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1663-1 Art Deco/Preservation II ISTORIC PRESERVATION . ,. VOLUME 44. NUMBER 4 ♦ JULY/AUGUST 1992 1 • FEATUREScll. 1 , . ll `- THE COMING OF KYKUIT A., _ - p': %y A treasure trove of architecture,art,and gardens,the Hudson Valley �� home of the John D.Rockefeller family becomes the eighteenth museum I r�:/ - _ a property of the National Trust. By Allen Freeman ,li 50 26 IN THE NATIVE TONGUE DEPARTMENTS The tiny Makah tribe on the Northwest Coast struggles to revive the LETTERS 8 language of its elders.The language's future rests on the shoulders of Neah Bay's schoolchildren. By Kim Keister NOTEBOOK 10 36 THE ARCHITECT 12 MR.JEFFERSON'S RETREAT ELS of Berkeley,California,serves as Architectural historians and archaeologists piece together the puzzle a catalyst for urban change. of Poplar Forest.A practical methodology reveals the third president's By Andrea Oppenheipser Dean conception of the ideal villa. By Jane Brown Gillette THE TRAVELER 16 42 The southwest corner of New Mexico TRUE GRIT puts its faith in historic preservation. By Eddie Nickens The Fenstermaker sisters take on the Texas Department of Transportation VENTURES 20 as they defend their family homestead, the Maverick ranch,against an encroaching highway. By Andrea Oppenheimer Dean Two nineteenth-century Appleton, 50 Wisconsin, paper mills undergo a dramatic conversion into mixed-income housing. COPING WITH SUCCESS By Margaret E.Guthrie The very qualities that have made Miami Beach's Art Deco District so EDITOR'S PAGE 25 attractive are now jeopardizing its future.Is the ethnically and economically THE GARDEN 64 diverse district becoming a victim of its own popularity? By Beth Dunlop The unsinkable Molly Brown's garden. resurfaces with Victorian exuberance in Denver,Colorado. By Kathleen McCormick p� CLIO'S TABLE 68 The clink of ice sounded a distinctive note in American cuisine. ..1404.', By Patrick Dunne&Charles L.Mackie t -�. . t f 1. Cu BOOKS 70 CALENDAR 72 . t K IV J.. ;` OBSERVED 88 r, _ yt^ • a M , "4 ON THE COVER Kykuit,the heart of the Rockefeller o " estate at Pocantico Hills,New York,was Z 36 home to four generations of Rockefellers. Photograph by Ping Amranand m 2 HISTORIC PRESERVATION `,.. il• . * .-.,'" /*, ...•••. . f i - ./ . . / ... - .. . ....._.,.. 4 . . ., . , vs, . . . . ,. ., . !...t ia IIII it i, ... ..4 r#.7) ---Z--. 5..4 -- •.-.... -'' ,...;;•••• 4\ - \ 4 . ; ( .1 • ., irillili .., .,... it INA111111. , a S*1 11 ' , I clirill: I.. \el ter • '•"' ' . . 1 C ! . .,, . •-s. .. ....„ .. . ...,Ai •• 01:' • liW .:.. , . ..,... ,.. . --trfil .. .,. . , . .,. ... ...,-..... ! t "$,!;•,., .4•:1" r•telr -...„,, ..?.m. _—____. i 1........ ....s. 1 ....!•;. I ,.. Om* -..,,!:;:, • '..- .../ \e , h V.4 % . ... .•r. _ _ - ......1 I III 11 1 . ,' 1 . • I. ..,.. ...:. ., .. ' ,.• . 1 • ' .- . ,......:' ,... I . . L r Pin TM.liMir .1........... Viaagla ' .. ._ ...,.. ..,i...' • . r . 4.101 \; .' krill ''' ':. iiiii ., 111- _ ...,. __ .....7 . . ... .,....- ....; , \ I r--- . . . . . . ....,..,,.' . ,. ...._ s'.:!, •. , ,1. . , • . . T1-IIE BREAKWATER'S DRAMATIC VERTI- , I , CAL NEON SIGN AND THE LONGEST ... .................. PORCH ON OCEAN DRIVE MAKE THE --- ' .i. , HOTEL ONE OF THE DISTRICT'S MOST • • .. j . 1 !. • ' POPULAR DESTINATIONS. i A tr-) • , . . I , r ----- . 1 7:. L / • ' _. 1 i „ .. i .. (111plimi‘ t , 1 . a , _...0 . ,. :., tk ... .. .. ..-......,. . - .. . . . .A11 ic" . ., • ":4,:::. '.''''''' ' . "... .. AV- i • ', -- ,,,_ 4.,. - . fiote 5 , _4 .1.„ .44 ,. .. , :.. ,.,. ult.:: • .1, ... . . • . ,. . ...4rA,.„... ..... :N.- , '-' •—••.; * 1 • •in: '14., ., . • t .2 , ..../ • , 1, ,-) , . . , .:.... 4 • 3 _ 1 . ...,. . , • •,.,% ..,"!.:'''' '11,I • CAN MIAMI. BEACH'S ART DECO . . . ..- ,..., : ..... ,,,. f'. , . • DISTAICT RIDE ITS WAVE OF H 1 . PROS-P/ EiRliTy INTO THE FUTURE ? , . _• . f „.. • 111( BETH DUNLOP •- 1 • ..1 1 •;,' .70. ., , . . ' I. ";.. 'f ' . ..., , ., 4 . ..),. . , 't . .4' . • 4 ' „.. • 'k* .--- • .. f; .;• . . ,ilie 40” 6.- . • p. ^ .....„,, . ... .N, - ... 4. ,.%- L / . .. , 1, „ - N...• •. 0 I 4: ,...7ei . . I • , ss , , - 7 yoir... . • ... .;,, „... . ,....• ,. 