Hotel Klaus

TEAM: SO Studio, Lue Svendson Landscape Architect
CLIENT: Bayou Courtableau Investments
LOCATION: Washington, Louisiana
COMPLETION: 2024
AWARDS: AIA Louisiana 2024 Award of Honor

 
 
 

This project involved the rehabilitation of a historic two-story commercial building at the heart of the small town of Washington, Louisiana. The building has started a new chapter of its life as Hotel Klaus, a nine-room boutique hotel.

Washington, the town in which the hotel is located, is the third oldest European settlement in Louisiana, founded by French settlers in the early 18th century. It served first as a major steamboat port on Bayou Courtableau, facilitating trade and commerce until the town became a railroad hub later in the 19th century.

This building was constructed in 1870 by Edward Plonsky, a Prussian Jewish immigrant, for his family and business. It soon after came into the possession of the Klaus family, who lived on the second floor and ran their general store in the commercial space at the street level. The Klaus Store served the town for over 100 years as a ‘pillar’ business for its community. Later it was converted to residences, then an antique shop, and then fell into a period of dereliction.

The rehabilitation of this general store building renders two distinct façades visible: the original general store in two stories, dating to 1870, and a one-story addition dating to 1909. This breaks up the scale on the main street with different colors, different roof materials, and planting. The roof over the 1870 portion was replaced with a metal S-panel to match the existing century-old roof cladding, while the one-story addition received a replacement roof of cedar shakes, a material dating from the period of significance of the building. Window sashes and shutters were replaced on the 1870 portion. New windows were introduced in their historic dimensions and locations on the 1909 portion. The building was also extensively leveled throughout, notably at the front façade on North Main Street.

The project team’s goal is to honor the building’s rich past while creating a sophisticated and comfortable experience for today's travelers which also serves as a catalyst for revitalizing its historic town. The design team collaborated extensively with the National Park Service and the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) on this rehabilitation effort.

HOTEL KLAUS WEBSITE (info + reservations)

‘Before’ photos show the condition in which the building was found in 2022. On the building’s interior, the wall to the right of the main stair (not shown) had been completely removed and an infill wall had been built between the stair treads and the lobby ceiling.

Spaces throughout the building retain their high ceilings and large windows, giving the hotel a bright and welcoming atmosphere. Contemporary furniture and lighting complement the historic architecture. Original features such as decorative hand-painted faux-marble murals, wood paneling, and fireplaces have been preserved and highlighted. The décor blends Victorian-era style with a fresh and contemporary elegance.

Many of the hotel rooms had previously been built out in the 1970s during the building’s inhabitation as a tri-plex. Bathrooms of compact design were added to each room to respect the scale of the spaces. Wall-hung toilets and showers were installed. Modern ceiling fans are provided for climatic sensitivity. Mantelpieces were restored and hearths were tiled where summer screens were missing. Original hardwood floors were restored throughout the building.

The approach to lighting takes full advantage of abundant natural daylight. Overhead lighting is avoided in favor of gentler light near the floor level.

Artwork was chosen for each room reflecting Louisiana flora and fauna featuring local photographers. The design team chose contemporary pieces to complement the historic details of the original building.

Elements repeated through every room include a bold patterned rug, SMEG refrigerators, a pink tabletop telephone in keeping with the overall color scheme, and Tivoli clock radios. Furnishings include custom cypress desks with Acadian detailing at the leg joints.

Color blocking (painting all surfaces in a room in a single, unifying color) provides a series of colors of light that suffuse each room with abundant natural lighting.

Floor-to-ceiling drapes emphasize the height of each hotel room and contrast with wall and ceiling colors.

Max Klaus, the merchant who owned and operated the building during its period of significance, had renovated this space in 1909 to include an addition which is octagonal in plan (like a bay window). This plan repeats on the second floor. This room was the Klaus family’s dining room where they hosted guests. The adjacent butler’s pantry was turned into the bathroom for this extra-large suite. Wainscoting and ceiling were restored.

Second floor corridor: During the restoration, peeling back layers of wall finish, the design team found the original hand-painted faux-marble murals, which were painstakingly restored. The faux-marble is emblematic of the height of the steamboat era in the town. Below the faux-marble, wainscoting, which was added during Victorian times and the railroad era, was also retained and restored, juxtaposing two eras of the building’s history.

Pendant lights in the center of the corridor are original and were restored. The ceiling is painted in the updated light violet from the building’s Victorian color palette. Décor includes a six-piece Victorian parlor set, transforming this generous hallway, a key volume in the building, into a social space for hotel guests and visitors.

A historic witness was left of salvaged wood from a railroad crate from the Schwartz Bros. company in New Orleans, which had contained a shipment of ticking fabric.

These crates were building materials used in construction of this fireplace above the mantel in the addition that Max Klaus made in 1909. Max Klaus’s name appears painted by hand.

The light violet color in this hotel room and restroom subtly shifts throughout the day with the natural light. Artwork above the bed shows a cypress wetland in South Louisiana.

Bathrooms feature honeycomb floor tile. Three of the bathrooms were made from a space that was originally a sleeping porch that had been significantly altered over the building’s life. Two of the windows had been covered when this space was converted to a second-floor kitchen during the building’s time as a tri-plex. The rehabilitation fully restores the windows, allowing them to illuminate the space.

Above is a detail photo of the restored faux-marble and refinished wainscoting, flanked by part of the six-piece Victorian parlor set, which together form a complementary ensemble.

Closeup of the second-floor corridor wall, looking into the room facing the main street: The nearly floor-to-ceiling windows in the room feature slip headers in the original framing, in which new sashes were installed. This allows direct passage from the room to the balcony overlooking the street. The original door leading to the balcony features a single large lite of intricately patterned Florentine glass. A cast-aluminum pediment on a historic commercial building directly across the street is visible through the door opening.

A decorative medallion shown above, dating to the steamboat era of its town, was one of the found objects which provided inspiration not only for the hotel’s logo but also for a Victorian color palette, which was developed throughout the interior and continued throughout the exterior.

The color on the body of the two-story building is extended onto the lobby ceiling.

In the hotel lobby, the stair banister and wainscoting were retained and restored. Fixtures and finishes, including paint, wallpaper, and luminaires, were chosen to reflect local flora, fauna, and flair, with an eye toward eco-tourism in Louisiana. Guests are greeted by an antique mahogany folding desk and a mid-century modern office chair with its original orange upholstering. Pairs of egrets punctuate the fresh wallpaper. A modern Japanese cuckoo clock on the wall behind the desk reinforces the avian motif.

The building sits adjacent to nearly 60 city blocks of historic building stock located in the Town of Washington’s National Historic District. Very few of these buildings have been recently rehabilitated, especially of this size or significance. This rehabilitation will act as a catalyst on the central artery of the third oldest European settlement in Louisiana, a town of around 1,000 people with a strong local sense of place. This architectural jewel is being put back into commerce to enhance visitors’ experience during their stay in this historic town and allow them to stay in a piece of history that looks forward to many years ahead.