Reception at the Montclair Center
Following the ceremony, the reception will be from 5:30-10:00 p.m. at the Montclair Center.
On September 15, 1888, the German-born promoter Baron Walter von Richthofen opened the Denver Molkery as a restaurant, hotel, and sanitarium in the east Denver suburb of Montclair, offering “the Swiss milk cure” to the region’s many tuberculosis patients. However, unpasteurized milk, therapeutic fumes and lots of sunbathing on its porches did not work, and the baron’s business plan failed.
The building and surrounding grounds have been under municipal care since 1908, when local citizens pushed the city to buy the former sanitarium and turn it into a civic building. Immediately after the purchase, the city opened up the structure’s interior to accommodate neighborhood meetings, school groups, and church gatherings. Craftspeople extended the once-odorous verandas, adding neoclassical columns set on brick pilasters. Most of the original character-defining features, including rhyolite stone bearing walls, cupola, and top-floor stickwork trim were left intact.
Today, the Molkery is known as the Montclair Civic Building and serves as a community center for citizen groups and private parties or meetings.
Photo of Denver Molkery by Garner Lyons Historic Window
Historical information adapted from the Colorado Historical Society