Beaumont Hotel (Ouray, Colorado)

The Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Colorado was in its day one of the grandest hotels in western Colorado and is on the United States National Register of Historic Places.

History

The Ouray Real Estate and Building Association started construction on the Beaumont Hotel on 5 July 1886, completing it on 15 December 1886 at a cost of $75.000. Palmer House supplied employees for the grand opening, on 25 July 1887. All of the original furniture was made by Marshall Field's.

The Beaumont was one of the first hotels in the country to be wired for alternating current electricity. It boasted guests such as Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover. The hotel closed in 1964 due to declining tourism in the area. For over 30 years the hotel sat empty, boarded up and in disrepair. At one point part of the roof collapsed and more than once the building was considered for condemnation. The hotel was sold in 1998 and was meticulously restored, its multiple rooms combined into a more spacious arrangement — the large hotel building now has just 12 guest rooms. It reopened in 2003 and received the Governor's Award for Historic Preservation. In 2004 it received one of the first four Preserve America Presidential Awards for historic preservation.

Architecture

The architectural style of the hotel is a mix of Victorian, Queen Anne and French Second Empire with a slate Mansard roof.

The prominent feature inside the three story brick building is a grand staircase leading into the lobby. A rosewood dining room occupies almost half of the second floor.

Trivia

On a cornerstone of the building at the corner of Main Street and 5th Avenue is a benchmark from the United States Geological Survey with an elevation of 7,800 feet (2377m) above sea level.

External links

* [http://www.beaumonthotel.com Beaumont Hotel Web Site]
* [http://www.ouraycolorado.com/beaumont Ouray Chamber Resort Association]
* [http://www.ouraycountyhistoricalsociety.org/Beaumont.htm Ouray Historical Society]