The Cliff House

The Cliff House. . The early Cliff House was small, cube-shaped, and was first mentioned in the January 10, 1874 Colorado Springs Gazette. The first two operating seasons bankrupted Canadian owners Thomas T. Shurtliff-and William A. Webster. Edward E. Nichols leased the property 1n 1876, became the sole owner by 1880, and electrified the building in 1887. By 1913, this hotel was the largest and finest in town with 265 rooms., The Cliff House is one of few surviving frame-constructed resort hotels of this era. It is a simplified Queen Anne-style with towers, gables and open porches with plain railing. The foundation and first floor are rhyolite stone quarried from near Castle Rock, Colorado., Many famous guests visited the Cliff House including: P.T. Barnum, Buffalo Bill Cody, mattress manufacturer Zalmon Simmons, Theodore Roosevelt, Crown Prince Ferdinand of Austria, western photographer William Henry Jackson, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, F.W. Woolworth, Clark Gable, and J. Paul Getty. The Nichols family sold the hotel in 1948. In 1967, it was converted into apartments and the north wing was demolished for parking. Investors bought the property in 1981 for conversion to a bed and breakfast, but the building suffered a tragic fire in 1982., After standing vacant for 15 years, restoration preserved the architecture while incorporating state-of-the-art technology. After millions in costs, including assistance from the Colorado Historical Society's State Historical Fund, the Cliff House returned to its former graciousness and reopened in 1999 , The Cliff House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. , (photo captions) , Top center:The original Cliff House,1874-75, managed to squeeze 40 rooms into this compact building. Courtesy of Historic Manitou Springs Inc., Top right: Being situated at the mouth of Williams Canon and adjacent to the springs guaranteed prosperity for the Cliff House, seen here circa 1887. Courtesy of Historic Manitou Springs, Inc., Bottom right: This circa 1913 view sees the Cliff House at the pinnacle of its success. E.E. Nichols, Sr. and then his son, E.E., Jr. maintained the hotel's reputation for excellence into the 1940s. Courtesy of Denver Public Library