Denver's Official Mayoral Residence Is Party House

When cable giant Bill Daniels died in 2000, he left his dream home to the City of Denver as the official residence of the mayor.

The 14,000 square-foot home named "Cableland" sprawls across 24,000 square-feet on Shangri La Drive at the entrance to Denver's Hilltop neighborhood.

Neither Mayor Wellington Webb nor Mayor John Hickenlooper have lived in the home.

"It's very individualized. If we ever have a mayor who's a bachelor, he's going to love this place," said Tim David, who is the head of the Cableland Home Foundation.

For Daniels, building this home was really building his dream.

"Bill always wanted a good party house," David said. "He always had kind of small places up until the time he built this place. He always wanted a nice place to have parties."

Daniels spent $7 million to build the house in 1987 and he lived there until his death. It is full of his personal touches, including squirrel condos, a sunken bar and an ice cream bar.

Since it was the home of the Father of Cable Television and a pioneer in telecommunications, it has 97 phones and dozens of televisions, including a wall of TV monitors.

"The story goes, the first button turns on the local network channels," said Daniel Beck, the residence manager. "Then as you turn the second button, all the channels that came on back in the 80s turn on. That was the Bill Daniels story, 'This is what you had, this is what I brought you.'"

But Daniels also showed a sense of whimsy, installing a fire pole from the master bedroom to the media room. He said it was something he always wanted from the time he was child.

Daniels was a fighter pilot in two wars and spent those years on an aircraft carrier. That feeling is reflected in his dark, private condo inside the residence.

The house is also filled with memorabilia from Daniels' life. There are pictures and treasures from the sports teams with which he was associated, including the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cableland also has its own Hall of Presidents, including a picture signed by Presidents George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon.

Part of the inscription reads "Thanks for the ride."

"Bill sent his Learjet out to pick up President Ford," said Beck. "So he really meant, thanks for the ride."

The city uses Cableland about once a month, but the men who take care of it everyday still hope a mayor will one day move in and fulfill another of Daniels' dreams.

"He loved this house. I think it was the possession he enjoyed the most," David said. "He didn't want to see it demolished or owned by just anybody. He wanted the mayor to live here."