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Travel Back to 1910 at Elbert Hubbard’s Utopia in Western New York
by Robert W. Lang
This sitting area is just inside the lobby entrance of the Roycroft Inn. The furniture is a mix of original pieces and reproductions, and the room appears much as it did in the early 20th century. The inn offers fine dining and guest suites in a relaxing and authentic atmosphere. Spend the night if you can, for there is a lot to see.
Seeing furniture in the flesh is much better than looking at photographs or drawings. A visit to a museum is good, but seeing furniture in context, in relation to other pieces and in an appropriate interior is better still. The Roycroft Inn and adjacent campus, Elbert Hubbard’s utopian community, offer that in abundance, and if you are fascinated with the Arts & Crafts period of the early 20th century, a visit to East Aurora, New York should be on your bucket list.
Originally completed in 1905, the Roycroft Inn was restored in 1995. Today it is a treasure trove of Arts & Crafts furniture, glass, metal and architecture.
The inn, originally opened in 1905 and restored in 1995, offers the opportunity to enjoy a meal or spend the night surrounded by the best examples of the period in furniture, metalwork, glass and architecture. When you step into one of the public areas, dining rooms or guest rooms, it is like stepping back one hundred years to when the Arts & Crafts period was the height of fashion.
If you like the furniture by itself, you’ll enjoy it more when you sit in an original Stickley morris chair, look out the window at the garden and enjoy coffee and conversation surrounded by murals, exposed wood construction and art glass lighting. At the Roycroft Inn, you are surrounded by the real thing and invited to make yourself at home.
Hubbard and His Vision
Elbert Hubbard was one of the leading figures of the Arts & Crafts period, best know for his writing and publishing. In 1895, he sold his interest in the Larkin Soap Company and founded the Roycrofters. His skill in promotion and marketing had put him in a position to cash out and retire while in his mid-thirties. Some of the most commonly used marketing strategies of the 20th century, such as offering premiums with products, “cutting out the middle man” and celebrity endorsements are ideas that originated with Hubbard.
Extremely successful at marketing and salesmanship, he saw himself as a writer and philosopher, and the main focus at Roycroft was publishing. He traveled to Europe, enrolled in Harvard and wrote a few books before returning to East Aurora, about 20 miles east of Buffalo.
An original Roycroft armchair, alongside a desk are at the entry to a glass-enclosed dining area between the formal dining rooms and an outdoor garden.
He set up a print shop and book-bindery modeled after William Morris’ Kelmscott Press. He wrote several books titled “Little Journeys” and founded two magazines, “The Fra” and “The Philistine”. An essay in “The Philistine” in 1899 called “A Message to Garcia” struck a chord with the American people, sold millions of copies when reprinted as a pamphlet, and enabled Hubbard to expand his campus and businesses. Hubbard was also popular on the lecture circuit, often setting out to tour when cash was needed for one of the many enterprises at the growing Roycroft campus.
Success Begets Growth
In 1901 A new stone building was erected for the printing operation, and the original print shop became the Roycroft Inn. Around this time, several other buildings were constructed to house other crafts, including a furniture shop. There is also a Chapel that was originally used for community meetings and a powerhouse that suppled electricity and steam heat to the Campus. The woodworking operation at Roycroft originally supplied furniture for the community and the inn, and pieces were offered for sale through a printed catalog.
The “Little Journeys” books made Elbert Hubbard famous, and this knock-down book stand was a bread and butter item for the Roycroft wood shop.
Roycroft furniture was nicely made, and the designs were typical of the period without being direct imitations of other makers. The easy way to identify a Roycroft piece is the presence of either the Roycroft orb, or the name itself carved in a prominent place. This type of branding, the forerunner of today’s Nike “swoosh,” is also one of Hubbard’s innovations. Construction was generally of quartersawn white oak, stained in shades of brown.
In the hotel lobby, this massive table takes center stage. About twelve feet long, it is a variation of the hay rake table, with an additional center leg.
The feet on Roycroft pieces often have some detail, either tapering to a bell shaped foot (known as a Mackmurdo foot) or with a carved recess above a curved foot. The influence of English Arts & Crafts designers, as well as Medieval and Gothic designs is seen both in Roycroft furniture and in the interior and exterior details of the buildings.
In Hubbard’s writings he talks about hiring local carpenters to build the buildings at Roycroft, then keeping them on to make furniture. When the buildings were furnished, pieces were then made for sale. Hubbard never designed any furniture himself, and never made that claim. No individual has been clearly identified as a Roycroft furniture designer, and it is likely that the cabinetmakers collaborated with artists and designers at Roycroft to work out the details of specific designs.
