ASPEN — When I first saw four decades ago, it was painted white and filled with ski bums. This once-magnificent Aspen hostelry stood as a ghost of the past awaiting a return to its former glory.
The hotel, which just celebrated its 125th anniversary, was the brainchild of Jerome B. Wheeler, an entrepreneur drawn to Aspen by the discovery of silver. With his financing, the three-story brick-and-sandstone edifice was built to rival the grand hotels of Europe. It held about 90 rooms, 15 baths with indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, electric lighting, steam heating and one of Colorado’s first elevators. Hotel Jerome opened Nov. 27, 1889, with great fanfare.
Then came the crash. In 1893 Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, causing Aspen’s silver-plated economy to plummet. Sold for back taxes in 1911, the once-grand Hotel Jerome became a cheap boarding house.
After World War II, skiing changed Aspen forever. Business tycoon Walter Paepcke upgraded the hotel, and Hollywood stars soon graced its hallways. After Paepcke’s death in 1960, the hotel fell into disrepair and was again sold for back taxes. By the mid-’80s, with its walls in danger of collapsing, Hotel Jerome stood on the verge of demolition. Dick Butera stepped in to save it.
He bought the hotel and in 1985 launched an extensive restoration project that included reinforcing the framework and sandblasting off the white paint to reveal the terra-cotta brickwork beneath. The hotel’s interior was finished in the Eastlake-Gothic style of the 1880s. Echoing Cinderella, this pumpkin of a boarding house became a four-star, four-diamond carriage. When my wife, Dianne, and I first stayed there in 1994, we were captivated by its old-time grandeur.
But time again took its toll. On a stay in 2010, our room sported marred furniture, worn upholstery and threadbare floor coverings. The aging Jerome needed an injection of architectural Botox.
It came when the hotel became part of the Auberge brand in 2012 and closed for a major renovation. When we learned that the hotel’s classic Victorian motif would be gutted and modernized, Dianne and I immediately thought the worst. Fortunately, our fears proved to be unfounded.
“Designer Todd-Avery Lenahan took the 125-year history of the Jerome and brought back interesting, important reproductions from all the design periods,” said Tony DiLucia, longtime general manager of the Jerome.
When I first saw the renovations-in-progress on a hard-hat tour, I was pleasantly surprised. Dianne, however, remained skeptical. That changed when we booked rooms on a ski trip last month.
The varnished front desk stands in its former location, and the original floor tile remains. Gone is the Victorian lobby furniture, replaced by 1930s-era leather, and a portrait of Jerome B. Wheeler now hangs above the fireplace. A new “Living Room” bar and lounge sits behind the lobby. Across from it lies the new Prospect Restaurant, whose bright décor bestows an airy ’50s feel.
For us, the true test would be what our quarters felt like. Instead of a space bearing flowers and frills, we entered a room with a masculine, Western look complete with a burnished-leather bed frame, brass lamps and a minibar disguised as a leather-covered trunk. The walls are light with subtle stripes instead of flowers, and the carpet is beige, broken by random rectangular stripes.
“It’s totally different, but I like it,” Dianne proclaimed. “I’m feeling the aura of 125-year-old elegance. By golly, it’s still the Jerome.”
Dan Leeth is a travel writer/ photographer; more at LookingForTheWorld.com.
