THE REDSTONE INN BECOMES A RESORT HOTEL
1909 -1978
by
Deb Strom
The Coalbasin mine closed in 1909 followed by the last run of the Highline narrow gauge. Coalbasin immediately became a ghost town. The Redstone Coke Ovens shutdown and were it not for all the grand buildings, Redstone may have become a ghost town also.
On May 3, 1912 the Aspen Democrat-Times announced “Osgood to reopen Redstone Inn for summer tourists.” It went on to report, “The inn is known far and wide as one of the coziest nooks in the Rocky Mountains” and “The automobile boulevard from Carbondale to Redstone, built by Osgood, is one of the finest pieces of roadways in the state.”
But it wasn’t until the Fall of 1924, that the grand resort project began in earnest when an ailing 73 year old John Osgood, returned to Cleveholm with his third wife, 30 year old Lucille. John’s nephew Charles Osgood and his family moved to Redstone and with Redstone property manager John Kenney they fast tracked the project. Over 200 workers were brought in to do the work. The Gala opening was planned for Christmas 1925 but had to be cancelled because Osgood was too weak. Consumed with cancer, John Osgood died on 4 January 1926. Lucille, inherited the entire estate, but the 1929 stock market crash, followed by the Great Depression, fairly guaranteed the failure of their grand resort plan.
Still the Redstone Inn carried on. Paula Mechau, wife of artist Frank Mechau, recalls their first trip to Redstone in 1937 when they were greeted at the inn’s front door by a butler in a white coat. She remembers, “The village with its charming cottages and unusually fine public buildings was magical in its beauty.” Lucille coaxed them to relocate Frank’s Denver art school to Redstone. Frank had gained national recognition for a series of murals commissioned by the Federal government for public buildings in various locations across the country. The vacant schoolhouse provided the large spaces needed for his “New Deal” apprenticeship program, and for a time Redstone came alive as an art school for talented young artists.
In 1941, facing the mounting property tax liability and with the US entry into WWII looming, Lucille sold the Redstone Inn to a Denver couple for $100,000. Within in a year, they re-sold it to Adolf and Tess Freideberg who operated it as a summer resort for 15 years. They added the Cypress bar in the basement, updated the lodging by adding adjoining bathrooms to most rooms and painted the building white. In 1946 young Thanos Johnson, of Greek heritage and fresh from WWII active duty, became their chef. He spoke very highly of Freideberg’s stewardship.
In 1956 Frank Kistler, former owner of the Glenwood Lodge and Pool with 32 silent partners purchased the Redstone Inn, along with what would become to be known as the Redstone Castle (a 300+ acre parcel) and most of the riverside of Redstone Blvd.. Their ambitious plan was to establish a four seasons resort. The Redstone Inn was renamed the Redstone Lodge. With the help of his step son/architect Tony Antonides, a three story west wing was added with 14 lodging rooms. On the first floor the kitchen was expanded; the dining room doubled in size; and the Moosehead bar was added to the west end. Additionally, a large pool enclosed in a greenhouse was constructed on the south lawn and further south, a small ski area was built with one T-bar lift.
The Castle’s 300 plus acre parcel redevelopment included a nine hole golf course on the castle lawn and on the Westside of the Crystal River, a subdivision was established on the Mesa, formerly the Osgood Game Preserve, with a few Swiss style summer resort homes surrounding a planned, but never developed, additional nine holes for the golf course. The Elk Mountain, Swiss Village and Ranch Acre subdivisions were charted.
Redstone again had a bustling social scene with some of the old cottages purchased as 2nd homes and plans for more development of homes on the vacant lots in Redstone. Coats and ties for men and dresses for women were required in the Inn’s dining room for dinner, all entrees were served tableside “under cover” and Frank Kistler would visit each table personally and ask about their meals and of course, do a little promotion of his “Country Club” and the availability of home sites and memberships. Unfortunately, Frank Kistler died in 1960, just four years into his grand resort plan. Following his death the project stalled and funding dried up. Twenty-nine of Kistler’s investors formed the Redstone Corporation, their goal was to reduce their losses by selling off parcels and homesites.
Although the Kistler renovations were done in record time, the planning and workmanship was shoddy. The ski area never received a permit and closed after two seasons; the untempered glass that enclosed the pool was impossible to maintain; the poorly designed golf course failed.
In 1971 the Castle and Redstone Inn were auctioned off at the Pitkin County Courthouse to James Denman of Missouri for $631,410. Locals recall truck loads of valuables being carted off. This included the Castle’s gold gilded piano, reported to be one of only three produced – one believed to be owned by the flamboyant pianist Liberace. This was a low period in Redstone history. On the upside, bargain property prices brought new young blood to the village including Sylvia and Bob Morrison (The Nostalgia Shop), Clark Cretti and Bob McCormick (Redstone Cross Country Ski Area), Dave House and Bill Whitman (The Whitman House), Ken Johnson (Redstone Castle) and Ann VanDis (Redstone Inn).
Ann Van Dis and Evertt Irwin purchased the Redstone Inn in 1976 from James Denman. Ann said that his young daughters were “attempting to run the Inn, but it was mostly shut down.” Ann had been a star performer in Aspen’s legendary Crystal Palace Dinner Theater. She used her marketing and musical talent to revive the Inn’s reputation; but with 16 years of deferred maintenance, it was both physically and financially challenging.
Author Deb Strom is the current treasurer of the Redstone Historical Society; she was the general manager of the Redstone Inn, 1988-2008.