Aspen Center for Environmental Studies hosts open house in Ashcroft to celebrate public reopening of historic site
After three years of renovations, Toklat is once again open to the public, reigniting environmental stewardship in Ashcroft.
Owners Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES) celebrate the opening with "10 days at Toklat," a daily open house complete with food, drinks, and music from Dec. 21 through Dec. 30. The cabin, located at 11247 Castle Creek Road, is open from noon to 5 p.m.
"This is a community asset, this is a community meeting space, a community wilderness retreat center," ACES CEO Chris Lane said of Toklat. "This is a place where people come and think."
With help from supporters Jessica and Henry Catto, in 2004 ACES bought the building, now called the Catto Center at Toklat, to use for environmental education. The nonprofit closed the cabin in 2021 for renovations -- until last Saturday.
But the history of Toklat began in WWII.
Stuart Mace ran a canine unit in the war and continued to breed huskies with his wife, Isabel Mace, in Boulder during the late 1940s, according to Toklat steward Trevor Washko, who has lived at the cabin for 14 years.
After selling a pup to Elizabeth Paepcke, who is known for transforming Aspen into a cultural hub in the twentieth century, the Maces were invited to the Aspen area in 1948.
Paepcke introduced the couple to Ted Ryan, a stakeholder of the Highland Bavarian Corporation. At the time the corporation was attempting to create a ski resort up Ashcroft. Ryan rented the land under Toklat to the Maces on a lifetime lease.
Though today the cabin serves as a hub for environmental studies, Isabel and Stuart Mace built Toklat in 1949 to originally serve as a wilderness lodge and sled dog kennel.
Since then, the cabin has served various capacities over its storied 75-year history. It has been a sled-dog kennel, family home, wilderness lodge, art gallery, and restaurant.
After "10 days at Toklat" ends on Dec. 30, ACES will keep the cabin open to the public from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday all year. They will eventually provide warm drinks and snacks for visitors during their open hours, ACES Development Director Christy Mahon said.
"ACES is really excited to be an environmental steward of this valley," Mahon said, adding, "This place has been historically a real landmark for our community."
They will also host programs for organizations like research nonprofit Aspen Global Change Institute, SkiCo, the U.S. Forest Service, Pitkin County commissioners, Aspen Health and Human Services, among other groups, according to Jim Kravitz, ACES director of naturalist programs.
"If we do it right, it is inspirational, it disarms people," Kravitz said of the cabin. "I hope it is sparking an interest in what they are doing."
They will offer guided backcountry tours for groups to study the natural world, and hope to inspire guests by teaching Toklat history to all cabin visitors, Kravitz said.
The 10-day public event features traditional Toklat food, an open bar, and local musicians. The event is sponsored by Chris Klug Properties.
Throughout its history, Toklat has long been part of the bedrock of the Ashcroft wilderness.
"I often refer to this place as the home of the Mace family, the root of ACES, and the cornerstone of Castle Creek Valley," said Washko.
While the Maces used the cabin as a wilderness lodge and sled dog kennel, they hosted, "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon," a TV series about the huskies, Washko said.
But the Maces soon had five children and stopped hosting overnight guests.
Instead, they opened an Aspen restaurant in the 1960s where Hickory House is now located. Isabel Mace was a natural food advocate, cooking with naturally-sourced meats and vegetables. The family also experimented growing high altitude grains like quinoa to use in their recipes.
"All food here had a story behind it," Washko said.
One of Isabel Mace's classic soup recipes, made with wild mushrooms, onions, buttermilk, yogurt, and beef stock, will be featured in the 10-day open house, according to ACES.
The Maces closed their Aspen restaurant in 1969 and began hosting 24 person dinners at Toklat, with many of the same recipes, Washko said.
"The early '70s was, I think, one of the cooler periods for Toklat," Washko said.
The Maces operated on all cylinders, he said. They were crafting and selling jewelry, woodworking, selling Navajo and Cowichan art, as well as cooking for guests and housing the huskies.
"They were serial entrepreneurs in a sense," Washko said. "Doing everything they could to make ends meet and make the place thrive."
Stuart Mace became a founding board member and trustee of ACES during this period, Washko said.
After the Maces transferred the huskies from Toklat to Snowmass Village in 1974, the property evolved into an art gallery, Washko said.
Stuart Mace died in 1993. Isabel Mace and her daughter, Linne, lived at Toklat, managing the art gallery from 1995 to 2005, and were joined by Washko and Oaxacan rug weaver Elena Gonzalez Ruiz, who spent summers weaving and living at Toklat through the 1990s and 2000s. She at times continues to sell rugs from the building, Washko said.
Isabel Mace died in 2006.
After ACES bought the property in 2005, they used the space for environmental education and as a way to immerse people in nature, until the remodel began in 2021. Making the building a center of environmental study had been one of Stuart Mace's goals, Washko said.
But apart from Toklat's rich history, its immersion in nature, and its core role in the conservation movement, Washko said the building serves as a magnet for good people.
"The community of people that are around this place is what makes it special," he said.