Today’s Forecast

47º | Mostly cloudy | 7% chance of rain
Sunrise 8:00 a.m. | Sunset 5:39 p.m.

Party like it’s 1923

Light-colored building with a red awning reading "The Brown"

Today, The Brown Hotel houses 294 guests rooms and suites. | Photo by The Brown Hotel

One of Derby City’s most iconic hotels is turning triple digits this fall.

The Brown Hotel, lauded for being the birthplace of the Hot Brown sandwich, a AAA Four-Diamond hotel, and Southern Living’s “Best Hotel in Kentucky,” is gonna party like it’s 1923 over the next six months to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Black and white photo of a 16-story building — Designed by Preston J. Bradshaw, The Brown opened 10 months after construction began.
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Photo provided by the Louisville Historical League

While The Brown has become a household name to most Louisvillians, if you didn’t know or just need a quick refresher, here are a few fast facts about this local landmark — pay attention, we’re quizzing you later.

The 16-story hotel was built in 1923 in the Georgian Revival-style.
Funded and owned by James Graham Brown — yeah, that James Graham Brown.
Opened as a direct competitor to The Seelbach Hotel a few blocks away.
Was a nightly attraction to hundreds of people throughout the 1920s for its dinner dances, which was how the Hot Brown came to be in 1926.

Now, let’s party.

Sip, sip hooray

To kick off celebrations, The Brown will host a custom, tableside mint julep experience in the Lobby Bar and Grill starting in April and lasting through the Kentucky Derby season. A $100 Old Carter mint julep will be assembled and presented at your table.

Stay the night

A special room rate that pays homage to the hotel’s opening year will be offered through June and July at $19.23. Typically, rooms range from $216 to over $500 — with the most expensive room in the building being the Muhammad Ali Apartment, which starts at $966 per night.

Rooftop with white furniture — The Rooftop garden was restored to its original grandeur.
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Photo by The Brown Hotel

Let’s dance

On Wednesday, October 25 a roaring 1920s-themed gala will top off The Brown’s 100th anniversary in the Crystal Ballroom. Dinner, dancing, interactive tours of the hotel, and themed cocktails in the rooftop garden will all be part of the itinerary. Tickets aren’t available yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

ASKED

What year was the Hot Brown invented?

A. The same year as the hotel — 1923
B. Not until the 1942
C. Three years after the hotel opened —1926

See the answer in the Wrap.

Events

Tuesday, March 21

Barrels of Heart | Tuesday, March 21-Thursday, March 30 | 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | The Frazier History Museum, 829 W. Main St., Louisville | $14 | See 20 bourbon barrels that have been transformed into works of art.

Wednesday, March 22

GHOST Agents Social | Wednesday, Mar. 22 | 5-8 p.m. | Black Jockey’s Lounge, 340 S. 4th St., Louisville | $20 | Attend the release of this art-forward comic book by Louisvillian Rocko Jerome featuring 20 international artists — plus, small bites.
Jazz Night | Wednesday, Mar. 22 | 8-10 p.m. | The Whirling Tiger, 1335 Story Ave., Louisville | Free | Enjoy happy hour 5-7 p.m. before jazz performances in the lounge.

Friday, March 24

Big Spring Book Sale | Friday, Mar. 24-Saturday, Mar. 25 | 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. | Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Ln., Louisville | Free | Shop 20,000+ new and used books in all categories with proceeds benefiting educational and preservation programs at Locust Grove.

Saturday, March 25

Repotting with Above the Dirt Garden Shop | Saturday, Mar. 25 | 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Above the Dirt Garden Shop, 10104 Taylorsville Rd., Louisville | $29 | Learn how to repot your plant using specialty dirt for your plant and organic insecticide treatment for your soil.
Spring Breakfast - Kids Class | Saturday, Mar. 25 | 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. | Cooking at the Cottage, 3739 Lexington Rd., Louisville | $55 | Get the kiddos in the kitchen to learn how to make avocado toast, sweet potato hash, and fruit salad.

We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

Click here to have your event featured.

100+ MORE EVENTS

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Real Estate

Want to know how much your home is worth?

