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| The lofty and airy Rose Garden of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel... |
The Rose Garden
The Roof Garden consisted of several large entertaining venues and facilities. There was the Roof-Pergola with its fountains and hanging vines and flora along the east (Broad) while the Oak Room stood along the the south (Chancellor) and a large reception-room stood along the north (Walnut) The original western facade (Bellevue Court) faced the North and South Cameo Pavilions. The middle was reserved for a special interior known as the Rose Garden…
The skill and craftsmanship alone for this interior was stunning all its own! The lofty coved ceiling was retrofitted with subtle indirect lighting fixtures which gave the ceiling a most pleasing and eye-catching affect. The plaster ceiling with its gilt-finish bas-relief and molded decorations gave the space an unbridled elegance of unmatched proportions!
Like the other interiors of the Bellevue-Stratford the grandeur of the Rose Garden was all too-readily apparent. The room was fitted with a stage just like in the Grand Ballroom and beautiful French glass and paneled doors in enameled and cream tones gave entrance/exit to other parts of the Roof Garden… There was also an orchestra balcony as well as sky bridges with glass ceilings and mosaic floors and windows with a view connected the lofty banquet hall to the Oak Room, and large reception-room as well as the North and South Cameo Rooms (Gardens)
The great arched and panel-decorated windows looked onto skylights over the “light courts” that separated the wings of the originally e-shaped building. Beaux-Arts lighting as well as an entire suite of gold-leaf furniture gave an extra added touch of elegance to an already spacious and airy chambre… The original stage was demolished and remodeled, a chunk of the original room made into the Library Lounge which was then replaced by the XIX Bar, in between the two Cameo Rooms…
Years of modernization and stainless steel appointments and odd paint jobs have all but subdued this once beautiful banqueting room… Today it hosts weddings and some conventions as well as receptions and rehearsal dinners… Everything painted in white and cream, the accents and bas-relief lost in translation…
Another glaring oversight of the treatment to the Grand Dame!
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