Brand Building
Encyclopedia
The Hyman–Brand Building, often referred to as just the Brand Building, is located at the corner of South Galena Street and East Hopkins Avenue in Aspen
, Colorado, United States. It is a two-story stone building erected in the late 19th century. At different stages in the city's history it was owned by an entrepreneur who used the building in a way that redefined the city for that time. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
It was built by David Marks Hyman, one of the earliest investors in silver mining during Aspen's early years. Originally home to a bank, it was one of the largest commercial blocks built during the city's boomtown
period. Later it was used for several car-related businesses, including a dealership and drive-through gas station in the corner where the bank lobby had once been. In 1971 local entrepreneur Harley Baldwin
saved it from demolition, and along with the neighboring Collins Block
later renovated it into an area now known as "Glitter Gulch". Today it is home to some upscale boutiques and art galleries.
, also listed on the National Register. To the west along East Hopkins is another Register-listed property, the Collins Block
. The neighborhood is urban and densely developed, with a mixture of historic and sympathetic modern two- and three-story commercial buildings predominating.
Structurally it has brick walls, faced in heavily rusticated
peachblow sandstone
. It is two stories in height. A single-bay
corner entrance divides two street facade
s, 12 bays on the Galena frontage
and 10 on Hopkins.
Two full-height pilaster
s separate the corner bay and the two-bay portions on either side. Along Hopkins the next section is a single bay, then two each in the next three sections and another pilaster at the corner. The Galena facade has three in the next section, above the Gucci boutique. A narrow single bay is followed by two three-bay sections with the same treatment.
Most of the street level is devoted to retail storefronts, their entrances covered in awning
s. A Dior
boutique occupies the corner space, with Gucci
on either side. An art gallery occupies the space to the south of Gucci along Galena.
Fenestration on the upper story consists of one-over-one double-hung sash window
s. The five on the Hopkins side, and the first four on Galena, are taller and have taller upper panes. The corner window is topped with a semicircular plaque with "BRAND BLDG. 1891 ASPEN COLO." lettered on it. Above the second story. is a corbel
led cornice
in thre courses
, higher in the middle where the roof has a parapet
. Behind it is an open-air rooftop cafe, with umbrellas over the tables. A flagpole stands above the corner. The interior of the building is given over to the stores on the first floor with hotel rooms on the second.
n-born Harvard
-educated Cincinnati lawyer, came to Aspen in the early 1880s to take more direct control of silver mines friends of his had invested his money in. He became one of the richest citizens of the emerging community, building a fortune from the Colorado Silver Boom
.
Like fellow early Aspen mining entrepreneur Jerome Wheeler, his rival and adversary in a bitter legal battle over one particularly rich silver lode, he made his statement with large buildings bearing his name. The Hyman Building was faced in the same peachblow sandstone as Wheeler's Opera House
, brought to the city by the railroads that Hyman and Wheeler had briefly put aside their differences to bring up the Roaring Fork Valley
in the late 1880s.
The Hyman was one of the largest commercial buildings erected in Aspen during the early mining boom. It rivaled in size and prestige the Aspen Block to the south, built by D.R.C. Brown, another major early developer of the city. Both the Aspen and the Hyman shared the same major tenant: the First National Bank of Aspen. In the Hyman it occupied the corner suite. The bank was known in its time for serving lavish lunches with fine wines. Other retail tenants included jewelers and a grocery store. The upper space had some offices but was mostly given over to a meeting hall of the Patriotic Order Sons of Liberty.
The bank's presence and the building's dominant position within the city helped it survive after the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
in response to the Panic of 1893
brought an end to the boom years of early Aspen. The metal's price collapsed to market levels once the federal government was no longer required to purchase it, and the city's population steadily declined. Many smaller buildings from the boom years stood vacant and abandoned, their neglect
leaving them victim to fire and the effects of Aspen's severe and lengthy high-altitude winters. The order's former meeting room was a popular venue for local dance events.
Another entrepreneur, R.H. Brand, bought the building in the 1920s. He adapted it for use to serve the growing population of automobile users, a mode of transportation then making its presence felt in the remote mountain town, its population by then a historic low of less than a thousand. As in the Aspen Block, the corner space was converted
into a service station
. The onetime bank lobbies had the only ceilings high enough for trucks to fit under and shelter them from snowfall. Other spaces were given over to a dealership and repair shop.
After World War II
, another owner took over the gas station. Aspen gradually became one of the first ski resorts in the Western United States
, and its economy improved. The Aspen Music Festival
used the meeting hall space for orchestra rehearsals in the 1950s, before it developed its own facilities outside of town. The Hyman–Brand began to feel the effects of time and its radical conversion several decades earlier. By 1970 the gas station was no longer a viable business, and the building was condemned and slated for demolition
.
The following year it was saved when Harley Baldwin bought it for $170,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). A man in his mid-20s who had driven out to Aspen from the East
after college and established a business selling crêpe
s which he then parlayed into real estate
, Baldwin restored
the Hyman–Brand and leased it out as a retail space.
