Yes yes of course I could be referring to the lone wolf male standing atop the building, gazing down at the street full of folks, at least some of whom seem to be on high alert. (And BTW I drive my Cadillac all over town and no one gawks. At least I don't think so.) But no. I'm talking about the tall, slender woman standing just to the right of the corner in front of the hotel, dressed all in black even to her millinery. She is beside a lamppost (perhaps even touching it), two people behind the lady holding a baby, who is behind the man holding a bike. Sent shivers up and down my spine, I'm not kidding. She looks formidable. Like a female grim reaper. Something about her presence. I feel it over one hundred seventeen years later. And I am stone cold sober.

The Hotel Patten was designed by Atlanta architect Walter T. Downing. He was busy in Chattanooga around 1911, doing work for attorney and Entrepreneur John Thomas Lupton. In 1910 Downing designed a 34,000 sq ft mansion, named Lyndhurst for Lupton. Much of the wealth for this came for Lupton's investment in the exclusive rights to bottle and sell Coca-Cola. It is probably also how Lupton met an Atlanta architect. Lyndhurst was demolished in the early 1960s and replaced with a high-end neighborhood. Lyndhurst was followed by the Elizabeth Apartment House and Lupton Apartments in Chattanooga for Lupton and the Hotel Patten, J. T. Lupton, Treasurer.

The Hotel Patten first appears in the July 1911 edition of The Architectural Record. It was featured again the April 1913 edition of Architectural Review. I found floor plans for the
First floor, with photos of the lobby and cafe.

Mezzanine Floor, with a photo of the ballroom.

Typical upper floors. A later addition changed this L-shape to its current U-shape. The new wing has no bay windows as the original two wings do. In response to Notcom's comment about the uneven number of bay windows on each side, I noted both sides have three sets of double windows from the corner before the bay windows start. I'm guessing Downing felt that's what gave it an acceptable balance.

From the few current photographs I could find, the interiors are still nice, but little of the 1911 features remain.

[N.B.: Two T's in Chattanooga. - Dave]

Thanks, Dave. I checked the photos I attached. There I spelled Chattanooga correctly ... where it didn't really matter.

How many wires to hold a city together? Anybody counted them?

And what about that man standing at the top looking down? Is he counting wires? I hope he's not trying to figure out how to jump and not get wired!

Oh, and it is "its cornice," no apostrophe. But it seems that AI is adding apostrophes willy-nilly these days. Sigh.

... out of frame at the bottom of the photo? Seems it has stopped traffic and attracted the undivided attention of the pedestrians and people gazing from the windows. Even of the gent on the hotel roof!

On the edge of a cornice at the top of a very tall building is a curious place to pose for a picture! On a side note in appears something is happening on this side of Market Street as there not only is posing man on the top but several people peering out of open windows on this street side.

I would describe this as "Prairie Architecture", an unusual style for hotels (particularly, I should think, for Tennessee). How much I like it is a harder call: the rounded bays are a curious touch, and having only two of them on the near side I don't think really works.

People, horsecarts and the lonely car look like toy figures placed in a scale model of the street corner. There is an expectation for something in the air but I cannot figure out as what it was. There were no stoplights to wait for. Dedicated personal transport, akin to Uber, comes to mind.

[They are all agog at the sight of a lady driver piloting a Cadillac ? Or perhaps word has gotten out that Detroit Publishing is making a portrait of the city's brand-new hotel. - Dave]

I love this photo. I'm amazed how the camera can show a split second of time of life none of us here would ever have known. Anyone notice the guy on the roof of the building? What a view he must have had. No safety railing either. I hope he didn't jump.

The Hotel Patten is still there. Like many of its contemporaries, it lost it's its cornice and was given an art deco-ish makeover. The hotel closed in the 1970s. Sadly, the Chattanooga choo choo was no longer bringing many customers. Since then, it has served as affordable housing for the elderly and disabled.