Hotel Baker
_05.JPG){kind=link}
Why it's listed
Hotel Baker is a five-story hotel on West Main Street in St. Charles, Illinois, built in 1926-28 for Colonel Edward Baker, a local millionaire who made his fortune in barbed wire. Inspired by the architecture of Spain, he commissioned Wolf, Sexton, Harper & Trueax to design a Spanish-flavored hotel. Brown brick and beige terra cotta cover a modern steel frame, and spiral columns flank the entrance. Inside, stenciled Spanish and Moorish patterns, a lounge styled as an open plaza, and a glass-block dance floor lit by more than a thousand colored bulbs set it apart. Every room in the original hotel differed in layout and furnishing. In the basement, generators installed in 1927 were powered by water diverted from the Fox River. The hotel served Chicago vacationers and newlyweds before being donated in 1969 to a Lutheran social service agency, which uses it as a retirement hotel and community center. Its well-preserved detail and technology support its listing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues that the hotel is an excellent example of traditional Spanish styles applied to a modern commercial building, with well-preserved detail. It also points to the original 1927 hydroelectric generators in the basement, one of the area's first self-sustaining hydroelectric sites. It is also a rare type of small, high-quality hotel that is no longer built, and every room in the original hotel was different.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 78001157, listed December 8, 1978. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 100 W. Main St., St. Charles |
|---|---|
| County | Kane County |
| Listed | December 8, 1978 |
| Reference number | 78001157 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900- (construction 1926-8) |
| Architect / builder | Wolf, Sexton, Harper & Trueax, arch. |
| Architectural style | Free interpretation of traditional Spanish architecture (Spanish and Moorish detail) |
| Areas of significance | Engineering, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition excellent/good and occupied; used as a retirement hotel and community center for the elderly. The exterior is unchanged from the original. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.91357, -88.31512 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 78001157.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5911224
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.