A Victorian lady dressed for the holidays

Clara Aucoin
GCN Senior Reporter

  The Hazard Powder Company, the Failing Mansion, 250 Casey Street. Colleen Thoth’s house has been known by a variety of names since its construction, but to Thoth, three dogs, a few cats, and a ghost she has named, “Joe,” it is simply “home.” And, it is a very special home.

  The house is as if in a time capsule. It has all been preserved, murals on the interior walls, interior woodwork carefully crafted into a sublime spiraled staircase, original wall paper, and stained glass windows, from the late 1800s to the present millennium. In addition, as the address indicates, the structure is on the famous “Casey,” Street in Central City. Add in the fact it is the only two story brick house on the street, and the historic structure is just more and more appealing. What makes the story even better is that thorough and diligent research and the help of more than a few friends, Thoth has been able to carefully research and plot how the house went from a powder factory to living museum of the Victorian past.

  The house is grandly decorated by Thoth, in keeping with the times of its birth. A grand tree sits in the living room, floor to ceiling, decorated with cherubs, tassels, ribbons and greenery. Garlands bedeck the grand staircase, twinkle lights, florals and glorious golden ribbons tucked in here and there, streamers dripping where appropriate. A tiny Christmas tree sits in the Parlor of the home, done in blue in keeping with the decorations of the room, and another tree welcomes guests on the front porch as they enter the door.

  Stepping through the door it is easy to travel back in time, to the 1870’s when the powder factor at 250 Casey began its journey toward becoming a home.

  Thoth has been able to trace the structure back to at least 1862, but it is certainly older. It had belonged to the DuPont Powder Company before Hazard purchased it in 1862. Since Central City only goes back to 1857, Thoth says it must be one of the oldest houses in the city.

  While in the hands of Hazard, powder was stored in the crawl space and was evidently forgotten. It was ultimately discovered and finally removed in the late 1900’s, perhaps as late as the 1990s. Another interesting tidbit about the history of the building is that during prohibition there was a speak easy in the basement, complete with a bar. That establishment did not disappear with prohibition, but remained in place well into the 20^th Century as a “hot spot,” for Opera parties. There is rumor that Goldie Hawn had a drink there during the filming of Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, and Thoth says there are plenty of people around Central City who remember drinking in that little bar.  

  According to County records, Hazard sold the building to John Retallack in 1897 and he began to make it a residence. He removed a counter that traversed the bottom floor, built the second floor and the parlor and turned the place into his home. He had two brothers, one of whom was a carpenter and the other a constable. Eerily enough, the carpenter brother, the one who did most of the work on the house, was named Joe. Thoth did not discover that fact until after she had already named her ghost and she said, “I got goose bumps all over.”

  During the construction, three bedrooms were added upstairs, one of which is rumored to have been the nanny’s quarters. That bedroom sits just a few feet back from a balcony landing that attaches to the circular staircase. The rail of the staircase, apparently carved from one long circular piece of wood, is thick and decorated with ornate carvings into the wood. In addition, in a move long before its time, the Retallack’s also installed built-in drawers and closets. But the Retallacks did not have indoor plumbing. They had a two-seater outhouse behind the home and that is where it remained until it blew into the gulch years ago. It is still there.

  Some of the history Thoth has learned came from the Retallack family themselves. She says that one day a woman came into the Central City Visitor’s Center. She had with her a photo of the house and told the woman working at the Center her great grandmother had lived in that house. Knowing the house and the current owner, the woman called Thoth who generously allowed the woman to tour the home. It turned out the woman was from Denver and most of the Retallack descendents are still living there. When the woman returned to Denver, arrangements were made by Thoth for as many family as wanted to view the house. The family brought pictures and stories that fleshed out the other details Thoth had been able to obtain.

  The Retallack family owned the property for generations and when Robert Failing bought it in 1974, it became known as the Failing Mansion. He owned the property until Thoth came to Central City at the urging of her brother Ron Brown, and bought the place in 2000. She said, “I just fell in love with it.”

  As she led the way through the living room, Thoth explained the murals on the Living Room walls are said to be inspired by the Greek Mythological Gods. Detailed, alive, colorful, and one that could be rated “R”, grab the attention. The artist of the murals in unknown, but Thoth says some people have told her they are the work of noted artist Dick Hicks. However, the signature on the wall simply says, “Nathaniel.” The facing walls hold murals of cherubs who look slightly spooky because none of them have eyes. They are original and Thoth says they were painted without eyes so the “children would not see what goes on in this room.” An ornate fireplace sits in one corner, and the wallpaper that covers the walls, the ceilings, and the connecting border is vintage Victorian. Original light fixtures hang from the ceilings and in the lower floor, carpets have been removed to restore the original wood floors.

  As is true with many Central City structures, this one is haunted. Thoth says she was told the house had a ghost before she bought it, but the seller said it may have moved on. A little skittish but in love with the house, Thoth went ahead with the purchase and moved in. Before long things began to happen.

  Thoth says she first began to notice that doors she had left locked were unlocked and standing open. Then one time she came home and heard the microwave in the kitchen chiming as it does when someone is pushing the buttons, and once again the outside door with a big lock had been opened. She panicked and called brother Ron over with a gun to inspect her house. Accustomed to living with ghosts himself, Ron arrived, checked the house and reassured his sister she had a ghost. She named it, “Joe,” and settled in to dealing with the channels on the television being changed, and her alarm clock being played with. She says she knows the ghost is a man because of his footsteps she hears on the wood stairs. Heavy footsteps, deliberate footsteps, and heavy breathing are heard when he ascends the stairs to the second floor. Legend says that a little girl who lived in the house earlier would frequently point to the stairs and identify a man standing on them, but no one else could see him.

  One final coincidence is that Joe Retallack used to work in the Gilpin County Courthouse, where Thoth herself has worked since she came to Gilpin County. She jokes her co-workers tell her that Joe has come to work with her, but only when weird things start happening with the office machines.