Latchis Hotel and Theatre

The Latchis Hotel and Theatre (orig. the Latchis Memorial Building) is an art deco building in Brattleboro, Vermont first built in 1938.[1] The building is one of only two extant Art Deco buildings in Vermont.[2] The building is run by the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, a local non-profit.[1][3]

The Latchis Hotel and Theatre

The building was constructred as a memorial to Demetrius P. Latchis, a Greek immigrant who became an important businessman in Brattleboro, by his sons.[1][4] Latchis had built a business which ran fourteen theatres throughout New England.[5] The interior include murals and other artwork with Greek mythology,[1] which was created by Hungarian muralist Louis Jambor.[3] The building also includes terrazzo flooring.[6] The building was designed so that it could include a hotel, theatre, ballroom, restaurant, bar, and other business spaces.[3] The architect for the building was S. Wesley Haynes.[7]

Though a successful business through the 60s, the business slumped in the 70s.[3] In 1985, two children of the original brothers revitalized the hotel.[3] They sold the hotel in 2003 to a local non-profit, the Brattleboro Arts Initiative, created for maintaining the building, bought the hotel for 1.3 million dollars.[3] The money included both local and federal grants.[3] The building suffered considerable damage in 2011, during Hurricane Irene, but was reopened later that year.[8] The building was further restored in 2013, after a half-million dollar fundraising campaign.[1]