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One review for Hotel De Paris Museum
1 review in English
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Review from Paul B.
Atlanta, GA
7/25/2010
My partner and I were staying in Silverthorne last May. Knowing that I'm a lover of food and hospitality history, our friends insisted that we take the short, 30ish minute trip, west to historic Georgetown and the Hotel de Paris Museum.
The Hotel de Paris Museum is a time capsule of all three tucked into the old silver mining town of Georgetown, Colorado. Built in the late nineteenth century, it has the interesting furniture and treatments of a fine house museum of the period, like tiffany globes on the gas chandeliers and wonderful Eastlake furniture, but what really excited me was that the kitchen and the hotel had never been updated nor renovated, and a huge portion (the docent said 90%) of the collections were still there!
I was thinking a lot about a woman, named Rosa Lewis, who ran the Cavendish, in London, during the Edwardian era, and the kitchen and implements that she used while I looked at the kitchen with its copper pots and pans, gelée moulds, and gorgeous French stove. I'd read about different canned goods and condiments that were all the rage in the 1890s, and there they were, supposedly found in the basement that the second owner kept sealed for 50 years. There was even California mineral water from the days when I'm sure it was just beginning to be bottled.
Because I am such a lover service history, I stayed after the tour and had a nice talk with the new director who told me that they are planning on programming involving exhibits of collections not on display. I think that would be interesting. Georgetown became nearly destitute after the collapse of silver, in the 1894, so like so many great historic sites, there lack of funds didn't allow them to modernize. This allows the history buff to actually see the most insignificant bits of life left from the era, like canned goods and soaps and such. A time capsule like this is very rare indeed. Everything from the gorgeous dining room to the salesman's rooms, with their beds that closed to look like desks, were fascinating, but it's the kitchen and the prep implements that I'll remember most. I even joined their friends' group, I loved it so much.
Specialties
Hotel de Paris Museum (HdPM) was Georgetown's first museum and created an interest in historic preservation in the Georgetown and Silver Plume communities. For over half a century, HdPM has educated school groups and the general public as to the importance of the hotel and to the diversity of the western silver mining community and the development of the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District, the State of Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain area in the late 19th Century.
History
Established in 1954
The Hotel de Paris Museum, a National Trust Historic Site, is owned and operated by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Colorado.
Hotel de Paris founder Louis Dupuy, a native of Alencon, France, is considered the father of domestic science (today, we call it home economics). Dupuy's Norman-style hotel and luxurious restaurant made culinary history throughout the Western United States of America.
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Colorado raised funds to purchase the unoccupied, but furnished, Hotel de Paris in 1954 for use as an architectural museum rich in culinary history.
Meet the Manager: Kevin K.
Kevin Kuharic lives in Georgetown, CO. He fundraises, manages projects, monitors compliance with historic preservation standards, and promotes history through tourism. He began his preservation career in 1989 at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta, GA). His professional accomplishments have been acknowledged by four Atlanta mayors. His contributions to the field of cemetery preservation were honored by the Atlanta Urban Design Commission when they named him recipient of the Jenny D. Thurston Award for an Outstanding Preservation Professional; his sensitive, thorough, and systematic repair of Oakland Cemetery after the March 2008 Atlanta tornado was recognized by the AUDC with an Award of Excellence for an Individual. He has worked at the Morris-Butler House (Indianapolis), Tullie Smith House (Atlanta), and Fox Theatre (Atlanta). He serves as director of the Hotel de Paris Museum, a National Trust Historic Site in the Georgetown-Silver Plume National Historic Landmark District.
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