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Eat The Love

Recipes, Photographs and Stories about Desserts, Baked Goods and Food in general, with a healthy dose of humor and happiness for the food obsessed

You are here: Home / Photo Essay / Photo Essay: The Brown Hotel, Louisville Kentucky

October 19, 2012

Photo Essay: The Brown Hotel, Louisville Kentucky

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

“I hear this place is haunted.” whispered my new friend Sarah of the blog 20 Something Cupcakes. I peered around nervously, looking to make sure that the ghost of Graham Brown, the original owner of the 293-room hotel built back in 1923, wasn’t peering back at us. GE Monogram has flown in a bunch of bloggers to Louisville, Kentucky and we were all staying at The Brown Hotel, home of the famous Hot Brown sandwich. It’s a gorgeous historic hotel, reminiscent of an era that no longer exists. Opulent ceilings, ornate furniture and hotel staff that still dresses in old school uniforms. Eerily beautiful late at night and early in the morning, Sarah, Debi of the blog Table Talk and I made plans late at night to explore the hotel and see if we could track down supernatural phenomena. Not that I’m a believer in that sort of thing, but you know, if you’re staying in a certified haunted hotel, you might as well poke around. Did we find anything? I’m not going to say either way. But let’s just say that I’m less of a skeptic now…

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky by Irvin Lin of Eat the Love

Special thanks to GE Monogram for hosting me on the trip to Kentucky to work in their GE Monogram kitchen. Though they paid for my trip and accommodations, they did not compensate me for this blog posts and all opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Photo Essay Tagged With: brown hotel, brown hotel louisville, haunted hotels, the brown hotel louisville

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brian @ A Thought For Food says

    October 19, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    HA! You guys are hilarious. What a fun trip that was. Glad we got to experience it together!

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:38 am

      So much fun! We need to figure out another trip to go on sometime soon… Miss you!

      Reply
  2. Pat says

    October 19, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    My brother loved the Brown! Glad you had so much fun .

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:38 am

      Had a blast. It’s a gorgeous hotel!

      Reply
  3. Pat says

    October 19, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    PS Was that your “hot brown” in the photo?

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:39 am

      I wish! Sadly we never actually got to taste one. I can’t believe I stayed at the Brown Hotel and never actually tasted a Hot Brown. *sigh*

      Reply
  4. Belinda @zomppa says

    October 19, 2012 at 3:58 pm

    What a beautiful hotel! That first photo is TOTALLY spooky!!

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:39 am

      Thanks Belinda! I’m glad it came across that way! I totally took it with that in mind…

      Reply
  5. Debi Shawcross says

    October 19, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    Irvin–hey! So much fun with you that night. Glad to see you included the shot of Sarah and I in the rosewater scented room. Really felt like we were on to something, and I’m sure it had nothing to do with the bourbon. xxoo

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:41 am

      I’m sure it had nothing to do with the bourbon. 😉 SO much fun with both of you too!

      Reply
  6. Nancy @ gottagetbaked says

    October 19, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    These are such gorgeous photos and what a beautiful, historic hotel! The black ‘n white shots were especially creepy. This is what I imagine the Overlook Hotel looks like (for those who aren’t Stephen King buffs like I am, from The Shining). Redrum!

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:46 am

      “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!!!”

      I’m a total fan of The Shining, but really the Stanley Kubrick version, not as much the Stephen King book, as I never read it (though I do like some of his books). But I totally had the Kubrick’s Overlook Hotel in mind when I took and processed these photos.

      There’s something majestic and spooky about historical hotels. And I almost converted all the photos to black and white, because they really do look especially old and creepy that way, but I thought that might have been overkill. Glad you liked them!

      Reply
  7. Sarah says

    October 21, 2012 at 6:51 am

    Irvin! This is amazing. The pictures came out beautifully. What a night…

    Reply
    • Irvin says

      October 26, 2012 at 1:48 am

      Thanks Sarah! It was so much fun. I can’t believe it happened back in May. Where did the time go?

      Reply
  8. Bekah McDaniel says

    July 21, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Are you related to Brittany Lin that just got married to Scott Ritter at the Brown Hotel this past weekend? We were there! It was the most beautiful reception I have ever been too! I thought the hotel was haunted in the elevators!!!

    Reply
  9. John Byrnes says

    September 29, 2014 at 7:39 am

    Exceptional photo montage…. Looks like a royal palace!

    Reply

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Hey there! Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm Irvin Lin, a critically acclaimed cookbook author, IACP-Award winning photographer, IACP-nominated blogger, award winning baker, award winning former graphic designer, storyteller, recipe developer, writer and average joe bon vivant. I currently reside in San Francisco a block from Dolores Park and right near Tartine Bakery, Bi Rite Market & Creamery, and Delfina.

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