When the market’s good, every day is home appreciation day. | Photo by Binyamin Mellish

Home values are still on the rise in Louisville and all across Southern Indiana. For homeowners, this is good news, since your home likely appreciated in value quite a bit. Whether you’re looking to sell soon, or just curious to find out what your home is worth, you can use Coldwell Banker McMahan’s handy online analysis tool to find out.

And don’t forget, a Coldwell Banker McMahan agent is always available to do a comprehensive market analysis — especially if you’re looking for exact numbers.*

CALCULATE YOUR HOME’S WORTH

News Notes

Weather

60º | Mostly cloudy | 4% chance of rain

Outdoors

Construction on the new, music-themed Alberta Jones Park in the California neighborhood is underway. The ~20-acre park, named after the first Black woman to pass the Kentucky Bar exam, resides along Maple Street near 25th Street. Phase one features a climbing tower resembling a music sheet and a playground with giant music notes. (WDRB)

Opening

Sis Got Tea’s brick-and-mortar store and cafe will become a reali-tea on Sunday, April 9. The tea shop will open at 976 Barret Ave. next door to the recently opened Froggy’s Popcorn. Tea (and coffee drinkers) can stay and sip or buy loose leaf teas to go. See Sis’ opening hours.

Real Estate

A 6,000-sqft home on five acres of land is for sale in Anchorage for $2.15 million. The six-bedroom home was built in 1988 and features reclaimed hardwood floors from the Historic Hamburg Place (where six Derby winners were bred), vaulted ceilings, and the most picturesque, custom wallpaper we’ve ever seen.

Number

$140,000. That’s how much money was raised for Louisville’s Blessings in a Backpack during its celebrity chef dinner, Pack the Sack. The funds will benefit school-age students facing food insecurity on weekends when school meals are not available. Food Network stars Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson and Jackie Joseph were among the participating chefs.

Film

The Speed Cinema’s fifth edition of the Louisville Children’s Film Festival continues this Saturday, March 25. The festival showcases 10+ independent short films for kids. Two screenings — “Warm and Fuzzy” and “It’s Up to Us” — feature 5+ shorts each for $5.

Try This

Buff City Soap in Middletown is giving the Easter Bunny a run for its money. The plant-based soap company is offering DIY bath bomb painting kits that include four mini bath bombs, four spring colors, and a paint brush for $25.

Plan Ahead

The Kentucky Derby will be here faster than you can say mint julep and Paristown isn’t missing out on the pre-party. Rockin’ Derby Eve will transform Christy’s Garden into an outdoor turf club on Friday, May 5 with an open bar, hors d’oeuvres dinner, and performance by Dustin Lynch. Tickets are $500.

Shop

Pro tip: Becoming a Kroger Boost member comes with perks like free grocery delivery, double fuel points, and specialty savings. Learn more and join. 🛒 *

Celebrate

We want to wish a happy birthday to our teammate Katie, LOUtoday Senior City Editor. Happy birthday, Katie!

Wellness

What’s in: red light therapy. What’s out: forms of treatment that are painful and invasive. Red light therapy is non-invasive and painless, and evidence suggests it may be able to ease body aches, heal sun damage, and build collagen. Brb — we’re adding this easy-to-prop light and this facial massager to our Amazon cart.

VOTE

🍕 Pick your favorite slice for round two

Purple graphic with white boxes depicting a bracket

We don’t play favorites, but if we had to choose, we’d pick Pizza Lupo and Danny Mac’s to go to the next round. | Graphic by LOUtoday

We’ve got some passionate readers and pizza eaters. After 1,119 votes, here’s which local pizza moved on to the next round:

Pizza Lupo vs. Impellizzeri’s
Danny Mac’s vs. Bearno’s

Who will face off in the championship? Cast your votes now through Sunday, March 26.

Cast your vote

The Wrap

Today’s Edition By:
Katie

From the Editor

Today is my birthday and to celebrate I’m headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory later with the fam because its spumoni ice cream — which is served with every meal — is my favorite kind of ice cream. It’s like Neapolitan, but a mix of chocolate, pistachio, and cherry-almond.

Quiz Answer: The Hot Brown was invented in 1926

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