The Chamberlin is a retirement community in

Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...

, overlooking

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

Old Point Comfort Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the Independent city (United States), independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in ...

. It was formerly known as the Chamberlin Hotel, named for the famed restaurateur and original owner John Chamberlin. The nine-story building sits on historic

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth o ...

and overlooks

Fort Wool Fort Wool is a decommissioned island fortification located in the mouth of Hampton Roads, adjacent to the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT). Officially known as Rip Raps Island, the fort has an elevation of 7 feet and sits near Old Point Comf ...

. Listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, it has been renovated from its former life as a hotel into a luxury retirement community for people aged 55 and up. The second floor has retained the hotel atmosphere while the rest of the floors have been renovated and turned into one- and two-bedroom apartments. A few apartments are used as guest quarters for visiting relatives of residents. The current building opened in 1928 as the Chamberlin-Vanderbilt Hotel, under the direction of Marcellus E. Wright Sr., with

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm based in New York City, a partnership established about 1889 by Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866–1941). They had one of the most extensive practices of their time, and were e ...

consulting.National Register of Historic Places - Registration Form

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

It replaced an earlier Chamberlin Hotel, designed by Washington, D.C., architects

John L. Smithmeyer John L. Smithmeyer (1832–1908) was an American architect. Biography He was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1832 and came to the U.S. in 1848. He studied architecture in Chicago and began an architectural practice in Indianapolis. After serving in ...

and Paul J. Pelz and completed in 1896, which had in turn replaced the Hygeia. The current building originally had two large

cupolas In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

on its roof but these were removed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

because they were visible from out in the ocean beyond the

Virginia Capes The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America. The importance of the Chesapeake Bay in American history has lo ...

and it was feared that they could potentially aid a hostile German warship cruising offshore in targeting Fort Monroe. They were never replaced after the war.

References

External links

Official websiteHistory of the building and siteReese, Franklin W., "U.S. Hotel Chamberlin", ''Coast Artillery Journal'', March-April 1942, Vol. 85, No. 2, P. 52
Beaux-Arts architecture in Virginia Buildings and structures in Hampton, Virginia Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Virginia Hotel buildings completed in 1928 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Hampton, Virginia Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Retirement communities in the United States Tourist attractions in Hampton, Virginia 1928 establishments in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia Warren and Wetmore buildings {{HamptonVA-NRHP-stub