The Stanley Chocolate Factory will open its doors to the public on Friday moring in time to celebrate the magic of the winter holiday season.
Estes Park’s newest candy emporium has been designed to delight the eye as well as one’s taste buds.
Built as the Presbyterian Church of Estes in 1909, The Stanley Chocolate Factory includes a European-styled gourmet coffee shop named Steamers Cafe, an apropos nod to the invention of the Stanley Steamer automobile by brothers F.O. and F.E. Stanley.
On the main floor is a mercantile where handmade chocolates, packaged candies including candy canes from Hammonds in Denver, and specialty gift items – like a cocoa and cashmere fragranced candle – can be bought.
Near the ceiling a toy train circles the room and hot air balloons float in clouds of cotton between hand blown Venetian chandeliers. The hot air balloons will be programed to rise into the clouds and are expected to be operational in the next few weeks.
In the grand entrance hall, a life-size talking animatron moose, a jumbotron screen, and a two-story Christmas tree are part of the jaw-dropping spectacular experience.
The redesigned venue includes event spaces for parties and tasting experiences – such as wine or coffee and chocolate pairings – a roof-top restaurant which will be open seasonally, a whiskey vault – an oak and stone cellar lined with casks of rare and select spirits – and a state-of-the-art chocolate kitchen where visitors can create their own chocolate bar.
History of chocolate
Before entering the chocolate kitchen, visitors will be greeted by a tour guide who will lead them up a stairway covered in a chocolate brown and gold patterned carpet to a waiting room lined with old church pews where they will watch a two-minute film created especially for The Stanley Chocolate Factory.
The film tells the story of chocolate which begins in the rain forests of Mesoamerica around 1900 BCE, with the Olmecs who discovered how to roast, grind, and mix the cacao beans with water and spices into a sacred beverage.
Centuries later, the Aztecs used cacao as currency and its consumption was reserved for nobles and warriors. In 1519, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés landed in what is modern day Mexico and tasted the bitter drink. He brought cacao brought back to Europe where chefs blended it with sugar and milk and the drink was served in royal courts.
The modern chocolate bar begins in the 1800s when Conrad Van Houten invented the cocoa press which separated cocoa butter from solids. Joseph Fry of J.S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, England created the first solid chocolate bar in 1847 followed by early chocolatiers John Cadbury, Daniel Peter, and Henri Nestle and Rodolph Flint who refined the process of modern chocolate making.
After the film, the guides will show visitors models of cacoa beans and pass out tasting samples of cocoa nibs small – crushed pieces of fermented and roasted cacao beans that have a bitter, rich, and chocolatey flavor. Cacoa is grown in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Belize, Indonesia, and other countries along a band 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Today, 70% of the world’s supply of chocolate comes from West Africa.
A multimillion-dollar chocolate experience in Estes
Hotelier John Cullen, who bought The Stanley Hotel in 1996 in a bankruptcy sale and sold it in a $400 million bond sale last May, had a vision of creating a family-friendly hands-on chocolate kitchen for visitors to Estes who wanted to do something other than hike or shop.
In 2022, he purchased The Old Church Shops building and over the past three years the property has been under extensive structural and aesthetic renovation.
Shortly after buying the old church, engineers realized that the structure lacked a proper foundation to support the weight of the building. In an interview with the Estes Valley Voice, Cullen explained that it was nothing short of a miracle that the building had not fallen in on itself.
Before cosmetic remodeling and decorating could begin, hollow concrete blocks had to be replaced, and a new foundation under the building had to be dug and constructed. Then to shore up the floors, steel piers and a 90-foot beam constructed on the street and then lifted into place were installed to support the occupancy load. The interior ceiling height was also raised by five feet in several places.
The process was labor intensive and expensive. Cullen says he spent more on steel than he did on the purchase price of the property.
Curated antiques from the era when The Stanley Hotel was built – 1907 to 1909 – have been acquired including a 1900 Stanley Steamer Car, a 46-star American flag which flew over hotel as it was being built, and oak and glass display casings from a pharmacy in Brooklyn that date to 1904.
Hundreds of intricately-turned balusters that replicate the ones designed by Stanley for his home and eponymous hotel were crafted for the staircases. Stanley had an eye for detail and design. Each white painted spindle tells the story of one of the four seasons – winter, spring, summer, and fall. The pattern repeats like the seasons, year-after-year.
Professional chocolate tempering quipment was imported from Italy. Delays in international shipping, followed by required health inspections, held up the chocolate factory’s anticipated opening for months.
And a resident chocolatier, Jade Alterman, from Brighton, England, moved to Estes Park to oversee the chocolate kitchen. Alterman, who has experience in bean to bar chocolate kitchens in Europe and the U.S., specializes in bespoke creations from truffles to elaborately decorated chocolate houses.
In preparation for what is being described by Paul Halvorson, The Stanley Chocolate Factory manager, as a “soft” opening on Friday morning, the staff spent several days training, rehearsing their scripts, and timing the process with groups of family and friends for a series of beta test runs.
Cone-shaped pastry bags filled with milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or white chocolate were distributed to participants. Trays lined with candy bar molds were filled with molten chocolate. A variety of inclusions are offered that can be added to candy bars – marshmallows, flavored sprinkles, crushed candy canes, pretzels, and coconut.
The candy bars are then chilled for about 15 minutes in a commercial refrigerator, and then popped out of their molds and wrapped.
Tours will be limited to 20 people at a time, and the entire experience is expected to take about an hour. Several different experiences will be offered ranging in price from $30 to $45, including chocolate making, chocolate tastings, and chocolate pairings, said Wendy Lundy, director of experiences.
The Stanley Chocolate Factor will open its doors Friday morning at with a public ribbon cutting. Larimer County Councilwoman Jody Shadduck McNally and Estes Park Mayor Gary Hall are expected to attend.
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