The Stoneleigh’s new luminescent red THE rests proudly atop the  hotel as a welcome beacon to all of Dallas. Managing Director, John Langston, recently gave a behind the scenes tour of The Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa to News 8 WFAA “Why Guy”, Mike Castellucci. Mike’s tour was replete with secret passageways (tucked away in the illustrious Penthouse) as well as an up close and personal look at the original THE sign now showcased next to the Chef’s Table in Bolla. The segment aired for the first time Wednesday evening on the 5pm news.

http://www.wfaa.com/mcastellucci/

As it turns out, the “THE” letters that now adorn the new Bolla Restaurant at the new Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa have quite a story of their own. I was able to find some interesting insight into their history from Christen Fox at Prescott Realty. It turns out it wasn’t always “The Stoneleigh” after all:

” After visiting the Stoneleigh Court Hotel in 1934, Colonel Harry E. Stewart fell in love with the elegant ambiance of the hotel and chose to purchase it. In 1938, the sign ‘HOTEL STONELEIGH’ found its home atop the prestigious hotel, where it sparkled visibly over the city of Dallas. Burnt out in its prime, the “O” and “L” shined no more in 1951. As owner of the hotel, Colonel Stewart had to make the difficult decision of what to do with the remaining letters. With much creativity and little pressure, the word ‘HOTEL’ was transformed into the word ‘THE’. Thus, the hotel was labeled, ‘THE STONELEIGH’.

It has been almost sixty-five years since the hotel sign has been changed from its initial ‘HOTEL STONELEIGH’ spotlight. Although the recent hotel renovation highlighted the fragile condition of the entire roof top signage structure, state and local historic consultants gave permission to create an exact replica to allow the preservation of the original sign.”

In other news, the Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa was announced last night as a Best Real Estate Deal of the Year by the Dallas Business Journal in the category of “Best Rehabilitation/Re-Use”!

Recently, the Stoneleigh released a new fact sheet, which goes over all of the specifics about the newly renovated property.  As the hotel finishes up some final touches, this document relays some interesting facts about the property, including details regarding amenities, the spa, meetings & events, restaurant, and more.  The fact sheet also includes this interesting bit about the hotel’s history:

“Opened in 1923, the Stoneleigh was the tallest residence hotel west of the Mississippi.  Home to many prominent Dallasites, the “modern high-rise” was the fashionable setting for grand social fetes, celebrations, business gatherings, as well as a showcase for regional art, theatrical and cultural exhibitions. 

Enamored by The Stoneleigh, Texas entrepreneur Col. Harry Stewart purchased the hotel in 1934.  His opulent Penthouse addition, designed by Dallas architects Greene, La Roche & Dahl with interiors designed by Dorothy Draper & Company, became the family’s private residence and showcase for entertaining an elite international ciricle. 

Coined the hotel “Where the Stars Rest at Night,” The Stoneleigh has hosted celebrated guests such as Judy Garland, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Hope, Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Oliver Stone among others.”

As I mentioned in a previous post, Oliver Stone (shown above) used the Stoneleigh as his base of operations for producing his films “Quiz Show”, “Born On the Fourth of July”, and “JFK”. However, how did the Stoneleigh become associated with the film industry? After having spoken with Gary Bruton, the General Manager of the hotel while Mr. Stone was staying at the hotel, I learned more. Here’s a snapshot from our conversation:

D: I’ve come to find out that over the years a wide variety of famous folks have stopped by the Stoneleigh, including Elvis, Margo Jones, and Oliver Stone. Did you have any experience with this sort of clientele while you were there?

G: We actually started going after the motion picture business. I was approached by a Mr. Jaffe from the North Texas Film Commission, who wanted to film a shoot in Dallas and he wanted to use the hotel for his base. The movie was a made for TV production, and afterwards he came into my office and expressed to me that he thought that the hotel’s great location, history, and service would make it an ideal spot for filming productions. So, he said he’d like to come in and make the hotel ready for future film companies at his expense. They agreed to put in the power in the parking lot and set it up so that we could accommodate wardrobe trailers, catering trucks, and such.

It looked like a good opportunity so we basically allowed them to do that. So, Jaffe went through with the actual production, and from that point on, word began to spread back on the West Coast that there was this facility in Dallas that was very user-friendly for motion picture productions.

We would take the second and third floor and convert those to production offices, and as we did a couple more, the big one that came along was Oliver Stone, who was filming Talk Radio at the time. So, his first production at the Stoneleigh was “Talk Radio”, and he said he will probably back this up with a second shot being “Born on the Fourth of July”. They moved in the Spring of that year and were there a long time, with back-to-back productions

When a scout would come in, we would work with the with the DFW Film Commission through Roger Burke’s group. We would bring them in and we would tour the property and in many cases, if we could make it financially feasible, we would book the production company.

That led to more productions at the hotel, including several of Fred Williams’ movies, more television production shoots there, and then Oliver Stone came back again when he filmed “JFK”.

After that, there were even more productions, including Walker Texas Ranger and a made-for-TV movie production of “Dallas”, which were both productions that Michael Preece was involved with while he stayed at the hotel.

I had the chance to speak with Gary Bruton this week. He was with the Stoneleigh from 1985 to 1999 and had a big part in re-imagining the “Grape Room”, a room on the second floor of the hotel that had the same design scheme as Colonel Stewart’s Penthouse (see photo above, circa 1930’s). Here’s what he had to share on finding this unique room and how it adds to the distinctive lore of the Stoneleigh:

D: I came across an interesting article about you discovering the “Grape Room”. Can you tell me a little about that story?

G: Well, the actual room was leased out to a permanent tenant at the time. Sam Ronegal had been there, and basically I had never had a chance to go into the room since it was a long-term permanent residence. It turns out it was built in the same manner as the Penthouse, with the same great architecture, wood, and unique paneling. There were always comments that Mr. Stewart actually built it as an office or as a place for someone else to live in. So, of all the rooms, you get this one room on the second floor that was built out like the Penthouse and had the same features, which was interesting.

When Ronegal actually moved out, we were able to go in there and identify the room and started saying that this would be a fabulous wine cellar type room and we then converted it into a wine room for private dinners. It had some secret details as well, not as much as the Penthouse did, but it had some unique features that added to the lore of the hotel. It also had these fabulous stained-glass windows in it, just like the Penthouse, but 9 stories down. It was a unique room to be that far apart.

D: I’ve heard that Colonel Stewart had all of these secret passageways up in the Penthouse, so it’s interesting to find out that another room in the hotel had a similar design. Perhaps there were secret passageways in the Grape Room too?

G: There was always thought that there was even a passageway that connected the Grape Room to the Penthouse. Perhaps during the renovation they’ll uncover it. We could never determine that, but we always found it strange that this room was an exact replica of those in the Penthouse.

We looked from the standpoint that it was a fabulous room to do private dinner parties in because it had this great feel, like a private dining room in a wine cellar. So, that’s what we actually converted it to, and we were able to do some nice dinners in there.