Historic Westside Neighborhood Home, Art and Gift Tour

2011

436 PRATT ST / John M. Anderson House – built 1902

This 1902 Edwardian Vernacular style home was first owned by John Munson Anderson who came to Longmont with his wife, Agnes, in 1902. Mr. Anderson was a farmer and a businessman, but his special talent was sign-making, interior painting and decorating. Some of the prestigious buildings representative of his work were the Leadville Hotel, the Tabor Theatre and the Central City Opera House. Mr. Anderson had also worked on buildings in Cripple Creek, Georgetown and in the Wyoming State Capitol building.

329 BROSS ST / Williams House – built 1907

The house was built in 1907 by the Samuel and Alice Williams family.  Their daughter, Maude Williams married Gray Secor in the home in 1910 and later lived at 829 4^th Ave.  A variety Longmonters lived in the home including a Christian Science practitioner, Chester and Myrtle Irvin (owner of Irvin Furniture at 463 Main in the late 1920s), and Tom and Mitzi Wood who returned the home to much of its original condition in the late 1970s.

338 PRATT ST / Dr. Myron Cooke House – built 1940

This 1940 Tudor Revival style home was first owned by Dr. Myron Wentworth Cooke who was a longtime physician and surgeon in Longmont and son of a pioneer Colorado druggist. He graduated from the University of Colorado medical school in 1928.  During World War II, Dr. Cooke served in the Pacific Theatre as a major in the medical corps. While there, he contracted malaria, from which he never fully recovered. Dr. Cooke was well respected and served as a member of the Boulder County and Colorado State Medical Societies.

532 GAY ST / Robertson House – originally built 1904 / rebuilt 2009

Over the years this house was home to a wide array of Longmonters including a photographer, retired farmer, roofer, and driver for the Denver-Chicago Lines.  James and Eunice Robertson owned the home from the 1930s through late 1940s.  James was a baker who operated Jim’s Bakery as early as 1915.  In 2009, the current home was built keeping intact the front room and preserving the style and proportions suitable for an Old Town Longmont home. 

417 GAY ST / Yeager House – built circa 1900 to 1910

Early records of this house with a large front porch indicate that Myrtle Yeager lived in the home in the period from 1906 to 1921 and along with her son Ed were candy makers.  Later Myrtle moved to 750 4th Ave.  In 1938 the home was occupied by Fred and Sadie (Turner) Ferguson (renting from Warren Rumley) shortly after their move to Longmont in 1935.  Eventually, Ferguson owned four newspapers, including the Longmont Ledger. However, Fred Ferguson is perhaps best known for his political career. He was elected mayor of Longmont in 1943 and later served as the local inheritance tax representative of the Colorado attorney general’s office.

2010

535 BOWEN ST / Almquist House – built 1910

This home was owned by Carl and Emily Mossberg Almquist from 1922 to 1951.  Until 1932 Carl operated a grocery store just north of the First National Bank building on Main Street.  After closing the grocery store, Carl was a representative for the United Tobacco Candy Company and delivered products to stores up and down US 287. Carl died in a bus-truck crash in 1949 while making product deliveries to gas stations along his route – most likely including local landmark Johnson’s Corner just south of Longmont.  Both Carl and Emily had Swedish heritage (Carl was born in Smoland, Sweden in 1873 and Emily’s pioneer father, Andrew Mossberg, was also born in Sweden and worked farm land south of Longmont starting in 1887) which may have influenced their love of this home’s Dutch Colonial architecture.

1126 THIRD AVE / Reynolds-Secor House – built 1914

This home was owned by Raymond and Dagmar Reynolds from the time it was built until 1964.  Reynolds was a cattle rancher whose cattle won grand champion prizes at the Denver Stock Show. Ray served on the board of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City which covers Colorado.  Twin Peaks Golf Course sits on his former property.  William T. and Betty Jo Secor owned the home from 1964 to 1989.  Secor, a third-generation lawyer and Republican Party activist, was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Colorado House of Representatives in 1968. The Secors were active in historical preservation including donation of a garden to Old Mill Park (237 Pratt Street).

