Collins Block
Collins Block – Aspen Lumber and Supply | ||
MPS Aspen MRA | | |
NRHP reference No. | 87000191[1] | |
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Added to NRHP | March 6, 1987 |
The Collins Block is a historic commercial building located at 204 South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado. It is a brick and stone structure erected in the early 1890s.
It was the last major construction project in the city before the silver-mining industry, mainstay of Aspen's economy, collapsed following the repeal of the
For much of its existence it housed a lumber supply store. Local developer Harley Baldwin, owner of the neighboring Brand Building, bought it in 1988. After renovations, he began leasing space within the buildings to upscale retailers, earning the two the combined nickname of "Gucci Gulch". The Caribou Club, a members-only restaurant and Aspen institution, is located in the basement.
Building
The building is located on the southeast corner of the intersection of East Hopkins Avenue and South Mill Street. Other commercial structures, historic and modern, fill the built-out
Like most of its neighbors (except the Wheeler), the Collins Block is two stories high. The north frontage, along East Hopkins, is five
The second story is faced in brick. On the north face
Inside, the ground level consists of storefronts and offices. The upstairs level is a residence. In the basement is the Caribou Club.
Caribou Club
Entrance to the Caribou Club is via an unmarked
The main corridor leads around the Great Room past bathrooms, the wine cellar and two private rooms to the bar, also accessible from the Great Room.[5] The room has many personal pictures from members on its wall. The bar itself is mahogany with a brass rail along the floor.[4]
In the southeast corner is the dining room. It is finished in a shade described as "somewhere between Etruscan red and a ripe tomato." Light is furnished by candles and antler chandeliers. There are six round tables for diners.[4]
History
Samuel Collins began construction of the building in 1891, when the city was at the peak of its population and prosperity due to the Colorado Silver Boom. It was designed to have businesses on the first floor and offices on the second. Collins had problems with the carpenters' union that delayed completion of the project for two years. That delay may have accounted for the disparity between the more Victorian look of the stone lower story and the neoclassical elements of the upper story. The latter may have been inspired by the influential use of neoclassical design at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.[3]
Later that year, Congress repealed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which had required the federal government regularly purchase the metal to back the dollar in addition to gold. Aspen, which had grown so rich so rapidly from those sales of its silver, suffered severely as the market collapsed and many of its miners left for the gold fields of Cripple Creek. The Collins survived into the city's ensuing "quiet years" of steady population decline, when vacancy and disuse felled many of the other relics of that era.[3]
In the 1930s, a time when Aspen was down to less than a thousand people, the Collins housed a
The mortuary was successful enough that the Sardy family was able to move out and build a house on Main Street across from Paepcke Park which is still known as the Sardy House. They bought a lumber business across the street, moved the mortuary to their house and combined the two businesses into Aspen Lumber & Supply, using almost the whole Collins Block. After
In 1988 the Collins was acquired by Aspen
On the ground level he eased out the remnants of the hardware store and other, similar retail tenants. In their place came upscale fashion boutiques such as
In the basement of the Collins, Baldwin built the Caribou Club. Admission was limited to members only, the first time such an establishment had opened in Aspen, where celebrities and locals had previously mixed at the Hotel Jerome's bar. Baldwin was criticized for this,[9] but the Caribou became one of the city's most popular nightspots.[10] Diana Ross and Tom Ford, as well as businesspeople like Warren Lichtenstein and Lynda Resnick, are among the regulars.[8]
In 1987, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places along with many other historic properties in the city.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. Archived from the originalon July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
- ^ a b c d Norgren, Barbara (July 13, 1986). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Collins Block – Aspen Lumber & Supply". Retrieved December 22, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Welcome to the Caribou Club, Aspen, Colorado". The Caribou Club. Archived from the original on March 24, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ^ "Club Floor Plan". The Caribou Club. Archived from the original on March 3, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Condon, Scott (March 17, 2010). "Alice Sardy, one of Aspen's 'sweetest' dies at age 101". Vail Daily. Vail, CO. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ a b Oliver, Myrna (February 7, 2005). "Harley Baldwin, 59; Led Effort to Transform Aspen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Knadler, Jessie (December 16, 2006). "Caribou Club, Aspen, Colo". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- Aspen Times. Archived from the originalon March 5, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ^ Colman, David (January 31, 2005). "Harley Baldwin, 59, an Entrepreneur Who Gave Aspen Cachet". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2011.