A living piece of Colorado history
From the Wolff Hotel to The Wildflower — long before it became a boutique retreat, this remarkable stone-front building welcomed travelers, miners, ranchers, merchants, and neighbors through its doors.
A hotel unusually refined for a frontier town.
Westcliffe itself began taking shape after the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reached the Wet Mountain Valley in 1881. Among the town's early residents were brothers William and Louis Wolff, who had prospered through the sale of mining properties.
While Louis invested in a saloon in Silver Cliff, William chose Westcliffe for a more ambitious undertaking: a handsome two-story hotel at the corner of Second and Rosita Streets — then known as Dutch Row, a reference to the German-Dutch immigrants who made their homes there.
Completed the same year Westcliffe was incorporated, the hotel became one of the defining buildings of the new town.
A Romanesque façade carved into 1887.
William Wolff's hotel was unusually refined for a small Colorado mountain community. Its Romanesque Vernacular design features a rough-faced sandstone façade, graceful stone arches, tall windows, brick side walls, and a high parapet.
The building's construction date — 1887 — remains carved into the keystone above the original entrance, while the name "W. Wolff" appears prominently in stone near the roofline.
Even the low stone wall along the property carries traces of the past: several of its original iron rings, once used by visitors to tie their horses, remain in place.
A warm welcome for 140 years.
- 1881
The railroad arrives
The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad reaches the Wet Mountain Valley, terminating west of Silver Cliff and giving rise to a new settlement called Clifton — later renamed Westcliffe.
- 1887
William Wolff builds a hotel
Pioneer William Wolff completes his two-story Romanesque Vernacular stone-front hotel at Second and Rosita — the first hotel in Westcliffe, on a street then called Dutch Row.
- 1895
The National Hotel
Operating as the National Hotel under Mrs. H. Fisher, the building hosts Westcliffe's Calico Ball and remains a lively center of community life.
- c. 1900
An addition takes shape
A rear addition increases upstairs guest rooms from six to eight. Over the following decades, the building serves as boarding house, saloon, billiard hall, restaurant, market, and ice cream parlor.
- 1980s
Rescued and stabilized
Threatened with demolition after standing vacant, the former hotel is stabilized and returned to use in a major early-1980s restoration.
- 1987
National Register
On November 5, 1987, the National Hotel / Wolff Building is added to the National Register of Historic Places — the only remaining stone-front commercial building in Westcliffe.
- 2026
The Wildflower opens
Following three decades of devoted restoration under three different owners, the Wolff Building begins its next chapter as The Wildflower Hotel — welcoming guests once more.
The Hard Times Hotel, and everything in between.
In its earliest years, the hotel provided lodging for visitors traveling through the valley and longer-term accommodations for local miners and ranch workers. A saloon operated on the ground floor, making the building both a resting place and a lively center of community life.
Over the decades, the building continually adapted to the changing needs of the town — housing a boarding house, apartments, restaurant, saloon, billiard hall, gambling hall, garage, market, and even an ice cream parlor. During one less prosperous chapter, it became known locally as the Hard Times Hotel.
The next chapter belongs to you.
Today, the Wolff Building has returned to the purpose for which it was first created: welcoming guests to Westcliffe. Reimagined as The Wildflower Hotel, the building once again offers travelers a place to rest, gather, and experience the beauty of the Wet Mountain Valley.
When you stay at The Wildflower, you are not simply visiting a historic building. You are becoming part of a story that began in 1887 — a story of pioneers and travelers, celebrations and hardships, preservation and renewal.
It's time to write your story.
Check availability across all six individually designed rooms and suites in the restored 1887 Wolff Building.
Or reserve directly · Call 719-285-9755