A few years later, Baldwin returned to New York City and devoted most of his time and energy to real estate there. In 1988 he returned to Aspen and bought the Collins Block
next door. He began to transform both properties into visible symbols of Aspen's cachet among the international rich and famous, easing out longtime tenants like a hardware store in favor of upscale fashion retailers like Louis Vuitton
, Dior
and Gucci
. Baldwin opened the art gallery
that still bears his name in the building as well. The upper story of the Hyman–Brand became the exclusive Aspen Hotel, where guests had membership privileges at the exclusive Caribou Club in the basement of the Collins Block
The area became known as "Glitter Gulch", a nickname that soon also came to be used for Aspen as a whole. Some residents lamented the open acknowledgement of Aspen's association with celebrity and wealth, recalling the days of the early 1970s when the city's lack of pretense had so attracted those visitors in the first place, and they mixed freely with locals. Baldwin saw it as simply inevitable. "Aspen is for the most successful people in the world. It so happens that they like to wear Gucci. Where's the problem?" he told Vanity Fair
in 2001. When he died in 2005, shortly after Louis Vuitton announced it would move to larger quarters on Mill Street,Dior now occupies its former space at the corner. the Hyman–Brand was estimated to be worth as much as $15 million.
Aspen, Colorado
The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...
, Colorado, United States. It is a two-story stone building erected in the late 19th century. At different stages in the city's history it was owned by an entrepreneur who used the building in a way that redefined the city for that time. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
It was built by David Marks Hyman, one of the earliest investors in silver mining during Aspen's early years. Originally home to a bank, it was one of the largest commercial blocks built during the city's boomtown
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
period. Later it was used for several car-related businesses, including a dealership and drive-through gas station in the corner where the bank lobby had once been. In 1971 local entrepreneur Harley Baldwin
Harley Baldwin
Harley Baldwin was an American developer and art dealer who divided his time between residences in Aspen, Colorado, and New York City...
saved it from demolition, and along with the neighboring Collins Block
Collins Block
The Collins Block is located at the intersection of East Hopkins Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a brick and stone structure erected in the early 1890s...
later renovated it into an area now known as "Glitter Gulch". Today it is home to some upscale boutiques and art galleries.
Building
The building is located at the southwest corner of the intersection, on the opposite corner from Aspen City HallAspen City Hall
Aspen City Hall, known in the past as Armory Hall, Fraternal Hall, is located at the intersection of South Galena Street and East Hopkins Avenue in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a brick building dating to the 1890s...
, also listed on the National Register. To the west along East Hopkins is another Register-listed property, the Collins Block
Collins Block
The Collins Block is located at the intersection of East Hopkins Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a brick and stone structure erected in the early 1890s...
. The neighborhood is urban and densely developed, with a mixture of historic and sympathetic modern two- and three-story commercial buildings predominating.
Structurally it has brick walls, faced in heavily rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
peachblow sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
. It is two stories in height. A single-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
corner entrance divides two street facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s, 12 bays on the Galena frontage
Frontage
Frontage is the full length of a plot of land or a building measured alongside the road on to which the plot or building fronts. This is considered especially important for certain types of commercial and retail real estate, in applying zoning bylaws and property tax...
and 10 on Hopkins.
Two full-height pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s separate the corner bay and the two-bay portions on either side. Along Hopkins the next section is a single bay, then two each in the next three sections and another pilaster at the corner. The Galena facade has three in the next section, above the Gucci boutique. A narrow single bay is followed by two three-bay sections with the same treatment.
Most of the street level is devoted to retail storefronts, their entrances covered in awning
Awning
An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly...
s. A Dior
Dior
Dior can mean:* Christian Dior SA, a French clothing retailer* In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium:**Dior Eluchíl, a Half-elven of the First Age**Dior , a Steward of GondorDior is a surname, and may refer to:...
boutique occupies the corner space, with Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
on either side. An art gallery occupies the space to the south of Gucci along Galena.
Fenestration on the upper story consists of one-over-one double-hung sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s. The five on the Hopkins side, and the first four on Galena, are taller and have taller upper panes. The corner window is topped with a semicircular plaque with "BRAND BLDG. 1891 ASPEN COLO." lettered on it. Above the second story. is a corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
in thre courses
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
, higher in the middle where the roof has a parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
. Behind it is an open-air rooftop cafe, with umbrellas over the tables. A flagpole stands above the corner. The interior of the building is given over to the stores on the first floor with hotel rooms on the second.
History
David Marks Hyman, a BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n-born Harvard
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
-educated Cincinnati lawyer, came to Aspen in the early 1880s to take more direct control of silver mines friends of his had invested his money in. He became one of the richest citizens of the emerging community, building a fortune from the Colorado Silver Boom
Colorado Silver Boom
The Colorado Silver Boom was a dramatic expansionist period of silver mining activity in the U.S. state of Colorado in the late 19th century. The boom started in 1879 with the discovery of silver at Leadville...
.
