I know very little about the Doris Vernon. She could be a silent film star, a character in a Stephen King novel, or someone who lost it all in The Crash. But no, the Doris Vernon was once a turn-of-the-century hotel located at 306 E. Pine Ave. in Wildwood, N.J.
Not one of those Sputnik-with-tiki-torch motels from the 1950s. Much earlier. Before air conditioners puffed and struggled in summer. Before muscle cars, rock ’n’ roll, and exposed belly buttons on the beach.
The Doris Vernon dated from a time when people took the train from Philadelphia to the Jersey Shore. But in recent years, the hotel found itself on the wrong side of the tracks. In 2009, it stood forlorn and empty after a Jan. 4 fire ripped through building. Details were sketchy. The Cape May Herald reported that no one was injured, but the smoke-darkened windows foreshadowed the building’s future. It sat in a cluster of condominiums built during the past decade.
“I remember the Doris Vernon, worked there for three summers – 1960, 1961, 1962,” John Berger recalled in an email. “At that time the owners were the Lawrence family.” Berger said that Jack and Margaret Lawrence had a son named Billy. “Margaret’s mother also lived in Wildwood and she drove a little Henry J. Margaret’s brother owned a large modern motel near the beach down in the Crest area.”
“At the time, Pine Street had parking meters on one side and none on the other so [we] would try to get the free parking places for patrons who would not be using their car for the week. They were always grateful,” Berger said.
He called the Doris Vernon “a fun place to work” and said he lived there during the tourist season. “[I] had them pay me at the end of the summer, lived off the tips I made.”
Chuck Malinowski said his parents operated the hotel in its later years. “My parents owned the Doris Vernon for around 10 years from the mid-’70s to the mid-’80s. My mom told me that the original owners had a daughter named Doris and a son named Vernon. … Many guests at the hotel would call my mom Doris,” he said.
Today, the Doris Vernon simply exists as a ghost listing on TripAdvisor. There are no reviews or comments, and the website lists alternative options for lodging.
However, like others of its vintage, the Doris Vernon contributed to the cultural fabric of the Wildwoods. The hotel and its peers typified the resort, but it was Wildwood from a different time.
Like a lot of post-Victorian architecture, the Doris Vernon had minimal ornamentation. The hotel was rather restrained, perhaps hinting at the modern age ahead. There was a practical simplicity to structures of this type that made it appropriate – even desirable – for larger resort buildings of the time.
The Colonial Revival-style hotel had nice bay windows, good proportions (not counting the bulky, oversized porch columns), and an interesting rhythm to its window pattern. Because it predated air conditioning, the hotel was oriented to capture the morning sun and ocean breezes. The Doris Vernon also had a deep, protected porch – perfect for relaxing away from the glare of the midday sun.
If you squint your eyes, the hotel’s overall shape was very similar to a contemporary condominium building. I suspect that many condos of the past decade are referencing buildings like the Doris Vernon – even if the interiors are now crammed with modern conveniences.
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