Owner Information

Dear Guests,

My husband (Bill) and I want to introduce ourselves to you.  We live in beautiful Austin, Texas.  Our first trip to Telluride (to escape the Texas summer heat) was over 20 years ago and we are as smitten today as we were the first day we discovered this jewel-box town.

A little over 10 years ago Bill and I purchased the Nugget Building on the corner of Main Street and Fir Street–the building right next door to our Heart of Telluride rentals. Formerly known as the Old First National Bank Building, it’s the red sandstone building which currently houses the Nugget Movie Theatre as well as commercial shops like Sunglass HQ and Telluride Truffle. The Nugget Building is one of the oldest buildings in Telluride (built in 1892) and when we found it, it was in bad shape. Our goal was to rescue it from further deterioration and bring it back to the way it looked when it was first built during the height of Telluride’s mining period.

With some very fine restoration experts and the town’s support helping us with state and federal grants, we have made progress on bringing the Nugget back to its former glory.

And we are not yet finished.  Our plans are to rebuild the tower and restore the top balustrade–it’s a labor of love that we enjoy working on a little bit at a time.

Here are some photos that pretty much tell the story:

1.    The Nugget Building in the early 1900’s with the tower and balustrade intact:

2.    The Nugget Building in 1999 before we rescued it from further deterioration:

3.    The Nugget Building after partial restoration:

As we were working on the Nugget Building, the top three floors of the neighboring Main Street building (now the home to the Heart of Telluride penthouse and the Heart of Telluride condo) came up for sale and with the goal of protecting our Nugget investment, we purchased these floors.  They were also in need of some TLC.  I thought you might enjoy looking at some before and after shots of the Heart of Telluride penthouse and condo.

What started out as a minor remodel ended up being a major new construction project.  But we are thrilled with the outcome and we love sharing it with people who appreciate the high-end finishes and top-of-the-line everything that we’ve put into these units.

In January of each year, Bill and I sit down with our calendars and mark out the days/weeks that we plan to visit Telluride for the coming year. We usually come twice during the summer and twice during the winter for a total of about three weeks per year.  And then we open up our penthouse and condo to the rental market. We really like knowing that our beautiful units are being enjoyed when we are not able to use them.

Consider a vacation in the Heart of Telluride–we would love to welcome you.

Sincerely,
Katrine and Bill Formby