (1983)
Stepped brick and stone dormer at front facade (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Cupola, directly over front entrance to building (1983)
Cupola, directly over front entrance to building (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Arched windows with brick and cut stone (1983)
Arched windows with brick and cut stone (1983)

St. Francis Hospital, Cincinnati Ohio Decorative cornice at several locations (1983)
Decorative cornice at several locations (1983)