Located at 555 East 8th Avenue, the McCourt Mansion was built for Peter McCourt in 1888. The McCourt Mansion sitson nearly 12,000 square feet of land and and has 9,981 finished square feet of space. The stately McCourt Mansion sits on the corner of 8th and Pearl close to the Boettcher Mansion that serves as the Governors Mansion in Denver.
Peter McCourt was the older brother of Denver's famed Baby Doe Tabor who was born Elizabeth McCourt. Peter McCourt originally came to Leadville, CO in the 1870's during the gold rush. After being introduced to Horace Tabor, his brother-in-law, Peter McCourt was made the manager of Tabor Opera House in Leadville, CO. 10 years later, Peter McCourt moved to Denver and became manager of the Tabor Grand Opera House in Denver (now gone). The McCourt Mansion was built during this time and funded by Horace Tabor. The McCourt Mansion was one of the first homes in Denver on city gas mains for lighting. There ares 350 year old quarter-sawn oak bookshelves as well as wood paneling all saved from a home in England and transported and installed in the McCourt Mansion. Thankfully, these remain today. Plaster crown molding, stained glass windows and beaded paneling have all survived the 100+ years since the McCourt Mansion was built. The McCourt Mansion also was built with a two story carriage house. It was common in the 1800's for horses to be housed on the main level of the carriage house while the house staff lived on the second floor.
Peter McCourt eventually purchased the Tabor Grand Opera House in Denver, and for the rest of his life was a predominant figure in Denver theater. After Horace Tabor lost everything in the silver crash of 1893, he and Baby Doe Tabor lived for two years with Peter McCourt at the McCourt Mansion. This means that the McCourt Mansion, is the last surviving Historic Home of Denver in which the Tabors lived. Legend says that the ghost of Horace Tabor wanders the halls of the McCourt Mansion with sightings of him in tails and a top hat. Supposedly, the ghost once even asked a young child if he "knew where Peter was?".
Peter McCourt died in 1929. The McCourt Mansion then became the Barnes Business School. Later the McCourt Mansion served as a group home for the mentally handicapped. Today, the McCourt Mansion serves as the office of Zupkus & Angell, P.C., a Denver law firm.
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