redstone castle

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Despite having skied in Colorado many times before, my husband says that even from a young age he's wanted to explore some of the old towns and sites around Aspen. We finally got to do that on this trip. Colorado is just a beautiful state and Redstone Castle is just one of the interesting places we visited.

Redstone Castle

Redstone, Colorado was created as a working village in industrial paternalism, much like the Ford Motor Company had established in Detroit. It was founded in 19th century industrialist John Cleveland Osgood as a coal mining town. He constructed 84 cottages and a 40-room inn, all with modern amenities, for his coal miners and cokers. The houses are very similar to craftsman houses with swiss styling.

The most prominent house in this tiny town is the Tudor-style Cleveholm Manor, also known as "Redstone Castle" which consists of 42-rooms. Osgood built the house for his second wife, Swedish Countess Alma Regina Shelgrem. If memory serves, Osgood founded Colorado Fuel Company which was later bought out by the Rockefeller family-owned Colorado Coal and Iron Company to form the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company.
A few exterior details.

Images from here, here, here, and luckily here as the current owners are gracious enough to share photos from the property, soon to be hotel/spa.