Brown Palace Hotel | |
Location | 17th St. and Tremont Pl., Denver, Colorado |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°44′39″N104°59′14″W / 39.74417°N 104.98722°W |
Area | 9.5 acres (3.8 ha) |
Built | 1892 |
Built by | Giddes & Seerie |
Architect | Frank Edbrooke |
Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 70000157 [1] |
CSRHP No. | 5DV.110 |
Added to NRHP | April 28, 1970 |
The Brown Palace Hotel, now The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, Autograph Collection, is a historic hotel in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the second-longest operating hotel in Denver. It is one of the first atrium-style hotels ever built. [2] It is now operated by HEI Hotels and Resorts, and joined Marriott's Autograph Collection Hotels in 2012. The hotel is located at 321 17th Street between 17th Street, Broadway and Tremont Place in downtown Denver behind the Republic Plaza. The main entrance door is on Tremont Place. The Brown Palace Hotel, now The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa, Autograph Collection is member of Historic Hotels of America (a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) since 2023.
The hotel was built in 1892 of sandstone and red granite, [3] one year later than the Oxford Hotel. It was named for its original owner, Henry C. Brown, who had homesteaded the Capitol Hill area, [4] and was designed with its distinctive triangular shape by architect Frank Edbrooke, who also designed the Oxford Hotel. The interior and the exterior of the building are considered to be the "finest extant example" of Edbrooke's work. [5]
Built with an iron and steel frame covered with cement and sandstone by the Whitehouse & Wirgler Stone Company, the building was "one of America's first fireproof structures, according to a May 21, 1892 cover story in Scientific American." Upon its completion it was Denver's tallest building. [6]
In the early 1930s Colorado muralist Allen Tupper True began discussing the possibility of creating two murals for the hotel with then owner Denver financier Charles Boettcher [7] and after some delay the two works, Stage Coach and Airplane Travel were unveiled in the hotel's lobby in 1937. [8]
In 1935, as a celebration of the Repeal of Prohibition in the United States, Denver architect Alan Fisher designed "Ship Tavern"; one of four restaurants inside The Brown Palace. [9]
The 22-story, 231-room tower directly across Tremont Place was built as a new wing of the hotel in 1959, known as the Brown Palace West. [10] For many years it operated as a budget wing of the hotel, until the Brown Palace's owners branded the guest rooms in the annex as a Comfort Inn in 1988, and then as a Holiday Inn Express in December 2014. [11] The lower levels of the tower are shared with the Brown Palace, including the Grand Ballroom and executive offices. The tower is connected to the main building by a skybridge over Tremont Place and a service tunnel running under the street.
Past guests include the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown (she stayed at the hotel only a week after the Titanic disaster), infamous Denver crime boss Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, Dr. Sun Yat Sen (just before becoming the president of the new Republic of China), Denver Socialite Louise Sneed Hill, Queen Marie of Romania, John Wayne, and The Beatles. Presidential guests include William Taft, Warren Harding, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. John Galen Locke passed away there 1935 while at a political meeting.
The hotel was the site of the high-profile 1911 murders in which Frank Henwood shot and killed Sylvester Louis "Tony" von Phul, and accidentally killed an innocent bystander, George Copeland, in the hotel's "Marble Bar." Henwood and von Phul were rivals for (or shared) the affections of Denver socialite Isabel Springer, the wife of wealthy Denver businessman and political candidate John W. Springer. The murders culminated in a series of very public trials. [12] [13] [14]
In Joan Didion's 1977 novel A Book of Common Prayer , the narrator, Grace Strasser-Mendana, lives at the Brown Palace after her parents' deaths.
The hotel features in the 2017 Jane Fonda and Robert Redford film Our Souls at Night .
It features in the time travel novel “Warm Souls” - Part 2 of the “Wealth of Time” series by Andre Gonzalez. The Brown Palace is featured on many of Denver's cultural tours. [15] [16]
The Colorado Governor's Mansion, also known as the Cheesman-Boettcher Mansion, is a historic U.S. mansion in Denver, Colorado. It is located at 400 East 8th Avenue. On December 3, 1969, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is open free-of-charge for scheduled tours, and also hosts special public events.
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The Oxford Hotel is a historic building in Denver, Colorado, which was designed by early Denver architect Frank Edbrooke, and built in 1891. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The Cruise Room is a hotel bar with historic art deco interior, that was operated as an illicit speakeasy.
Allen Tupper True was an American illustrator, easel painter and muralist who specialized in depicting the American West.
Frank E. Edbrooke, also known as F.E. Edbrooke, was a 19th and early 20th century architect in Denver, Colorado who has been termed the "dean" of Denver architecture. Several of his surviving works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places including Brinker Collegiate Institute, built in 1880 and NRHP-listed in 1977.
William Ellsworth Fisher was an architect who founded the Denver, Colorado firm that became Fisher & Fisher.
John James Huddart, known usually as John J. Huddart, was a British born and trained architect who practised out of Denver, Colorado in the United States. At the end of the Nineteenth century he was one of Denver's leading architects, known for his work on public buildings and as a courthouse architect.
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The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Denver, Colorado, United States, from its founding in 1858 to the present.
Autograph Collection is an American group of independent upper-upscale to luxury hotels within the Marriott International portfolio. The properties are independently owned and operated under the Autograph Collection name.
Henry C. Brown was a carpenter, architect, real estate developer and businessman during Denver's early days. After operating a boarding house and carpentry shop, both of which were washed away by the flood of 1864, he homesteaded 160 acres in Denver. He donated land for the state capitol in the middle of his land. He built the Brown Palace Hotel, a luxury hotel that has been visited by historical figures, including United States Presidents.
John W. Springer was an attorney and banker in Illinois, Texas, and Colorado. He was a clerk during the 50th United States Congress (1887–1889) and represented his district in the Illinois state legislature. He was active in business, politics, and society in Denver, Colorado. Springer had a 10,000 acre ranch and farm, which included the Highlands Ranch Mansion. The ranch became the suburb of Highlands Ranch, Colorado. His second wife, Isabel Patterson Springer, was the center of a scandal that resulted in the murder of two men at the Brown Palace Hotel.
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.
The Denver Gas & Electric Building, also known as the Public Service Building and the Insurance Exchange Building, is a building located in the downtown district of Denver, Colorado. Designed by architect Harry W.J. Edbrooke for the Denver Gas & Electric Company, the 10 story building was completed in 1910. One of its most striking features is the use of 13,000 electric light bulbs decorating its façade.
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