Hotel Grafton redeveloped, turned into 20 apartment units

GRAFTON -- A historic hotel in Grafton that has been a popular landmark for many decades showed off a major facelift during an open house this weekend.

A steady flow of traffic took in the Hotel Grafton Apartments during the open house. The owner says the building was originally built as a hotel back in 1892. The building is now comprised of apartment units and is currently accepting applications for tenants. Rent ranges from around $700 to around $900 a month.

"When it was built, it was the hub of the community.  It was really the place where people came together -- the public house where everyone met each other on Friday, Saturday nights, fish frys, what have you," proprietor Jim Read said.

Vivian Laabs attended bridal and baby showers at Hotel Grafton. She was one of many who shared personal stories at this weekend's open house.

"I have a key holder for room 11 at the Hotel Grafton.  We collect souvenirs from all over and I happened to find it. It's beautiful what they did, and I'm glad they restored it," Laabs said.

Laabs said she and her twin brother celebrated their 50th birthdays at the hotel, with a nice dinner and drinks.

The owner says the total development cost for the building was $1.8 million. 

"We preserved as much of the original brick as we could and added to it because there was a lot of change that had been done over the years," owner Paul Rushing said.

The original stairs, built back in 1892 were also preserved.

CLICK HERE for more information on the Hotel Grafton Apartments.