HISTORY OF ASTOR HOUSE
Cultural Community Hub
Creating a Stronger Community Through Art
As a city like Golden has matured from a frontier mining town to an industrial hub and again to a tourism mecca of the Front Range, the needs of its people have changed. Like the humble boarding house providing food and lodging for a fledgling city, Foothills Art Center seeks to provide for Golden’s cultural needs.
Through exhibitions, educational programming, and community events, FAC offers fertile ground for communities to grow. These can be anything from groups of artists banding together to inspire, forums discussing local issues, or even energized preteens building mechanized sculpture.
Foothills Summer Class instructor Amanda Jenson helps her student. This program has long been one of the best ways to provide for the creative development of our community’s students when school is not in session.
“The arts give life to the community. They enrich our lives. They remind us of our shared humanity. They tell our stories. They communicate when words fail. All these things make us
Bob Dolian, Retired Board President and Member since 2010
better people.”
Partners/Socios: Foothills Art Center partnered with Metcalf Archeological Consultants and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science Statistical Research, Inc., Golden History Museum, History Colorado, Community Connections, LLC., Community College of Denver, Colorado School of Mines, University of Denver, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University of Colorado, and University of Colorado Denver
The Astor House Community Archaeology Project
Foothills Art Center Unearthing the History of Golden
Metcalf Archeological Consultants and The Denver Museum of Nature and Science Partnered with FAC to help the public engage with the property’s history. Thirty-five project volunteers excavated five archeological units and unearthed 20,000 artifacts in June and July 2021.
HISTORY OF ASTOR HOUSE
Once a Boarding House
79 Years of Meeting Golden’s Needs
An Anchor for a Growing City
Now part of the Foothills Arts Center, this building began as a boarding house. They were commonplace in the early-mid 1900s and were essential to meet the housing needs of growing towns like Golden. Aside from an affordable place to reside, a boarding house became an anchor for the people in the area—a place to meet, eat, converse, and celebrate.
Ida and her family did everything they could to keep the business thriving, and in doing so, they provided for the town. Laundry, renowned cuisine, a comfortable bed, a hot bath, and even a room for the terminally ill. These services were the lifeblood of the business and sustenance for the community.
“At that time of course, she had to take care of it all. She worked, oh gracious, how she worked.” Irene Goetze, speaking about her Mother in Law, Ida Goetze
19th-century style, Astor House Museum c.1997
A Home for Mines Students
For much of the Astor House’s time as a boarding house, it served as a dorm for the School of Mines students. You can imagine a youthful energy coursing through the building as the dining room morphed into a dining hall. Goetz even allowed the Mines Football Team to rent all 19 rooms for a training headquarters.
Preserving Astor as a Museum
Golden Landmarks Association worked tremendously hard to restore the building, filling it with period-correct furnishings and converting it into a museum. GLA leased the building from the City of Golden and operated it as a cherished landmark until 2015.
