Briarhurst

Briarhurst is a finely grained pink Victorian and Tudor style, sandstone manor house in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Built in 1886, as the home of Dr. William Bell Briarhurst Manor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fountain Creek passes through the estate and the home is in the shadow of Pikes Peak.

Under Mrs. Cara Bell's direction, Briarhurst Manor became the social center of the community, hosting the internationally famous of the day. On occasion, a tribe of friendly Utes camped on the Briarhurst estate grounds while preparing to go into the Garden of the Gods, for them a holy place of worship.

One winter night in 1886, while Dr. Bell was away on business, Mrs. Bell awoke to a bedroom filled with smoke. Burning embers escaped from a fireplace in Briarhurst. She woke the children and servants. Cara stayed in the burning house and with the help of gardener Schneider, they rescued a prized oil painting by Thomas Moran, the "Mount of the Holy Cross". The family escaped safely, but lost all of their belongings and returned to England. They returned in early 1887 to begin reconstruction of a second, more elaborate Briarhurst Manor, complete with schoolroom, conservatory, cloister and a library with a special alcove to display the "Mount of the Holy Cross."

Today, convert|5|acre|m2 of the original Briarhurst estate is a restaurant and event venue. The restaurant seats over 400 guests and features Colorado cuisine. The remainder of the estate features the original 1873 carriage house, which is now part of Blue Skies Inn, a bed and breakfast. [http://www.blueskiesbb.com/history.html] Many weddings are celebrated in the gardens that Ferdinand Schenider started over a hundred years ago.

External links

* [http://www.coloradoeats.com/briarhurst/about.html ColoradoEats.com: The Briarhurst Manor]