Provenance | Bonfils Mansion

Bonfils-Stanton Belmar Mansion
Lakewood, Colorado
1937-70

Belmar was built on 10 acres of land on Kountze Lake in Jefferson County on property Mae Bonfils inherited from her parents, Belle and Frederick, owners of The Denver Post. She later purchased adjoining properties, and the estate expanded to 750 acres. The mansion is built of the finest Carrara marble, and was an exact replica of Marie Antoinette's Petite Trianon Palace in France, with the addition of a pink private chapel. Despite its extravagance, it was seldom publicized, as Mae strictly guarded her privacy. Belmar was decorated with treasures from around the world, collected on extensive travels. The mansion and grounds were replete with paintings and reproductions of statues by the greatest artist of Europe.

After her divorce from her husband, Clyde Berryman in 1947, Mae married long-time friend, Charles Stanton in 1956. At her death in 1962, Stanton inherited about half of her $13,000,000 estate. The mansion was left to the Franciscan Fathers, but was stripped and demolished in 1970 and the land sold to developers. Many of the original furnishings and architectural elements now grace Denver area homes.