Roycroft furniture often had curved details, seen here at the top of the back legs and in the tapered legs that terminate in Mackmurdo feet.
Pulls and escutcheons were fabricated in the copper shop and the trademark Roycroft orb is carved into the top of the leg in a prominent position.
Roycroft was never a major player in furniture production of the period. Bruce Johnson’s book “Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Furniture” (Popular Woodworking Books), which is now unfortunately out of print, tells the story of the furniture industry at Roycroft in detail. Elbert Hubbard’s main focus was on printing; the print shop had the largest and best equipped facility on the Roycroft campus, and printing and bookbinding brought in the most revenue. Works in copper, glass and furniture (and for a brief period, pottery) were also produced, but in smaller shops with fewer employees. Work in these secondary crafts was well done. The Roycroft woodworking shop, however, was tiny in comparison to Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops a few hours away in Syracuse, New York.
Originally the home of printing and bookbinding, this building was converted to the inn when a new print shop was built across the street.
An original Roycroft side chair sees daily use in the hotel lobby. Throughout the inn, original pieces are in service, not behind velvet ropes.
In 1904, as work on the Inn began in earnest and in hopes of establishing a foothold in the furniture market, a three story building was erected to house the woodworking shop. Machinery was located on the first floor, powered by a generator in the basement. The second floor contained a bench room and assembly areas, with finishing and storage of completed projects on the top level.
Hubbard’s marketing philosophy of selling direct to the consumer through catalogs may well have limited the growth of the furniture shop. At its busiest, there may have been as many as a dozen workers. For most of its active period, however, as few as three or four cabinetmakers was the norm. Roycroft furniture is not as common as that made by the major companies active in the period.
Hubbard and his wife Alice both died in the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. Hubbard’s son Bert took over management of the various Roycroft enterprises, staying active until the great depression.
What’s in the Roycroft Inn Today
Many of the original furnishings in the Roycroft Inn were produced by one of the Stickleys, with pieces from both Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Workshops and L. & J.G. Stickley, the company headed by Gustav’s younger brother Leopold. Today, the furniture inside the inn is a mix of old pieces and current reproductions. Most of the originals are in the lobbies, and most of the new pieces are in the dining rooms and guest suites. It’s a nice collection, and pieces see daily use. It’s a refreshing change for the furniture lover; no velvet ropes and no “do not touch” signs.
In front of the window, a Stickley prairie settle with spindle sides and back sits next to a Roycroft drop front desk and an unusual double Morris chair.
In the period between the 1930s and the 1970s, the inn and the other buildings on the campus saw various uses and several owners, none of whom were successful in the long run. Much of the original furniture was sold locally along the way. In the 1970s the inn was purchased by an owner committed to restoring the property. Part of that owner’s effort was tracking down and purchasing original pieces of furniture that were still in the area.
In 1986, the campus and the inn were granted status as a National Historic Landmark, and a major restoration effort began. Restoration of the inn was completed in 1995. Several of the other buildings have also been restored. The second print shop building, the copper shop and the Chapel across the street from the inn look as if they had been transported from the English countryside. The front facade of the inn is in the Prairie style, and the interior is a pleasing blend of exposed beams, wood panels and floors and other elements that were popular trends in the early 1900s.
In this dining room, you can enjoy a meal in an ideal Arts & Crafts period interior surrounded by great examples of wood, metal, glass and stone.
The Roycroft Inn began as a single building, the original print and bindery shop. Between 1901 and 1905, additions were made to the original structure. Two wings are added to the front and back of the building, connecting it to a three-story structure that contains the hotel lobby on the ground floor with guest suites above. Both wings are now dining areas, with the front wing open to the air and a garden area in the space between the wings and the hotel.
Behind the rear wing is an additional dining room, and there is a small dining room behind the lobby of the original building. A bar is to one side of that lobby. It all has a definite feeling of a building that grew rather than one that was completely planned at the outset. It works, but it can be confusing to the first time visitor. Plus, some of the dining areas are far removed from the kitchen; the serving staff gets their exercise.
There are two entrances to the inn. One is to the original building, a few steps up from the stone wall that separates the sidewalk from the street. The second entrance is at the opposite end of the building, around the corner facing a parking area. Beyond each entrance is a large room. These rooms are of particular interest to woodworkers and furniture collectors.
Some Roycroft pieces had a carved name in a prominent spot instead of the orb. Elbert Hubbard wanted you to know where this came from.
