The Keswick Hotel was originally owned by the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Company and was built to coincide with the opening of the railway in 1865. However, the hotel itself was not completed until 1869 - as the date above the main entrance records.
By today's standards the cost of erecting the Keswick Hotel are ludicrously low. However, at the time, the sums of £1,000 for the purchase of the land and between £10,000 and £12,000 for the building would have been considered a sizeable investment. The furnishings of the hotel came to a total of £200 - nowadays; one armchair alone would cost more than this!