The Stanley Hotel

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Stanley Hotel District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic District
The Stanley Hotel is located in Colorado
The Stanley Hotel
Location: 333 Wonder View Ave., Estes Park, Colorado
Coordinates: 40°23′0″N 105°31′6″W / 40.38333°N 105.51833°W / 40.38333; -105.51833
Architect: Stanley,F.O.
Architectural style(s): Renaissance, Tuscan
Governing body: Private
Added to NRHP: June 20, 1985
NRHP Reference#: 85001256

[1]
The Stanley Hotel

The Stanley Hotel is a 138-room Georgian hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Located within sight of the Rocky Mountain National Park, the Stanley offers panoramic views of the Rockies. It was built by Freelan O. Stanley of Stanley Steamer fame and opened on July 4, 1909, catering to the rich and famous.[2] The hotel and its surrounding lands are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

The Stanley has hosted many famous guests, including the Titanic survivor Margaret Brown, John Philip Sousa, Theodore Roosevelt, the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and a variety of Hollywood personalities. The Stanley Hotel also hosted Stephen King, inspiring him to write The Shining. Contrary to information sometimes published King was living in Boulder at the time and did not actually write the novel at the hotel. Parts of the mini-series version of The Shining were filmed there, although it was not used for Stanley Kubrick's cinematic version.

The Stanley Hotel shows the uncut R-rated version of Kubrick's The Shining on a continuous loop on Channel 42 on guest room televisions.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1903, F. O. Stanley, co-inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, came to Estes Park for his health.[4] Stanley suffered from tuberculosis and came West at his doctor's suggestion. The doctor arranged for the couple to stay in a cabin in Estes Park for the summer. Immediately, they fell in love with the area and Stanley's health began to dramatically improve.[2] Impressed by the beauty of the valley and grateful for the improvement in his health, he decided to invest his money and his future there. In 1909, he opened the elegant Stanley Hotel, a classic hostelry exemplifying the golden age of touring.[4]

Hotel Lobby‎

After spending the summer in the cabin, Flora wanted a home like the one she had left in Maine. Their home was built about one-half mile west of where the Stanley Hotel would later be built. Today the house is a private residence.[2]

Stanley built the hotel on land that he purchased from the English Earl Lord Dunraven. Dunraven came to the area in 1872 while on a hunting trip. He built a hunting lodge, cabin, and hotel for his guests and illegally homesteaded up to 15,000 acres (61 km2) in an unsuccessful attempt to create a private hunting preserve. Dunraven was finally run out of the area after trying to swindle folks out of their land and money.[4][2]

Vintage Stanley Steamer in hotel lobby

In 1907, construction started on the Stanley Hotel. Wood and rock were obtained from the nearby mountains and the hotel was built in the Georgian architectural style, which experienced a revival in the early Twentieth century. Equipped with running water, electricity, and telephones, the only amenity the hotel lacked was heat, as the hotel was designed as a summer resort.[2]


[edit] Hauntings

Many believe The Stanley Hotel is haunted, having reported a number of cases. Staff who work in the kitchen next to the ballroom after hours say they have heard a party going on when the room was empty. In one guest room people claim to have seen a man standing over the bed then running into the cupboard. It is further claimed that this same apparition is responsible for stealing jewelery, watches and luggage that has gone missing. The television show Ghost Hunters was invited to investigate the hotel, the manager showed them the various places where these accusations occurred. Ghost Hunters discovered some reasons for the various phenomena, including wind and pipes but could not decipher the the ballroom incident. Ghost Hunters also claimed to experience some occurrences such as seeing people in hallways then hiding and hearing children running and playing on the floor above them. The biggest occurrence claimed was that during changing of the film in the camera, a table jumped two feet in the air. Ghost Hunter Jason stayed the night in the room with the "ghost thief", Jason stated that the bed moved, the cupboard doors unlocked and opened and his thick glass by the bed cracked open on the inside.

Stephen King got the idea for The Shining after staying in the almost empty hotel on the night before it closed for an extended period.

[edit] Popular culture

The neoclassical hotel was the inspiration for the fictional Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's novel The Shining. While he and his wife were staying at the Stanley, King conceived the basic idea for the novel. The 1997 television miniseries version of The Shining was filmed at the Stanley, and it has been used as a location site for other films as well, most notably as the "Hotel Danbury" in Dumb and Dumber.[5]

In May 2006, investigators with The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS) investigated the hotel for the SciFi Channel program Ghost Hunters. TAPS returned to the hotel on October 31st, 2006 for a live, six hour follow-up investigation. In November 2008, UK channel LIVING broadcast Most Haunted's investigation of the hotel. [6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://www.nr.nps.gov/. 
  2. ^ a b c d e "Rocky Mountain Legends". LegendsOfAmerica.com. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/CP-EstesParkHaunting.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. 
  3. ^ "About The Stanley". StanleyHotel.com. http://www.stanleyhotel.com/about.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-09. 
  4. ^ a b c "Rocky Mountain National Park - Culture". US-Parks.com. http://www.us-parks.com/rocky/culture.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-10. 
  5. ^ "Stanley Hotel Ghost Story ". Allstays.com. http://www.allstays.com/Haunted/co_estespark_stanley.htm. Retrieved on 2007-05-09. 
  6. ^ "New Most Haunted - Tuesday 11 November - Programme Details". Radio Times. http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=197&programmeId=87760564&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details_fullpage.jsp. Retrieved on 2008-11-01. 

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 40°22′58″N 105°31′8″W / 40.38278°N 105.51889°W / 40.38278; -105.51889

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Hotel"
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