Inside the door at the street entrance, the room has groups of side chairs around circular tables. In the center, two L. & J.G. Stickley prairie settles with paneled sides and backs face each other across a modern cocktail table. To the right, the wall has windows that open to a central garden and is anchored with a brick fireplace at the middle.
Many of the doors in the Roycroft Inn have carved mottos or quotes from Hubbard’s writings. This door leads from the lobby to the guest suites.
To the right of the fireplace is a high-back bench and to the left is a grouping of two Gustav Stickley bent-arm Morris chairs with an art-glass-shaded lamp atop a circular table placed between them. These chairs have numerous small spindles below the arms; a style that was short-lived, but the latest thing in 1905. On the opposite wall are more groupings of chairs and an elegant tall clock, custom made to celebrate the restoration of the inn.
At the far end of the room is a stairway, flanked by arched openings to a small dining room beyond. At the top of the stairs is another room, currently set up as a private dining room, and stairs to a private suite above. At the top of the stairs are carved newel posts and a wonderful view of the room below, as well as the exposed beams with glass lanterns hanging from them. The upstairs rooms have served different purposes as the inn has grown and evolved.
The inn’s guest book sits on a period desk with book shelves built into the ends. This combination was common in the period, but never became popular.
Beside the Morris chairs at the far end of the room is a handsome glass door Roycroft cabinet, and there are several side boards and serving tables where the transition is made from the lobby to the connecting wing and the large dining room behind it. Today this wing is where breakfast is served. At the far end of the wing is a paneled vestibule with doors leading to the hotel lobby, and to the garden area between the wings.
The hotel lobby was originally used as a performing area for music, or for Hubbard or a visitor to speak from a raised platform. Today it is arranged in several discrete seating areas, with a massive Roycroft table in the middle of the room. Upon entering the room from outside, the check-in desk is to the right and a massive partners desk to the left. Above the paneled walls are murals, with windows on three sides of the room.
The frame building (originally three stories tall) between the power house and copper shop housed the woodworking operation at Roycroft.
Two of the windows have built-in seats, surrounded by a nice assortment of chairs from several makers. There is also a variety of interesting occasional tables throughout the room, including L. & J.G. Stickley “encyclopedia” tables and round tabourets. Near the doorways are sideboards, desks and serving tables. As in most areas of the inn, it takes a while to take in everything that is there. It’s easy to focus on one piece and miss several others nearby.
This pair of Gustav Stickley spindle-side Morris chairs is one of many sitting areas in the inn where guests can use original pieces, in their original setting.
At the end of the room is another seating area, by the windows that face the street. Here you’ll find a spindle side version of the prairie settle, a nice Roycroft drop front desk and a most interesting Morris chair. This chair, made in the woodworking shop across the street about 100 years ago is wide enough for two to sit in cozy comfort. Throughout the inn are original pieces that see daily use, a testament to the longevity of this style of furniture.
The large table in the middle of the room is an interesting variation of a hay rake table, with an additional leg in the center of the long top. The end stretchers are bow-shaped curves that join the legs with pegged tenons. The square legs terminate in bulbous feet, a detail that softens the imposing appearance of this piece.
Many of the doors in the inn have mottos carved in them, and there are carved plaques with pithy sayings in the main dining room and in the lobby in the original building. Hubbard was fond of these short quotations, both in coining them and in using them. In rooms with exposed beams in the ceiling a plaque hangs from each beam.
A small nook in a guest suite is a cozy area to compose a “having a great time, wish you were here” letter in an authentic setting.
The hallways leading to the guest suites are also home to several nice original pieces. Between the lobby and the elevator is an original “Little Journeys” bookstand, complete with a set of original books. These stands were one of the bread and butter items of the woodshop; made to knock down for flat shipping to catalog customers. Near the elevator on the first floor is a hall tree with a full length mirror, and the elevator lobby on the second floor is home to a Stickley bench and a Gothic style chair.
The guest suites have been returned to their original appearance, and are named for luminaries of philosophy and English literature. Upon entering the room, there is a sitting area ahead and a large tiled bath to the side. Beyond the sitting room is a bedroom with a small nook equipped with a desk. The bedroom and nook have windows across the outside wall, and there are also windows between the front and back rooms of the suite. The suites are compact, but comfortable and functional. Staying overnight adds to the experience of visiting the Roycroft Inn. Plan on spending a couple of days because there’s enough to see to make it worthwhile.
— Robert W. Lang
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