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Click
the links below to tour the Molly Brown House Museum.

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1340 Pennsylvania
Street
Architectural Style: Queen
Anne
Architect: William Lang
Built: 1889
Margaret
"Molly" Tobin Brown was born in Hannibal, Missouri
to working class Irish parents. Known as Margaret or Maggie, never
Molly, she moved to Leadville, Colorado when she was 18. There she
met and married James Joseph "J.J."
Brown, also from a working class Irish family. In 1893, J.J.
discovered the largest and purest vein of gold and copper ore known
at that time. The Browns moved to Denver where they purchased the
house at 1340 Pennsylvania in the fashionable Capitol Hill neighborhood
for $30,000 from Isaac and Mary Large. Margaret owned the home until
her death in 1932. It was here that she returned after surviving
the sinking of the Titanic and earning her nickname "Unsinkable".
Between 1932
and 1970, the house had five different owners. Each converted the
original fourteen-room home into an apartment building or boarding
house. Ceilings were lowered, rooms were subdivided and more kitchens
and bathrooms were added. In 1970 the home was owned by Art Leisenring.
Mr. Leisenring leased the building to the City and County of Denver
for use as a "home for wayward girls". He noticed, however,
that most of the single-family buildings on Capitol Hill were being
demolished or converted into office buildings. Mr. Leisenring helped
form Historic Denver, Inc. for the express purpose of saving the
Molly Brown House from this fate in the future. The house was lovingly
restored to its original floorplan and decorations of 1910. The
Molly Brown House Museum opened its doors to the public in 1971
and sees more than 45,000 visitors each year. Today, Historic Denver
is one of the country's largest, private preservation organizations.
In addition to running the Molly Brown House Museum, Historic Denver
is credited with successfully lobbying for historic landmark designations
for numerous neighborhoods and buildings in the Denver area.
The Molly Brown
House was built with both Manitou
sandstone and rusticated Castle
Rock rhyolite. It is one of the few buildings known to combine
these two stones. The Queen
Anne style is tempered by Romanesque
Revival arches and rusticated
stonework. Other common elements of the Queen Anne style are
the four stained glass windows, wraparound porch and balconies.
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