Experience the height of Aspen’s boom at the Wheeler/Stallard house, a Queen Anne style Victorian built around 1887/1888. The first floor of the Museum is interpreted as a Victorian Aspen home and the second floor gallery features rotating exhibitions to explore area history. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the grounds comprise the Ruth Whyte Park.
Wheeler / Stallard Museum
Location
620 W. Bleeker St.
Aspen, CO
81611
Dogs are welcome on the museum grounds but must be leashed at all times
Hours
Tuesday - Saturday
12 - 5 p.m.
closed Friday, July 4th
Free Admission
Generously underwritten by Jacolyn & John Bucksbaum, Ruth Turnquist Carver, Carol & Mike Hundert, Melony & Adam Lewis, Lynda & Stewart Resnick, and Corrine & Lenny Sands
Highlights
- Interiors restoration and interpretation – immaculate replica wallpapers, furniture, and period decor – including a piano played by Albert Schweizter – transport visitors to the ornate Victorian era
- Docents and welcome video – available for local history primers, questions, and conversation
- Detailed house timeline – an outline of the families who occupied the storied house, overlaid with local milestones
- Museum store – fun and funky memorabilia for every history fan
Site History
Jerome B. Wheeler built this Queen Anne-style Victorian home in 1887 as his private residence and the only home in Aspen to be situated on an entire city block. Despite Wheeler’s plans, his wife, Harriet, refused to leave their mansion in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and the family never lived in the house. Wheeler rented the house to his employees until he declared bankruptcy after the Silver Panic of 1893. Edgar and Mary Ella Stallard moved into the home in 1905 and eventually purchased it in 1917. The family occupied the home for 40 years. It was sold to Walter Paepcke in 1945, and served as employee housing for Hotel Jerome staff. The house then became the residence of the Aspen Institute’s president before the Aspen Historical Society rented it in 1968 and then purchased in 1969 to use as a museum.
Current Exhibition
Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed
Summer 2020 – Spring 2025
Aspen Historical Society presents the history exhibition Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed, a comprehensive view of the area’s fascinating past. The exhibition explores the stories that shaped the community’s distinct identity: from mining boom to dilapidated ranching town to today’s international recreational and cultural resort, Aspen forged a unique path. Featuring photographs and artifacts that represent Aspen’s connection to national events and trends, the exhibition reflects on the community’s place within the larger historical landscape of the nation – sometimes congruent, sometimes divergent – but always exciting. Decade by Decade: Aspen Revealed appeals to visitors and locals of all ages, showcasing the depth of the AHS Collection.
Special Thank You
to the generous supporters who made this exhibition possible:
Century
Melony and Adam Lewis
Lynda and Stewart Resnick
Decade
Jacolyn and John Bucksbaum
Corrine and Lenny Sands Foundation
Fred and Elli Iselin Foundation
Thrift Shop of Aspen
ZG-CHICKS
Year
Charles Cunniffe Architects
Artifact
Austin Memorial Foundation
Bob Beattie Ski Foundation
Ruth Turnquist Carver
Karen Hartman
Barbara Reid and David Hyman
Allison and David Ratajczak
Susan and Chuck Riepenhoff
Christin and Mark Taché
Valley Fine Art
In-Kind
The Aspen Times
Community Gallery
The Community Gallery is a multi-use space located on the first floor of the Archives Building. The Community Gallery also features rotating displays highlighting works from the AHS Collection.
Currently on display, Ute Knowledge: Colorado’s Original Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, a special traveling exhibit from History Colorado and the National Science Foundation tells the story of how Ute Indians have used science, technology, engineering, and math to survive and thrive in the Rocky Mountains through interactives, short films, maps, images, and stories from Ute elders and youth. The exhibit was created as a part of the Ute STEM Project, a collaboration between History Colorado, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, archaeologists, and ethnobotanists. The Ute people are Colorado’s longest continuous residents, and they have thrived here through their deep understanding of, and a connection to, the Colorado landscape and environment.
Displayed alongside the visiting exhibit, AHS’s own traveling exhibit Seasons of the Nuche: Transitions of the Ute People explores the past and present of the Ute people locally and throughout the West. The modular traveling exhibit was curated with input from Northern Ute tribal members and is available to regional organizations to display in their community at no cost thanks to support from The Memnosyne Institute and the Louis and Harold Price Foundation.
In addition to the exhibits, AHS Educator and Ute tribal member Skyler Lomahaftewa will host Ute/Indigenous Culture Conversations on Tuesdays at 11am and Wednesdays at 3pm to celebrate and share his perspective on Ute and Indigenous history and culture.
The Roaring Fork Valley is the land of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute Nation, or Nuche, who called the region home for generations before their forced removal. It is a privilege to partner with History Colorado to bring the Ute Knowledge traveling exhibit to the community as part of our commitment to sharing the complete history of the land.
Exhibit supported in part by the City of Aspen
Grounds Rentals
Whether your event is formal and elegant or Colorado casual, this one-of-a-kind park setting in the heart of Aspen’s historical West End neighborhood delivers an eclectic blend of Victorian charm and Aspen hospitality.
Available Memorial Day through early October
Gallery
Additional Locations
Land Acknowledgement
We gratefully acknowledge we gather on the land of the Uncompahgre band of the Ute Nation, or Nuche, past and present. We honor this land and the people who lived in harmony with the natural world for generations before their forced removal. We are committed to sharing the complete history of the land, recognizing and partnering with Native Peoples, and supporting the advancement of Native places and heritage. This calls us all to be better stewards of the land we inhabit and the natural resources we benefit from today.