Face on the Barroom Floor at the Teller House in Central City, Colorado

TELLER HOUSE
Eureka St.
National Register 1/18/1973, 5GL.9

The Teller House was built by brothers Henry M. and Willard Teller during 1871-72. The four-story brick building was reported to be the largest and most elaborately furnished hotel located outside of Denver. It served as the gathering place for local society and visiting elite, including U.S. President Grant who visited in 1873. Double hung windows are found on the three floors that contained sleeping rooms. Windows and doors on the first floor are set in round arches and include transoms. Portions of the building now house a museum, and the first floor bar with its well known "Face on the Barroom Floor" remains an attraction.

www.coloradohistory-oahp.org/programareas/register/1503/cty/gl.htm

The Teller House houses the famous and mysterious "Face on the Barroom Floor" painting, done by Herndon Davis in 1934. This lovely painting is carefully maintained today.

Legend has it that the woman’s likeness was painted by a distraught miner when his wife died of consumption. As the story goes, the miner drank himself into a stupor and then proceeded to paint his wife’s portrait on the floor. Speaking tenderly of her, he painted long into the night and on to past noon. Once the artist was finished, he slept, never to wake again. Buried next to his beloved wife, witnesses say that on the anniversary of his death, the couple can be heard talking tenderly to each other through her portrait on the floor.

At the Teller House, some people have reported seeing the ghost of a blond woman who is believed to be the wife of a man who beat her in the late 1890's after seeing her talking to another man.

Dolores Spellman, a Teller House tour guide, says she doesn't believe in ghosts herself, but "friendly spirits" are another story.