Lewis Kayton House, Historic hotel at 700 Drayton Street, Savannah, Georgia, USA.
The Lewis Kayton House is a large hotel building in Savannah located near Forsyth Park, featuring Queen Anne-style architecture with a prominent corner turret, curved Flemish gables, terra cotta panels, and elliptical arches. The structure spans multiple stories with wooden panels that create texture across its exterior, while modern additions have expanded its capacity to include 126 guest rooms alongside dining and recreational spaces.
The house was designed and built in 1888 by architect Alfred S. Eichberg for Lewis Kayton, a businessman who came to Savannah after the Civil War and built a meat-packing enterprise. From 1953 to 2001, it served as the Fox and Weeks Funeral Home before later undergoing renovations and conversion to a hotel with modern amenities.
The house is named after Lewis Kayton, a wealthy businessman who settled in Savannah after the Civil War and built this residence to display his success. Today, visitors experience the craftsmanship and architectural details that reflect the era when such grand homes represented both personal achievement and the city's prosperity.
The hotel sits directly at Forsyth Park, a large, easily accessible public space with mature trees where visitors can walk and explore the surrounding historic district. The location offers quiet, shaded grounds, making it convenient for those wanting to view the architecture and wander through the historic neighborhood.
The building served for decades as a funeral home while retaining many of its original architectural features, an unexpected use that illustrates how historic Savannah structures adapted to different purposes over time. Few visitors realize this building spent half a century in that role before becoming a hotel.
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