The Marott Hotel first opened on November 25, 1926, under its original owner, George J. Marott. Born in Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, Marott came to the U.S. with his parents in 1875. He made his money in the shoe business, establishing his first shoe store in Indianapolis in 1884. He purchased the property for the hotel at North Fall Creek Boulevard and Meridian Street almost 30 years before it was built with the idea of constructing “a monumental edifice” as a gift to the city he loved so well.
The rooms in the two 10-story towers of the Marott were as elegant as those in hotels found in much larger cities at that time. The one-floor lobby featured an open-air Spanish garden, dining, and ballrooms with marble pillars and crystal chandeliers. The hotel was a community in itself, with a pharmacy, delicatessen, beauty shop, and the city’s first studio devoted to the game of auction bridge. Many prominent Indianapolis residents, including Indianapolis authors and lived there in the same way that New York high society lived in the Waldorf-Astoria or Plaza Hotel.
Located next to what then was the the Marott hosted many political functions and social events. Winston Churchill, Herbert Hoover, Clark Gable, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, and Marilyn Monroe were among the prominent individuals who once stayed at the hotel.
After George Marott died in February 1946, the Marott began to decline. Various owners renovated the building, added two new dining rooms and a pool, turned lawns into parking lots, changed the Spanish garden into a covered patio, and replaced the marble columns with steel girders. By 1978, fewer than 12 permanent residents lived in the hotel’s 78 apartments. In April 1981, the power was disconnected from the decaying building, and the windows were boarded.
The Marott was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Nationally known real estate developer Ken Puller purchased the building in 1983 and converted the units to one- and two-bedroom apartments. He invested $17 million (about $44 million in 2020). Property management company owner Carl Van Rooy bought the property in 1990 when Puller discovered that the building needed more costly repairs. Van Rooy’s company, which has a presence in Wisconsin, Indiana, and three other states, continues to own and manage the complex.
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