We had picked up a brochure when we checked in a couple of weeks ago regarding taking a boat tour/walking tour of the Historic Inter-Laken Resort on Twin Lakes. I am a history buff and reading this brochure peaked my interest. Rob and Dee joined us on the tour yesterday morning.
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| Captain getting the Molly Brown ready for us passengers |
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| How I love this picture - mountains and water |
Built in the late 1880s as a resort for the wealthy who wanted to get away from the noise and pollution of the gold/silver camps/towns in Leadville and adjacent areas. As we walked the grounds, you could almost hear the laughter of children, see boats sailing on the lake, people sitting on the porch relaxing. Definitely ghosts were there.
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| Our first glimpse of the resort |
The resort is the only place on the National Register of Historic Places that does not have a parking lot. You had to take a train from Leadville, then transfer to horse and buggy, following a dirt road near where the town of Granite is located. Or, take a boat ride once you departed from the train and made it to the lake. Today, you either hike the 2 miles in to the resort or take a boat ride over (as we did). It served the wealthy until it was shut down after the owner, James Dexter's, death in 1899. However, members of his family continued to live in the home until it was abandoned sometime in the 1950s. The resort became silenced and neglected until the US Park Service began restoration in the 1990s. Due to budge cuts, all restoration has ceased.
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| Baxter House |
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| Iner-Laken Hotel |
Interesting area, the lake is a natural lake formed from receding glaciers. In the 1970s the Bureau of Reclamation built a dam and power plant on the northern end to redirect water to the western side of the Rocky Mountains, a large aqueduct was installed over the Sawatch Mountain Range moving water to feed the western slope. Once the dam and power plant were installed, the water level rose and where the original hotel and buildings were near the shore, had to be moved up about 150 feet up to safer ground.
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| Wood craftsmanship was amazing |
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| Stairway to widow's walk (very top of home) |
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| Wow, the detail |
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| View out of windows up in Widows Walk room |
A millionaire by the name of James Dexter operated the resort and when it became very popular, he built the Dexter home and moved his family there to live, not in the hotel. The craftsmanship was amazing to see. Wood floors, wood carved bannister, complete in-door plumbing which was unusual for the time, carvings on the door lentils, beautiful. I could live in this place as a caretaker for the summer! Dexter Home and the horse barn are the only one open to the public, but maybe some day the Hotel, ice house, outhouses, servants quarters, laundry building, the Annex to the Hotel might be restored.
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| Side porch - notice chinked logs to make home |
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| Horse barn |
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| Ice houses |
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| Hotel annex - had 6 rooms plus full bath (indoor plumbing) |
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| Back of Hotel proper |
Dexter built a unique outhouse, a 6 seater, each 'toilet' was a private section, and it was built in such a way you had no idea it was a 'pooper' building. The hotel is closed to the public but our guide said she has been inside and it is amazing but needs lots of work to restore it to it's splendor.
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| The stories that place could tell |
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| On the boat, returning to Twin Lakes, bye-bye resort |
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