The hotel was originally built by the Strater family, which 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 and was repossessed by the Bank of Cleveland. The property was then sold it to Hattie Mashburn and Charles E. Stilwell.[6]
During the Roaring Twenties, a group of Durango businessmen led by Earl A. Barker Sr. formed an 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, as said that the honky-tonk music helped set the mood for his novels of the Old West. A number of L’Amour's 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, 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 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 with Victorian walnut furnishings and vintage Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper.[8]
