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The Franklin Residences

Coordinates: 39°56′58.9″N 75°9′18.45″W / 39.949694°N 75.1551250°W / 39.949694; -75.1551250
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This article is about the historic hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For Benjamin Franklin's residence in Philadelphia, see Franklin Court. For his London residence, see Benjamin Franklin House.
Benjamin Franklin Hotel
The Franklin Residences is located in Philadelphia
The Franklin Residences
The Franklin Residences is located in Pennsylvania
The Franklin Residences
The Franklin Residences is located in the United States
The Franklin Residences
Location822–840 Chestnut St.,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates39°56′58.9″N 75°9′18.45″W / 39.949694°N 75.1551250°W / 39.949694; -75.1551250
Built1925[2]
ArchitectHorace Trumbauer, John N. Gill
Architectural styleLate 18th-century Anglo-American
NRHP reference No.82003808[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 2, 1982

The Franklin Residences is a historic apartment building located at 834 Chestnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It opened on January 14, 1925, as the Benjamin Franklin Hotel and was named after United States Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.[3]

History

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The site

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The Continental Hotel

The first hotel on the site was the Continental Hotel, built from 1857 to 1860.[4] The 700-room, six-story hotel was designed in the Italianate style by architect John McArthur Jr., who also designed the Philadelphia City Hall.[5] The luxurious hotel boasted one of the first elevators in the country, and a grand stairway made from polished Italian marble. Its main entrance was redesigned by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness in 1876.[5]

Among its famous guests were Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, Charles Dickens, King Edward VII, and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro. However, its most notable guest was president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who gave a speech from the hotel's balcony on February 21, 1861, just before his March 4 inauguration.[5]

The aging hotel was demolished in 1924 for construction of a massive new replacement.[5] The lamp from the balcony Lincoln spoke from was retained for the new structure and still hangs today on a balcony known as the "Lincoln Balcony," at the same spot as the one from which Lincoln spoke.[4]

Hotel

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The Benjamin Franklin Hotel, opened on January 14, 1925, named for Founding Father and Philadelphian, Benjamin Franklin. It was designed by prominent American Gilded Age architect Horace Trumbauer,[1] built by Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley and operated by the United Hotels Company of America.[6]

The Benjamin Franklin made news in 1947, when the segregated establishment refused to accommodate the Brooklyn Dodgers, who had used the hotel for years, because of the presence of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel agreed to house the team that day.[7] The team later moved their permanent accommodations to The Warwick Hotel.[8]

William Chadwick was the general manager for many years in the 1960s to 1970s, followed by Harry Gilbert and then Tom Johnson just prior to the hotel's closing in the 1980s. Also on the staff in the late 1960s to early 1970s was Robert C. Bennett, Jr., grandson of noted 1930s hotel manager Claude H. Bennett, and in 1974 the founding professor of the hotel management degree program at Delaware County Community College.

The hotel was owned by Bankers Securities Corporation which owned several Philadelphia hotels, including the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, the Sullivan, and the former Holiday Inn near the football/baseball stadiums. During the Army-Navy Game each year, the hotel traditionally hosted Army. The 1970s were a slow period with hotels hoping to benefit by the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration in the original Thirteen Colonies. However, the 1976 celebration was not the tourist financial success expected.

Also, in 1976 the state of New Jersey legalized casino gambling, which further diluted the hotel industry demand in greater Philadelphia as new hotels opened in Atlantic City. The hotel closed in 1980,[9] and the vacant building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Apartment building

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Lobby of The Franklin Residences in 2014

The hotel was converted to house 412 apartments and 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) of office space. It reopened in 1986[10] as the Benjamin Franklin House - affectionately referred to as "The Ben" by many Philadelphians.

During the renovation, the historic grand ballroom of the hotel was converted into office space. This resulted in objections by the National Park Service, so the ballroom was restored in 1988 to qualify for federal tax credits.[11] One of Philadelphia's largest ballrooms, it is now managed by Finley Catering and used for banquet/weddings, marketed as Ballroom at the Ben.[12]

The building was purchased by Korman Communities in 2011. They invested $13 million in renovations and renamed it "The Franklin Residences" in 2014.[13] The Franklin Residences specializes in studio, one, and two bedroom luxury apartments, as well as fully furnished suites with flexible leases for individuals needing temporary accommodations.[14]

The finale of the Oscar-winning 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook was filmed in the building's ballroom and its lobby.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Good Eye: The grandest lobby in Philadelphia is grand again".
  3. ^ Investigation of Real Estate Bondholders" Reorganizations. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1934.
  4. ^ a b "Trumbauer's Legendary Ben Franklin Hotel Reborn". Hidden City Philadelphia. 2016-08-10. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  5. ^ a b c d Patten, Zach (2013-06-25). "Echoes of an Extravagant Past: The Ben Franklin House's Continental History". Curbed Philly. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  6. ^ "Receivers Name for Hotel Firm" (PDF). The New York Times. November 18, 1933. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  7. ^ Rossi, John (2013-04-07). "He was unwelcome". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  8. ^ Threston, Christopher (2003-01-06). The Integration of Baseball in Philadelphia. McFarland. ISBN 9780786414239.
  9. ^ "The Franklin Closing As Philadelphia Hotel". The New York Times. 1980-12-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  10. ^ Hildebrandt, Rachel (2009). The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer. Arcadia. ISBN 9780738562971.
  11. ^ DeWolf, Rose (8 December 1988). "Ben Franklin Ballroom Restored To Splendor". Philly.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Ballroom at the Ben - Finley Catering". 2021-06-08. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  13. ^ "Benjamin Franklin House in Philadelphia gets $13 million renovation - Philadelphia Business Journal". Archived from the original on 2014-04-13.
  14. ^ "Overview". AVE Living. Retrieved 2023-09-01.
  15. ^ "Pennsylvania: Philly shows off its 'Silver Linings'". Los Angeles Times. 21 January 2013.
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