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The Mayfair Hotel, now Dunhill Hotel, was designed by Louis Asbury, Sr.
and opened in November, 1929 at the former site of Tryon Street
Methodist Church, where Mildred Morse McEwen worshipped as a child. In
1929, there were no fewer than 15 hotels in Charlotte. The largest were
the Hotel Charlotte on West Trade Street and the Clayton Hotel at Fifth
and Church Streets. Although not the largest, the Mayfair Hotel was
noted for its elegance. Look at the top floor of the building, and you
will see the porches for the fancy penthouse suite where Dr. J. P.
Matheson, an owner of the Mayfair Hotel, lived.
A newspaper reporter who toured the hotel when it opened was impressed by what he saw. The rooms were furnished in "living room style" with double or Murphy beds, "luxurious" carpets and "fashionable" wallpapers. The lobby had an inviting fireplace and was the only place in town where you could buy Martha Washington candy. By the early 198''s, the building had become the James Lee Motor Inn, a flophouse hotel. None of the original interior of the Mayfair Hotel remains. The building was completely gutted when it was renovated as the Dunhill Hotel in 1983. It is again an elegant place to stay. Does anybody even make Martha Washington candy anymore?
Cross Tryon Street, stand in front of the Mayfair Hotel and look at the facade of the Carolina Theater across Tryon Street.
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