Ghost and president slept here

Haunted and historic, Cascade resort hotel survives in what was once Hurricane Canyon

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

Eastholme is the oldest of a group of resort hotels that once flourished between Manitou Springs and Cripple Creek. Eastholme was built by Eliza Marriott Hewlett, a wealthy widow from Schenectedy, New York, and her two sisters. Hewlett understood the tourist potential of the Ute Pass region and built the resort hotel in 1885, The eight gabled building reflects East Coast architecture and because of that, they named the it Eastholme Hotel in what was then known as Hurricane Canyon, and later renamed by Eliza as Cascade Canyon. Today we know it as Cascade, Colorado.

"In this quaint bed and breakfast in the heart of the Rocky Mountains lives a female ghost whose identity is unknown. She has been heard on the third floor whispering, “Grace?” tickling the piano keys, and walking throughout the building. She has been seen in a red satin dress standing on the balcony, and in the foyer wearing a long dark dress, " says HauntedPlacesofUSA.blogspot.com.

It was built by a widow, Eliza Marriott Hewlett, and her sisters, Ellen and Caroline. Hewlett was from Schenectady, New York. Eliza Marriott Hewlett, the oldest of three sisters, left the state of New York for Colorado in the 1880s, and brought her two children with her to Cascade. It was quite uncommon for "ladies of leisure" to have moved to Colorado during this period; It was theorized that the women "may have come because of the publicity lent to the area by such romantic writers of the day as Helen Hunt..., who extolled the beauties of the Pikes Peak region."

Eliza Marriott Hewlett, an early settler who served as the secretary of the Cascade Town and Improvement Company, built and operated the two-story wood frame boarding house. 

Most of Cascade Canyon was homesteaded by the sisters. Caroline Marriott lived near the confluence of French and Fountain Creeks. Ellen lived beside waterfalls, "high up in the canyon" and Eliza lived at the entrance to Cascade Canyon in a log cabin. There she "entertained friends from Manitou at taffy pulls and sledding parties. Others came to the area for their health or to establish ranches. Uncommon for a woman the 1880s, Hewlett became the Cascade Town and Improvement Company's secretary. The company contributed to the cost of the development of the Pikes Peak Carriage Road and, having purchased land from the sisters in 1886 opened two larger hotels in Cascade.

The building, designed after elegant eastern hotels, had eight gables. When the railway was established through Ute Pass, there was an increase in tourism in the area and development of large resort hotels. Eastholme is the only remaining summer resort building in Cascade.  The inn became a designated Ute Pass Landmark by 1976, and recognized by the state's Bicentennial Committee.

In 1888, Eastholme was sold by Hewlett to her sister. Hewlett was, however, listed as proprietor of the hotel in 1892 and 1897 business directories. For a short period of time Eastholme was used as a sanitarium and leased as a boarding house. William Slutz bought the property in 1899. It was purchased in 1913 by Mr. and Mrs. A.S. Hewitt.

Following the closure of the Colorado Midland Railway, large hotels "would disappear in the 1920s." Over time, though, Eastholme was able to survive and continues to operate as a source of lodging.

During the 1920s many tourists began to travel by car, rather than train. Eastholme accommodated the travelers, as well as racers in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. 

Before they were married, Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower stayed at the inn," according info submitted to National Register of Historic Places.  "As did Mamie's parents, the Douds, from Denver. The Douds stayed at Eastholme on many occasions. Racers in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb stayed at inn in the 1920s. They "soaked the wooden wheels in barrels in the yard."

In operation by 1887, it was a precursor of the larger resort hotels that later dominated the Ute Pass area. It is the only surviving building representing the early railroad period of Cascade’s commercial development as a summer resort for the wealthy.

"The ghost of a young woman in a tea-length, red satin dress is said to have been seen in the inn. The inn is also said to have experienced supernatural events when no one is visible, such as notes being played on the piano, electrical equipment being manipulated, the name "Grace" being whispered, and the sound of footsteps," writes Robert Wlodarski (17 January 2001). in Dinner and Spirits: A Guide to America's Most Haunted Restaurants, Taverns and Inns.