Wheeler Opera House

Aspen, United States

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

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The Wheeler Opera House stands at the corner of East Hyman Avenue and South Mill Street in Aspen, Colorado, a stone structure erected in the 1890s to a design by Willoughby J. Edbrooke that blends Romanesque Revival and Italianate architectural styles. Originally configured with the opera house on its third floor, retail space at street level, and professional offices on the second, the building suffered damage from an early twentieth-century arson fire that rendered the theater dormant until the city acquired it through tax default. Subsequent renovations, including two designed by Herbert Bayer, restored the structure to active use; it has since housed the Pitkin County Library among other tenants. Now one of Aspen's most prominent landmarks, the building combines retail and restaurant space with an auditorium that hosts nationally recognized performers and the Aspen Music Festival. In 1972 it became the first property in Aspen—and the second in Pitkin County—to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.