So enamored of this pattern is Crowe that she is having tea sets made in China replicating Grandma Ida's pattern. She plans to sell them at gift shows.

Regrettably, Crowe never knew her, but her grandmother's genteel spirit permeates the hotel, though it wasn't always so. When Crowe's parents took over the family business in 1952, they converted it from apartments to a hotel, where rooms went for $5-7 a night, and the prevailing decor was Roy Rogers chic — or kitsch, as Crowe remembers it.

"We had the decor that would've been considered cool at that time," she says. When she took over in 1985, her goal was to restore it to the glory days of her grandmother. Chintzes and lace decorate the nine guest rooms, floral carpets line the halls and rich dark woodwork frame the windows.

Today, Crowe spends her days at the hotel, once her childhood home, fussing over details, tending to guests who come from all over the world, and hosting afternoon tea parties. (High tea is available to the public with advance reservations.) She also is a repository of Denver history, having grown up in this neighborhood. Ask anything about Colfax and its inhabitants, and she knows who did what and where they did it.

At the end of the day, however, when all stories have been told and all guests are tucked in, she walks the short distance to her "official" residence in the mansion-turned-apartments next door.

Once owned by her parents, this home is another example of the elegance that formerly marked this neighborhood. The foyer presents a grand entrance — featuring intricately carved wood banisters and ornamentation. A Victorian sofa in the entry was a gift from Baby Doe Tabor to her brother and a rocking chair nearby belonged to Queen Victoria's grandmother.

But the real surprise is upstairs in Crowe's apartment, a trip back in time to the fabulous world of 1001 Arabian nights. White Moorish arches, added in the 1970s, frame the living room, an eclectic mix of old (two of Baby Doe's chairs) and not-old (a replica of Napoleon's throne chair), all cozily assembled in a delightfully haphazard way.

A prominent Tiffany chandelier defines the dining area, which is at one end of the living room. But other light fixtures in the spacious apartment outshine the Tiffany — if not in value, at least in "cool" factor. Two sparkly ornate wall sconces frame one window and five super-ornate chandeliers line the ceiling of the long hall to the bedrooms.

"Aunt Mary got these fixtures at Levitz Furniture in the 1970s when Mediterranean was the rage," she says. "These are real (and inexpensive) Moroccan chandeliers." They work big time, especially nestled between the wall of white arches and the brightly detailed Oriental wallpaper that lines the other side of the hall. The real lesson here is when you have a good eye — and Crowe has one — you can mix expensive (Tiffany's) with inexpensive (Levitz) and the effect is dazzling.

Fantastic as it is, Crowe spends little time in her apartment. After all, a hotel manager is technically on call 24 hours a day. But between the two neighboring mansions, she is never far from a deep connection to her past and a comfortable connection to her present. The tea room at the Holiday Chalet has been renovated to reflect the times when such a room was in use. The hotel's owner, Margot Crowe, took over the hotel in 1985 and is working to restore it to the way it was in her grandmother Ida's day in the 1920's.

To make reservations for high tea or to get more information about the Ida Lindsey bone china, call (303) 437-8245 or 1-800-626-4497. The Holiday Chalet is located at 1820 E. Colfax.

Ida Lindsey originally painted two tea sets and gave one of them to a dear friend in 1914. Last year the granddaughter, Nancy Williams, returned the teaset to Margot.		The Ida Lindsey China Company sprang from the breaking of this bone china serving dish. After restoring this piece at the cost of $895, Margot decided to reproduce the works of her grandmother Ida Lindsey.