Historic Western Hotel & Saloon
Ouray, CO 81427

Built in 1892 on Seventh Avenue near Second Street in beautiful downtown Ouray, Colorado is the Historic Western Hotel & Saloon, one of the largest and oldest wooden hotels from Colorado's storied early mining era. Now, 127 years after its grand opening, the Western is ready to be taken into the future. The rich legacy of the Western makes it a perfect asset for the historic preservationist, the hotelier/restauranteur or a creative redeveloper. The property is a classic. It once had an underground tunnel that led to Ouray’s “red light district” that was walled up in 1916. In the late 1890’s visiting Clairvoyants and Dentists operated from the Western’s friendly confines. The ball room (the Monte Alta room) hosted legendary parties that went until the wee hours of the morning. The Western proudly proclaimed itself “A Home Place For All” with 25 cent meals for hungry miners and Room & Board for $6 to $8 per week. Because the Western is a contributing property to the Ouray Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places, there is a 35% state tax credit and 20% federal state tax credit for renovation work. You can potentially get $.55 back in tax credits on every $1 spent on qualified restoration work. This makes the renovation scenario (that it needs at this point) much less daunting financially. Inside you’ll find about 15,000 gross square feet under roof: • +/- 3750 s.f. commercial street level (lobby, saloon, restaurant/ball room) • +/- 3750 s.f. 2nd floor hotel level • +/- 3750 s.f. 3rd floor (out of service) • +/- 3750 s.f. full footprint basement level There are 14 guest rooms in service on the second floor, and 22 out of service rooms on the top (3rd) floor. The tin ceilings in the ballroom, stained glass and check-in desk in the lobby, the hand carved bar & wood stove in the saloon, the alternating current light fixtures...all original to Colorado's earliest days. The 50 foot wide second floor open veranda extending over the sidewalk to the street side greets guests today with the same classic Old West sense of arrival that welcomed weary hotel guests to Ouray fresh off the stage coach over 125 years ago. Once inside, the lobby, historic bar room & restaurant, and the 14 guest rooms on the second floor offer a rare taste of a bygone era. The hotel has two large suites with private baths that overlook the second floor veranda. Room #1 (the "Honeymoon Suite") has two double beds, marble sinks and original furnishings. It was photographed soon after the hotel was built; the original hand painted blue wallpaper still remains. Room # 9, the other suite, has a queen-bed and a bathroom with clawfoot tub. The 12 smaller original boarding rooms are rustic and affordable - 6 of these rooms are in each wing of the hotel and share three European-style bathroom. The 3rd floor has been out of service for many decades. The original layout of the rooms is still there (22 of them) on basically the same floor plate as the 2nd floor. In the early 1900's thirsty Colorado artist Herndon Davis painted the face of his beloved wife Juanita Davis on the bar room floor of the Western for a few free beers. Davis later also painted Juanita's face on the bar room floor of the Teller House hotel in Central City, Colorado. Much like the acclaimed renovations of the similarly historic Beaumont Hotel and St. Elmo Hotel/Bon Ton Restaurant, a restoration/renovation project of the Western, in order to maximize the aforementioned State & Federal preservation tax credits, should seek to retain its many integral historic elements as is possible while bringing the hotel's infrastructure up to current codes and standards. Please contact me to learn more about the administration of the State and Federal preservation tax credits. After 25 years of ownership, the current owners Gregg and Rose are ready to retire and motivated to sell, taking $425k off their original asking price. Please advise what additional information I can provide or questions I can answer. The possibilities surrounding the rehabilitation and next chapters of the legacy of the Western Hotel are intriguing. Please contact me to arrange your tour. Thank you, Jason K. Raible Broker Associate LIV Sotheby's International Realty / Telluride 970-729-0720 Jason.Raible@SothebysRealty.com