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Astor House: a
Golden landmark with history
November, 1970
By Julie Tripp
Transcript staff writer
"Some people think it's just an old
house, but it's got a really long history," said
Irene Goetze, who lived in the house for over 30
years.
"I'd like to see it preserved. I think
it is going to be the only old building left in
Golden."
Mrs. Goetze, a longtime local resident
and history buff, was speaking of the white stone
structure on the corner of 12th and
Arapahoe Streets.
Although John Jacob probably never slept
there, the building was dubbed "the Astor House"
when it first began business in 1867, the work of
Seth Lake, owner and builder. It was the first old
hotel in the territory. On September 11, 1867, the
Colorado Transcript wrote that "brother Lake
has adopted the modest name of the 'Astor House' for
his new stone hotel. It is a fine house and is
nearly ready for the grand opening. It is
undoubtedly the 'Astor' of Colorado, but is somewhat
smaller than the house that bears the same name in
New York."
Built of stone hauled in stone boats
from a rock ledge running through what are now the
clay pits of upper 12th Street, the house
had a boulder-filled trench for a foundation. Fire
clay helped form the boulders into its sturdy basic
structure to support the three-and--a half-foot
thick walls.
About 1500 people lived in Golden at
that time, when the city was a trade center for gold
seekers and adventurers. Golden was also the
territorial capital for a time, and legislators met
in the hall above what is now Golden Mercantile at
12th and Washington. Many of the statesmen stayed at
the Astor House when the Legislature was in session.
Buster House
In those days, all the hostelries and
hotels sent wagon buses to meet the trains arriving
at the Colorado Central Depot. According to Mrs.
Goetze, who interviewed Seth Lake's son Carlos while
he was still alive, "there was a lot of competition
for guests and the bus boys always tried hard to get
their share of all who got off the trains."
"They would call out 'Free bus to the
Burgess House!' 'Free bus to the Overland House!'
'Free bus to the Golden House!' and so forth." One
day, she says, the young bus boy driving for the
Astor House, in his haste to gather up passengers
called out loud and clear, "free ass to the Buster
House".
"It caused a riot," says Mrs. Goetze,
"and for a long time, old timers called the Astor
House the Buster House."
Feud Visible
Today, visitors to the Astor House,
which is now owned by the Marshall family, can still
see the legacy of a neighborhood feud on the East
wall.
The Astor House neighbor to the east had
a frame house on the lot, but extended over the Seth
Lake property line about six or eight inches.
"The part that came over Lake's line,"
says Mrs. Goetze, "happened to be a bay window,
facing West." While building his Astor House, Lake
surveyed the line and found that his neighbor, Mr.
Clark, had overextended the bounds of his property.
His neighbor "refused to sell or move
back, so Lake put up the big six foot wall and on
reaching his neighbor's house, he just stoned up to
the window, completely encasing it in the wall, and
went on with his stone building."
"Of course, Clark was furious to look
out his nice bay window right into a stone wall,"
Mrs. Goetze continues. "Years later, the frame was
torn down, leaving Lake with a deep depression in
his wall, so he used brick and masonry cement and
plaster and smoothed it over, but it can be seen on
the east wall today."
Porch Gone
The joists of an old porch which hung
over the sidewalk can still be seen today in the
stone work on the house front. Likewise, the marks
of the door from the second floor to the balcony
remain. The balcony was removed when a city
ordinance prohibited porches from hanging over the
sidewalk.
According to Mrs. Goetze, one night a
roomer in the house who was returning from a bout of
drinking with his friends, got up to the second
floor and decided he needed a breath of fresh air.
Not realizing that the porch had been removed, he
stepped out the second floor door and fell to the
sidewalk in one the relaxed heap. His pride was the
only thing injured.
***
Back in 1867, when Astor House was new
and one of the finest hotels in the Territory, gold
fever was still bringing the Easterners with visions
of great wealth into the Rockies.
One couple left the East, crossed the
plains, and came to Colorado to seek their fortune.
When they arrived in Golden, the wife, who was going
to have a child soon, stayed behind while her
husband headed west and into the mountains to
prospect.
Daily Vigil
The wife took a room at the Astor House,
had her baby, and then began a daily vigil for her
husband. She lived in the second floor room facing
west towards the mountains -- and her husband. Every
day she would stare through the window and wonder
what her husband was doing out there, if he was all
right, if he had made his fortune.
Now, many years later, Irene Goetze
tells of the snowy haired woman paying her a visit
while she lived in the house. It was the same woman
and she wanted to look out again from the window
where she had gazed away some of her youth.
Her husband had eventually come back,
Penniless, and they had moved back East where he
entered the family business. The immediate view of
downtown Golden had changed considerably in the
lady's eyes, but the mountains were still there and
able to bring back her memories of a bygone era.
Seth Lake, who build the Astor House,
leased it out in 1879 and then took it back two
years later. He decided it needed a "Grand
Re-opening" and so, according to Mrs. Goetze, "he
hired Fred Sears to plant a couple of sticks of
dynamite across a street" in what was at that time
the office of Judge DeFrance.
Bang
"Time came for the opening of the Astor
House," says Mrs. Goetze, "and a blast was set off."
It blew open everything in the neighborhood and blew
out every window in the judge's office, and most of
the hotel windows, too.
According to Seth's son, Carlos, who
told the story to Mrs. Goetze, "the boys thought
that if a little dynamite was good, a lot would be
better."
Where to From Here?
So much for stories of the Astor's past
-- and there are many more of them. But what about
the present -- and does it have a future?
Earmarked by the downtown improvement
association as a possible spot for a parking lot,
the Astor House has already been inspected by
appraisers with that purpose in mind. Two parcels of
land across the street have also been appraised for
the same purpose.
Should the house be torn down? Is it
really worth saving? How could it be put to good use
in its present condition?
Dan Havekost and Brooks Waldman, the
urban planners who are developing Golden's
comprehensive plan, have included the restoration of
the house in their outline. But Waldman doubts that
the house can be restored without the financial and
moral support of the citizenry.
Interest has been expressed by some
Goldenites to form a committee for the preservation
of historic buildings in Golden. Planning Commission
chairman Jerry Morgan indicated he thinks it is
essential to appoint the committee and get things
rolling as soon as possible.
As far as the Astor House goes, City
Manager Walt Brown is pessimistic about what Golden
would do with the building if the public managed to
procure it. And he stresses the need for more
offstreet parking, especially when the plan for
Washington Avenue mall becomes a reality.
Not all historic buildings are suited
for restoration or revival, especially if they
fulfil no useful purpose once completed. Is this one
in that category?
That is the question that continues to
cloud the future of the Astor House.
Irene Goetze is a staunch supporter of
its preservation.
The Downtown Improvement Association
thinks it would be a great parking lot.
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