A Chic Boutique Hotel with a Storied Past Debuts in Litchfield
By Jamie Marshall
Photos courtesy of Salt Hotels
David Bowd recalls the day in 2020 that he got a call from Marty Kenny, the founder of Lexington Partners, a Hartford-based development firm, pitching him a potential hotel property in northwest Connecticut. As the co-founder and CEO of Salt Hotels, which includes four historic properties in highly sought-after locations (Nantucket, Charleston, South Beach), Bowd is used to getting random inquiries. “In most cases I ignore them,” he says. “But this time was different. He mentioned the town of Litchfield. That got my attention.”
Bowd’s mother had owned a café in Litchfield, England, years earlier and he had fond memories of working there. So, he and his partner, Kevin O’Shea (Salt’s chief creative officer), drove from Provincetown to check out the building in question: the former county courthouse, built in 1890. The building had been shuttered in 2017, when the courthouse moved to nearby Torrington.
One look at the commanding stone façade and Colonial-style clocktower, and they were sold. That was four years and one global pandemic ago. It was worth the wait. The Abner opened in September of this year. It was named for the Rev. Abner Reeve, whose son, Tapping Reeve, founded the nation’s first law school, in Litchfield, Conn., in 1772.
Now a chic 20-room boutique hotel, the Abner strikes all the right notes: a seamless blend of historic elements, modern amenities, and whimsical touches. The former vaults are now part of the interior décor, for instance; the site of the former holding cells has been repurposed into a conference space that can be rented by the day or the hour.
As minority owners and fulltime operators in the property, Salt (and Lexington Partners) worked closely with the town’s historical society to maintain the building’s integrity, while bringing the property up to code. Among the biggest logistical challenges was getting food from the basement kitchen to the restaurant, situated in the second-floor courtroom. The solution? A mechanized dumbwaiter, wait staff with radios, and runners on both ends to make sure everyone’s meals arrive in a timely manner.
Every detail is exquisite, from the rooftop bar with its sweeping panoramic views and classic New England vibe to the stylish guestrooms and suites. Each is done in a rich ochre that evokes pages of the old law journals discovered onsite, and accented with black, dark blue, and tomato red. There are sustainably sourced toiletries from Further Products and Palermo Body, and kimono-style robes made by the African company Tensira.
In the public spaces, delightful surprises turn up around every corner. Local resident Lori Bookstein, who owns the Manhattan gallery Bookstein Projects, curated the art collection.. A custom lamp by Bantam-based ceramicist Charlie Dumais, inspired by the clocktower, sits on the hostess desk (a repurposed jury box) outside the restaurant, where the original benches were given new life as sumptuous leather-topped banquettes.
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“I am a huge preservationist at heart,” says O’Shea, who managed every aspect of the interior design. “The challenge is always how can we respect a building’s past and get to the outcome we are trying to get to?”
For all its contemporary comforts, the past is never far away. The property’s historical significance is a lynchpin in a town that was settled in 1719. Plans are in the works to mount a permanent exhibition that will trace the timeline of the courthouse and its role in the town’s history.
“We are so excited to revitalize this important piece of historic architecture, and to create a vibrant gathering place for Litchfield’s local community and our future guests,” says Bowd. “It’s ironic that for so long people were desperate to get out of this place and now they can’t wait to come in.” — The Abner Hotel, 15 West St., Litchfield
