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History of The Escape Hotel also known as Tiffany House
History of the Escape Hotel also known as Tiffany House, 2900 RioMar Street, Fort Lauderdale
HISTORY
Arriving in Fort Lauderdale in 1946, George W. "Bob" Gill Jr., a Chicago home builder, established the Gill Construction Company. He had vacationed in Fort Lauderdale before the war and was attracted by the opportunity to build year round. Starting in the south west section of the city, Gill homes, sold faster than they could be built and soon there were 3000 homes in the four city quadrants. Despite the warning of a local banker that "the land boom for Fort Lauderdale is all over," by 1950, Gill could point out that three out of four new houses were built by his company. In 1948 he shifted his attention to the hospitality industry. Several landmark hotels were the result: The Escape at 2900 Riomar Street built in three sections 1949, 1950 and 1951, the Jolly Roger 1952 at 619 North Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., The Yankee Clipper 1956, and the Yankee Trader 1964.
THE ESCAPE HOTEL
Gill says he paid $10,000 for the lots on Block 8, Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, Birch Waterfront Subdivision on Fort Lauderdale Beach in 1948. The center section (Lots 2 &3, Block 8) of the Escape opened New Year's Eve, 1949. City Commissioner Bob Cox cut the ribbon. It was so popular, that a west addition (Lot 4) was built in 1950 and an east addition (Lot 1) was built in 1951 topping at 133 rooms. It was the first Fort Lauderdale hotel with a swimming pool and the first to be opened year round. An astute marketer, Gill offered guests a free room if the temperature topped 90 degrees, a rarity. Room rates were $10/day in the early years. To get a table in the Neptune Room with its two grand pianos and polished wooden dance floor, one had to know the maitre d' pretty well. Poolside beauty pageants and fashion shows drew enthusiastic crowds. A sampling of some of these events from a 1950 advertisement: "A Night in Hawaii" "The Spash Party", "Crown the Queen of the Tropicanza!" and "The Miss Fort Lauderdale Pageant."
A 1951 addition included the glamorous Bonanza Room featuring night club style entertainment became the "in" place to be for locals and tourists alike. Afternoon dances in the Bonanza Room were wildly popular. Former Broward County Appraiser, Bill Markham who had a high school band ("Bill Markham and the Jesters") recalled playing rock and roll there in '57 and '58. The going pay was $5.00 per person per gig. The popularity of the hotel benefited from its quality dining and entertainment. An October '50 Fort Lauderdale Florida Facts Magazine photo caption gushes that the Escape is "Exotically decorated in bamboo...famed for its big fresh water swimming pool, its excellent cuisine, and its dances under the stars." A promotional brochure from the early '50s touted its "completely air conditioned premises, fresh water pool, spacious gardens and 9-hole pitch and put golf course." Room rates ranged from $18-$24 double from Jan 15 - April 20 and a whopping $29 for efficiency apartments, European plan.
Throughout the fifties the Escape became a popular, off-season destination for locals. Its famous pool and rent-for-the-day-cabanas and tennis courts were promoted successfully on a membership basis. Shufffleboard courts were added in 1980 replacing one of the six clay tennis courts. In 1961 the Escape received national attention for its Nassau Room piano bar entertainment. In a widely syndicated column, Author Robert Ruark praised the hotel's popular vocalist Kenny Watkins. 'The man has the greatest gift for the invocation of nostalgia that I have ever run across," Ruark wrote.
In 1972 The Escape quickly passed through the hands of two real estate investment companies, Hunt-Florida Enterprises, Inc. and Investors Realty Trust. In 1977 it was sold to the Vaughn Corporation, a large Columbus, Ohio real estate investment company whose managing partner was George Solomon, a Canadian construction equipment manufacturer. For approximately four years Solomon's daughter managed the hotel In 1986 the Vaughn Corporation sold off The Escape property to some of its own partners and the name changed to Tiffany House.
The partners Jerome Vogel, James Klingbiel and Eugene Rosenfeld, Columbus, Ohio property managers and builders of garden apartments, formed the KRV Company and bought the Sweet Building on Andrews Avenue the River Shores at 16th Avenue and Oakland Park Boulevard. Working with wholesale tour operators whose client base was mostly Canadians and Europeans, They ran The Escape initially as a conventional hotel. However, a close study of changing demographics soon let them to consider a different market. The Escape would become a hotel devoted to gracious living for retirees. It was known as an ACLF, an adult living congregate facility or, as Vogel liked to call it, "Club Med for octogenarians". Its mostly elderly widowed clientele were offered attractive surroundings and full scale dining facilities plus nursing supervision of medications. It was not an assisted living service.
