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Astor House Museum
The Astor House will be the handsomest, as well as the most substantial hotel built in Colorado.
— Golden Transcript, local paper, 1867
The Astor House was built in 1867 and stayed in continuous operation as a boarding and rooming house until 1971—that’s over 100 years! It rented rooms and served hot meals to lawmakers, laborers, miners, students and families, some of whom stayed for weeks or even months.
The July 31, 1867 Golden Transcript noted that Brother Lake has adopted the modest name of 'Astor House' for his new stone hotel. It is a fine house, and is nearly ready for a grand opening. It is undoubtedly the Astor of Colorado, but is somewhat smaller than the house of that name in New York.
Many boarding establishments were commonly called houses rather than hotels since they were smaller and advertised the comforts of home. By 1882, the Golden business directory proudly listed at least eight hotels or “houses.”
Although it may not appear grandiose by modern standards, the Astor House was considered quite fancy in 1867. The first stone building in Golden, it helped to establish a sense of prosperity and permanency in a growing city.
The Astor House’s eighteen-inch stone walls were built to last. Seth Lake constructed the building using local, hand-cut stone complete with a “culinary department” out back under a lean to. In his times there was also a huge barn to stable horses, and, of course, an outhouse.
Seth, his wife, Charlotte, and their three children loaded their wagon and followed the Colorado gold rush west from Illinois. Settling in Golden in the early 1860s, Lake soon entered the boarding house business. The “fancy” Astor House replaced an earlier wooden establishment he called the Lake House.
Lake easily enticed legislators and all sorts of travelers to stay at his boarding house thanks to its convenient location behind the Colorado Territorial Legislature meeting hall (now the Capital Grill). It was also near main street and the bustling stagecoach stops. Lake wasted no time advertising his new, clean rooms that were free from the pests associated with wood structures. What more could a tired traveler want?
Seth Lake was more than a businessman though. He was an outstanding member of the Golden community, serving both as a deacon at the First Baptist Church and a justice of the peace. He was also a prankster when it came to the wake up calls. Breakfast! Breakfast! he would call out while ringing his bell every morning at 6 a.m. According to some accounts, he liked to change his voice, giving the impression that someone else was delivering the wake up call.
A woman by the name of C. W. Mon Pleasure bought the Astor House in 1885 and changed the name to the Castle Rock House. The jury is still out, but with a name like Mon Pleasure, some folks speculate there was more on the menu than room and board. At least, it makes a great story.
Different owners came and went until a German widow named Ida Goetze bought the place in 1892 and began renting out 12 rooms. Ida changed the name to the Boston House and started making many improvements. She added the state of the art 1890s kitchen and the brick wash house that’s still out back. Oscar and Richard, Ida’s two young sons, helped mom run the place, doing numerous chores like laundry and cleaning. The Goetze family operated the house until the 1950s.
The Astor House is known for several “firsts” in Golden. Ida Goetze, or Mother Goetze as she was fondly called, is credited with installing the first bathtub in town, a novelty that brought in many people willing to pay twenty-five cents to take a hot bath. One Golden resident observed that Ida made more money off the bathtub than from the rest of the hotel. Mother Goetze was also one of the first to have water and gas piped into the boarding house when it became available, and, some say, she even had one of the first radios in town.
Mother Goetze was an exceptional cook, and because of her reputation, she soon worked out a unique agreement with the nearby Colorado School of Mines to feed students as a cooperative eating house—basically a cafeteria for students. In fact, it wasn’t long before Mines students made up the majority of boarders—a trend that continued until the 1960s. It’s easy to imagine students sliding down the banister railing and rough housing in their rooms. In fact, every year several School of Mines alumni stop by to see their old home turned museum.
In 1972, the Astor House was sold and slated for demolition. The site was going to become a parking lot. Outraged at the prospect of losing a piece of Golden’s history, the community rallied in support of saving the Astor House. The old hotel was given a new lease on life when it was designated an historic landmark and reborn as a museum in 1973.
A visit to the Astor House Museum today will take you back to a time when people, not so different from us, worked and played in the frontier towns of Colorado. If the walls could talk, imagine the stories they would tell about the thousands of people needing a place to rest and call home.
Wander through the dining room and kitchen before viewing the five upstairs rooms furnished with chamber pots, beds, derby hats, and an assortment of other goodies from the early 1900s. You are welcome to use our Victorian water closet, should the need arise. It has a special high-tank toilet that you won’t find everywhere.
Step outside onto the balcony for one of the best views in downtown Golden. Using the long-distance viewing binoculars, you can get a closer look at a number of Golden landmarks like Castle Rock and the National Guard Armory Building. The balcony was a favorite place to chew tobacco and relax, and it still is. No spitting, please!
We look forward to your visit.
