VERSAILLES, Ky. — City and county leaders are continuing to invest in downtown Versailles in hopes of attracting more tourists and improving the quality of life in the city.

What You Need To Know

  • The Rickhouse will be located at the former Woodford Bank building at 101 N. Main Street in downtown Versailles  

  • Alex Riddle, a lifelong Versailles resident has been purchasing and renovating historic buildings in the city for six years 

  • The Rickhouse will feature 30 boutique rooms and a working distillery, the first of its kind in Kentucky 

  • Guests will hopefully be staying at the hotel by May or June 2024

Meanwhile, private investors are also doing their part to improve Versailles by purchasing and renovating buildings in the downtown area, instead of letting them sit vacant.

Work continued Tuesday on the old Woodford Bank building at 101 North Main Street. Developer Alex Riddle said by this time next year, he hopes the hotel-distillery combo will have been in business for three months.

Guests will be staying in the hotel by May or June 2024, if all goes according to plan, Riddle said. 

Riddle said he remembers when the building was used as a bank during its 100-plus-year history.

“We buy these things because we love the buildings, and we love downtown and we want people to come here," Riddle said.

Riddle, a lifelong Versailles resident, works full-time and began purchasing and renovating buildings in the city six years ago. He and business partners purchased the former bank building in 2020 and want to transform it into a hotel-distillery, offering 30 boutique rooms offering another place for lodging in Woodford County.

“The idea is we want you to walk in and feel very welcome, but we also want you to feel like you’re walking into the nicest Derby party you’ve ever been to," Riddle said.

Named The Rickhouse, it will also feature a restaurant and a working distillery where they’ll craft their own bourbon. The hotel-distillery would be the first business of its kind in the state. 

“The distillery is really here because we’re on the Bourbon Trail; the Bourbon chase runs right past our front door and we hope to get on the Bourbon Trail once we open as well," Riddle said.

Versailles Mayor Brian Traugott said downtown Versailles has undergone major transformations in the last 10 years, thanks to city investment and private investors such as Riddle.

“People willing to take a chance and invest their money — it’s going to be successful because it’s a unique thing that’s going to draw a lot of tourists on the Bourbon Trail, but they’ll also have some things for locals as well," Traugott said.

In April, the city began construction on a $3.6 million project; giving the farmer’s market a permanent home and stage for live music. Traugott said private and public investments complement each other and helped secure community development block grant funding for The Rickhouse.

“That also long-term helps the City of Versailles because we can recoup those funds and can reutilize them for other economic development projects," Traugott said.

Riddle said COVID-19 delayed the project a bit. He said once the renovation is complete he will shed a tear because, for him, this is a passion-project.

“It’s exciting to be a part of promoting a town that I love and a town that’s meant a lot to me," Riddle said.

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