Hotel Lafayette Returns!

In the last edition, we looked at a vintage stereo view of the original Hotel Lafayette building, which burned in 1897.

This postcard from 1910 shows the “new” Hotel Lafayette, now rechristened as the Lafayette Club, around the year 1910. Built in 1899 and opened in 1900, the new Lafayette Club building was considerably smaller than the original structure. Despite this, its grandeur was still high above most other hotels around Lake Minnetonka at the time. As well, it was built in time to still enjoy the lake’s golden era, albeit they were the waning years of the era.

This version, like its predecessor, hosted a bevy of famous persons. The most famous of which was U.S. president William Howard Taft. Interestingly, Taft claimed to love the lake & Lafayette so much that there is a rather common myth that he used the club as a summer White House. While this isn't the case, there is much to tell about president Taft and his affiliation for Lake Minnetonka.

In 1922 a fire broke out and, like the Hotel Lafayette in 1897 before it, the Lafayette Club burnt to the ground once more. However, as we know, the Lafayette Club continues to be a successful enterprise which many of us frequent today. How will they come back?