The Goat's Horn
Perhaps the best known of Harthill's dancehalls, the Goat's Horn is located in the east of the Town Centre district, off Buchanan Boulevard and was founded in 1919, by Séverin Boissieu.
What makes the Goat's Horn one of the stand out places in the town for a night of dancing and drinking is that the Goat's Horn has its own house band, led by Domezio De Marzo, who for a time worked the big band circuit in Hollywood, and it has a reputation for its extensive and exotic cocktail menu. The establishment is frequented by the richer and more influential citizens of Harthill, though it is not unusual to find students from Teliávus University there as well, though they tend to do their drinking elsewhere and arrive to dance already half-cut.
Though it has not been a fixture in the town for that many years, the Goat's Horn has already made itself into one of Harthill's most beloved institutions.
Purpose / Function
First and foremost, the Goat's Horn is a dancehall, with most of its downstairs space having been set up to provide room for its clientele to Fox Trot, Slow Waltz, Charleston and Shimmy their nights away.
Having said that, plenty of room is also provided for those that frequent the Goat's Horn to drink and mingle if they do not feel like exerting themselves particularly, and the joint has begun to acquire a reputation as a place that people go to conduct 'private business' that they would rather not conduct within their own homes.
The large number of private function rooms available for hire also means that the Goat's Horn is a regular venue for private parties and functions.
Alterations
As the building that the Goat's Horn now occupies was originally constructed with the purpose of being a hotel, considerable internal renovations had to be undertaken to convert the establishment into a dancehall and bar.
On the ground floor, the hotel's lounge, dining rooms and its original bar were knocked through to create one large space that can accommodate a large dance floor, a band pit, an extensive bar and tables surrounding the central dancing space. The original lobby of the hotel was retained, and is now used as an entrance hall, with a coatroom service, as well as providing a spacious and slightly quieter place for people to meet and chat to one another. The original hotel kitchen has been retained, as the club does offer dining options, mostly assortments of canapés, though they are also geared up to provide catering services for private or large events.
The rooms on the first floor of the hotel, which were originally designed to be bedrooms for guests, have been converted, with many being knocked through to provide a number of smaller, more intimate and private meeting spaces, which can be hired out for private parties and gatherings.
The second floor of the building has been converted into four large flats, with the largest being the home of Séverin Boissieu, the owner of the establishment, the second largest being a rehearsal space and instrument store for the house band and the other two flats being rented out at a heavily subsidised rate to Domezio De Marzo, the house band's leader and Teddy Harding, the establishment's Maître D' .
Architecture
The premises that the Goat's Horn occupies was originally a large Victorian town house, with a grand entrance way, high ceilings and bright, airy rooms with large windows. It's gothic exterior rather belies the raucous, good times had within, though Séverin Boissieu the owner of the establishment has been heard to comment that he likes the more sober exterior, noting that it gives the Goat's Horn a sense of grandeur and class that he wants to encourage amongst his clientele.
History
Once a Victorian townhouse constructed in the early years of the nineteenth century, the building became vacant after the widow who owned it died without an heir. As the house, along with all of its furnishings was not left to anyone, it was taken over by the Harthill Town Council, who sold it off for the benefit fo the community to a Monsieur Séverin Boissieu, reputedly for a bargain price.
Séverin Boissieu, is a Parisian by birth, who reputedly ran bars and clubs in Paris before the outbreak of the First World War. However, after being forced to fight himself on the front lines, he returned to Paris after the war to find his burgeoning entertainment empire in ruins. Not being able to face rebuilding in his old home, and desiring to move somewhere quieter, he packed his bags and eventually happened upon Harthill. Given that, in his opinion, the town was sorely lacking a dancing establishment of culture, quality and class, he decided that this was a place with a key gap in its market, and he decided to settle and after stumbling upon the house on Buchanan Boulevard by chance on the day it was being auctioned off, he bought and founded the Goat's Horn less than forty eight hours after arriving in Harthill.
Since its foundation, the Goat's Horn has gone from strength to strength, and the fact that at any one time the dancehall could have many of the great, good and influential under its roof, Séverin Boissieu himself has become a wealthy and influential man within the community.
Tourism
Though it is not a big enough name to draw clientele from beyond the Harthill area, the Goat's Horn is almost always pointed out to tourists visiting the town that tay within the Town Centre, Evansfarm or GreenGlades districts, whether or not they express an interest in dancing or not.
Founding Date
Building constructed in 1812, premises occupied by the Goat's Horn since 1919.
Type
Dance club
Parent Location
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