This wonderful old building has a colorful past. It was at one time a pharmacy and a barber shop. The original part of the building has been here since the early 1900's. The picture below is a post card of the building when it was known as the Village Inn in 1948. As the Village Inn, the business had a restaurant, bar, gas station, cabins and horses. The customers were mostly rowdy railroad workers, loggers, hunters, fishermen. Winter business was scarce. In the summer guest from Beaver's would ride their horse down and tie up at the hitching posts to enjoy a beverage or two.

Bill Cullen bought the building in 1961 and completely remodeled the place inside and out and renamed it the Coachman. "Skiers were really tough people." recalls Cullen. "Ski bums often had no place to stay so they would sleep in the trunks of their cars. After a hard day of skiing they would drive into Granby and see who could stay in a tumbling dryer the longest. Then they would come back to The Coachman and drink flaming hookers. Those guys had scars on their necks and lips." It was a quiet night if somebody didn't get tossed over the bar in a fight. Bill says they kept a pistol under the bar.
In 1967 Darvin and Helen Eherenman bought the business and called it The Swiss House of Fondue and Coachman Tavern. Fondue was very fashionable at the time and the Swiss House was part of a franchise, In 1972 they hired Deno Kutrumbos to be their chef. Helen and Harry Pindle bought the Swiss House in 1974. In 1976 they sold the business to Deno.
The café and bar sign were uncovered when the roof wasreplaced in 2001
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Lunch 11:30 ~ Dinner 5:00 ~ Happy Hour 4:00 til 7:00
Deno's Mountain Bistro
970-726-5332
78911 Hwy. 40, Downtown Winter Park
across from Copper Creek Square
Web Site Design by Key to the Web © 2003
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