Free Tours of the Governor’s Mansion

The Governor’s Residence, Governor’s Residence Preservation Fund, American Society of Interior Designers and Colorado Homes & Lifestyles welcomes the public to attend our FREE holiday tours offered Thursday, December 8 through Sunday, December 11 and again on Thursday, December 15 through Sunday, December 18 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Tours begin at the Eighth Avenue main gate. There may be a line so all guests are admitted on a first come, first served basis. The Governor’s Residence does not take reservations. Large groups are encouraged to email [email protected] in advance.

Tours are at the pace of the visitor and may last from 20 minutes to 45 minutes.
For the fourth year in a row, interior design members of ASID competed for the opportunity to provide holiday decorations for the Governor’s Residence at the Boettcher Mansion. “Colorado’s Home,” as the Residence is known, welcomes well over 5,000 guests during the holiday season to view the decorations.

The creative inspiration for this year’s decor is ‘Colorado’s Kith and Kin’ celebrating Colorado’s Sister Cities and global holiday traditions.

“Twin towns” or “sister cities” are a form of legal and social agreement between towns, cities, counties, provinces, regions, states, and even countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, was intended to foster friendship and understanding between different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, and to encourage trade and tourism. In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities.

This year’s design competition challenged designers to highlight the spirit of the holidays in a global context. ASID Colorado member designers and their firms were invited to submit a proposal for one of six areas in the Residence:

1. Grand Drawing Room – Boulder’s Sister City- Dushanbe, Tajikistan
2. Elegant State Dining Room – Pueblo’s Sister City- Maribor, Slovenia
3. Palm Room’s Main Area – Denver’s Sister City- Takayama, Japan
4. Palm Room – Well Room – Grand Junction’s Sister City – El Espino, El Salvador
5. Intimate Governor’s Room – Colorado Springs’ Sister City- Olympia, Greece
6. Stately Library – Beaver Creek’s Sister City- Lech, Austria

[Free]

More info: http://www.coloradoshome.org/holiday-public-tours/