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' PI WI -U.1vV TO WCL- 11 fltB LIN. -.IWQ1 Two IXT1111111i 11 1." he Art Deco District is preservation's success story in threatening—have arisen as well,and gentrification is one of Miami Beach;it is prosperous and popular,its triumphs them.The Art Deco District is an urban residential neighbor- numerous.Yet ironically enough,it is precisely its suc- hood filled with small apartment buildings.As the district thrives, cess that has given shape to its most pressing problems: it runs the risk of losing its urban character.Barber shops,shoe- too many people,too many cars,too many shops—even makers,tailors,and hardware stores now fall into the endan- too many interpretations of what the Art Deco District gered zone."Housing is really important,too,"says Matti Bow- might become. er,the chairman of the Miami Beach Community Development The question of whether the Art Deco District is becoming a Corporation and a district resident who raised two daughters victim of its own good fortune is one that begs answering—as there."As property values start to inflate,that starts pushing does the question of whether it is being victimized by a long-lived people out—not only people of varied socioeconomic groups, reluctance on the part of the Miami Beach City officials to fully but also the artists and all those who make this area quaint.It's protect it.Roughly one fourth of the National Register-listed dis- so important because that is what gave the area character." trict—the section known as the museum district—remains un- Many people,of course,look at Ocean Drive,the Art Deco protected either by city zoning laws or preservation ordinances. District's cafe-lined mecca,and point out that the district's Also posing a threat is the fierce debate progress has surpassed most expecta- that is raging over the need for a new convention hotel within the district's boundaries.The district's protectors,an tions.Many others voice another point `� of view."Ocean Drive is a tourist at- traction,"says Bower. "It's out of my unlikely coalition of preservationists price range." and developers, maintain that the And,too,the district's most corn- square mile district is vulnerable to feature—its Art Deco architec- overbuilding and exploitation.And in- / lure—is also its most readily abused deed,success is threatening to destroy feature. Most of the buildings are two some of the very qualities that have or three stories high;few rise more than made this district so appealing. _ u"'� six stories. But zoning laws allow for The tensions that tug and pull at they -v�\ much higher buildings—fifteen stories • Art Deco District are many,but chief ,QEF- on the east side of Ocean Drive,for ex- among them is the struggle to balance ample."There is something about the tourism with the needs of residents. fi`-- melody of the architecture here,"says "We have to walk a fine line between - ' ; , developer Tony Goldman."We must two extremes here,"says Michael Kin- I be very careful how we treat it." erk,who has served as a board member \ Just as problematic to the preserva- of the Miami Design Preservation �` tion effort are zoning regulations that League (MDPL) for the past sixteen I If 5••A . allow owners to build rooftop additions A,+ ,years. � i E;! Y .,. or ground-level annexes as"incen- One of the most troublesome prob- ', tives,"relics of the days when Miami lems to emerge from the district's pop- • ' Beach was trying to lure renovation ularity is a critical shortage of parking IN 1988, WHEN MANY OCEAN DRIVE HOTELS, money."We have a National Register spaces,exacerbated by a high volume SUCH AS THE SEVEN-STORY 1937 PARK CEN- district,"says Liebman. "We have a of visitor and tourist traffic.Traffic of- TRAL, OPPOSITE, THRIVED FOLLOWING RENOVA- streetscape,we have a height and a TION, THE SENATOR, ABOVE, FELL FIVE BLOCKS ten clogs to a standstill and the situation AWAY TO MAKE WAY FOR A PARKING LOT, scale.Why not respect it?Why are we becomes intolerable on weekends.The still straining to offer incentives?" i city has formed a task force to find solutions to the parking The answer,in part,is that the city's zoning,preservation,and crunch,but a first stab at it—a proposal to consign a portion of design-review boards have not always shared a vision.Progress, Flamingo Park,the city's sole green space,for parking—met with profit,and preservation are not easy bedfellows,a fact that has heavy opposition from residents.It is the contention of Nancy resulted in a fairly liberal zoning code that allows larger and taller Liebman,the chairman of the city's preservation