Originally known as the Faust Hotel, or Hotel Faust, this 15-Story Rockford high-rise is a city landmark and contributing property to the East Rockford Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. Completed in 1929, the building was designed by architect Eric Hall in the Art Deco-style. In its original configuration, the hotel had over 400 rooms, two ballrooms, restaurant, and an eight lane bowling alley. At a height of 186-feet, the Faust has been the tallest building in the city since its completion in 1929.
The hotel was named for Levin Faust, a famous Swedish immigrant who settled in Rockford in the late 19th Century. He came as a penniless immigrant and subsequently amassed a large fortune as an industrialist and was the principal investor in the hotel. Sadly, Faust died just after the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression.
In its prime, the Faust was known as the premier hotel for Rockford, hosting such dignitaries as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Senator John F. Kennedy during his run for the White House in 1960, and the King of Sweden.
In 1973, the Faust Hotel was sold to the Rockford's Tebala Shrine who renamed the property the Tebala Towers. In 1984, the building was converted into 200 apartments for the elderly. The Shriners sold the property a year later. Today the building, is known as the Faust Landmark, and is an affordable senior housing apartment community.
Located in northern Illinois, Rockford is the seat of Winnebago County and is the largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Rockford had an estimated population of 145,609 as of 2019, with the Rockford Metropolitan Area population standing at 344,623.
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