Molly Brown House Museum The Molly Brown House Museum

 

The Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Denver, Colorado 80203
303.832.4092
Fax: 303.832.2340

We care about your privacy and security on the Web. Click here to read our policies regarding your use of this Web site.

 

Molly Brown House Museum

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

 




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.

Web Site Copyright © 1999-2007 Historic Denver, Inc.
Web Site Design and Hosting by Blue Ray Media, Inc.