board and a buildings within the district while preservation and design-re- former MDPL executive director,that the solution requires an view guidelines have become more strict. acceptance of the fact that people will have to be separated from The simple matter of paint has also given rise to a significant their cars."Historic districts are pedestrian districts,"she insists. set of problems.Some years back an artist by the name of Vic- "To have your car parked in front of a building is not going to be tor Farinas repainted a small apartment building as an ode to feasible.We ought to'create pockets of parking where we can, Piet Mondrian—in primary colors accentuated by straight black but you don't destroy the district to create parking." , lines.The state's historic preservation division turned down the A number of problems that are less pressing—but every bit as building for tax credits and the owner had it repainted,but not 58 ... ..-- -,-, 7:-----z--__ E , .... r 1 11111%ft.% I 1 '1"11111 - . -,--- III i • ! -_ ----------___ /--------------- I , %4R Ilk eft ft Li lit- IS IIII WM MIN V/: Min 1 1I 1 ------ 111 ''.------i ---4 NE , 1 ill 0 ' /c 1 , ilit* 1 lima ft ria H TN or L LIPAI, INN: rAlli MI L5 A / , „, • .11 . ,, , .... , ... . , ....... , ii• _____„ lizi • * ,, . 0 E 1 P-111,--1 1 all -----:_----,----__ . ,. . 1 --- 1.1 all 0 11 • , ''' ; M ' r i A p -L.--:-.. 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' 4 . 1 ie.,Inti¢ .f.. ,. .y �: ,', - re gip, - -- r. lA A ' f — L ----- before a lively debate took place over authenticity and creativi- a colonial town—runs the gamut from brilliant to botched,and ty.Those on the side of creativity argued that none of the dis- both extremes are pretty apparent.Some building owners,eager trict's new color schemes—starting with those of Leonard to cash in on the tourist dollar,have been altering historic build- Horowitz's whimsical block on Washington Avenue—had any ings to make storefronts out of hotel lobbies;others have been real basis in history.Those arguing for authenticity maintained admirably sensitive. that,in most cases,there had to be at least a reference to the Indeed,design controls have become a hot topic in the Art past,even if it was an interpretation. — — Deco District.Early on,the renova- As the Art Deco architecture has tions were largely fix-ups,facades exu- been transformed in concoctions of 1992 (oh �hc� MOST berantly splashed with paint and inte- ice-cream colors,the architectural de- Expected to draw more than 2,000 riors cleaned up considerably,but little tails that cynics originally failed to ap-' attendees,the 46th National Preservation beyond that.Then such preservation- preciate have become signposts of a Conference, which will be held in Miami minded architects as Les Beilinson, place and an era.But paint often pre- from October 7 to 11, will emphasize Randy Sender,and Todd Tragash be- sents a much-too-easy solution;much cultural diversity from the standpoint of gan doing serious work.As the district of the Art Deco District looks good the preservation's grass-roots relevance to has prospered the work has become way a back-lot movieset looks good. people's lives.For additional information, more extensive—and more ambitious. And in general the renovation work— call(800) YES-NTHP(937-6847). When it was designated the Miami less driven by authenticity than in,say, Beach National Register Historic Dis- 60 I TOU-RIS(rl IS UP SND S410WS NO SIGNS 0f fil1OTING. trict in 1979,Miami Beach's Art ten hotels—most of them on Ocean Drive—and opened restau- • Deco District,as it is familiarly rants in two of them,the most successful of which was the Cafe known,was—in terms of its ar- Cardozo,designed by Andrew Capitman's wife, Margaret chitecture—the youngest dis- Doyle.The district attracted other investors as well,and in 1988 trict to secure listing in the Na- Ocean Drive gained a new streetscape that boasted wider side- tional Register of Historic walks,which in turn meant that front-porch cafes could spill out �" - Places.The district's more than onto the pavement.The street began to flourish through a suc- 800 Art Deco buildings were, cession of renovated hotels—the Park Central,the Breakwater, for the most part,constructed the Edison,the Waldorf,the Colony.Two blocks away on Wash- between 1933 and 1940 as fan- ington Avenue—home to little markets,bakeries,and