Photos: Peek Inside This Renowned Hollywood Collector’s Customized Denver Home

Joe Maddalena knows a good thing when he sees it. And he likes what he sees in Denver. As CEO and founder of Profiles in History — the Los Angeles company that bills itself as the world’s largest auctioneer of Hollywood memorabilia — Maddalena has been instrumental in discovering high-profile forgeries and helping museums and institutions such as the Library of Congress with historical exhibitions. But “Hollywood Treasure,” which ran for three seasons on Syfy, introduced Maddalena as a TV personality in the vein of “Antiques Roadshow” and “Pawn Stars.” With regular, multimillion-dollar auctions of the rarest-of-rare items (think Judy Garland’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” or, recently, the entire Howard Hughes estate) he’s proven his expertise at hunting down and acquiring some of pop-culture’s most prized artifacts. So what’s he doing in Denver? Living part-time, he said, and preparing to open a new Profiles in History retail shop in Cherry Creek next year. Maddalena likens his house in Denver to the sprawling, top-secret warehouse glimpsed at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The recently built, 6,000-square-foot abode in the Northfield development boasts numerous custom features, as well as most of Maddalena’s prized possessions. We caught up with Maddalena via phone this week.