21c Museum Hotel — Lexington, USA

21c Museum Hotel’s winning hotel-contemporary art museum-restaurant hybrid has added a fifth property to its growing portfolio. Located in Lexington, Kentucky, the latest property has opened in the historic Fayette National Bank Building in the city’s downtown. With 88 rooms and 7,000 square feet of exhibition, meeting and event space, the hotel will sport site-specific art installations, a full programme of cultural events and seasonal art exhibitions, just like its siblings.
In Lexington, the hotel showcases six site-specific installations that will be present year-round. It also opens with the exhibition, ‘Dress Up/Speak Up: Costumes and Confrontation’, featuring creations of 22 different artists. Docent tours are available and admission is free of charge to the curious on Wednesdays and Fridays.
The 100-year old Beaux Arts-inspired building was designed in 1913 by McKim, Mead and White. Lovingly restored by Deborah Berke Partners and the Pittsburgh-based firm Perfido Weiskopf Wagstaff, some of the building’s most distinguishing features include a Tennessee Pink marble floor, Ionic exterior columns and vaulted ceilings adorned with ornamental plaster motifs. Guestrooms have been treated as neutral living spaces, with hardwood floors, contemporary furnishings, contemporary art (of course) and are flooded by natural light.
The hotel is also home to Lockbox, which doles out Southern Kentucky fare that casts local, specific ingredients into the limelight. Helmed by chef Jonathan Searle and designed by Deborah Berke Partners as well, the airy elegant space is filled with sumptuous velvet drapery, a weather-oriented art installation by artists Biegert & Bergström and the bank’s original safe deposit vault (now a private dining room) to boot.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
167 W Main Street
Pei-Ru Keh is a former US Editor at Wallpaper*. Born and raised in Singapore, she has been a New Yorker since 2013. Pei-Ru held various titles at Wallpaper* between 2007 and 2023. She reports on design, tech, art, architecture, fashion, beauty and lifestyle happenings in the United States, both in print and digitally. Pei-Ru took a key role in championing diversity and representation within Wallpaper's content pillars, actively seeking out stories that reflect a wide range of perspectives. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children, and is currently learning how to drive.
-
Frances Elkins gets her dues at Christie's this June
You can soon take home a piece of the legendary American designer’s legacy…including a $3 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture.
By Anna Fixsen
-
The new Phone 2 Pro from CMF combines generous scale with true affordability
We explore the ins and outs of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, the newest device from the Nothing sub-brand that focuses on bold design and carefully honed value engineering
By Jonathan Bell
-
‘I’ve considered every single detail’: how Victoria Beckham designed the perfect make-up brush collection
Victoria Beckham speaks to Wallpaper* about the meticulous design process behind her debut collection of make-up brushes, which perfectly treads a line between form and function
By Hannah Tindle
-
Ghanaian cuisine has a story to tell at Washington, DC restaurant Elmina
The new restaurant is chef Eric Adjepong’s colourful ode to the recipes he grew up loving
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
Fancy a matcha-beer cocktail? Visit this dashing new LA restaurant
Café 2001 channels the spirit of an American diner with the flow of a European bistro and the artistry of Japanese cuisine
By Carole Dixon
-
Visit this Michelin-star New York restaurant that doubles as an art gallery
Artist Mr.StarCity is exhibiting his emotionally charged yet optimistic ‘Bloomers’ portrait series at Frevo, a Greenwich Village hidden haunt
By Adrian Madlener
-
With glowing honeycomb-shaped booths, this futuristic Japanese restaurant is ramen heaven
After a successful U.S. expansion, Kyuramen touches down in Los Angeles.
By Carole Dixon
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the world
Celebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
By Léa Teuscher
-
Seven things not to miss on your sunny escape to Palm Springs
It’s a prime time for Angelenos, and others, to head out to Palm Springs; here’s where to have fun on your getaway
By Carole Dixon
-
At Linden Los Angeles, classic New York comfort food gets its due
The restaurant, inspired by a stretch of boulevard bridging Brooklyn and Queens, honors legacy, community and pleasure
By Carole Dixon
-
This atmospheric New York restaurant was designed to be a ‘beautiful ruin’
At Leon’s, classic Italian fare comes with a North African accent and with a side of family history
By Anna Fixsen