restau- ciful antidotes to the Great De- rants—new shops and restaurants mingled with the old. 1-1 pression—an inexpensive re- Today the cafes that line Ocean Drive are doing a brisk busi- sort playing to fantasy. The ness;the pedestrian pace on a Saturday night or a Sunday morn- definition of the Art Deco style ing is tortoise-slow because the sidewalks overflow with people in Miami has sparked its share on foot,on roller skates,on skateboards,and on bicycles.In a of debate among architectural time of economic recession new restaurants open regularly and 11,11141,f'; i. signsg historians seeking to label it make a go of it.Tourism is up and shows no of abating.Art twith academic precision,but it Deco Weekend,an annual event held in January,now draws as is perhaps best described as a many as 400,000 visitors,covers ten blocks of Ocean Drive,at- - 1 seaside style,a stucco Deco.It tracts hundreds of merchants,and lures such talent as Cab Cal- - • was the late Barbara Capitman, loway and Lionel Hampton.It began in 1977 with three vendors an editor and designer and drew perhaps who moved to Miami 100 visitors. with her professor hus- Lincoln Road, a iW� fl ;� band in1973who first \` pedestrian mall that • it �' recognized the potential \\ i , had fallen into steep R '4 jr . 11 t "�..r of the place.In 1976 she shoe-store-and-lug- r - rn' - and a smallrou of 1r g P ar- .i gage-outlet decline, chitects and artists form- �,_ •ilk, began to come back. — ed the Miami Design Pre- A" .`moi ,.; A group of artists servation League. rented storefronts + - Capitman was a tire- for studios under ~~ _ less crusader who cam- ,� 1111:14' the auspices of the '�` " paigned on behalf of her 9�1il I�I��I South% Florida Art Aitiak, beloved Deco at local ' q i Center.The Miami - and national preserva- y 1 Q. Beach Development* tion conferences,stressingthe importance of preserving P Corporation P reno- mid-twentieth-century buildings.She succeeded in calling �� Y vated a 1930s movie national attention to the Art Deco District and helped to ��< � house for general secure for it the nomination to the National Register of theatrical use. Ed- Historic Places.And she did so in the absence of muncipal = IE. , f i -1 ` ward Villella,the di- support.In the 1970s—and indeed well into the 1980s— �L PP rector of the new Miami Beach's administrators,politicians,and planners _ .ar Miami City Ballet, expressed feelings toward the district ranging from am- - converted other bivalence to open hostility. AMONG MIAMI BEACH'S SUCCESS empty storefronts "It was a derelict neighborhood,"says developer Craig STORIES WERE THE CAFE C A R D O Z O, LEFT, A for use as offices and Robins,who with his brother Scott has bought and reno- HARBINGER O F THE PRESENT SUCCESS OF a rehearsal hall.The vated a number of Art Deco buildings,some of them in OPEN-AIR CAFES ON OCEAN DRIVE, AND New World Sym- ESPANOLA WAY, ABOVE, AN ARTISTS' COLONY partnership with Chris Blackwell of Island Records.The THAT NOW CONSISTS OF BOUTIQUES, phony, the Mia- Robins brothers live side by side in apartments created RESTAURANTS, AND STUDIOS. mi-based national from twenty closet-sized hotel rooms in The Webster,one training orchestra of the buildings they own. conducted by Michael Tilson-Thomas,converted another old Capitman's son Andrew and his partner,Mark Shantzis,were movie theater into a small concert hall. the pioneer developers of the Art Deco district.They purchased On Washington Avenue,the collector and philanthropist 61 --- .. 1f: :'...: . 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' . .. . ,., .-- . - , 7.4 1,01161: ...I an . or ________ - •,0,3„ ... Y.'4,-:-:,'-;----_., ' :'•71',11:417,7fitatilii: 117 II-----77° . . .0-- ill .- . • ..., IIP '-- ._—_, I ..... ow ...; •im rims imi al as., no ....... ...... . ,„. , . • . . . .... , . .. . .:. . . i 0 . IL Li • mil • .