Saving the Hartman Castle Kickoff

Hartman Castle Preservation Corporation is a newly formed nonprofit whose purpose is to fundraise, purchase, and restore the Hartman Castle.

There are multiple ways for the community to be involved: fundraising, working on the Castle buildings and grounds, and volunteering on committees and at the site.

Once restored, the Castle will serve as a community event center and promote the unique history of the Gunnison Valley.

Gunnison’s most distinctive historic house, this Queen Anne Style castle commanded a 2,000-acre ranch homesteaded in 1875 by Alonzo Hartman.

Hartman, who, with Sylvester Richardson, founded Gunnison, called his home Dos Rios for its site at the junction of the Gunnison and Tomichi rivers.

Atop a stone base, the brick first floor and shingled second story look like a small appendage to the massive, three-story central tower with its smaller, conical-capped belvedere. Seven leaded and stained glass windows of decreasing size climb the first story of the circular tower. Inside, ornate white oak wood-work is among the many rich construction details. Hartman also built the brick barn (1889) and his earlier L-shaped, one-and-one-half-story house (c. 1880) with vertical, horizontal, and herringbone lap siding.