Hotel de Paris Museum

A Norman-style inn built in 1875 by Louis Dupuy, a French immigrant who was a cook, journalist, and miner. Dupuy created an elegant French restaurant and hotel in the middle of a rugged Colorado mining town, hosting guests from across the nation. Now a museum operated by the National Society of Colonial Dames.

The Hotel de Paris was built in 1875 by Louis Dupuy, a Frenchman from Alencon who had come to Georgetown to work as a miner and cook. After being injured in a mining accident, Dupuy used his recovery time to plan the hotel of his dreams -- a Norman-style inn with an elegant French restaurant modeled after establishments in his hometown. Despite Georgetown's location in the rugged Rocky Mountains at 8,500 feet, Dupuy charged an exorbitant four dollars per night and offered a dining experience that rivaled the finest restaurants in Denver and San Francisco. He imported French wines, prepared elaborate multi-course meals, and decorated the hotel with European furnishings that seemed impossibly refined for a silver mining town. The hotel attracted guests from across the nation and became famous as an oasis of French sophistication in the Wild West.

Dupuy ran the hotel until his death in 1900, followed by his heir Sophie Gally, who died in 1901. The property passed through the Burkholder family until 1954, when declining business led them to sell it to the Colonial Dames of America, who converted it into a museum. The Hotel de Paris Museum is now a National Trust for Historic Preservation property and has been designated as a National Historic Landmark.

A paranormal investigation determined that Louis Dupuy's Hotel de Paris has a residual haunting rather than an intelligent one, meaning the phenomena appear to be echoes of the past rather than interactive spirits. The Clear Creek County Tourism Bureau has designated the museum as "certified haunted." Museum visitors, staff, and building caretakers have reported numerous encounters over the years. Smells with no apparent source drift through the building, including the aroma of cooking from the old kitchen and dining room. Indistinct sounds of people talking and moving about the unoccupied second floor have been heard by staff working alone in the building. The clattering of dishes echoes from the old dining room when no one is present, as if Dupuy's elaborate dinner service is still being laid out. The doorknob in the laundry room rattles persistently, and visitors have reported feeling cold spots and smelling cigarette smoke despite a strict no-smoking policy in the museum.

The phenomena suggest that Dupuy, the fastidious Frenchman who poured his life into creating a European masterpiece in the mountains, may still be presiding over his hotel -- ensuring that the kitchen is running, the dining room is prepared, and the guests are being served to his exacting standards.