The Hopewell Valley Bistro & Inn building, formerly at 15 East Broad Street on the corner of Seminary Avenue in Hopewell, was demolished in July 2022.
Long known as the Central Hotel, the building had a nearly 150 year history as a residential home and store, a bar and restaurant, and as a hotel, rooming house, and apartments.
- See The Hopewell Inn / Central Hotel for more on the property’s history
The building may be gone, but we do have an extensive archive of imagery of the original property, the building, and some of the familiar mementos of the Bistro. Thanks to the efforts of the building’s new owner, GENESIS Investment Properties (GIP), and the construction manager, Sherute LLC, in documenting and sharing information on the building, we have this extensive collection of imagery shared on the History Project – a total of 154 files, including 21 panoramic exterior views, 3 video walkthroughs of the three floors, and 130 photos of walkthroughs of the three floors and the basement.
Also see the References below for more on the history of the Hopewell Inn, the demolition, and mementos.
Contents – Panoramic Views – Floor Plans – Video Walkthroughs – Photo Walkthroughs – References
Panoramic Views
These 21 panoramas of the exterior of the Hopewell Inn and the surrounding area include two 180-degree pans looking out from the front of the building, and nineteen 360-degree pans from around the outside of the building.
You can explore the list of all the available Hopewell Inn pans in the Panorama Collection. Once you click on a file to view, that panoramic image is displayed in the separate Pan/Zoom Viewer (to explore large images like maps), or in the Pan 360 Viewer (to look all the way around in 360-degree scenes).
== View the list of all the Hopewell Inn Panoramas in the Panorama Collection ==
180-degree Porch Panoramas
The two 180-degree panoramas show the view facing out from the front porch, and the view from the balcony on the second floor above the porch. These were shot in early February 2022, with snow on the ground to enhance the scene.
Click the image below, or select an image from the list in the Panorama Collection, to explore each large panorama image in the separate Pan/Zoom Viewer, zooming in on details across the image. Note these 180° photos are created by stitching together vertical slices of the scene as the camera is rotated from one side to the other, so while the full rectangular image is distorted to show the road and porch as seriously curved, when you zoom in on a part of the scene it looks more as expected.
== View the list of Hopewell Inn 180° Front Porch Panoramas in the Panorama Collection ==
360-degree Exterior Panoramas
The 19 different 360-degree panoramas include four series shot at different locations around the building, on a sunny day at the end of April 2022.
Two series were shot on Broad Street, in front of the Inn and in front of the adjacent Hopewell Public Library, with each shot from several distances, from the street to the sidewalk to up close to the buildings.
The third series was shot from locations along the side of the building down Seminary Avenue, from Broad Street to the Inn parking lot, and the final series was shot at locations behind the building in the parking lot, from the entrance to the west end by the Library.
Click the image below, or select an image from the list in the Panorama Collection, to explore each full-circle panorama image in the separate Pan 360 Viewer, rotating in a full circle at that point and zooming in on details around the scene. Note these 180° photos are created by filming the scene through a spherical / fisheye lens, and then “unwrapping” the result into a rectangle. As a result, while the full rectangular image is significantly distorted, when you zoom in on a part of the scene it looks much more reasonable.
== View the list of Hopewell Inn 360° Exterior Panoramas in the Panorama Collection ==
Building Floor Plans
The video and photo tours provide walkthroughs of the building interior and rooms, which can be a bit of a maze – especially the second floor. So here are two assists for orienting yourself in the spaces.
– This Dollhouse view provides a sense of the building in one image, with the three floors stacked on top of each other to better show the top floors. The west side of the building (the addition with octagonal front) is to the left, with Broad Street on the top. (Unfortunately, the third floor is rotated – the left side in the image, with the bathroom – should be towards the bottom.)
– The annotated building floor plans show a plan of the layout of each of the three floors, plus a representative image of each room. In the plans, Broad Street is to the right, and Seminary Avenue to the bottom.
- First floor – Kitchen, bar, dining rooms, banquet room, and three bath rooms
- Second floor – Eight rooms (in each of the four corners, plus two on the west side, and one each on the back and east sides), and two separate bathrooms (on each side near the rear), plus the front balcony
- Third floor – Four rooms (in each corner), and one separate bathroom (along the rear of the hallway)
Video Walkthroughs
These three video tours provide walkthroughs of the first, second, and third floors. They step along the hallways, and into and around each room. They also provide looks into the stairways and the closets.
The videos are relatively short (around 4 minutes for the 1st and 2nd floors). They were shot on a bright day in early February 2022, when the building’s ground floor was still furnished for use, and the upper floors were cleared and used for storage.
== View the Hopewell Inn Tour walkthrough videos: 1st, 2nd, 3rd floors ==
This video walkthrough of the ground floor explores the public rooms: the kitchen, bar, dining rooms, bath rooms, and banquet room.
Photo Walkthroughs
These photo tours provide 130 images walking through the basement, and the first, second, and third floors, with views into, out of, and around each room.
Most of the photo tour images were shot on a bright day in early February 2022, when the building’s ground floor was still furnished for use, and the upper floors were cleared and used for storage. The original photo set also is augmented with a few additional frames from the videos and a few other images to better show the stairways.
== View the Hopewell Inn Tour image album: Basement, 1st, 2nd, 3rd floors ==
Thanks to the construction manager, Sherute LLC, and the property owner, GENESIS Investment Properties (GIP), for providing access to the Hopewell Inn building and materials, and for shooting these Hopewell Inn videos, photos, and panoramas and sharing them for Hopewell Borough.
We welcome additional information and materials on the Hopewell Inn, and on other parts of area history.
More on the Hopewell Inn – 15 East Broad
The Hopewell Valley Bistro & Inn building at 15 East Broad Street on the corner of Seminary Avenue was demolished in July 2022. Long known as the Central Hotel, the building had a nearly 150 year history as a residential home and store, bar and restaurant, and lodging and apartments.
Presentation
- Presentation description – The Story of the Hopewell Inn – and the People Who Sustained It
- Presentation video and references – The Story of the Hopewell Inn – Video and References
Hopewell Inn History
- The Hopewell Inn / Central Hotel – Summary of the property’s history
- Full History Brief – 15 East Broad Street, Hopewell – Hopewell Inn (c1878) (PDF)
Hopewell Inn Information
- Hopewell Images During the Lindbergh Kidnapping (1932) – Exterior photos
- Seeing What’s Different – Changes to the Hopewell Inn – 4 phases in the building’s design
- Inside the Hopewell Inn – 1932 – Interior photos
- 1975 Video at the Hopewell Inn Bar – Clip of patrons at the bar
- History Map – 15 East Broad – Town map and historical images
Hopewell Inn Tours – 2022
- Hopewell Inn Tour – Panoramas, Videos, Photos
- Tour Panoramas – Browse 180- and 360-degree Pans in Panorama Collection
- Tour Videos – Video walkthroughs of the first, second, and third floors (YouTube)
- Tour Image Gallery – 130 images of a photo walkthrough of the building and the basement
Hopewell Inn Memorabilia
- Hopewell Inn Memorabilia – Building and artifacts
- Memorabilia Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Memorabilia album
Hopewell Inn Demolition – July 2022
- Hopewell Inn Demolition Updates – Photos and Videos
- Demolition Image Gallery – Hopewell Inn Demolition album
- Demolition Videos – Hopewell Inn Demolition Videos (YouTube)