Like fellow early Aspen mining entrepreneur Jerome Wheeler, his rival and adversary in a bitter legal battle over one particularly rich silver lode, he made his statement with large buildings bearing his name. The Hyman Building was faced in the same peachblow sandstone as Wheeler's Opera House
Wheeler Opera House
The Wheeler Opera House is located at the corner of East Hyman Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a stone building erected during the 1890s, from a design by Willoughby J. Edbrooke...
, brought to the city by the railroads that Hyman and Wheeler had briefly put aside their differences to bring up the Roaring Fork Valley
Roaring Fork Valley
The Roaring Fork Valley is a geographical region in western Colorado in the United States. The Roaring Fork Valley is one of the most affluent regions in Colorado as well as one of the most populous and economically vital areas of the Colorado Western Slope. The Valley is defined by the valley of...
in the late 1880s.
The Hyman was one of the largest commercial buildings erected in Aspen during the early mining boom. It rivaled in size and prestige the Aspen Block to the south, built by D.R.C. Brown, another major early developer of the city. Both the Aspen and the Hyman shared the same major tenant: the First National Bank of Aspen. In the Hyman it occupied the corner suite. The bank was known in its time for serving lavish lunches with fine wines. Other retail tenants included jewelers and a grocery store. The upper space had some offices but was mostly given over to a meeting hall of the Patriotic Order Sons of Liberty.
The bank's presence and the building's dominant position within the city helped it survive after the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act
Sherman Silver Purchase Act
The Sherman Silver Purchase Act was enacted on July 14, 1890 as a United States federal law. It was named after its author, Senator John Sherman, an Ohio Republican, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee...
in response to the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
brought an end to the boom years of early Aspen. The metal's price collapsed to market levels once the federal government was no longer required to purchase it, and the city's population steadily declined. Many smaller buildings from the boom years stood vacant and abandoned, their neglect
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
leaving them victim to fire and the effects of Aspen's severe and lengthy high-altitude winters. The order's former meeting room was a popular venue for local dance events.
Another entrepreneur, R.H. Brand, bought the building in the 1920s. He adapted it for use to serve the growing population of automobile users, a mode of transportation then making its presence felt in the remote mountain town, its population by then a historic low of less than a thousand. As in the Aspen Block, the corner space was converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
into a service station
Service station
Service station may refer to:* Filling station, a gasoline or petrol station* Automobile repair shop, a place where automobiles are repaired* Rest area, a public facility on motorways or controlled-access highways for resting or refuelling...
. The onetime bank lobbies had the only ceilings high enough for trucks to fit under and shelter them from snowfall. Other spaces were given over to a dealership and repair shop.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, another owner took over the gas station. Aspen gradually became one of the first ski resorts in the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, and its economy improved. The Aspen Music Festival
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
used the meeting hall space for orchestra rehearsals in the 1950s, before it developed its own facilities outside of town. The Hyman–Brand began to feel the effects of time and its radical conversion several decades earlier. By 1970 the gas station was no longer a viable business, and the building was condemned and slated for demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
.
The following year it was saved when Harley Baldwin bought it for $170,000 ($ in contemporary dollars). A man in his mid-20s who had driven out to Aspen from the East
Eastern United States
The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...
after college and established a business selling crêpe
Crêpe
A crêpe or crepe , is a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour or buckwheat flour . The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled". While crêpes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread in France...
s which he then parlayed into real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
, Baldwin restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
the Hyman–Brand and leased it out as a retail space.
A few years later, Baldwin returned to New York City and devoted most of his time and energy to real estate there. In 1988 he returned to Aspen and bought the Collins Block
Collins Block
The Collins Block is located at the intersection of East Hopkins Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, United States. It is a brick and stone structure erected in the early 1890s...
next door. He began to transform both properties into visible symbols of Aspen's cachet among the international rich and famous, easing out longtime tenants like a hardware store in favor of upscale fashion retailers like Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...
, Dior
Dior
Dior can mean:* Christian Dior SA, a French clothing retailer* In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth legendarium:**Dior Eluchíl, a Half-elven of the First Age**Dior , a Steward of GondorDior is a surname, and may refer to:...
and Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
. Baldwin opened the art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
that still bears his name in the building as well. The upper story of the Hyman–Brand became the exclusive Aspen Hotel, where guests had membership privileges at the exclusive Caribou Club in the basement of the Collins Block
The area became known as "Glitter Gulch", a nickname that soon also came to be used for Aspen as a whole. Some residents lamented the open acknowledgement of Aspen's association with celebrity and wealth, recalling the days of the early 1970s when the city's lack of pretense had so attracted those visitors in the first place, and they mixed freely with locals. Baldwin saw it as simply inevitable. "Aspen is for the most successful people in the world. It so happens that they like to wear Gucci. Where's the problem?" he told Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
in 2001. When he died in 2005, shortly after Louis Vuitton announced it would move to larger quarters on Mill Street,Dior now occupies its former space at the corner. the Hyman–Brand was estimated to be worth as much as $15 million.