Within Peacock Alley are three triptychs of “blocked English print with hand-painted peacocks” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 17). Depicted within each group of the panels are “peacocks perched amidst lush garden foliage.”(National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 8).

Background:
“The expansion of Hotel Roanoke during the late nineteenth century reflected the economic success of the Norfolk & Western railroad and the boom town prosperity of the city that headquartered that major steel rail era line” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 14). Both the Northeast Wing and West Wing were developed from this initiative, in the midst of the great depression. The West Wing, replacing “the 1890/1898 west or main wing,” was built by 1938 whereas the Northeast Wing was in 1931, which replaced the “the 1882 frame annex” that was there since 1916 (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 15). In contrast to the Northeast Wing, which was described as representing “architectural continuity, civic pride, and interest in automobile tourism,” the West Wing was promoted as an “architecturally significant modern version of an old English inn” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 16). George B. Post & Sons was the firm in charge of the 1938 renovations design of the West Wing, and selected the “‘Georgian design’ of the Main Dining room, now the Regency Dining Room; the Palm Court, now the Oval Room: and the Grand Ballroom” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 17). They also included the new Peacock Alley and the Lobby within the hotel’s new wing. The firm chose “consultants of national stature to furnish and decorate the interior public spaces of the hotel: furnishings by Marshal Field and Company of Chicago; decorating of special rooms by Rambusch Decorating Company of New York City” (National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke 17). They also selected artist Hugo Ohlms to paint the nine murals in the Lobby. Certain parts of the West Wing have been renovated since then, but most of its architectural integrity.

Sourced from:
"National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke," United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, 8 Nov. 1995, www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/128-0025_Hotel_Roanoke_1996_Final_Nomination.pdf.
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Hotel Roanoke

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