Description of Historic Place

Formerly a hotel, the Crown Inn is a late 19th century, four-storey, red brick structure with both Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival style design elements.

Located on Devonshire Road in the heart of early Walkerville, it is recognized by City of Windsor Bylaw 6795, 1980.

Heritage Value

The Crown Inn was the first hotel built in Walkerville. It was a reflection of the town's rapid expansion in the late 1800s due to the development of Walker's distillery. Constructed by the Walkerville Land and Building Co. for Hiram Walker and Sons, its 32 sleeping rooms and other amenities accommodated railroad travellers and the growing number of visitors to Walker's nearby business operations. Strategically located, when it opened in 1893, directly across from the railroad depot (subsequently demolished), the hotel operation ceased in 1921 and the building was converted to a combination apartment building (upper floors) and commercial facility (ground floor).

Designed by Mason and Rice of Detroit for the Walkerville Land and Building Co., the structure combines elements of both Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles. Although altered inside with the 1921 conversion, its exterior appearance has changed little. Noteworthy features include the hipped roof which projects over the bay windows, original dormers on the fourth storey with triangular hoods, broad-arched first floor windows with glazed transoms and radiating brick voussoirs, and a central balconette on the third floor of the facade.

It's strategic location on Devonshire Road in the heart of early Walkerville, which was developed by the Walkerville Land and Building Co. where massive management-level semi-detached houses, a train station and numerous industrial buildings already lined the street. A bank and post office followed a few years later and, today, the Crown Inn forms part of a streetscape of heritage buildings.

Sources: Building Analysis Form, January 3, 1997, and City of Windsor Bylaw 6795, 1980.

Character-Defining Elements

Key character defining elements that express the cultural heritage values include:
-Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival style elements
- four-storey, red brick construction and L-shape plan
- hipped roof projecting over bay windows with wood trim on the second and third floors of facade
- five single chimneys
- broad-arched first floor windows with glazed transoms and radiating brick voussoirs
- central balconette on third floor of facade
- arcading on ground floor of facade and south-west corner
- three-paned transoms
- large window with semi-circular surround head on north-west corner
- original dormers on west and north roof slopes with triangular hoods
- double-hung windows with plain trim and transoms, including a few with semi-circular heads
- string course around the building at the second and third levels
- its location on Devonshire Road in the heart of early Walkerville, which was developed by the Walkerville Land and Building Co.
- its proximity to other residential and commercial heritage properties, which include three massive Richardsonian Romanesque residences (circa 1890), the former Walkerville Town Hall (1904) and the former Walkerville Post Office (1914).