House of Mirrors - Denver, CO - Colorado Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

Built in 1889 by Madam Jennie Rogers, was born as Leah J. Tehme. She arrived in Denver in 1880 and gravitated to Market Street. She bought a small parlour house from Mattie Silks and began recruiting the most seductive ladies of perpetual indulgence which made Jennie’s place an intimate haven where gentlemen could enjoy the finest cigars, the best of brandies, and the most nubile of discreet companionship.

Rogers’s friend and competitor, Mattie Silks, was Denver’s most-famous madam, but the six-foot-tall, hot-tempered, statuesque Rogers was the classiest act in the Denver demimonde. Jennie’s ample bust crowns the pediment of her restored House of Mirrors at 1942 Market Street. Carved into the facade below her are the busts of men she supposedly blackmailed to build this most elegant of all Colorado cat houses. Jennie’s sumptuous house boasted a dining room, three parlours, a ball room, a wine cellar and 15 bedrooms. The mirrored ceilings captured the grand piano, a golden harp, crystal chandeliers, oriental rugs, bird’s-eye maple woodwork and some marvelous anatomical wonders.

Jennie House of Mirrors aroused the envy of Jennie’s rival, Mattie Silks, who bought the place in 1911 and installed her name in the entry tile. Now converted to a restaurant and museum of shady ladies, this restored brothel is a monument to the two smart, entrepreneurial women who made Denver a favorite stop for cowboys, miners and other lonely men throughout the Rockies.

Plaque reads as follows:

House of Mirrors
1942 Market Street
This building was constructed by
madam Jennie Rogers in 1889 and became
the classiest bordello in the Rocky
Mountain West. Another famous pleasure
queen, Mattie Silks, operated the business
from 1911 until it was closed by federal
edict in about 1915. The building was a
Buddhist temple and warehouse from
1920 until 1998.

The structure is a contributing property
to the Lower Downtown Historic District.

Group or Groups Responsible for Placement: Lower Downtown [Denver] District County or City: Denver Date Dedicated: Unknown Check here for Web link(s) for additional information: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/09/2011 jsarche visited it