Louis and Otto Seelbach were brothers from Bavaria who wanted Louisville's first grand hotel, modeled on old-world hotels in cities like Vienna and Paris. They broke ground in December 1903, and the Seelbach opened on May 1, 1905, just in time for the Kentucky Derby. More than 25,000 people visited on opening day.
It was built in a French Renaissance style, with marble from Italy, Germany and France and wood from the West Indies and Europe. A second phase opened on January 1, 1907 and raised the number of rooms from 150 to 500.
When the brothers proposed the site, the mayor said, "No one will come to a hotel so far away." He was wrong: the hotel became the center of a busy shopping district. Nine U.S. presidents have stayed here, from William Howard Taft in 1911 to George W. Bush in 2002.