Rockledge Country Inn - Manitou Springs, CO - Antique Hotels on Waymarking.com

Rockledge Country Inn is situated on four acres in Manitou Springs, Colorado, at the foot of Pike's Peak and the entrance to Front Range of The Rocky Mountains. Most of the grounds are native with juniper trees, pinion pines and scrub oak. It is not uncommon to see mule deer and red fox on the property. Red finches, magpies, downy woodpeckers, rufous-sided towhee, Brewer's sparrow and robins are the most plentiful birds, but a wide variety of species have been seen and heard, especially during migration periods.

Rockledge is constructed of Manitou greenstone and "pebblestone" (stucco) with a cedar shake roof. The 7700 square foot main house consists of twenty rooms, including five bedrooms plus a basement and the carriage house adds three additional bedrooms to the inn. The entire "under roof" area of both is a bit over 9,000 square feet. There are approximately 25,000 square feet of stoned walled terraces constructed principally of Manitou greenstone.

The Craftwood Guild, Inc. was formed in the early 1900's, originating in England with William Morris and influenced in America by Gustav Stickley, Frank Lloyd Wright and others. This new architectural movement broke away from the excesses of the Victorian period, dedicated to their belief that architecture should be an extension of nature, using natural and local materials.The Guild employed these principles in the design of Onaledge, located just below the property, which was built for the president of the Guild, Mr. Bautwell. The Craftwood Inn restaurant, located to the west of Onaledge, was built as a workshop for the members of the Guild and was the foundry where the entry fireplace hood was produced.

In 1912, The Craftwood Guild constructed Rockledge for Edward H. Heath. It seems highly likely that the architect, reported to be William H. Stickney, based his plans on a Gustav Stickley design seen in the September 1910 edition of The Craftsman entitled "two story craftsman house designed for sloping site". While that design was more modest than Rockledge, the design featured a center "living hall" flanked by a living room on one side and dining room on the other, in addition to the center hall being open to the hallway/balcony on the second story. Take a photo tour of Rockledge.

Little is known of the original owner, Edward Heath, for whom the house was built. He was a millionaire who came to Manitou from Kansas because his son was ill with tuberculosis. Heath sold the house in 1927 to Miles Frank Yount, of Texas oil fortune, as a summer home.

During the 6 years from 1927 to Frank's death in 1933, the Rockledge property was expanded to encompass 15 acres. He constructed tennis courts, a greenhouse, an Olympic size swimming pool and bath house. He also added many stone terraces throughout the estate, exotic gardens, a peacock farm and horse pastures. Pansy Yount continued to improve the estate after his death by acquiring Onaledge (the house to the west) and constructing the walkways to integrate the houses. Their only daughter Mildred, married Ed Manion and they had three children. The Manion family occupied Rockledge until Mildred died in 1968.

The house changed hands several times after 1968 and was acquired in 1985 by Ahmed El Dib, an Egyptian born American who was only at Rockledge intermittently. In 1996, Hartman and Nancy Smith agreed to acquire Rockledge if it could be used as a country inn. When the city of Manitou Springs rejected the proposal, Mr. El Dib proceeded with his plans to build 15 condominiums on the property at which time the Town's council reconsidered and Rockledge Country Inn was opened to guests in June, 1997.

In 2000 Rockledge was sold to Carol Bovey of St. Louis, Missouri, whose son, Stephen, and daughter in-law operated it until it was purchased by Proclamation Ministries, Inc., a non-profit organization, in July of 2003. Bob and Deena Stuart manage it both as a bed and breakfast and as a site for various ministry activities.

Name of the Hotel: Rockledge Country Inn Address: 328 El Paso Blvd. Manitou Springs, CO 80829 Number of Rooms: 7 Height in floors: 2 Hotel Rating: 4 Diamonds Hotel since: 06/01/1997 Date Building was built: 01/01/1912 First use of building: family residence Historic Hotel (Historic Building, National Monument or similar): yes Urban Hotel (located in a village or town): yes Mountains Nearby (less than 25 Kms / 15 Mil): yes Beachs Nearby (less than 25 Kms / 15 Mil): no Historic Place nearby (Unesco or National monument/site less than 25 Kms / 15 Mil): yes Hotel website (if available): [Web Link] Major Pilgrimage Place Nearby (less than 25 Kms / 15 Mil. Consider any religion).: Not Listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/01/2014 geckl69 visited it 11/27/2010 ArmyFamily4 visited it

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