Denver ยท Downtown
The Brown Palace
Henry C. Brown's 1892 hotel by Frank E. Edbrooke, around an eight-story atrium lobby where the Stock Show's champion steer is paraded each January.
- Built
- 1892Built 1889-92 as a hotel for Henry Cordes Brown (NRHP gives 1889 as its significant year); opened August 12, 1892 with 400 guest rooms.
- Style
- Italian Renaissance and Romanesque Revival
- Architect
- Frank E. Edbrooke
- Type
- Grand hotel
- Area
- Downtown
- Credentials
- Listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Historic Hotels of America member
The story
Carpenter-turned-land-speculator Henry Cordes Brown built the hotel on a triangular lot at Broadway, Tremont and 17th Street that had once been used for cattle grazing. Frank E. Edbrooke designed it around an eight-story atrium lobby with onyx stonework and a stained-glass ceiling, and it opened on August 12, 1892 after a $1.6 million build plus $400,000 in furniture. Theodore Roosevelt stayed in 1905, and HHA says every U.S. president since has visited except three. Dwight Eisenhower often stayed when visiting Mamie Eisenhower’s hometown, and The Beatles booked rooms when they played Red Rocks. Since 1946 the National Western Stock Show’s champion steer has been paraded through the lobby each January.
The ghost story
Staff and guests report activity throughout the hotel, most of all in the Brown Palace Club above the hotel's 720-foot artesian well. Lore holds that a deceased resident of Suite 904 kept calling the switchboard after her death, and that founder Henry C. Brown lingers near his old office.
Source: www.historichotels.org
Good to know
- Address: 321 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202
Things to do
Tours in Denver
Tours are sold by GetYourGuide and run by local operators. If you book one through these links, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. Ratings and prices are GetYourGuide’s.
Sources (3)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.