325 King Street, Denver 80219
Architect William Norman Bowman and his wife Alice built the Savio House in 1910 May. They named the building Yamecila, which is Alice May spelled backwards. Eight years after the house was constructed the Bowman’s lost it to back taxes. The Sisters of Our Lady of Lourdes purchased the house and turned it into a tuberculosis sanitarium. They asked Bowman to design a chapel and dormitory. In 1966, four Denver businessmen purchased the home and established an orphanage for wardward boys. The facility is named after Dominique Savio, the Patron Saint of Youth. Today with the support of the Lions Club of Denver, the Savio House “provides specialized support, treatment, and intervention services that have been proven to promote child safety and effective parenting, and to stabilize adolescents in family care and other environments of long term support.”Photo credit: Denver Public Library Special Collections and Archives Department, 325 King Street, Denver, CO 80219
