After a $3 million renovation, ‘cursed’ Capitol Hill mansion is ready to reopen

Ira Wertenteil chooses to believe the Peabody-Whitehead Mansion has no ghostly grudge against him Still he prefers the idea of ghosts terrorizing him to the idea of being punished by God for particular crime he s oblivious to I started this project a healthy human being reported the -year-old developer also a globe-trotting mountain climber who describes himself as an art- and architecture-school dropout later attending University of Colorado Business School Wertenteil bought and began renovating the Queen Anne-style Victorian mansion at Grant St in Denver with his wife Cindy Powders years ago Since then he s been haunted by physical condition problems My hands and feet started withering away he announced Then we learned my spine had totally fused although that had been possibly been going on for years Then I started going blind every six months and right now I m battling three types of cancer The historic Peabody-Whitehead Mansion in Denver as seen on Wednesday Oct The three-story brick mansion was build in and designed by architect Frank Edbrooke designer of Denver s Brown Palace Hotel The mansion has been under a million renovation for more than a decade Photo by Hyoung Chang The Denver Post The million project however is coming to an end as Wertenteil and Powders conclusively move into their master condo inside the eight-unit Capitol Hill home The other seven will be leased publicly New residents of the luxury condos will find a grand restored icon that s one of the last vestiges of Denver s so-called Millionaires Row but a home with a bold design and eclectic at times creepy decorating that honors its ghostly reputation A restored Model A car beckons passersby from the front yard appropriate given one of the house s boom eras Peabody-Whitehead was formerly a boarding house several nightclubs and restaurants and clerical offices among other commercial uses Wertenteil disclosed It s a huge undertaking that reflects a lot of our background in art and architecture stated Wertenteil who officially bought the mansion on Oct But we haven t quite gone the journey of the crazy crazy people who build these castles and stuff over like years We re in training to get to that point As they ve wound through their maze of permits designers and stop-start subcontractors Wertenteil and Powders have had plenty of time to consider the details The rich wood and thick walls inside the structure have been preserved and updated with a mix of ultra-modern and historic accents That extends from the light red bathroom tiles that mimic shiny brick walls to an intertwining metal branch sculpture canopy that greets visitors The aesthetic blends industrial and exposed elements such as a split black steel stairwell and adds touches like grated cages with relevant curios as well as preserved windows and doors that hang like museum pieces as opposed to functional hardware Original x s were sliced and used for wall accents The cross-section approach exposes original electrical work and historic wallpapers in tidy squares It s part museum part playground and all impressively elaborate But as intricate as the project has been Wertenteil and Powders are still sad to see it end In particular avenues we re not willing to let this go he mentioned It s like having a really cool car in the garage and never driving it Except this is a million project that I lose per month on by not renting it and instead showing it off to my friends The -square-foot three-story brick house was built in and designed by Frank Edbrooke the influential and prolific Colorado architect who also designed the Brown Palace according to History Colorado It was first owned by Dr William Riddick Whitehead a surgeon at Arapaho County Hospital who went on to lead and co-found other seminal Colorado biological institutions according to the Denver Citizens Library Colorado state archives note that Governor James Peabody who s known for putting down a miner s strike in Cripple Creek in also inhabited the home In it was declared a historic landmark by the City and County of Denver s Preservation Commission which has helped anchor it to Grant Street even as other historic buildings have fallen around it chosen replaced with apartment high-rises Ghost hunters tours and TV shows love the mansion because of its deep and haunted lore Wertenteil reported with decades-old legends telling of a chandelier that lights up without power a grouchy undead bartender and the ghosts of a war long past wrote ghost-tour company Denver Terrors on its website Related Articles Historic El Rancho building to be revived by Evergreen bike shop Colorado agency demolishes buildings at Denver s Burnham Yard stirring preservation backlash Here s why you should vote no on Polis bridge and instead advocacy the Trail Opinion A dozen-plus books and local guides speak of flying silverware random sobbing noises and other spooky occurrences Wertenteil and Powders leaned into that with displays of anatomical models and surgical equipment amid other densely packed corners of the first floor The house s checkered past is one reason why Wertenteil s friends speculate he might be cursed At the moment he s just trying to roll with his chemo treatments as the house certainly debuts to the citizens But don t call it a legacy project I grew up in a house with a mother who was an artist who dragged me to museums and I ve been taking things apart since I was a kid Wertenteil stated noting the influence of artists Louise Nevelson Mark di Suvero Richard Cera Gordon Matta-Clark and Gaud on Peabody-Whitehead s renovations I ve come down with so countless frickin diseases since we started and sometimes I wonder if the ghosts that hunt the place are taking out their aggression and frustration on me he added noting that he and Powders will likely hold an open house at the mansion on Halloween years to the day that he bought it But I tend to believe it s just fate Denver Post photographer Hyoung Chang contributed to this review Subscribe to our weekly newsletter In The Know to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox