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Redstone Castle worth the hassle

April E. ClarkGlenwood Springs correspondentAspen, CO Colorado

REDSTONE – The walls of the Redstone Castle’s second floor are lined with yellow linen wallpaper stenciled with pineapple designs.”The pineapple is the universal sign of welcome and hospitality,” said Sue McEvoy, the castle’s caretaker and tour guide.The cheery design element is one example of how Swedish countess Alma Regina Shelgrem – also known as “Lady Bountiful” by residents of Redstone – opened her home to visitors. Shelgrem was married to coal and steel magnate John Cleveland Osgood, who built the castle, and named it Cleveholm Manor in the early 1900s.”All the workers in town referred to her as Lady Bountiful because of her generosity,” said McEvoy, as she led Friday’s tour for 16 visitors. “She made sure all the ladies could have all the latest fashions in the country store.”Lady Bountiful’s story, and the history of the 42-room Tudor-style Redstone Castle, are being retold during tours that resumed Friday. For the last few years, the tours were put on hold after the castle was auctioned off to part-time Aspenite Ralli Dimitrius for $4 million in March 2005. Tours begin at 1:30 p.m. Fridays through Mondays.Tours exhibit how the castle has been restored to its original grandeur.McEvoy has worked at the Redstone Castle for 11 years, and knows the ins and outs of the property. She tells of the castle’s interior “peeping window,” a rectangular window that allowed Lady Bountiful a view of the Great Room as guests arrived to her home.”If Alma looked out the peeping window and saw a woman dressed down she herself would dress down so that woman would fit in,” McEvoy said.Each room in the castle tells a story.”The house was actually designed as a hunting cottage,” McEvoy said. “It was originally on 550 acres.”From the elephant hide, gold leaf wallpaper in the Persian-themed study to the Tiffany lamps hanging elegantly from the Great Room ceiling, details were everything to Lady Bountiful and her wealthy husband. The formal dining room is designed in the style of a Russian Tea Room, complete with red velvet wall coverings and mahogany wood.”Each room has a European theme to show their travels throughout Europe,” McEvoy said.Throughout the home, black-and-white images of Osgood’s three wives, along with colorful paintings by Redstone artist Jack Roberts, illustrate 100 years of history. (Glenwood Springs Post Independent)