The following several photos are of the Magma Hotel from the 2014 Superior Home Tour. It was obvious something was happening to the historic building, but I did not get much information. I now have the information...
January 26, 2014
January 26, 2014
building to the east of the hotel
January 26, 2014
one of my favorite 'framed' photos
also from January 26, 2014
January 27, 2019
John M. McPherson and wife, Anna, of Canada moved to Superior in 1902 and built the two-story hotel in 1910-1912 using red brick from the local brick factory. The 13,500 square foot Magma Hotel was home to the local newspaper and used as a hotel and boarding house. The hotel housed a phone booth where locals could make long distance calls until 1923. It also housed the Magma Cafe and the bus depot.
A screened-in seasonal sleeping porch for men was added in the 1920s as part of the boarding house. The hotel/boarding house also was home to an insurance business, a pharmacy, attorneys, and realtors over the years. Later, once the buildings began to decline, a hair salon, rooms for rent and the Superior food bank were located on the first floor and a restaurant was in the east wing. (white building)
In 1994 the Magma Hotel was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In 2010 the Magma Hotel was purchased by Miguel Sfeir from Chili and Scottsdale whose goal was to return the historic buildings to their previous grandeur.
Plum trees and palm yucca adorn the landscaped courtyard and arched portico where the main doors to the lobby are located.
dining room to the right of the lobby
seats 40+ people at 9 tables
3 ornate wood sideboards for buffets
large windows overlook a slender garden in the rear
replicated tin ceiling in the dining room
luxurious carpet runner on the main staircase
which branches to the left and right
the left leads to the second floor 8 rooms in the red brick hotel
the right leads to the patio over the dining room which leads to
the boarding house (white building)
the largest of the first floor 8 hotel rooms
rooms decorated in tone-on-tone blue, cream or green
hotel rooms have white bedding
each room has a metal framed queen bed, an enlarged (modern) bathroom,
an open shelved closet, a replica crown and dental shelf on the wall,
chair railing, a light/ceiling fan fixture
AND a flat screen TV
view of Main Street and Picket Post Mountain
from the sleeping porch veranda
one of the 6 bedrooms on the second floor 'boarding house'
tone-on-tone green paint
patterned bedding matching the paint color
rooms' ceiling light/fan fixture
curtain rods in place but no curtains yet
The Tea Room is the first floor of the 'boarding house' intended to be a quiet place with its flocked wall paper, tiny stage, 5 low and 5 high-top tables, ornate bar, and
glass and iron chandeliers on the replicated original tin ceiling.
"The lovely Magma Hotel has been restored to its 107 year old glamour, through trial and tribulation, by Miguel Sfeir (and his son). Superior is envisioning a bright future with the Magma Hotel as its centerpiece." The hotel and restaurants are expected to be open in March and ready for visitors. I will be one of them!
More Superior Home Tour in the next post...
The Barmacy
Very interesting Coleen. Like you, we walked the streets of Superior probably five years or so ago. Always great to see historic places brought back to life. I’d like to go back someday.
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