In a significant facelift, Louis Comfort Tiffany inspired glass panels, colors and fixtures set a luxurious look throughout. An elevator replaced lobby stairs, air conditioning was updated and an awning-covered poolside bar became the favorite cocktail gathering spot. For 15 years, Violet Joy, a popular cafÈ pianist at the Reef Restaurant during the 1970s, walked over from her nearby apartment to entertain residents with show tunes in exchange for her dinner. Professional management of the tennis courts attracted avid players from all over the community. The courts and dining room remained open to the public. The name, Tiffany House, remained for nearly 20 years. Long time residents recall the hotel of those years with affection. Its dining room and poolside courts and bar especially were the heart of the neighborhood.
These tennis courts, one of the most popular assets of the hotel where the residents and the locals gathered at poolside bar to watch the likes of Bobby Riggs ace his opponents, became the victim of an over- zealous city planner. Insisting that all Fort Lauderdale hotels had to comply with new parking regulations, in this case 40-50 parking spaces, she had little sympathy for Vogel's claim that not one resident had a car. While Vogel explained that, for years, the existing parking had been sufficient for outside guests and staff, she remained firm. The courts were therefore replaced with a parking lot which has remained ill-used until this day. Vogel, among others, remains bitter. The central beach neighborhood loss was significant.
For some time a marginal operation, Tiffany House could not survive the loss of revenue stream produced by the tennis/poolside bar ambiance, a building encumbered by difficult steps, and the effects of a changing neighborhood. Tiffany House Inc. was to be sold. In 1992 when Forum Investments ILLC bought the property for $2,180.500 and contracted its management to the Senior Services Division of Marriott Corp., it became a full service, assisted living facility. Eleven years later, in 2003, Forum sold the property to Five Star Corporation, a REIT (real estate investment trust) and Sunrise Senior Living replaced Marriott as the management authority but continued using the same name, Tiffany House. In January, 2006 Five Star sold the property to an Illinois owner who put it on the market immediately.
ARCHITECTS
Architects Theodore A. Meyer and Lester Avery were the principal architects of the building which was built in three sections. Architects Tony Sherman and Richard Riley designed small additions as well. Theodore A. Meyer appears as the architect on permit #24609, dated August 16, 1949 was for 47 hotel rooms and swimming pool. (Block 8, Birch Lots 2 & 3). Apparently Lester Avery collaborated with Meyer on the original section for his name is listed on permit #23082 dated January 3, 1949. Avery designed the west (Lot ) in 1950 and east section (Lot 1) in 1951. His name appears on several permits in 1950 and 51: #27479 July 10, 1950, #27789 July 31, 1950, 27517
Theodore A. Meyer was born in New York City December 11, 1882. He died in Fort Lauderdale, September 3, 1957. His obituary states that he practiced in Fort Lauderdale for twenty years designing "the Ft. Lauderdale Elks Club, churches, business places, numerous residences, bowling alleys, stores, apartments buildings and several beach hotels." His work is seen in Victoria Park, RioVista, Harbor Beach and the Coral Ridge area. In Birch Estates on the beach we know that he designed hotels, in addition to the Escape at 2900 Riomar, one at 509 and 511 Bayshore Drive, 700 Orton Avenue. 224 Birch Road A more comprehensive list of Meyer's buildings is attached.
Lester Avery was born in Montana in October 7, 1891 and died August 28, 1973 in Dade County. His early practice in Clearwater, Florida for a prominent developer at that time - the Dean Alvord Company - produced among others the 1918 J.S. McAnulty House. In the 1930s he moved to Miami where he lived at 713 NW 7th Street. From 1946 to 1954 Avery was very popular as a designer of residences in Fort Lauderdale from the Birch Estates, North Atlantic Boulevard and Ocean Drive area of the beach to Victoria Park, in Rio Vista, the Coral Ridge areas especially. During this eight year period Avery designed at least 37 residences on Fort Lauderdale Beach alone.
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