Our Story · 410 S First Street

A Building Reborn in the Heart of Louisville

From settlement house play yard to modern boutique stay. The story of 410 S. 1st Street and the ground it stands on.

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The Neighborhood House Speakeasy | Basement Level

Chapter One · 1896

Roots in the Community

Founded in 1896, Neighborhood House was Kentucky's first settlement house. Immigrants and working families came here for English classes, citizenship courses, job training, kindergarten, and community support. The lot at 410 S. 1st Street was its play yard. Neighborhood children gathered there while their families built new lives in a growing city.

That chapter ended in the mid-1960s. After the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Interstate 65 was routed through the heart of downtown Louisville. The first plan ran it straight down Second Street to the Clark Memorial Bridge. Architects warned that would split downtown in two, so the route shifted east. By many accounts, the diagonal path it cut through the street grid did even more damage. Hundreds of buildings came down. Entire neighborhood centers were leveled.

Neighborhood House was among the landmarks lost. The settlement house was torn down, its play yard went quiet, and the lot sat empty. One small piece of a change that reshaped downtown Louisville for good.

The name lives onOur basement speakeasy is The Neighborhood House, named for the settlement house.

Chapter Two · 1970

The Harcourt Holdout

After I-65 went in, First National Bank began buying land at 101 South Fifth Street for the First National Tower. Today it is PNC Tower. One by one, the owners around it sold. The Harcourt family would not.

The Harcourts made school commencement products, mostly class rings and printed materials. Their business had long called that block home. They were the last holdout.

So First National made a deal. The bank would build the Harcourts a new building on the old Neighborhood House play yard at 410 S. 1st Street, a lot that had sat vacant since the highway went through. The building was finished in 1970, and the Harcourt family moved in.

The Penny Floor | Elevator Lobby

Found During Demolition

A time capsule. A White Castle cup and a newspaper from the day Apollo 13 splashed down.

In the 1970s, workers polished rings by hand inside 410 South First Street. The polishing dust still stains the ceiling concrete.

Chapter Three · 1990s

Decades of Purpose

The Harcourt family ran their business out of 410 for more than two decades. In the 1990s, the building became offices for Jewish Hospital. Other professional firms followed, each adding a quiet chapter to the building's working history on this downtown block.

Vendome Mural | Sir Barton Suite

Chapter Four · Today

A New Chapter with Super Stays

When Super Stays bought the property, it was a fully depreciated office building. We saw a structure with a story worth keeping and a location worth celebrating. A careful renovation turned 410 into A12, a modern boutique stay that honors the character of the original building and gives guests something new in the heart of downtown Louisville.

Every detail of the renovation follows one idea: the best buildings carry their history forward. A12 is the latest chapter in a story that goes back more than a century on this ground. We're glad you're part of it.

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Timeline

1896 to Today

1896

Neighborhood House is founded as Kentucky's first settlement house. The lot at 410 S. 1st Street serves as its play yard, where neighborhood children gather while families use its classes, job training, and community programs.
Mid-1960s

Interstate 65 is routed through downtown Louisville, displacing hundreds of families and demolishing entire neighborhood centers. Neighborhood House is among the landmarks lost, and the play yard lot at 410 sits vacant.
1970

First National Bank, assembling land for what is now PNC Tower, builds the Harcourt family a new building at 410 S. 1st Street in exchange for their holdout property.
1990s

The Harcourt family moves out and 410 becomes offices for Jewish Hospital, followed by a run of professional tenants over the next two decades.
Today

Super Stays buys and renovates the property and turns it into A12, a boutique stay that brings new life to a building with deep roots in Louisville.

A12

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