by Michael R. Allen
This rendering for a “$1,000,000 Hotel” at the corner of Maryland and Kingshighway appeared in the Realty Record and Builder in 1906. The architect was Isaac Taylor, whose already-wide renown grew even wider after his stint as Director of Works for the World’s Fair. The design is noteworthy for its exotic classicism, seen especially in the central dome crowning the enormous building.
Never built, the site is today occupied by Straub’s grocery store. An even larger hotel, the Park Plaza, would be built by 1929 across Maryland.