Manufacturer: Syracuse China
User: Amani Mgeni Uwanda (Harmony Guest Ranch)
Date of plate: 1958

1954 Advertisement for Amani Mgeni Uwanda

Playing card from Amani Mgeni Uwanda

The two-story dining room building with awnings at the Harmony Guest Ranch

Sign for the Harmony Recovery center

Harmony Recovery today (2025)

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Notes: Amani Mgeni Uwanda was a $400,000 dude/guest ranch opened in 1953 in Estes Park, Colorado, and built by Mr. and Mrs. Scott Hayes and Col. and Mrs. Richard E. Turner.

From an article in the Greeley Daily Tribune, May 25, 1954: "The name Amani Mgeni Uwanda means Harmony Guest Ranch and was chosen by Mr. Hayes from one of his many big game hunting expeditions to India. … The main lodge, which houses a luxurious [two-story] dining room open to the public, is decorated with over 60 mounted heads of game bagged by Hayes.

In addition to "native hut" guest cottages, "the ranch has new nine-hole golf course, a swimming pool and riding stables."

"Amani will be open the year round and is expected to attract guests from all over the world. It is located in a valley at the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park three and a half miles west of Estes Park on U.S. Highway 34."

An article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan dated May 30, 1969, states that Judge William C. Wilson, who purchased the Harmony Guest Ranch in 1962, was arrested on Federal drug charges. "Federal officers said the arrest of Wilson and two other Estes Park men climaxes an investigation of what agents termed one of the largest illegal drug manufacturing and distribution operations in Colorado."

By 1969, the Harmony Guest Ranch had been sold again to a Dave Hart, who in that year signed an agreement on July 18, 1969, with Bob Dean to rent Harmony with an option to buy within five years. Dean had been in the hotel business for many years and was a recovering alcoholic when he decided to establish a sanctuary for individuals like himself seeking to overcome alcoholism.

Today (2025), Harmony Recovery stands as a testament to Dean's vision, continuing to offer a place of solace and support to those on their path to healing.

White body plate with a drawing of an elephant's head in bold pink/red with its trunk raised.

Sources:
Greeley Daily Tribune May 25, 1954 – story about the guest ranch
Fort Collins Coloradoan dated May 30, 1969 – story about the owner's arrest
Harmony Recovery website – information about the site's history and current operations
Denver Public Library Digital Collections – photos of the guest ranch

Contributors:
Charles H. Sovine: ID
Ed Phillips: author