{"nrhp_refnum":"12001097","name":"Hotel Pennsylvania","other_names":["Chestnut Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3900 Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.957013379000045,"lon":-75.20002245199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-12-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An eleven-story mixed-use hotel and apartment building at 39th and Chestnut streets in West Philadelphia's University City district, with an attached two-story yellow brick service and power building on Sansom Street. It was built in 1922-1924.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant under Criterion A for commerce as an example of the evolving early 20th-century hotel industry, combining long-term residential units and short-term hotel rooms with public spaces on the ground floor. It was the largest structure in West Philadelphia when completed and remained the district's grand hotel for nearly half a century. It is also tied to the university's sports crowds and the reinforced concrete construction of the building.","narrative":"Built between 1922 and 1924 at 39th and Chestnut streets in West Philadelphia, the eleven-story Hotel Pennsylvania combines apartments and hotel rooms in a single steel and reinforced concrete frame. Its limestone and yellow brick façades follow a Renaissance manner influenced by Robert Adam, with three wings broken by light courts facing 39th Street and a lobby reached through a public arcade. The architect, Clarence Wunder, came from industrial design, and his economical plan placed residential apartments on the wings and transient hotel rooms along the central corridor near the elevators. The building was the largest structure in West Philadelphia when completed and served as the district's principal hotel for nearly fifty years. Its association with University of Pennsylvania sporting events, conferences and graduations, along with its unusual mixed-use plan, explains its importance in the history of American hotel design. The rear power and service building, which heated the complex, survives with its original appearance.","period_of_significance":"1924-1962","architect_builder":"Clarence Wunder (architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th century revivals/Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The upper levels remain in residential use, and the lounge has been adapted as a restaurant.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.152302-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/12001097.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001097/6a98219bef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001097/6a98219bef-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shuvaev","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Hotel_01.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Shuvaev</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:Pennsylvania_Hotel_01.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997430","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5093924"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/hotel-pennsylvania-12001097/"}