Mary Baum and Dan Arensmeier enjoyed their first Valentine’s Day dinner bathed in flickering candlelight at their company’s conference-room table.
But it wasn’t work that kept them there. The couple just wanted to enjoy the romantic atmosphere of their offices at the historic Schleier Mansion.
“It’s a beautiful room, with beautiful ambience,” said Baum, a partner in the marketing and communications firm Baum Arensmeier & Talent Inc. “Even when you’re having business meetings in it, your demeanor and spirit changes. People who would be gruff in other places turn into pussycats.”
But after changing the business model so fewer people work in the building, the couple has listed the 17,287-square-foot mansion at 1665 Grant St. for $2.75 million.
“We bought it as an investment,” said Baum, who used the building as office space for her marketing and communications firm. “You’re not supposed to fall in love with an investment.”
In this case, it would be tough not to. The elegant mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is loaded with intricate period details including hand-carved woodwork, hardwood floors with geometric parquet borders, ornate fireplaces, stained-glass windows, coffered ceilings and elaborate brass hardware.
The mansion, two blocks from downtown, isn’t likely to appeal to a typical office tenant, said Stockton Baker, a broker with Fuller Real Estate who is marketing the property.
“The buyer will likely have an appreciation and respect for the history of the property,” he said.
Built in 1887 by German immigrant George Schleier, the building is one of the few remaining mansions on Denver’s “Millionaire’s Row.” Schleier, who made his fortune in real estate, built one of the area’s first bridges in Golden. He also served as Denver tax collector from 1867-68.
When the mansion was put up for sale, the architecture firm Buchanan Yonushewski Group LLC looked at it. The firm had outgrown the 9,000 square feet it occupies in the Brind Mansion at 825 Logan St. Instead, the firm purchased the 15,000-square-foot Malo Mansion at 500 E. Eighth Ave., where it will relocate in March.
“Being architects and contractors, there’s a certain quality level we like,” said John Yonushewski, a partner in the firm. “It’s hard to find in fairly generic office space.”
The atmosphere and location help the firm attract top-notch talent, but if a company is looking to warehouse people, a mansion wouldn’t be the right building.
“You’re not going to a sterile environment, you’re going into a comfortable environment,” Yonushewski said. “It’s like coming home to work.”
Denver’s historic mansions make great offices for attorneys, financial-services firms and architects who have the ability to invest in real estate, said Doug Wulf, a broker with Fuller Real Estate who is marketing the Brind Mansion. The asking price is $1.7 million.
J. Fitz and Mary Brind spent $15,000 to build the mansion in 1895. Described as a wealthy manufacturer and investor, Brind was general agent for Judson Dynamite & Powder Co. and Western Fuse & Explosives Co. of California.
Active in prominent Denver clubs and charities, Mary Brind also owned the Isabella diamond, thought to be worth $75,000 at that time. The jewel was named for Queen Isabella of Spain, who pledged the stone to furnish the money for Christopher Columbus to make his voyage to America.
Denver’s first mansions were built in the middle of what is now downtown. But as the city grew, they were torn down for office buildings, and the elite started building mansions on Capitol Hill.
“Grant Street as a whole was Millionaire’s Row,” local historian Phil Goodstein said. “There’s still a few remaining, but most have been demolished.”
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or at mjackson@denverpost.com.
