The Abner

For more than 120 years hard justice was delivered in the old granite courthouse at 15 Main Street, Litchfield, the third oldest of Connecticut’s courthouses. But now the building has been magically transformed to deliver the ultimate in luxury as a twenty room boutique hotel.

Its past role will not be obscured as it assumes its 21st-century identity however. The renovation of the 18,000-square-foot building has included preserving much of the existing Romanesque Revival-style structure. Historical details and artifacts from its history as a public courthouse have been retained, including judges’ benches, balustrades and millwork.

The Courtroom restaurant echoes the theme. In the room where miscreants once faced judgment, diners can now enjoy “modern tavern food with continental influences” under the culinary direction of Chef Michael Alfeld. And The Verdict, a rooftop bar, may be just the place to make a final ruling on a pleasant day of touring the destination town.

Even the hotel’s name reflects the building’s judicial past. Dubbed The Abner, it was named in honor of the Reverend Abner Reeve, whose son, Tapping, founded America’s first law school in Litchfield in 1784.

The transformation from legality to luxury was the brainchild of David Bowd, co-founder and CEO of Salt Hotels, and his partner, Kevin O’Shea, chief creative officer. The pair have a penchant for restoring historic buildings for modern usage and now have boutiques hotels scattered across the nation. They started in 2011 with their flagship property, Salt House Inn, in Provincetown MA which was followed by the Aster in Los Angeles, Casa Blake in Mexico, the Wave Resort in New Jersey, Hotel Greystone in Miami Beach, The West in Minneapolis, The Brant in Nantucket, Hutton Brickyards in the Hudson Valley and now the Litchfield Courthouse.

They began eyeing the Litchfield location soon after the court ended its 127-year residency in 2017 and spent months visiting the site and documenting the building’s original elements with the idea of preserving as much as possible.

Lexington Partners oversaw the renovation of the building, getting zoning approvals for important additions to the historic structure such as a dumbwaiter for the restaurant, a private dining room in the basement and an elevator to carry people to the rooftop bar.

That required working with the town’s Historic District Commission as well as the Litchfield Preservation Trust and the State Historical Preservation Office.

Each of the 20 rooms has its own character—from signature linens to original artwork. The Chamber Suites, for instance, are set within former judges’ chambers. With 300- to 420-square-feet of space and king size beds, these distinctive rooms offer a chance to unwind in a spacious sitting area, to pull up a chair to a dining table, or refresh in the oversized bathroom. A minibar in each room is stocked with locally sourced treats.

The light-filled ground-floor family suite offers even more space and is furnished with a plush king-size bed and a sleeper sofa that can be converted into an additional sleeping area for the kids. Additional amenities include a dining table for four, a minibar stocked with local goodies, a Tivoli Bluetooth radio and speaker and a spacious bathroom with a walk-in shower and claw-foot tub.

For those traveling solo, The Snug, at a cozy 150-square feet is perfect for one traveler. Once a judge’s chamber its soaring ceilings complement a little sitting nook, a double bed, a minibar stocked with local goodies,and a spacious bathroom.

Carefully chosen amenities are included in each room such as Further and Palermo Body products and African-handcrafted robes from Tensira. Wi-fi is available throughout the building and there is complementary parking.

Creating inviting places is something that David Bowd learned early, working for his mother after school in her café in Salt, England. He told a podcaster for Hospitality Design in 2023, “My brother was the truly perfect child and perfect student. I wasn’t a big fan of school. I always like very social environments.” He said he loved the environment of his mother’s café and dreamed of being a chef.
“When I finally went into a kitchen, though, I didn’t like it. I much preferred the front of the house.”
It was love at first sight when he left home at age15 to apprentice in the hospitality industry. “I realized from day one that I absolutely loved it,” he reported. “I loved being in the center of everything going on in the hotel.”

It was the beginning of more than 30 years-experience in the hospitality industry. He has worked in prestigious hotels in the United Kingdom, Australia and at the corporate level in the U.S. where he became senior vice president of operations at the Ian Schrager corporate offices in New York. There he oversaw the day-to-day operations of 11 Morgans Hotel Group properties. In 2009 he assumed the role of managing director at the Schrager company.

More recently he was the chief operating officer for André Balazs Properties, where he oversaw the management of nine hotels, including the Standard brand, the Mercer in New York, Chateau Marmont in Hollywood and opened the highly acclaimed Chiltern Firehouse in London.

While working with the Morgans Hotel Group, he met interior designer O’Shea, who was to become his partner in life and business. O’Shea described himself as a “creative, kind of isolated kid who did a lot of drawings of buildings and floor plans,” during his childhood in Denver CO. His interest in the hospitality industry was fostered by his grandmother, who took him “to big fancy hotels and taught me manners.” He started a course in food and beverage management following high school but soon detoured into Rhode Island School of Design.

When O’Shea got the call to work for Morgan’s, he was given the opportunity to refurbish iconic hotels that were in need “of a little love and maintenance.”

“I learned a lot through the inherent DNA of those projects,” he told the podcaster. “It taught me a level of detail that remains in my career today. It’s a lot of extra work but it creates an exceptional environment that is memorable for people.”

After O’Shea took a sabbatical from hotel design to work in ceramics, life took the pair to Provincetown on Cape Cod. “We were looking for an inn and found a property we loved,” he reported, “but we couldn’t make the deal work.” So, instead, they bought a 1700s-era house that had been turned into a bar and started to convert it back to a residence.

“A year passed, and the owner of the inn came back and they were done.” The partners jumped at the opportunity to purchase the property and, while Bowd continued to work in the city, O’Shea got a crash course in running a bed and breakfast. “It was a massive learning curve,” he said. “You go from having a team of people to doing everything yourself. … It was a shock—we thought we knew everything and we knew nothing.”

But they quickly learned. At the same time, Bowd left his corporate job and moved to Provincetown. “Our goal was a calmer life,” he said, “to get a dog and walk on the beach every day. But we realized we were on to something. We realized you can have beautifully designed properties, with wonderful service with a personal touch. So it was no dog and let’s get second hotel.”

The ball started rolling and kept rolling until they had amassed a number of highly individual hotels, ranging from 15 to 250 rooms. The individual character of each property is enhanced by staff trained in their Salt School, which offers multiple-week free courses that cover all aspects of the hospitality industry for those interested in the profession. “It really resonated with people,” said Bowd. “When we go in to launch a hotel, we know it can target that community. People start to naturally gravitate to departments they want to be in. There is lots of role playing, lots of fun. It’s drastically reduced turnover because the team members feel invested in the company. It’s become a huge passion of ours.”

“We look at ourselves as caretakers of historic buildings by restoring them for the community,” Bowd said. “That means giving back to the community by becoming a significant employer in the area.”

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