Tihany Design Renews the Crown Jewel of a Gilded Age Tycoon’s Colorado Resort

When entrepreneur Spencer Penrose was not amassing his fortune in mining and real estate across the American West, he traveled extensively with his wife, Julie, frequenting grand hotels throughout Europe and Asia. Those experiences informed an ambitious vision back in Colorado Springs, where the couple set out to realize a resort that reflected their cosmopolitan outlook and transcended the constraints of the city’s newly “dry” laws. After acquiring land from a Prussian count and commissioning Warren and Wetmore, the architects behind New York’s Grand Central Terminal, construction began on The Broadmoor, which opened in 1918. More than a century later, the property remains a defining presence in the region, its stately buildings arranged around a manmade lake with the snow-capped Rocky Mountains rising beyond.

A table at the Penrose Room, the resort’s crown jewel restaurant, has ranked among its most coveted reservations, attracting well-heeled clientele to its lavish perch atop a nine-story tower with sweeping views of the Cheyenne Mountain. The dining room opened in 1961 and garnered steady renown over the years for its polished tableside presentations and glamorous setting—it earned a Forbes Five Star rating for 13 consecutive years before closing during the pandemic. Now, after a comprehensive transformation undertaken by Tihany Design, the historic restaurant has reopened and is ready to reclaim its place at the summit of the Broadmoor experience.

The Penrose Room’s refreshed interiors translate the legacy of Spencer and Julie into a series of transportive spaces. “We started by thinking about them not just as historical figures, but as people who really shaped a way of living,” Alessia Genova, principal of Tihany Design, tells Galerie. “Very curious, well-traveled, and connected to both Europe and the American West.” That shrewd outlook surfaces in sensitive gestures that marry European grandeur with the distinctly Western sensibility inextricable from the Broadmoor. Sumptuous red velvets contrast with dark wood paneling while checkered marble blankets the floors. Handsome vitrines present personal heirlooms culled from the couple’s travels, including one of Spencer’s top hats, Julie’s cloisonné vases, and sepia photographs of the couple visiting the Egyptian pyramids with their daughter, Gladys. Restrooms, meanwhile, display posters of steamships they sailed on.

Rather than simply recreate a period interior, Genova interpreted the Penrose couple’s maverick spirit through a contemporary lens. “Each room reflects a different side of their world,” she continues. Dining rooms are named after gold, jade, and copper ores, each sporting a distinct personality inspired by their namesake. Gilded accents naturally define the 96-seat Gold Ore, which evokes the glint of early 20th-century fortunes; soothing green tones sheathe the more intimate Jade Ore room, intended as an homage to Julie’s artful interests. There, guests indulge in a refreshed menu spearheaded by The Broadmoor’s longtime Executive Chef Justin Miller, which is served on exquisite porcelain dishes crafted by Italian house Ginori 1735. 

The Penrose Room lounge, meanwhile, evokes a saloon, channeling Spencer’s early frontier ambitions through equestrian-inspired leather detailing, warm wood tones, and a walk-in cellar presenting his impressive wine and whiskey collection. A curation of works from Denver’s American Museum of Western Art–Anschutz Collection deepens the proverbial journey into the heartland. “We tried to integrate the works into the architecture,” Genova says, noting how they solidify the restaurant’s authentic Coloradan spirit. “They’re framed, positioned, and lit in a way that allows guests to discover them naturally as they move through the restaurant.” 

Other moments of discovery abound. In a nod to Spencer’s predilection for secret doors, a library-style bookcase in the dining room opens to a hidden speakeasy inspired by a polo club. The private chamber invokes the Broadmoor’s rich sporting legacy. Spencer established polo fields and stables on the property to position the resort as a destination for high-level matches and society gatherings, a tradition that continues through events like the Broadmoor Winter Polo Classic. Walnut-paneled walls adorned with archival photographs of historic matches frame a leather-clad bar, where guests order signature cocktails that reference moments from Spencer’s life, including the Broadmoor Cooking Club Punch, inspired by a social club he once hosted.

“It was designed as a surprise, something you don’t immediately see,” Genova says of the speakeasy, noting how the atmosphere shifts to a more relaxed, intimate register suited to an after-dinner nightcap. “Those moments are important because they’re what people remember.”