| Mather Inn | |
| Location: | 107 Canda St., Ishpeming, Michigan |
| Coordinates: | 46.4917°N -87.6681°W |
| Built: | 1931 |
| Architect: | James H. Ritchie, Warren H. Manning |
| Architecture: | Colonial Revival, Georgian revival vernacular |
| Added: | December 20, 1978 |
| Refnum: | 78001505 |
| Designated Other1: | Michigan State Historic Site |
| Designated Other1 Date: | June 18, 1976 |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
The Mather Inn is a hotel in Ishpeming, Michigan. The inn served as housing for the cast of the classic 1959 movie Anatomy of a Murder, and was the place where Duke Ellington composed the movie's score.[1] [2] [3] It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1976 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
In 1875, Robert Nelson, the founder of Ishpeming, built a hotel in the city known as the Barnum House.[4] Four years later, the Barnum House burned, and Nelson replaced it with another structure he called the Nelson House.[4] The Nelson House stood until 1928, when it too burned. The loss of Ishpeming's finest hotel affected the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, which now had no place to house important guests.[5]
Realizing the benefit of having a first-class hotel, William G. Mather, Cleveland-Cliffs president, financed the construction of the Mather Inn as a replacement.[5] Mather hired Boston architect James H. Ritchie to design the building and turned to Warren H. Manning, a longtime associate, to design the grounds.[5] The hotel is considered to be an excellent example of the work of both men.[5]
The Mather Inn opened in 1932, and served the community for decades.[4] In 1959, it served as lodging for the cast of the classic movie Anatomy of a Murder.[4] In the mid-1980s, the Mather Inn Preservation Society was created to sustain it.[4] However, the inn fell on hard times, and in 1987 it was closed and sold.[4]
The inn was vacant for many years, but in 2004 renovations to the building were started.[6] As of 2009, the inn is privately owned and is undergoing a renovation to turn it into luxury residences and office suites.[4] [7]
In 2014, the old boiler room and adjacent storage area were converted into a brewery named Cognition Brewing Company. The brewery served its beer out of the old pub.[8] The brewery closed in 2023 after the hotel's new owners decided to apply for their own liquor license.[9] [10]
The Mather Inn is a four-story rectangular building, constructed of concrete and steel with a brick facing.[5] The front facade is divided into three bays, with a two-story portico sheltering the entrance in the center bay.[5] The varied fenestration on the front, including bay windows flanking the center entrance and dormers on the hipped roof, make the facade architecturally interesting.[5]
The public areas of the interior are panelled in pine,[5] and include a sunken dining room and men's clubroom.[4] There are forty-seven guest rooms, including three furnished apartments. On the exterior, the grounds contain uniform terraced gardens and a huge boulder rock garden.[5] The inn is still substantially similar to its original state, having undergone few alterations.[5]