Day 38: Key Room and West Wing Construction

Over the years, as the popularity of The Baldpate Inn increased, its buildings grew to meet the needs of guests, and the growing collection of keys!  

What started with the Mace family Homestead grew into a bustling business of tourist cabins, and in 1918, the Main Lodge opened. Over the years our Main Lodge also went through several renovations, growing in size and functionality. While the exact features and timing of events is really unknown, our Baldpate Seven Keys Armchair Touris a reflection of our best estimates.

From roughly 1921 – 1934, the main lodge had only a small west wing. But the ever growing lodging business, and the expanding Key Collection, demanded change.

In 1935, the final renovation to the main building took place, with an extension to the west wing on the main floor and additional rooms upstairs. 

 

This 1935 addition brought big changes, creating our Library and world famous Key Room. 

An additional entrance was added on the west end, which is now our wheelchair accessible entrance.

 

 

Here is an image of the Library, brand new in 1935. (Can you call it a library if there are no books in sight?)  No doubt you recognize the Old Hickory rocking chairs, and the handmade table that now holds the soup pots in our Dining Room. 

  

And here is the library today (plenty of books to enjoy!) 

But of course the big feature of this addition was the now world famous Key Room!  Before the addition, we really don’t know how the collection of 7,000+ keys was housed? Was it in this Lounge or in the Spooning Room?  We don’t see anything in our old photos that tells the story.

Regardless, the “new” Key Room was opened with much fanfare in 1935! 

 

While the spirit of the Key Room remains the same, a few more keys exist today (we think more than 30,000)!!  This photo, taken from the January 2017 edition of 5280, Denver’s premier lifestyle magazine, captures it well.

Come join us and enjoy these enchanting spaces. 

Written by Liz Rodgers & Lois Smith

Source: Baldpate Archives &Baldpate Seven Keys Armchair Tour

Day 37: Tourist Cabins of The Baldpate Inn (National Goof Off Day)

Today, we turn our eyes back in time, to the Mace family soon after they set up their Homestead. The Maces had a natural gift for hospitality which would shape their future, and the lives of many they encountered.

In those times, traveling was not easy or quick. Although the Baldpate property was located in the remote mountains of Colorado, the Maces were not destined to be lonely or have much "goof off" time! A stream of hikers and travelers passed by on the road, and the Maces provided lodging and meals to folks so often that it inspired the construction of several “tourist cabins.”

Ethel Mace described the decision this way, “We decided to build a hotel or inn because it seemed that the guests might prefer to be able to eat and sleep here without having to worry about supplies. It was kind of funny because neither of us knew anything about hotels. I had been in one once and Gordon had about three or four times. We bumbled along though, and when we had finished, there were more guests than we could accommodate.”

The Mace family utilized their considerable talents and applied them to the surrounding natural resources to create the cabins and eventually the main lodge, building them by hand from hand-hewed timber cut from the property. 

Over the years four guest cabins were constructed and remain popular guest destinations to this day.  While so far, we have not found accurate building records, we’ve pieced together the most likely development in our Seven Keys Armchair Tour.

Just to the west of the Homestead, our Twin Sisters cabin is believed to be one of the first “Tourist Cabins” built. As you may detect from the framing of “twin” doors on its front porch, this cabin was originally a duplex cabin, each with one small bedroom and bath.

Twin Sisters cabin was updated by the Smith family in 2002, while Jen and her husband Pete were working at the inn. Pete jumped right into our family’s do-it-yourself methods, never shying from the challenge. Twin Sisters is now an updated delightful four person cabin, with a cozy gas fireplace, luxury bathroom with “twin” headed shower.

East of the Homestead is our Pinetop cabin, which we believe predates the Baldpate main lodge as well.  It was originally a two bedroom cabin that was renovated in the 1990s.  Nestled in the pine and aspen forest, Pinetop is now the perfect sweetheart getaway with its queen canopy bed, sitting area with gas fireplace, whirlpool tub for two, and a delightful outdoor porch with rustic railing.

Our Wrangler cabin was initially our most primitive cabin structure with just a stone fireplace for heating and a partial dirt floor. We are guessing it was originally the living quarters of the Baldpate Stables horsemen. 

