Grant is best known for his role in the ore smelting industry, the first in Leadville, and then in Denver, where the Grant Smelting Company, located two miles northeast of downtown Denver, boasted the tallest furnace stack in the country and the third-largest in the world.

She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and helped to found a home for destitute children.

Following her husband's death in 1911, she continued to live in the house six more years, selling it in 1917 to Albert E. Humphreys.

[3] In 1941, Ira invented the Humphreys Spiral Concentrator,[4] which was used extensively in the mining industry for the separation of minerals and heavy metals in low grade ores.

The Colorado Historical Society took possession of the mansion, a bequest of the late Ira Boyd Humphreys, in 1976.