Baker Hotel - Mineral Wells, TX - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

"The main structure is visually divided into four subsections; base, shaft, cornice and tower. The base consists primarily of an arcaded portico of wide and tall dimensions. The extradosed arches are of brrcl< faces resting on tapered cast stone imposts. The columns continue to the cast stone banding running the length of the arcade and serving as sills to the openings created. The arcade, or loggia, a common design element of the Spanish Colonial genre, engacjes the building on the south, west and east elevations. Small portal windows and other odd-^slzed, stylized openings are placed at intervals to create an additional embellishment. Beneath the arcade Is a ground level of commercial and office activities. These openings have been altered to allow for the particular tenant requirements during Its years of active use. Glass blocl< was placed In several of the store glass facade openings at a later date. An enclosed drive-in and turn-around area is found on the northeast corner of the site. The totally enclosed bricl< courtyard has a Spanish tile roof overharig and provides a strong sense of Intimacy and luxury for the guests arriving at the hotel, The roof area of the arcade is of Spanish pantiled arrangement. A double roof line of moderate pitch, rising to narrow row of tile leading to a flat roof, is evidenced. Additional cast stone details embellish corners and various major openings. The main (front) entry Is a highly detailed stone arrangement around windows, columns, cornices and parapets.

The second major section of the building, the shaft, consists of the 10 story apartment area. This Is a fairly embellished section of brick. The major design attribute is the discontinuous facade lines that provide for additional window visibility. Windows are of wood frame, sash type, 8 over 8 lights. Sills are cast stone. A cast stone ornamental banding runs the length of the facade between Floors 2 and 3, and 9 and 10. This light design touch serves to quietly highlight and delineate this portion of the building. A center piece of the major facade planes is the two-story, paired Pal I adian cast window frame that encloses' four sets of windows—the lower level of standard 6 over 6 with the upper Paliadian multipaned lights.

The next major section to be considered is the cornice line area. An enclosed roof top ballroom ("The Cloud Room) that reiterates the arcade effect at the base is to be found in this location. Windows are multipaned. Roof brackets are of jigged, wooden scallops. Wooden pilasters with capitals matching roof brackets complete the exterior roof top facade. A tile roof encloses the edifice.

A forty foot single bell tower completes the building facade. Paliadian windows with cut stone ballustrade and tile roof neatly balance the building, providing flair, elegance and a touch of the exotic to the small midwestern townscape. Following the philosophy of "form follows function" the structural bay interval was developed to accommodate the room layout and reflected little design innovation. Although the exterior walls were "curtain" in the sense that they covered an independent structural system, the walls and fenestration were characteristically conservative and mirror elements of a traditional design vocabulary."