One of the most colorful characters involved at the stables was Chuck Malone. His name is carved in the wooden mantle above the fireplace, along with what could be the Baldpate brand. Tune in for a future post to learn more about the Baldpate Stables!

In the 1980s, our Wrangler was also the home of the Baldpate Metro District’s handyman, Paul and his two dogs, Brown Dog and Black Dog.  Paul always had a story to share and checked in daily to see if there was leftover pie that needed to be eaten (most often with a generous helping of ice cream).

The Wrangler cabin was renovated by the Smiths in 1995.  It is now a delightful two bedroom cabin with original antique tub and native stone wood burning fireplace.

Since the roof of our Valley View cabin is visible in some of our earliest photos we think it was constructed shortly after the main lodge, around 1921. Charles Mace used it as a home before his Tikitiboo homestead was built near the top of our driveway.

Valley View was also known as “the Mitchell Cabin,” derived from a family who rented it each summer for a number of years. In the 1990s, this cabin was the favorite of actor John Ritter, of Three’s Company fame, where he stayed with his family each summer at Baldpate.

Our Valley View cabin was the first big renovation project for the Smith family in 1989. Updated heating was added to create our delightful three bedroom cabin. Still, history shines in the original unique red stone fireplace and seriously long skis used now as only as wall decoration. 

So, when you are ready to "goof off," which cabin will be your favorite?

Written by Liz Rodgers & Lois Smith

Sources: Baldpate Seven Keys Armchair Tour & Baldpate Archives

Day 34: Baldpate Architectural Significance & Buildings History

Alright, architecture buffs and scholars! Ready to match your knowledge to the architectural styles of The Baldpate Inn?

Which styles of architecture are present in the lodging of The Baldpate Inn?

    A.  Western Stick
    B.  Rustic
    C.  Shingle
    D.  Half Timber
    E.  All of the above 

If you selected "All of the above," you are correct!

 
Studying our unique Architectural significance, Baldpate’s Main Lodge is really a poster child for Western Stick Rustic style. Our Main Lodge building is unique as one of the few remaining structures in the area still being used for its original intent.

Western Stick Rustic architecture is really sort of a combination of the early Shingle, Stick and Rustic categories.

Stick houses in the east had generally plain and straightforward forms but were marked by vertical, horizontal and diagonal boards to create patterns on the façade. These boards are called “stickwork” and when they still contain bark on one side, they were known as “half-timber.”

Prevalent elements of Shingle style are the simple, and informal feel of the building and the tall rigid lines.

Rustic characteristics are similar to stick architecture in that there is prominent, vertical board and batten siding and the use of half-timbering. The Rustic category also makes use of unique materials taken from the surrounding landscape in order to remain consistent and unobtrusive to the natural surroundings.

So when you check out our features we are a match!  The board and batten construction, the big overhanging eves, and don’t those big front upright pillars look just like the neighboring trees!!

Trying to piece together the true timeline and buildings history of The Baldpate Inn has really been a jigsaw puzzle.   MacKenzie did the lion's share of work to figure out the actual various construction phases of our Main Lodge based a combination of old photos, room numbers listed in a guest registers, newspaper stories, and looking at such clues as where did the log beams end, along with a generous amount of guesswork.  We put this all together in a Summer Enchanted Evenings presentation of the 7 Keys Armchair Tour. 

With all that research & guessing, we came up with several major Baldpate building phases.

1918-1920: 
Initial construction of the main lodge. Guest registers and folklore say we opened with seven guest rooms along with our dining room, lobby and a kitchen.

1921-1934: 

Expansion during this time included eight more guest rooms on the East Wing over the Dining Room,  the small lounge on the West end of the main lodge, our big new Dance Hall building and our icehouse.

 

1935:

The final big expansion came with the addition of the West Wing, that included rooms upstairs, and downstairs, a Library and the now-famous Key Room dedicated to our ever growing Key Collection.

Of course with a puzzle this old, there are always missing pieces, when was the barn built?  Which cabins were first?  Did our Baldpate road sign exist before 1935 since before that our current drive was the main Estes Park Allenspark road?  Anyone know any answers?

Written by Lois Smith & Liz Rodgers