Lisa Murtha

In the glory days of Cincinnati dining, the Gourmet Room loomed large, with its five Mobil stars and starry-eyed views. But times and tastes changed, leaving the restaurant—and the Terrace Plaza—behind. A look back at the rise and fall of a landmark.

The first time he looked at the steep, narrow lot at the end of Oregon Street that would become The Palisades of Mt. Adams, architect John Senhauser knew it would pose a challenge.

Attention architecture nuts: the Annual Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy (FLWBC) Conference, titled Modifying Wright’s Buildings and Their Sites: Additions, Subtractions, Adjacencies, lands at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza on September 22. This will...