Growing up in Parker, I learned a peculiar thing about division. There was Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs. People who lived in the Parker area seemed fairly divided between the north and the south. Some loved Denver, others loved Colorado Springs. Unfortunately, with Boulder anchoring the north, Colorado Springs always seemed the odd one out in the battle of north and south.

Colorado Springs might not have the Flatirons or the skyscrapers and nightlife, but neither Denver nor Boulder have the Renaissance Victorian grandeur of the Broadmoor. Nestled at the base of Cheyenne Mountain, the Broadmoor is one man’s legacy and dream to turn the Pikes Peak region into a wonderland never before conceived.

Willie Wilcox, a tuberculosis sufferer and fortune hunter who moved out West in hopes of curing his affliction, bought the property in 1880. He began a dairy farm, which he called the Broadmoor Dairy Farm. However, Wilcox had little experience with livestock and the dairy farm floundered. In search of investors, Wilcox met his knight in shining armor, in actual fact a Prussian count from what is now Poland. Count James Pourtales had dreams for the property as grand as the title “count” now imparts on the imagination. He dabbled with Wilcox in the dairy business and had moderate success by 1888. Yet Pourtales understood it would never pay the returns he would need to make it a truly profitable business. Not one to give up, Pourtales began designs on an upper-class suburb in Colorado Springs that would have all the amenities of the day.

On July 1, 1891, Pourtales opened The Broadmoor Casino, and a small hotel followed a few years later. Part of his plan was to subdivide the land around the casino as home sites. To make the home sites even more attractive, he created a lake to serve as a focal point. However, once complete, the lake quickly drained dry. The cause: the lake sat above an extensive prairie dog tunnel system. At a high price the tunnels and the bottom of the lake were sealed with clay. Never short on dreams but increasingly short on cash, Pourtales had finally reached his financial limit.

Though the property seemed destined to slip into slumber, it still had one more dreamer to go, and he was the biggest of them all. Spencer Penrose of Philadelphia brought his money from gold and copper mining and his wife, Julie, to the Pikes Peak region. Having won in the mining industry, Penrose turned his sights on becoming a hotelier. He conceived a hotel of grandeur on a scale this country had never seen and Penrose had the money to make the dream come true.

On May 9, 1916, Penrose bought the Broadmoor Casino and Hotel and its 40 acres along with 400 additional acres. He incorporated it into the Broadmoor Hotel and Land Company. Due to the unusual spelling of the hotel’s name (the “a” is small and elevated above the type line), he was able to trademark the word “Broadmoor”. Historians speculate that the raised “A” might have been an insult to the Antlers, a hotel for which Penrose had a great deal of animosity after he was turned away for riding his horse into the bar, and after his friend was fired as hotel manager. Both incidents are also seen as the possible reasons Penrose went into the business at all.

The New York architectural and design firm of Warren and Wetmore was hired to build the Broadmoor in Italian Renaissance style with four wings and a curved marble staircase. It was completed in June 1918 and held a grand opening on the 29th of the month. Playing to the American pastime of golf, Penrose built an 18-hole course by master golf-course designer Donald Ross.

The elaborate reputation of the hotel quickly put it on the map of places to visit by those in the upper crust. Over its lifetime, the hotel hosted presidents (FDR, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the list goes on), would-be presidents, foreign dignitaries (the King of Siam and King Hussein of Jordan, to name a few) and celebrities including Clark Gable, Aerosmith, Walt Disney (another dreamer) and many, many more.

When one considers the Broadmoor’s amenities, it is easy to see what has drawn people to it for nearly 100 years. In addition to the original golf course known as the East Golf Course, where the 2008 US Senior Open will be held, and which was returned to its original bunker style in 1995, there are three more courses bringing the total to 54 championship holes. The most recent course built, the Mountain Course, opened in July of 2006 and was designed by Nicklaus Design. For those not into golfing there is also a spa with a state of the art exercise facility and tennis.

There is also the Carriage Museum which houses cars and carriages from Penrose’s own collection. A recent renovation of the main building, completed in 2002, included restoration of all the original artwork on the ceilings and walls. If you leave the hotel grounds, you will discover more of Penrose’s grand design. There is the Pikes Peak Road, which Penrose had constructed, as well as the Cog Railway, which Penrose purchased and updated in 1925. And then there is one of the finest privately owned zoos, courtesy of Penrose, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Spencer Penrose brought life to the sleepy town of Colorado Springs with the Broadmoor. There is something inspiring about the landscape of the Pikes Peak region that the north cannot deny, what with the Garden of the Gods and the cliff dwellings of Manitou Springs. For whatever reason, Colorado Springs attracted dreamers and one particular dream grew into a world-class reality of luxury, leisure, and inspiration.

Nicole Musmanno
holds a BA in English literature and history.
She is an avid equestrian, long-time
runner, and an outdoor enthusiast.
namusmanno@aol.com

[ login to post comments | email this page | printer friendly version | 816 reads ]