Holiday Chalet - Commercial Resources of the East Colfax Avenue Corridor - Denver, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 44.396 W 104° 58.908
13S E 501559 N 4398893
This lovely building has evolved from a private home to apartments to a hotel to a bed and breakfast.
Waymark Code: WMGXY6
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 04/22/2013
Views: 3
"Originally built in 1896 as the home of pioneer Denver jeweler, Henry Bohm and his wife Mary this magnificent building has stood for well over a century representing one of Denver’s finest examples of residential architecture.
The location at 1820 E. Colfax, on the corner of Colfax Avenue and High Street in the Wyman District on Denver’s Capitol Hill put the Bohms in close proximity to Denver’s wealthy and elite. Residing in such close proximity to Denver’s capitol building, city and county building, as well as Brown Palace Hotel, Bohm finished his home in similar style, using lavish trimmings such as Tiffany windows, ornate moldings, and elegant woodwork.
In 1912, the mansion was sold by the Bohm family and purchased by Noah Hayden Griffith another prosperous Denver business and family man. After Noah’s passing in 1918 Influenza epidemic, the single family home underwent a historic transformation. Needing a source of income to support her family, Noah’s widow, Ida Lindsay Griffith hired a Dutch architect to convert the large mansion into tasteful efficiency apartments for women and children. Each apartment had closets with French doors that housed Murphy beds which are said to be the first interior French doors designed for home use in Denver. With the addition of sunrooms, the new apartments made ideal residencies for single nurses, small families, and businessmen.
In 1952, Griffith’s children decided to convert the apartment building into a hotel as property tax increases began to make the apartments almost unprofitable. The previous high-quality renovations ensured a prestigious diamond AAA rating. The mansion continued to serve as Denver grew around it. The Capitol Hill neighborhood developed into an incubator of diverse, alternative lifestyles and free-spirited movements. Motor vehicle traffic along Colfax burgeoned enough to cause the boulevard to be widened. The widening accommodated not only Denver’s growing populace, but the throngs of cross- country travelers venturing west on one of the country’s main highway routes at the time; US 40. The Hotel was a welcome haven for nightly stays by weary travelers and the open-ended stays of beatnik poets.
The property left possession of three generations of Griffiths in 1983 and reopened as The Holiday Chalet Bed and Breakfast. In 2004, owner Crystal Sharp reignited the historic charm of the old Bohm Mansion using her refined designer’s attention to detail in modern yet respectful renovations. Today The Holiday Chalet provides a uniquely modern getaway with old soul charm and homey comforts." (from (
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Commercial Resources of the East Colfax Avenue Corridor form - (
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