DeVille Motor Hotel
St. Louis City
The DeVille Motor Hotel is an exceptional example of a mid-century Modern high-rise in the City of Saint Louis. Its E-shaped footprint and soaring towers blend classic Modernism with elements of West Coast Googie architecture. Architect Charles Colbert was a staunch Modernist, and at the time he created this design he was Dean of the School of Architecture at Columbia University and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Colbert designed the DeVille Motor Hotel to enhance density along Lindell Boulevard. He placed all parking at the rear of the property, shielding it from the street with the building. At the same time, the hotel’s massing blends seamlessly with Lindell Boulevard’s collection of early-twentieth century apartment towers, enhancing the architectural diversity of the streetscape. Demolition of the DeVille Motor Hotel would deplete the fine collection of twentieth century high-rises along Lindell Boulevard and would mean the loss of an exemplary work of a master architect. The building’s owner, the St. Louis Archdiocese of the Catholic Church, plans to demolish the DeVille Motor Hotel to construct a surface parking lot.
