Hotel Margaret

Hotel Margaret
The hotel as it appeared in the 1890s
General information
Type	Hotel
Architectural style	Richardsonian Romanesque
Location	Cnr. Columbia Heights and Orange St., Brooklyn
Address	97 Columbia Heights
Completed	1889
Renovated	1980
Destroyed	By fire, 1980
Client	John Arbuckle
Height	10 stories
Design and construction
Architect	Frank Freeman

The Hotel Margaret was a notable building in Brooklyn, New York. Designed by Frank Freeman and completed in 1889, the hotel was the locality's first skyscraper and for many years remained its tallest building. It was destroyed by fire during renovations. It seems that a person who was using taping compound left a heater on and forgot to turn it off which started the fire that destroyed the hotel in 1980.

The hotel was built for John Arbuckle, a Brooklyn coffee and sugar importer, and named after his sister Margaret. Prominent Brooklyn-based architect Frank Freeman was commissioned to design the building, which was completed in 1889.

For many years, the hotel remained the tallest building in the locality, becoming a "familiar and appreciated" sight to the locals. It was home to several prominent artists, including etcher Joseph Pennell, Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sigrid Undset, and Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

The building was remodelled in 1958, and at this time given a coat of "neutral-toned" paint which caused it to lose some of its polychromatic appeal. In 1980, work began on converting the hotel into condominiums, but the building caught fire during the renovation and burned down.

In 1986, architect Stanton Eckstut was hired to design a new residence on the site, which incorporates architectural elements that pay tribute to the former hotel’s copper patina details, terracotta façade, and corner bay windows. While the new building was under construction, the property was sold to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and has been used to accommodate members of their headquarters staff.

Completed in architect Frank Freeman's signature Richardsonian Romanesque style, the building has been described as "a rangy, Victorian apartment house in brick, terra cotta and pressed metal with vivid and witty ornament" and as "the outstanding building of the Post Civil War period" in the locality. A contemporary source described the building as: