The Guyon Hotel is a historic former

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The hotel was designed by Jensen J. Jensen - no relation to the famous landscape architect

Jens Jensen Jens Jensen may refer to: * Jens Jensen (footballer) (1890–1957), Danish football (soccer) player who played one game for the Denmark national football team * Jens Jensen (landscape architect) (1860–1951), Danish-born landscape architect in Chi ...

- in 1927 and was built in red and cream brick with arched windows on two floors and exquisite, detailed

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

ornaments typical of Jensen's work.Ori, Ryan.
Historic West Side hotel for sale at $500,000
, ''

Crain's Chicago Business ''Crain's Chicago Business'' is a weekly business newspaper in Chicago, IL. It is owned by Detroit-based Crain Communications, a privately held publishing company with more than 30 magazines, including ''Advertising Age'', ''Modern Healthcare'' ...

''. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2019. It was built at a cost of $1,650,000 by J. Louis Guyon, a French-Canadian nightclub owner and dance instructor. The Guyon Hotel's first floor included commercial space and the hotel's lobby. Two ballrooms were located on the second floor. Guyon resided in the south penhouse. After the hotel opened in 1928, owner J. Louis Guyon mounted two AM radio towers to broadcast his radio station, WGES; the station aired morally conservative programming and music. One of the second floor ballrooms was used as the station's studio. Control of WGES was transferred to Harry and Thomas Guyon in the mid-1930s, and the station left the hotel in 1942, but it continues to broadcast as

WGRB WGRB (1390 AM) is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois owned by iHeartMedia (formerly Clear Channel Communications until September 2014). It airs a gospel music format targeted to Chicago's African-American religious community. On Sundays, the s ...

. The hotel entered into receivership during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and in 1939 it was sold for $425,000. In 1940, it was sold to Jack Galper and George London. In 1948, the AM towers were replaced with an FM tower, and WOAK began broadcasts from the hotel.Ghrist, John R. (1996). ''Valley Voices: A Radio History''. Crossroads Communications. pp. 353-354. WOAK became

WFMT WFMT is an FM broadcasting, FM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a format of fine arts, classical music programming, and shows exploring such genres as folk music, folk. The station is managed by Window to the World Communications, In ...

in 1951 and began airing

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

.Von Rhein, John.
A strong signal
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. December 16, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2019. In 1954, the station's studios and transmitter were moved to the

LaSalle–Wacker Building The LaSalle–Wacker Building, at 221 North LaSalle Street (also known as 121 West Wacker Drive), is a 41-story skyscraper at the north end of the LaSalle Street canyon in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Design Origin ...

. In 1964, the hotel was sold for $500,000. In 1985, the Guyon Hotel was sold to the Lutheran non-profit organization Bethel New Life, who renovated the building and converted it to affordable housing. Former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

stayed in the renovated hotel for a week while working on a rehabilitation project with

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

; his room was reportedly "roach-infested" and "furnished with only a couch and a milk crate". The housing effort ultimately failed when Bethel New Life ran out of funds. The building currently lies vacant and has changed possession over six times since 1995. Due to building code violations, the hotel is in city demolition court; it is considered one of the ten most endangered landmarks in Illinois by the

Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois The Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois – also known as Landmarks Illinois – is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1971 to prevent the demolition of the Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan designed Chicago Stock Exchange Building. A ...

. The Guyon Hotel was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 9, 1985.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago Hotel buildings completed in 1928 Hotels in Chicago 1928 establishments in Illinois