# Strater Hotel > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Strater_Hotel > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Strater_Hotel.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strater_Hotel > Source revision: 1309017683 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) The **Strater Hotel**, in [Durango, Colorado](/source/Durango,_Colorado), is a historical hotel that opened in 1887 at the height of the American [Gilded Age](/source/Gilded_Age).[2] Among its notable guests throughout its history are President [Gerald Ford](/source/Gerald_Ford), [Will Rogers](/source/Will_Rogers), writer [Louis L’Amour](/source/Louis_L%E2%80%99Amour), the [Grateful Dead](/source/Grateful_Dead), and astronauts from the [Apollo missions](/source/Apollo_program).[2] It has been a charter member of the [National Registry of the Historic Hotels of America](/source/National_Registry_of_the_Historic_Hotels_of_America) since 1989.[3] The Strater is listed on the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places) as a [contributing building](/source/Contributing_building) in Durango's [Main Avenue Historic District](/source/Main_Avenue_Historic_District_(Durango,_Colorado)).[4] It was named a national literary historical landmark in 2012 by the [Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations](/source/Association_of_Library_Trustees,_Advocates,_Friends_and_Foundations).[5] The hotel's Diamond Belle bar saloon features bartenders and waitresses who are dressed in historic costume.[6] ## History The hotel was originally built by the Strater family, who moved to Durango from Cleveland between 1880 and 1881.[7] Specifically, the hotel was the brainchild of Henry Strater, a pharmacist who rallied his brothers and father to help construct the hotel at the cost of $70,000.[8] Strater kept his pharmacy in the corner of the hotel, while delegating the management to H. L. Rice, who elevated the social scene at the hotel.[2] Strater eventually opened up a rival Columbian Hotel after he became furious at the high rents that Rice was charging him for the pharmacy located in the corner of the Strater hotel.[8] The hotel went bankrupt in 1895 with the [financial Panic of 1893](/source/Panic_of_1893) and was repossessed by the [Bank of Cleveland](/source/Bank_of_Cleveland). The property was then sold it to [Hattie Mashburn](/source/Hattie_Mashburn) and [Charles E. Stilwell](/source/Charles_E._Stilwell).[6] During the [Roaring Twenties](/source/Roaring_Twenties), a group of Durango businessmen led by Earl A. Barker Sr. formed a consortium to buy the then aging hotel in 1926.[6] Western author Louis L’Amour, who stayed in Durango with his family, always asked for room 222, located directly above the Diamond Belle Saloon; he said that the honky-tonk music helped set the mood for his novels of the Old West. A number of L’Amour's [Sackett](/source/Sackett) series novels were written at the Strater. As a result, room 222 is known today as the Louis L’Amour room.[8] ### Design The architecture style is an eclectic mixture of Italian [Romanesque](/source/Romanesque_architecture), [Renaissance Revival](/source/Renaissance_Revival), and other architecture forms. Each room boasted its own wood-burning stove, with some rooms equipped with pianos and washstands.[8] In an era before indoor plumbing, the rooms’ washstands also housed the [chamber pots](/source/Chamber_pot) which were emptied each morning by the maids. The hotel also boasted a strategically designed three-story privy.[8] In modern times, the historic rooms feature Victorian walnut furnishings and vintage [Bradbury & Bradbury](/source/Bradbury_%26_Bradbury) wallpaper.[8] ### References 1. ["Durango Hotels | The Strater Hotel"](https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/the-strater-hotel/history.php). *Historic Hotels Worldwide*. Retrieved 2023-08-27. 1. ["The Strater Hotel"](https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/the-strater-hotel/). *Historic Hotels of America* 1. Marjorie J. Wells (February 28, 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Main Avenue Historic District". [National Park Service](/source/National_Park_Service). Retrieved April 4, 2020. with 1. ["Durango hotel room where Louie L’Amour wrote named a landmark"](https://www.denverpost.com/2012/08/25/durango-hotel-room-where-louie-lamour-wrote-named-a-landmark/). *The Denver Post*. 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2023-08-27. 1. ["Making History. The Strater Story"](https://strater.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/StraterHIstory_8.5x11_2Sided2023-1.pdf). Retrieved 27 August 2023. 1. Aleo, Philip A. (2009). [*The Strater Hotel Story*](https://books.google.com/books?id=jHnGbwAACAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en). Aleo Publications. ISBN 978-0-578-04237-4. 1. ["Historic Strater Hotel | Durango Colorado I Official Website"](https://strater.com/). *Strater Hotel*. Retrieved 2023-08-27. ### External links [Official website](https://strater.com) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Strater Hotel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strater_Hotel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strater_Hotel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.