Benedict, Jules Jacques Benois

Written by Linda Kirkpatrick on Sunday, June 30 2013.

Jacques Benedict

(1879 - 1948)

This highly accomplished architect was born in Chicago, studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and arrived in Denver in 1909. He was renowned for numerous public buildings and private residences, including some in the Evergreen area.

He married socialite June Louise Brown in 1912.

Doris Hulse, his biographer, describes him as "talented, cultured, eccentric, flamboyant, practical, difficult, opinionated, generous, temperamental, considerate, gentleman farmer, man-about-town." He was also a poet and artist. Reputedly, he exhibited his flamboyance by wearing spats and white gloves while inspecting construction sites and carrying a cane to smash work that didn't meet his standards.

He was known for having a gift for blending his structures with the natural landscapes and using logs and native field stones. His style was considered "Rustic," frequently incorporating eclectic French influences such as steeply pitched roofs and Gothic windows. Among the many prominent structures designed by Benedict before retiring at age 70 are:

St. Catherine's Chapel at St. Malo in Boulder
Denison Laboratory Building, CU campus in Boulder
Brown-Garrey-Congdon House
Craig House
Geroge Cranmer House
Flatiron Building (1923) - demolished to make way for the RTD bus terminal at 16th and Broadway
St. Thomas Theological Seminary (now St. John Vianney Theological Seminary)*
Sullivan House
Richard Campbell house (now the offices of Denver Botanic Gardens)
Washington Park Boat House*
Sunken gardens at City Park
Weckbaugh house (1930-33)*
Woodbury Branch Library
Senator Lawrence Phipps' resident
Highlands Ranch Headquarters in Douglas County (1932 remodel)
Fillius Park Picnic Shelter ((1918) in Evergreen*
Bergen Park Pavilion (1915) in Evergreen*
Keys on the Green (1925) in Evergreen
Rosedale (1920) in Evergreen
Herman F. Coors House in Golden (1917 remodel)*
Steinhaurer Field House (1937 at the Colorado School of Mines
Little Park Shelter in Idledale (1917)*
Starbuck Park Well House in Idledale (1923)
Chief Hosa Lodge in Genesee (1918)*
Pine Valley Lodge near Pine (1927)
Summer White House for President Wilson near Mt. Falcon Park along Bear Creek (1914 - never finished due to fire, but the ruins are visible in the park)
Carmelite Convent in Littleton
Carnegie Library in Littleton (1917)
First Presbyterian Church in Littleton
Littleton Town Hall (1920, now Town Hall Arts Center)*