Urban Cowboy Denver opens in restored Gilded Age mansion
Boutique hotel and lifestyle brand Urban Cowboy has announced the opening of its new Denver property.
The boutique hotel, housed in an ornate, 1880s mansion, comprises 16 rooms as well as a bar and restaurant. Designed by Denver architect Frank Edbrooke for hat tycoon-turned-politician George Schleier, the century-old property is primed for its next chapter as an anchor for the growing Downtown Denver community.
Working with GBX Group and Historic Denver, Urban Cowboy Group co-founders Lyon Porter and Jersey Banks took care to preserve as much of the original detail and architecture as possible – from the mansion’s Queen Ann style façade and original staircase with carvings of gargoyles, to hand-carved coffered ceilings, immaculately preserved art tile fireplaces, and an old carriage house where the original owners kept their horse and buggy.
The property is full of ‘found objects’ hand-picked from road trips across the US, ranging from an 1800s hand-carved wooden saloon bar from the Wooden Nickle in Cincinnati to a ‘honey pot’ found in Colorado filled with Western frontier period art, a horn and fur ‘cowboy’ couch, and hand-hammered copper soaking tubs in each room. Porter also designed his first custom wallpaper for Denver, inspired by a 1700s block print pattern, fusing a romantic nostalgia of the past with the Denver Frontier Cowboy aesthetic.
The property’s two-storey carriage house design was inspired by the 1880s saloons that once lived on every corner in Downtown Denver. The Public House bar and restaurant offers house cocktails and a delectable menu of wood-fired pies and small plates by Brooklyn-based Roberta’s, while the Parlor Bar, located in the main mansion, features a carefully selected wine collection, selling wines by the glass and bottle.
“Our expansion into Denver marks an exciting chapter in our journey and a homecoming for my partner Jersey Banks, who grew up in Denver,” says Porter, who is also co-founder of full-service design studio, Cowboy Creative.
Banks adds: “To be able to bring Urban Cowboy out west is something we’ve thought about since the inception of the brand, and the opportunity to reimagine this historic mansion in my hometown is a dream come true.”
