Attention Central Denver Residents!

The city of Denver is planning on repaving 9^th Avenue Between Lincoln and Ogden with the work to take place on Saturday June 30th.

The entire section of 9th Avenue between Lincoln and Ogden will be closed and the City of Denver is asking drivers to use alternative routes.  Cross traffic will be allowed on certain cross streets, however, which streets and when is not being made known ahead of time.  There will be signs directing traffic during the construction.  So be aware, and let's appreciate the city workers that will be work with hot tar during this spell of hot heat.

The stately Zang Mansion is located at 709 Clarkson Street in Denver.  Built for Adolph Zang of the Zang Brewing Company, the Zang Mansion was constructed between 1902 and 1904.  










                                                                      



The name of the architect is unknown, however the Zang Mansion was constructed in the Classical Revival Style.  The exterior of the Zang Mansion features both light brick and stone.  There were seven stained glass and leaded windows installed and five hand carved fireplace mantles.  Thankfully they remain today.  The Zang Mansion is used as commercial space today and was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on November 23, 1977.

If you would like to learn more about homes in Historic Denver, call me, I'd love to give you an area tour. 

When you think of beer from Colorado do you think of Adolph Zang?  Probably not, you probably think of Coors, you know made from "pure Rocky Mountain Spring Water".  Well all that is true, but in Golden, CO.  Adolph Zang was truly a Denver beer Brewer and the 1st in Colorado.

Born in Kentucky in 1856, Adolph Zang enjoyed a priveledged education including studying in Germany for 2 years. As a schoolboy, Adolph Zang went to school with Louis Brandeis, who was a judge on the United States Supreme Court.

Adolph Zang followed his father Phillip to Denver in 1876 and joined the family brewery, Zang Brewing Company, which was the largest brewery west of the Mississippi at the time producing nearly 150,000 barrels of beer each year.
                                                         
In 1889 controlling interest in the brewery was sold, but Adolph Zang stayed on in the position of president and general manager.  Zang Brewing operated for another 100 years.  Adolph Zang sold his remaining interest in the brewery prior to prohibition, thus saving he and his family a considerable loss.  The Zang Brewing Company operated as a speakeasy during prohibition, and later as a hostel, boarding house and gambling den.  Today, the formery brewery houses El Senor Sol Mexican Restaurant.
                                                                                   
Although Adolph Zang is primarily known for the brewery that bears his name, Adolph Zang expanded into several other business arenas including real estate, mining, insurance and banking.  Adolph Zang founded the Zang Realty & Investment Company and owned a four thousand acre farm near Denver where he raised purebred horses that were shown throughout the country.

Adolph Zang was the developer of the beautiful Oxford Hotel in Lodo.  In 1908, present Day Lakeside Amusement Park was developed by Adolph Zang.  The land for Alamo Placida Park is said to have been donated to the city of Denver by Adolph Zang.

The mansion that was home to Adolph Zang is located at 709 Clarkson.  Adolph Zang died in Denver in 1916.

Interestingly enough, the Historic Boettcher Mansion was not named after the family who originally built this magnificent home.  The Historic Boettcher Mansion was in fact the dream of Walter Cheesman (for whom nearby Cheesman Park was named) and his teenage daughter Gladys.  Together, father and daughter designed the beautiful mansion.  In 1907, when construction of the Historic Boettcher Mansion was to begin, Walter Cheesman died.  Gladys and her mother, Alice, continued on with the construction of the Historic Boettcher Mansion located at 400 E 8th Avenue.  When completed, the three story Historic Boettcher Mansion became the talk of Denver's High Society and featured two story Roman Ionic Pillars on the western portico, a gorgeous widow's walk and arched windows.     

Soon after the Historic Boettcher Mansion was completed in 1908, young Gladys married John Evans, the grandson of the second governor of the Colorado territory. The couple lived at the Historic Boettcher Mansion with Gladys's mother for several years.  

In 1923, Mrs. Cheesman died.  With Gladys and John Evans already living in their own home, the Historic Boettcher Mansion was sold.  It was purchased by Claude Boettcher, a prominent Denver 
businessman, who being a romantic sort, presented the Historic Boettcher Mansion to his wife Edna in 1924 as a Valentine's Day gift.  During their "reign", the Boettcher's added many unique items from their world travels.  One of those items was a Crystal Waterford chandelier that had previously been installed in the White House in 1876 when Colorado was first admitted to the Union. 

During the period that the Boettcher's owned the Historic Boettcher Mansion, they hosted many prominent guests including Charles Lindbergh (for whom one bedroom was named Charlie's Room) and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1957, Claude Boettcher died.  His wife Edna passed just one year later.  The Historic Boettcher Mansion was bequeathed to a private family foundation.  Mrs. Boettcher had requested that the Historic Boettcher Mansion be donated to the State of Colorado to be used as the Governors' Residence.  In 1959, then Govenor Stephen McNichols accepted the Historic Boettcher Mansion on behalf of the state.  

In 2003, then Govenor Bill Owens signed an executive order renaming the Historic Boettcher Mansion the "Govenors Residence at the Boettcher Mansion".

In 2010, the second and third floors of the Historic Boettcher Mansion serve as the private residence of Colorado's first family, Govenor Bill Ritter, his wife Jeanne and their family.  The public is welcome to tour the Historic Boettcher Mansion on Tuesdays between 1:00pm and 3:00pm.  There is no cost for these tours. The Historic Boettcher Mansion was added to the National Historic Register of Historic Places in December of 1969