{"nrhp_refnum":"12000443","name":"Lafayette Hotel","other_names":["Imig Manor"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2223 El Cajon Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.75637457700006,"lon":-117.14155101608327,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-07-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A resort hotel complex of one city block at 2223 El Cajon Boulevard in the University Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California, built from 1946 to 1959 as Imig Manor and later called the Lafayette Hotel. It was designed by architect Frank L. Hope, Jr. and built by homebuilder Larry Imig.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property was the first full-service resort hotel along El Cajon Boulevard (Historic Highway 80), a main east-west auto corridor, and shows the area's postwar growth in lodging and leisure. It also represents the work of master architect Frank L. Hope, Jr., and appears to be his only known Colonial Revival design.","narrative":"Occupying a full city block along El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego's University Heights neighborhood, this hotel complex opened in 1946 as Imig Manor and later became the Lafayette Hotel. Architect Frank L. Hope, Jr. designed it, and homebuilder Larry Imig built it. The main hotel has three stories plus a penthouse, a brick and stucco front, and a tetrastyle portico with four Doric columns. Inside are coffered ceilings, a terrazzo floor with a five-point star, and a Mississippi Ballroom with a seashell bandstand. Townhouse buildings, a 1953 motel building, two 1958-1959 Lanai guest buildings, a 1946 pool and three lamp posts complete the contributing resources. The hotel was the first full-service resort along the boulevard, then Highway 80, and its additions reflect the growth of motoring and leisure travel after the war. The property is significant for its role in the area's development and as the work of a master architect, within a 1946-1959 period.","period_of_significance":"1946-1959","architect_builder":"Architect Frank L. Hope, Jr.; built by owner Larry Imig","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals / Colonial Revival; Modern Movement / Modernistic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as a hotel and restaurant, still in those uses; a recent rehabilitation repaired the Garden Room terrazzo floor and the pool.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.74805-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/12000443.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000443/5b3148397c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000443/5b3148397c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dave Andrew","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lafayette_Hotel_San_Diego_P1040570.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Dave Andrew</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lafayette_Hotel_San_Diego_P1040570.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860902","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lafayette_Hotel_and_Club","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9019849"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/lafayette-hotel-12000443/"}