Saving Hartman Castle

GUNNISON, Colo. — In a Colorado mountain town, tucked away on a side road away from the bustling streets, sits an old Victorian home. The turret, spiral staircase and intricate wood carvings make this Queen Anne style home unique from any other building in town — giving it the nickname Hartman Castle. 

Standing for more than 100 years, one of the founders of Gunnison, Alonzo Hartman built the home taking his wife’s drawings of the house and making it reality.

“I feel Annie and Alonzo…still living here. I feel the love that they had for each other, for their family, for their community. They worked so hard to do so many things for other people,” said Pamela Williams, the president of the Hartman Castle Preservation Corporation. 

“I just still feel that sense of cooperation and that they really wanted this community to be strong.”

Alonzo Hartman arrived in the Gunnison Valley in 1872 as a cattle farmer for the Los Piños Indian Agency.  He was responsible for managing the herd and providing food for the Ute Indians who had been forced off their land to what was then a reservation that covered nearly all of Colorado west of the continental divide.

In the coming years, Hartman opened a trading post, a store and a post office in the town of Gunnison while he bought 120 acres of ranch land nearby. In 1891, he built a home for his wife, Annie, who was an artist and dreamed of a turret with wide windows to paint from. This home became known as Hartman Castle. 

After leaving the Gunnison Valley in 1912, Hartman sold this property. Since then, ownership changed hands many times but the house remained a fixture in the community, even becoming a restaurant for a few years in the 70s. 

The castle’s current owner purchased the home and property about a decade ago. It has sat empty ever since, slowly degrading from the elements and lack of care. 

Now, a group of Gunnison and Hartman Castle enthusiasts are working to purchase and save the castle. If they can raise enough money to buy it, they can apply for historical designation, making it eligible for grants that will help restore the home to its original beauty. The Hartman Castle Preservation Corporation envisions the home as a community gathering place. 

“If we are able to save the Hartman Castle and bring it back to life. It will be the most unique building of its kind we have in this valley,” said Debra Callihan. “There's nothing quite like the Hartman castle and the grounds that go with it.”

The story of Hartman Castle’s construction, impact and the work to save it will all be part of a documentary called, “Colorado Experience: Saving Hartman Castle.” It is set to premiere on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS and drop on rmpb.org and YouTube the same day. 

You can watch a preview and see pictures of the castle below.