Cherokee Ranch and Castle, located 30 miles south of Denver, near the town of Sedalia, was originally built in 1924 by a Denver real estate tycoon named Charles Benson, and his wife Alice, as a summer home for their family. They had a love of English and Scottish Castles and incorporated castle aspects into the style of their house, which included 26 rooms and more than 10,000 square feet of space. They named the house "Chartford" for their sons Charles and Gifford.
(All photos and photo collages in this post will enlarge for easier viewing if clicked on)
As time went on the Gifford sons sold the home and surrounding properties to Mildred Montague Genevieve "Tweet" Kimball, a southern belle and debutante from Tennessee. Tweet needed a new home after a divorce settlement, which included her husband's purchase of a new home for her as long as she moved "west of the Mississippi." In 1954 Tweet and her two sons, Richard and Kirk, moved into what she re-named "Cherokee Ranch." Tweet was an avid equestrian and also purchased the adjoining Blunt Ranch, which increased her landholdings to 3,400 acres.
My husband and I decided to take a tour of Cherokee Castle this past summer. As we waited for the tour to begin we admired the exterior stone walls and slate roof construction, which we later learned on the tour was almost all-natural material originally sourced in Colorado
Some of the beautiful architectural details of the house can be seen in the photos above.
Inside, in the Castle's Great Hall, we were greeted by our tour guide. She began to tell us the amazing life story of the accomplished and interesting Tweet Kimball.
Kimball was the educated daughter of a wealthy family. Her father nicknamed her "Tweet" as a child, and it stayed with her. She was a collector of fine art and antiques and loved to travel to add to her collections. She also loved to host parties, was active in many organizations, and fundraised for them. She collected over 14,000 books, many rare, such as works by Dickens and Audubon and a folio of Shakespeare's works, published while Shakespeare was alive.
Views of some of the rooms in Cherokee Castle
Some examples of the large collection of antique furniture in the castle.
Every nook and cranny had something interesting to see!
..
Kimball's art collection was extensive and included works by fifteenth and sixteenth-century European and original paintings by artists Ruebans, Brueghel, and Pliny the Elder, and original drawings by Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
We were able to climb the narrow steps up to the top of a turret, where we went outside...
...to see these expansive views of the Colorado Front Range.
The city of Denver can be seen in the far distance
On clear days there are mesmerizing views from Pikes Peak in the south to Longs Peak in the north.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating facts I learned from the tour of Cherokee Ranch was that Tweet Kimball was a trailblazer as a woman who had an interest in raising cattle. She bought Santa Gertrudis cattle from Texas to Colorado. This breed was developed to thrive on the native grasses and climate of South Texas brush country. Critics felt these cattle would not do well in the colder Colorado climate, but Tweet proved them wrong. Santa Gertrudis are now bred all over the world, and Cherokee ranch is recognized within cattle breeding circles for this legacy. Tweet went on to establish the Rocky Mountain Santa Gertrudis Association and became the first woman to ever be on the National Western Stock Show's Board of Directors. In 1996, Tweet Kimball worked to protect Cherokee Ranch through a Conservation Easement. The foundation holds the deed to the land that is now protected as a wildlife sanctuary, and a small herd of Santa Gertrudis cattle are still bred on the ranch. Tweet passed away in 1999, and the Board of Directors of the Cherokee Ranch and Castle Foundation, its staff, and volunteers have kept her legacy alive since.
Besides being a museum, the castle and grounds are used for various musical performances, theatrical events, receptions, business conferences, High Tea, and a limited amount of weddings. Check the website for event information, and tour dates, at www.cherokeeranch.org
To get a better idea of the panoramic beauty of the Cherokee Castle's location and views, watch the Youtube video above, or on this link.
"November" ~ Elizabeth Coatsworth Colorado certainly has given many photographic opportunities to illustrate this poem
Thanksgiving 2016
In the United States the fourth Thursday of November is celebrated as Thanksgiving Day. Families gather together and give thanks for all the year's blessings before they dine on the bounty of their favorite holiday foods. It has also been a special time for our family, as our daughter was born at the end of November and we always have an ice cream birthday cake for her as part of our dessert selection. We usually have the grandchildren lead us in saying grace, as they love that honor.
Thanksgiving Day is a wonderful day full of good food and the love of family and friends. I hope you will also have a joyful day, and a year ahead filled with many new blessings to be thankful for!
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I was away last week, on a short trip to the beautiful state of Arizona. My husband and I enjoyed visiting our family members that live there, and we were especially excited to meet our niece and nephew-in-law's twin babies for the first time. (All photo collages will increase in size for easier viewing if clicked on)
We also attended a beautiful moonlit, outdoor wedding and reception. Everything was so perfect! We were happy to share this happy occasion, and we wish the new couple much love and happiness.
We are back in Colorado, where autumn colors have faded and the mountains await their mantles of heavy snow. Ski resorts have opened for the season with the aid of man-made snow, but on the Front Range, the weather has remained mild during the day and frosty at night. I've already begun shopping and preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday--how about you? I host every year and make all the usual favorites. Busy times are ahead--the best times of the year!
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Hello and welcome!
I'm Pat, a lifelong New Yorker who has recently moved to a suburb of Denver in the beautiful state of Colorado, so that I can live close to my children and grandchildren. I look forward to learning many new things about my new "mile high" city and I will share them on my blog.
New York City will always be my second home, and I will also continue to share many posts about it.
My blog's name in Italian means a "Thousand Favorite Flowers." I chose this unusual blog name because researching and writing for my blog, and taking photogrpahs for it, is like another "memory flower" that I am collecting in my bouquet of life.
I hope you will enjoy your visit to my blog and that you will leave a comment so that I know you've been here.
Thanks!
Copyright:2007 through 2022, MilleFioriFavoriti:LLC all rights reserved
Unless indicated, all photos and writings are my personal property and can not be used or reproduced without my written permission. My e-mail address is available in my profile. Thank you very much!
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We write to taste life twice. Once in the moment, And once in retrospection. ~ Anais Nin
Why I blog:
"I write to discover what I know" ~ Flannery O'Connor
Pay Attention, Be astonished, Tell about it. - Mary Oliver
Rocky Mountain National Park
“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” ― John Muir, Our National Parks
Colorado
You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person ~ Alec Waugh
Mt Evans
I was uplifted above a world of love, hate, and storms of passion, for I was calm amidst the eternal silences, bathing in the living blue. For peace rested that one bright day on the mountaintop. ~ Isabella Bird "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains"
RMNP
"Life is your art. An open, aware heart is your camera. A oneness with your world is your film." ~Ansel Adams
Rocky Mountain National Park
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” ~Roald Dahl
Rocky Mountain National Park
And our first pure mountain day, warm, calm, cloudless, - how immeasurable it seems, how serenely wild! I can scarcely remember its beginning. Along the river, over the hills, in the ground, in the sky, spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm, new life, new beauty, unfolding, unrolling in glorious exuberant extravagance, - new birds in their nests, new winged creatures in the air, and new leaves, new flowers, spreading, shining, rejoicing everywhere. - John Muir
Colorado Beauty
“Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate, and though I oft have passed them by, a day will come at last when I shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.” - J.R.R. Tolkien,
Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, NY
Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. ~Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
My hometown: Brooklyn, NY
"Every day I walk out into the world to be dazzled, then to be reflective." ~ Mary Oliver
My buddy Bo
1998 - 2013 I still miss those I loved who are no longer with me, but I find I am grateful for having loved them. The gratitude has finally conquered the loss.
Grand Dog Lucy
“In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag.” ― W.H. Auden
Pepper
1991 - 2008 Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. ~Anatole France
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