Remarkably, The Gold Miner Hotel was built in the two months of December 1897 and January 1898.  For those who have been here in the Winter that feat is difficult to believe.  By early March, 1898 The Hotel was operating.  It hosted miners in tiny rooms. It was the site of the first meeting of the Town Board of the newly incorporated Eldora.  Their first action was to issue The Hotel a liquor license after which the Board adjourned. Through the next decades The Gold Miner was witness to the changes in Eldora.  Times were hard and The Hotel was bankrupt by the early 1900s.  There were a series of owners but The Hotel maintained its presence in the Eldora valley.  By the time we bought it in 1986 there was a lot of work to do.  More work than we would have been able to do ourselves.  Fortunately, there have been and continue to be professionals and artisans, supporters, and interested parties that collectively have played a unique role in making The Hotel presentable again.

                     --- Scott Bruntjen and Carol R. Rinderknecht, January, 2015

Photography

In a random web search we ran across a photo by Juli Scalzi of what turned out to be a photo she took of the outside of The Hotel on a trip to Eldora. We thought that it showed perfectly the uniqueness of The Gold Miner.  Juli was kind enough to spend an evening as a Guest producing photos that make up much of this website.  We told her about the people of the Goldminer and she represented their spirit through her photography.  The dolls on the bunk bed ladder and the ghosts you can just see in the Lobby are my favorites but all of them have history, and fine art, and whimsy.  The goal of this website is to entice you to stay the night but we want you to really know what you are getting before you come.  Juli's photos present what we have.

Juli Scalzi in her own words:   "What can I say . . . I am totally obsessed with photo taking and the art of processing the image. I love using my photograph as a canvas and then adding textures, digital paints or a blend of multiple images to create my final piece. And my favorite subject? Well, whatever tickles my fancy at the moment. I have dabbled in photography for quite a few years starting with my Pentax K1000 manual film camera and creating my prints in the darkroom. Now my equipment is a Nikon D80 camera, an assortment of lenses and Adobe Photoshop and I love the endless possibilities that can be created with them. My works have been featured at Anam Cara Living Arts Studio & Gallery and Bell Studio/Gallery in Denver, Colorado. My image 'Enchanted. Blatislava' was on exhibit at the 1650 Gallery & Studio in Los Angeles, California, as part of their juried exhibit called Wanderlust Travels Near and Far. 'Pretty in Pink' and 'Ski Colorado' were published in 'Eye on Fine Art Photography' magazine. CCA Occasions will publish my 'Christmas Moon' on their Christmas 2015 and 2016 greeting cards."  

Please take a look at her website at fine art america. We have left her photos water marked.  If you like a photo, Juli has them for sale.