St James Hotel is located in Georgetown, Colorado, established in 1859 as one of the greatest Silver Mining Camps in Colorado. In 1875, the population of Georgetown was 3,500. Around the corner the Hotel de Paris opened the same year as the St James Inn, then a 23 room brothel. Over the years the Inn became a hostel, bar and grill, hotel, mercantile building and most recently the Dusty Rose Tea Room.

The town of Georgetown sits at an elevation of 8,530 feet (2,600 m) above sea level, nestled in the mountains near the upper end of the valley of Clear Creek in the mountains west of Denver along Interstate 70. The historic downtown was used as the location for the filming of a scene from the 1978 movie Every Which Way But Loose starring Clint Eastwood. The made-for-TV movie The Christmas Gift, starring John Denver, was filmed in Georgetown in 1986. There are a variety of festivals and events held in Georgetown each year and the Colorado Central Railroad, Guenella Pass and Georgetown Lake are always great experiences!

First built in 1875, this historic building had a store located on the first floor, and living quarters on the second, but then quickly became the Intercontinental Hotel. It had a number of names, through the years, but most folks remember it as the St. James Hotel or more recently as the Dusty Rose Tea Room.

Here is one of the before photos of the main level with the brick flooring and wood beams and post that we kep

We tore up years old disgusting carpet and started framing the three new suites we added on the main level.

Next step, plumbing and electrical install, inspections on all three and move on to drywall.

In 2023, Darla purchased the hotel and began the process of remodeling it into a new and improved version of the St James Hotel. First, I had to get architectural plans drawn up to present to the city planning department and the historic committee. Once approved, we began demo and construction. You can see in the photos what the main level looked like before and after. Renovating an 1875 frame building was quite a challenge, but we left much of what was there and just added more framing, bedrooms, and bathrooms to the existing structure. We lett the exterior exactly as is due to historic restraints but also to keep the 1875 history alive. From the outside it doesn’t look like much, but inside it is old world charm meets modern amenities.

Make it stand out

This is the current lobby area from 2024. Go to www.stjamescolorado.com to see all the pictures of the rooms and video tours of the finished product!

The entire project took 1 1/2 years to complete and receive our Certificate of Occupancy. The delays were the requirement of a wet fire sprinkler system which required a separate water line to the property and added $100K to the budget. My initial timeline was 6-8 months and the budget was $100K. It ended up costing over $200K in the end, which is a bummer; but sometimes you find expensive repairs that you didn’t plan for and that is why I always leave lots of room when I purchased properties for these situations. I learned a lot flipping a commercial property. The requirements for commercial versus residential are a bit different but not much. We were allowed to keep existing framing and walls due to the historic designation. If this wasn’t historic, much of the exterior siding/insulation/ ceiling heights in the 3rd story, staircases, unlevel flooring, and more would not have met code. I learned a lot over the years and this was one of those projects that took way too long and during that time the market has changed a bit. I’m not sure I would take on this project in this economy, but over time this will be a great investment. It is currently for sale. Call Darla at 303-514-8740 for more details.

How I flipped a hotel

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