This summer, several remarkable pieces connected to one of the Highlands Ranch Mansion’s former residents were added to the Mansion, offering new glimpses into the life and family of Annie Clifton Springer Hughes.

From a portrait discovered unexpectedly in a New Mexico thrift store to family pieces preserved for generations, each addition shares a connection to Annie Clifton Springer Hughes, known as Clifton, who once called the Mansion home.

The story began this past March, when George Field was browsing a Goodwill store in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and came across a framed portrait of a woman. A nameplate on the frame identified her as “Annie Clifton Springer Hughes.”

Curious about the woman in the painting, Field searched the name online and discovered the Highlands Ranch Mansion. He contacted the Mansion and spoke with Historic Programs Coordinator Susie Appleby, who confirmed that Clifton had once lived on the property. Field generously offered to donate the portrait, and a special trip was made to Santa Fe to retrieve the portrait and bring it back to Colorado.

After an unknown journey that somehow carried it hundreds of miles from the Denver area, the portrait now hangs in the Mansion’s Solarium.

Clifton’s story at the Mansion continued to grow when her granddaughter, Doris Bell Hughes, generously donated several pieces of her grandmother’s history that had been passed down through the family.

Among them is a striking 4-by-5-foot portrait of Clifton painted in 1924. According to Doris, the portrait once hung in a Denver mansion owned by Clifton and her husband, Lafayette Hughes. Following Clifton’s death in 1940, Lafayette made sure fresh flowers were placed each day in a vase on the table beneath her portrait. 

Today, the painting hangs in the Mansion’s Living Room, joining the portrait in the Solarium and giving visitors another opportunity to connect a face with the family who once lived at the property.

The Hughes family donation also included a scrapbook created by Clifton during her teenage years. Filled with photographs, poems, newspaper clippings and other keepsakes dating roughly from 1904 to 1908, its pages offer a personal look into Clifton’s life more than a century later.

Because the original scrapbook is fragile, the pages have been carefully scanned and an exact replica has been created that visitors can flip through. 

Displayed alongside the scrapbook is an oval photograph of Clifton with her grandfather, Colonel Hughes. It is the only photograph in the Mansion’s collection showing the two together, capturing a special moment between granddaughter and grandfather.

The Highlands Ranch Metro District is grateful to George Field for recognizing the significance of the portrait he discovered, and to Doris Bell Hughes, her son Doug McNeil and the entire Hughes family for sharing these special pieces with the Mansion and the community.

Visitors can see the portraits, scrapbook replica and oval photograph during public Open Hours at the Highlands Ranch Mansion. Visit highlandsranchmansion.com/calendar/ to plan your next visit.