Ruby Rae’s Vintage Tea House opened on Sept. 29 in a suite on Front Street in downtown Monument. A retired Air Force veteran runs it with her husband and children, serving British-style afternoon tea by reservation and pots of tea to anyone who walks in.
Where other travelers bring home shot glasses, Melissa Holtzlander brought home tea towels, from places all over the world. Over the past decade she added china and antique furniture, collected for a tea house she had no date for. On Sept. 29 she opened it, in Suite 8 at 251 Front Street, and the towels, the china and the furniture are all there.
Ruby Rae’s serves afternoon tea in three sizes by reservation and welcomes walk-ins for a pot of tea, a cream tea or a browse among its teas, china and gifts; some of the china is for sale. Holtzlander retired from the Air Force in 2023 and runs the place with her husband, Gerald, and their children. “After 20 years of service, being able to build this dream alongside my husband and children means everything to me,” she says.
From the flight line to the tea table
Holtzlander spent her first six years in the Air Force as a crew chief on the C-5 Galaxy, which the service describes as “one of the largest military aircraft.” She rose to flying crew chief, a job that took her around the world and, along the way, introduced her to Gerald, who served in the Navy and is also retired. After they married and started a family she retrained as a paralegal, work that kept her closer to home, and spent her last 14 years in uniform at it. Her six assignments included Royal Air Force Lakenheath in England. The last was Peterson Space Force Base in Colorado Springs.
England did much of the rest. “Living in England was a dream come true and I fell in love with the tea culture,” she says. The idea of a tea house of her own came to her nearly a decade ago.
After retiring she worked for a while as a technical project manager for a large internet company, until the family could afford the leap. Finding the right space took nearly two years.
Afternoon tea, in three sizes
Afternoon tea is booked online in two-hour sittings and paid in advance; the online prices include tax, so they read a little higher than the menu’s. The Garden Tea, at $39.95 a person, brings a pot of loose-leaf tea, three tea sandwiches, a savory course, a scone with Devonshire cream and preserves, and a plate of small desserts. The Duchess Tea, at $44.95, adds another dessert, a mini trifle and unlimited refills. The Ruby Rae Signature Tea, at $49.95, adds a selection of tarts, a sparkling drink and a gift of tea to take home. Children 12 and under have their own tea for $17.95: tea or hot chocolate, a tea sandwich, fruit, a cupcake decorated as a butterfly or a teddy bear, and a chocolate pretzel wand.
The rest of the menu is open to walk-ins. A cream tea, a scone with cream and preserves and a bottomless pot, costs $18.95, and a tea and scone $13.95. A pot of loose-leaf tea is $8.95, or $10.95 for unlimited tea. There is also a tea flight, three small pots for $16.95, as there probably ought to be in a tea house run by a former flying crew chief.
Every sweet and savory item comes from The Northumbrian Bakery, a British bakery in Sedalia run by Louise Ingrid. An English friend who had known of the tea house plans for years introduced the two when Holtzlander was looking for someone to make British scones. Ingrid, she says, “can make a lot more than just scones.” The savories run to pot pies, a Coronation chicken wrap, quiche and sausage rolls, which the bakery bills as famous.
Tea for the off-duty
The tea house’s own line is called R&R Blends, a nod, Holtzlander says, to the military’s “rest and recuperation.” She spent weeks on the names, and they read partly like a tea list and partly like a duty roster. At Ease is a caffeine-free mix of peppermint, spearmint, ginger and rooibos. Sunrise Salute, for the morning, is green maté and ginseng. Golden Valor brings ginger and turmeric together with cinnamon, licorice root and a little black pepper. Medic’s Mug, Soldier’s Serenade, Polished & Proper and The Rosie Reset fill out the roster. She developed the blends with Lifetime Tea, a tea company in Chandler, Arizona. They sell for $20.95 each. A second range, the Tea House Blends, sells for $15.95 and includes Ruby Grey, Victory Garden and The Cozy Corset. Both are sold online and shipped.
Vintage, down to the owner
The furnishings are vintage too. Carved chairs painted cream sit at small tables, teapots line a high shelf along the wall, and the ceiling is set with colored panels. Holtzlander dresses the part; on the day her photograph was taken she wore a red dress, a gingham apron and saddle shoes. She designs and sews mid-century-style dresses and has just begun her first Victorian one. She learned from her mother, who lives in Brighton (the Colorado one), and the two still sew together most weeks.
The name comes from several places at once. Ruby is Holtzlander’s service dog, a red Alaskan malamute adopted in 2019 and named by her daughter Michelle; the dog comes to work now and then, most often for special events. Red is Holtzlander’s favorite color and Rae her middle name, and Ruby Rae is also her vintage pinup persona, which is why many people know her as Ruby.
A sign on the wall reads “Ruby Rae’s Vintage Artistry,” the name of her first business. She coordinates events for professional pinup models and publishes a pinup magazine; Gerald is a photographer, and she works as a posing director for pinup photography. A neon sign reading “Ruby’s Closet” hangs over a rail of clothes from her own collection, some true vintage and some made in the style.
A family business
Gerald is co-owner and manager of the tea house as well as, in his wife’s words, its “main tech support,” and is there nearly every day. Their children Michelle, 19, Ryan, 18, and Samuel, 15, work as servers. Holtzlander worried they would turn her down when she asked them to work for her; instead “they have all jumped in with both feet,” she says. She has one rule for them: “no sibling arguments while at the tea house.” So far, she reports, it has held.
What’s next
The room seats 30. Holtzlander plans seasonal afternoon teas, themed gatherings and tea tastings, and takes bookings for private parties, from birthdays to bridal showers, by email. The tea house will take part in the town’s trick-or-treating on Halloween. Her hope, she says, is that it becomes “a place where people feel genuinely welcomed, where strangers become friends.” Her daughter Michelle has a longer-range plan. She hopes her mother will hand her the keys one day.
If you go
Address: 251 Front Street, Suite 8, Monument, CO 80132
Hours: see below. Afternoon tea is by reservation; walk-ins are welcome for a pot of tea, a cream tea and the shop.
Phone: 719-357-7614
Email: [email protected], also for private events
Website: rubyraetea.com
Book afternoon tea: rubyraetea.as.me. Sittings are two hours and are paid when booked.
Shop the teas: R&R Blends and Tea House Blends, shipped
Facebook: Ruby Rae’s Vintage Tea House
Instagram: @rubysvintageteahouse
Hours
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Sunday | 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
Find it
Sources & further reading
The tea house: Ruby Rae’s Vintage Tea House · About · Menu and services · R&R Blends · Afternoon tea booking · Facebook · Instagram
Its suppliers: The Northumbrian Bakery · Lifetime Tea
The Air Force: C-5 Galaxy fact sheet · Royal Air Force Lakenheath · Peterson Space Force Base
Using this reporting? Credit The Monument Independent and link to this article: https://monumentindependent.com/business-spotlight/ruby-raes-vintage-tea-house-monument/. Our guidelines are at Using Our Reporting.