• e IIT/S Ifl1PC.ATIVI TNT WI frl41IliT41IM OU. PIMPLS(( IN 41111111(0 ((MU•RI." x 1 Mitchell Wolfson,Jr.,has converted the old Washington Storage style convention center,which is bounded on three sides by the building—which housed the vaults in which winter visitors left historic district and lies several blocks inland from the ocean. furs,clothes,furniture,and even cars for safekeeping—into a City officials have long eyed beachfront sites in the north end museum and study center for his vast collection of decorative of the district,but building there would mean the loss of several and propaganda arts that will open early next year.Espanola significant buildings,among them,quite possibly,a splendid trio Way,a block-long enclave of Spanish Mediterranean architec- composed of the Ritz Plaza,the Delano,and the National. ture built by Carl Fisher as an an artists'colony,has been reno- Preservation activists have steadfastly held out for locations out- vated for boutiques,restaurants,and studios.The Clay Hotel on side of the historic district,and the situation remained a standoff one corner has become an international youth hostel. until the fall of 1991 when a new slate of city commissioners took I But for all the successes,there are also failures.Ten hotels, office."It was originally to be protected and it was left vulnera- 1 for example,were recently sold off in a bankruptcy settlement, ble to demolition because the owner became a city commission- and visitors who thrive on the vitality of the streets and praise the er and exercised his political clout to exclude it—a preservation restaurants complain of shabby hotel rooms in need of renova- version of gerrymandering at its worst,"says Kinerk bitterly. I tion.A number of buildings stand derelict,boarded-up homes to (The National Trust in 1989 awarded a$5,000 emergency criti- squatters. cal issues fund grant to the MDPL to de- Several significant buildings have velop a series of computer produced vi- been demolished over the years,even sual images of the museum district.The in the face of protest.After its owners grant enabled the league to combat tore down the Senator Hotel in 1988 to wide-sweeping changes in the city's make way for a parking lot,the laws zoning laws that would have threatened I were strengthened,although not suffi- the Art Deco District.The grant also ciently.In March the 1939 Streamline I - enabled the league to work-with design Moderne Sands Hotel was demolished. r 1 professionals in devising an alternative i Its owner,Baltimore-based investor ! development proposal for the con- John Driggs, said he was simply tired i vention hotel.) of keeping it up,admitting that he had ` Preservationists have pushed for a bought it with the intention of tearing it #'' 'A;�y "j convention hotel"village,"a network of down."We all know that listing in the j,� _ smaller restored hotels,and this concept National Register does not protect ,l' ti ',.. i1 is being greeted with wider acceptance. i buildings,"says Liebman."It gives sta- 04' , .. , Not long ago the city hired a prestigious tus,tax credits—but it doesn't save li ! ) • team of consultants including Hardy them from demolition." Holzman Pfeiffer& Associates and Where it does apply,Miami Beach's IY , i,r ° Wallace Roberts&Todd as well as a 0/%til �t ordinance is fairly stringent:It requires s ` toy preservation-minded local architect, It a building permit in hand before any ' Bernard Zyscovich,who not coinciden- II demolition can occutand it gives the f'�� tally is the chairman of the MDPL.• preservation board the right to deny `k. Zyscovich's preferences are well known. approval.If approval is denied,five of LOCATING A CONVENTION HOTEL ON COVETED He and fellow architect Thorn Grafton the seven city commissioners must BEACHFRONT SITES IN THE DISTRICT'S NORTH had put together the National Trust- overriderefusalinorderfordemolition END COULD MEAN THE LOSS OF SUCH SIGNIFY- funded study showing alternative sites CANT BUILDINGS AS THE NATIONAL, approval to be granted."We wouldn't OPPOSITE, AND THE RITZ PLAZA, against any large new convention hotels have lost the Sands had that been part within the historic area.The new plan of the local district,"says Liebman."The preservation move- probably won't be completed until late fall,and in the meantime, ment here has always had martyrs that have caused things to the push is on to expand the local boundaries to coincide with the move forward." National Register Historic District and at least forestall further Preservationists are hopeful,however,that the district will in demolitions. fact be expanded.At press time the Miami Beach Preservation The debate over the convention hotel typifies the tensions Board was scheduled to recommend to the city commission that within the Art Deco District.Any historic district is a precarious the Art Deco District be expanded north to 23rd Street so that its place,however,and the balance between its popularity and its boundaries coincide with those of the National Register district. authenticity is always difficult to sustain.But as Goldman puts it, At the heart of the expansion issue,however,lies an ongoing "It's imperative that we maintain our uniqueness,our individu- power struggle betweertpreservationists and public officials over ality,our special place in American culture." • the city's fierce desire to attract a major chain that would build a 1,000-room-or-more convention hotel to serve the ersatz Deco- Beth Dunlop is the architecture critic for The Miami Herald. 