We rush between errands with our eyes focused on screens, and forget to look up and see amazing art right there in front of us: the historic architecture of Colorado. Now that it’s getting chilly, unplug yourself and enjoy one of these brisk walks.
Redstone Castle Tours
Let your imagination lead you to a bygone time during this 90-minute tour of the historic Redstone Castle, completed in 1902 by John Cleveland Osgood. Tucked away behind the trees of the Crystal River Valley, the castle with its elegant details may inspire your own home renovation. From a decadently designed library adorned with a hand-stenciled, aluminum- leaf ceiling to the original bedrooms, each furnished with a fireplace fashioned from tiles of marble imported from Italy, there’s something to catch your eye in every corner.
Modern Aspen self-guided walking tour
Earlier this year, you might have celebrated the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus with a guided tour. Here’s another one you can do yourself that also includes Wrightian/Organic, Modern Chalet, and Pan Abode styles of architecture—and it’s all free to eyeball. Just visit the website, print the map, and see examples of modern architecture that are now landmarked or eligible to be landmarked. (There you’ll learn that Pan Abode is a timber building system created in the 1940s by a Danish cabinet maker.)
Self-guided tour of Glenwood Springs
This hot springs resort destination’s checkered past as the Wild West town of Defiance shines through during the Frontier Historical Society’s walking tour. Visit the website and download the 44-location booklet, and you’ll learn all sorts of facts as you stroll, like who Linwood Cemetery’s most famous resident was, which church was attended by two U.S. Presidents, and what purpose a liquor store served during a flu epidemic. Architecture buffs will love the construction and design details.
