The Story and the History of The Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel
The Gem of Downtown Easton

The Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel has a long and rich history. It was built in the 1920s and opened on February 10, 1927 in what the papers described as “the most picturesque event ever held in the City,” and it remains today the crown jewel of this historic town. The building is located on one of the two principal streets on the original plan established by William Penn’s son, which connects the bridge across the Delaware to the downtown’s public square.

The opening of the Hotel Easton in 1927 was part of a movement in the 1920s that saw several hotels built in Pennsylvania's mid-sized cities. Those cities vied with each other in the creation of downtown hotels that mirrored the ever-increasing splendor of major metropolitan hotels. The hotels became the ornament of the new downtowns and were usually the work of important Philadelphia architects.

The Hotel Easton was designed by Thomas, Martin & Kirkpatrick, one of the best known firms in Philadelphia. Among their most important works is the handsome Girard College Chapel (1931) in a modern beaux-arts style, the powerful power plant (now the Hollenback Center) at the University of Pennsylvania (1923) and the delicate Gothic revival Christian Association (YMCA) on the Penn campus (1926). They were also the architects of several of the hotels for mid-sized cities including another hotel in Allentown, a hotel in Pottsville and a modernistic hotel at Brigantine Beach. The Easton Hotel exemplified the architectural character of the age in its emphasis on modern forms within a traditional architectural stylistic frame. It had additional importance as the new shared civic space of Easton that supplanted the old public-private churches and similar facilities. In its first half century, it was the site of weddings, conferences, and other events. As such it served as a key local landmark that formed a principal anchor of its community.

The formal opening of the hotel in 1927 was praised as a “brilliant affair,” in local papers, and was attended by 420 Eastonians and guests, including nearly half a hundred prominent hotel men from all parts of the East. “The hotel, its interior construction, furnishings, and equipment surpassed the fondest expectations of the guests, who were more than lavish in praise of the perfect appointments.” The menu that night was described as “one of the finest that has ever been enjoyed in Easton.” Floral arrangements decked the banquet hall, including an enormous bouquet placed in a four foot high urn made entirely from ice. The movements of the uniformed ushers and waiters were perfectly choreographed, an orchestra played, and dancing and festivities lasted well into the morning, long past the time scheduled for the event to end.

Two years after the magnificent opening of the Hotel Easton, the country entered into the Depression, which resulted in a difficult first decade for the new hotel. It weathered the economic downturn, however, and turned a first profit in 1936. The hotel went on to become a premier place to stay in the 1940s and 1950s, counting Eleanor Roosevelt and Jack Dempsey among its guests. Others who passed through included the cigarette making Morris Brothers, Phillip and Johnny, and Tiny Tim, a singer known for his famous rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips". The hotel also served as a favored site for political functions in the 1960s and 1970s, and Easton residents remember politicians such as John F. Kennedy and Jesse Jackson speaking there. A few people liked the place so much they took up permanent residence in the hotel during that period.

In the 1980s, however, the Hotel Easton ran into hard times, for the first time since the 1920s, and in 1990, it was closed down in bankruptcy. It remained closed for over a decade, suffering significant damage on the interior and upper levels. When the hotel was finally purchased by the Nurture Nature Foundation, there were still unfinished drinks on the bar and unmade beds left by the last occupants a decade before.

The Nurture Nature Foundation is a nonprofit devoted to sustainable development. It was founded by Theodore W. Kheel, now in his nineties, who is famed for his skills in conflict resolution. Kheel spent much of his long career in New York City addressing conflicts between labor and management, but since the early nineties, has devoted his energies to what he has called “the most serious challenge the world faces today: the intensifying conflict between the indispensable goals of environmental protection and economic development.” Additional information about Kheel, the Nurture Nature Foundation, and its related organizations, is available on the foundation’s website, http://nurturenature.org.

Nurture Nature acquired the Hotel Easton on August 2, 2000, in response to a plea by Mayor Goldsmith, and as a gesture of support for the City of Easton. Over the prior decade, Mayor Goldsmith had made restoration of this abandoned building in the heart of the city one of the central goals of his administration. More than a dozen development proposals were submitted to the city during that period, but all were eventually abandoned. Finally, the nonprofit stepped in.

Kheel’s long-time real estate partner Peter Koehler, who had successfully restored the magnificent 1908 National Bank Building a few blocks up Northampton Street, agreed to oversee the renovation of the Hotel Easton. William Dohe, a local “green” architect who now chairs the City’s Environmental Advisory Council, was hired to draw up plans, and the restoration began. Throughout the process, great attention was paid to the surviving historic features. The work preserved the exterior brick and limestone façade of the building, and maintained the original entrance, lobby stair and lobby as well as the rear hotel Gold Room. Inside, thirty spacious residential suites replaced the 140 smaller units in the original building.

The restored building opened for occupancy in 2006 under a condominium regime. A number of units were sold, but with the rise in energy prices in the ensuing years and the downturn of real estate markets nationwide, the building faced renewed challenges. Eager to maintain the grand structure as an asset to the City, Nurture Nature searched for a strategy to save the building. After extensive analysis, the nonprofit decided that the best avenue was to offer the suites it still owned to guests as an extended stay residential hotel. The several individual owners who had purchased units in the intervening period unanimously agreed, and one stepped up to help lead the way as the hotel’s resident manager.

In a book entitled “Save Our Land, Save Our Towns” Thomas Hylton explained the importance of working to revitalize Pennsylvania’s historic towns. He wrote:

The Nurture Nature Foundation is committed to seeing the City of Easton recover and maintain the full potential its urban architectural resources promise, and is equally committed to preserving the gorgeous countryside that surrounds the town. In an effort to further these lofty goals, the nonprofit has poured its resources into the Grand Eastonian Suites Hotel, reconfiguring this historic treasure for the twenty-first century, and saving it from premature death. The intent of the nonprofit is not to make money, but to promote sustainability in the way we use our urban resources. We hope you will come to visit and invite others as well to enjoy the fruits of our labor.