63 . _ THE GARDEN very controversial,and restoring the gar- and because the three decades prior to den was even more so,"recalls Carolyn 1910 or so were considered Molly's hey- Etter, an original garden-committee day in Denver.Archaeological digs of the member and a former board member of site conducted by volunteers from Col- - Historic Denver. "It was a whole new orado State University revealed nothing world,even for the preservationists." of note about the original garden design • Like the house,the gardens have been and plantings,so the garden committee n Denver's Society Hill neighbor- taken to circa 1910—a date chosen be- looked to Victorian gardening books and hood,a Victorian stone house with cause of the extensive collection of pho- to the seed and flower catalogs that were inviting gardens eclipses nondescript tographs of the property from that year available in Denver,especially the 1888 modern office buildings and some- what shabby apartment buildings; the house stands as testimony to an Molly Browns Rebloom era of homes and desig- nates esi - ��JJJ �� 11 grandcity e nates the place where Denver's pre- servation movement began.Little A Denver garden recaptures the remains of the once-fashionable neighbor- hood where the "unsinkable" Molly exuberance of its Victorian roots. Brown,a figure of international renown and the city's first preservationist,reigned By Kathleen McCormick as a society grande dame,but against a his- tory that could scarcely be more colorful, , local preservationists have worked over A .�.;:;. _. • the course of the past twenty years to '' transform the grounds of the house into = ; , an exuberant late-Victorian garden.On a •/� f • shoestring budget,with pro bono profes- ! ' ,\ i1 sional help and lots of volunteer labor,the Molly Brown House Museum is creating a4 N \ ' ` ,' ), ' garden that both chronicles western urban +' I .T , __ '. ', "','` , II gardens of the era and complements Mol- ` ;,: v�, ly's ebullient personality. i 3 , ,', Designed by Denver architect William �'`4 Lang,the house was built in 1889 of cut ;-,s. -1 -------...z __ ,,' Colorado lava stone and trimmed with •Z.. =% , , i�‘ , sandstone.James Joseph Brown,a mining �"'"° - = ,rl. ,,_ _'i`A `:.:r i'' , I 1 executive,and his wife,Margaret(Molly), �. 1' �y r y. sA/.• 1'�`I '' bought the house in 1894 and added the t+t �' front lava stone porch and retainingwalls. "`` ' • ,e e ^. ' '11,1 A = .. r 1.1 While the Browns traveled throughout �` - ,; r Europe and the Orient the leased the _ `: '<, z •' - : _ .;,•,( , �• house to several prominent individuals:In - �,} ,'' "�. ran '` 1 1902,for instance,the.house served as the i`,• I, _ r x - governor's mansion.(It was on one of her '" ;.:41. .,:• ..x '- . ' sojourns in 1912 that the multilingual Mol- . >).'y. •• ` + � �r,,,,..•',� '7ri: •t�,;i;f ly was catapulted to heroine status for di- - . .. / ` a �p !� recting the rescue of hundreds of immi- r!";ere, ', i''..7!it grant women and children aboard the I -': :'5 -y r. doomed Titanic.) F;:, s. ;a The property remained in the Brown !•, rt - `_ ", '� ':'i ,, family until Molly's death in 1932.Then it '- ., Al.:,L"' .+ -;ZA became variously a rooming house and a -- - '►'- t:-.,, -.; . , home for wayward girls. In 1970 local rte-s '''s preservationists formed Historic Denver, t '` ... ' Inc. to save the house from demolition ' A /' • and purchased it a year later.More than ��J i `" , $1 million has been spent restoring the • \ house to its 1910 appearance.Only a frac- T ' ;. -'� '` tion of that amount,however,has been ;'v,,,;h lip spent on the gardens.When Historic Den- 4 ver purchased the property much of the LL It neighborhood was being demolished. t., L "The,, attitude toward preservation was The garden of the Molly Brown House has the feel of 1910. 64 HISTORIC PRI...SI RVATION