1014 FIFTH AVE / Nelson House – built 1929

This was the 15th home built by Earl Sprague, a prominent local builder who occupied the homes he built along with his wife Julia for a relatively short period of time, sometimes living in them less than a year.  Other homes built by Sprague include 413 Collyer and 902 Fifth.  After retiring from farming in the Ryssby community west of Longmont, John and Ruby Nelson lived in the home for 40 years beginning in 1947.  Ruby lived to be 105 years old and was the last of the pioneer family for which Nelson Road is named.  Ruby is remembered for being Longmont’s oldest known resident and for her service to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church.

411 GRANT ST / Sigvaldson House – built 1928

This craftsman-style home was owned by Frank and Alice Sigvaldson who lived there from 1928 to 1962.  Frank and his brother John established a successful service station and wholesale oil company at the corner of 5th and Main, which they operated for many years under the name "Sig's Service Station".  The station featured Sieberling tires and Texaco products.

535 GAY ST / Bolst-Hay House – built 1928

This stately brick home with tile roof was originally owned by Herman Bolst who operated Sanitary Bakeries, maker of “Butter Krust” bread in the 1930s.  The home was later owned by Laura and Robert Hay, a retired farmer who moved to Longmont in 1919. Other notable owners included Joan Cromer Matherly and Dr. Harold Gorder.  Matherly was author of “A Thing Most Marvelous” about the life of Queen Isabel of Spain.  Gorder was President of the Boulder County Dental Association and gave free dental examinations to children in Longmont schools.

2009

327 PRATT STREET / Asa D. Holt House – built 1880s

This classic American Foursquare was built in the late 1880s.  The home was owned by Asa D. Holt from 1907 to 1929.  Mr. Holt was often called the “father of irrigation” in the St. Vrain area.  The   local newspaper said, “He gave much time to the study of water problems, no man in Northern Colorado was better versed on this subject.” Mr. Holt organized and was the president of the Highland Ditch Company. He was the last living charter member of Central Presbyterian Church when he died in 1935.

409 GAY STREET / J. E. Hill House – built 2006

After a fire in the original house, this Craftsman style home was built on property owned by John E. and Ida Hill from 1910 through 1948.  The Hill’s moved to Longmont in 1904 where Mr. Hill opened the old Commercial Bank.  This bank later consolidated with the Longmont National Bank where Mr. Hill conducted a loan and fire insurance business

1221 CARLTON AVENUE / G. M. Woolley House – built 1919 

This house was built in 1919 by John Empson, a Longmont industrialist, as a wedding gift to his daughter, Lida. The house was owned by George M. and Retta Woolley from the period of 1938 to 1968.  Both George and his father, Thomas Woolley (b. 1845, d. 1904), were in the coal mining business, managing the White House and Reliance Mines in the Erie - Louisville area.  The house was deeded to their son and daughter-in-law after WWII.  Frances sold the house to the current owners in 2004.  Francis, now 96, still resides in Longmont.  The Carlton home is notable for its unusual solid tile block construction.

1102 THIRD AVENUE / T. E. Graham House – built 1904

This classic cottage was built in 1904.  During the 1930s and 40s the home was owned by Thomas E. and Elizabeth Watson Graham.  Mr. Graham was a chief chemist for the Great Western Sugar Company when the first beets were processed in Northern Colorado.  As a young man, Mr. Graham worked as a mining engineer and was later the owner of the Eagle Mine in Erie where he was born in 1884.

615 LINCOLN STREET / Mattie I. Hull House – built 1927

The home was built in 1927 for Ms. Edna Hervey. Constructed with the leftovers of other area homes, the property passed through a variety of ownerships including Mattie Hull, who owned the home for at least 20 years. Renovation of the home began in 2005 when this home was moved off its foundation and was “parked” in the street, as the basement was excavated and a 2nd story added.  The design was inspired from a 1927 Alladin Homes catalog.  Like Sears and other firms, Alladin provided "kit" houses to the mass market in the first four decades of this century.

2008

529 PRATT STREET / E . L. Kiteley House – built 1905

This 1905 Craftsman-style home graced with a unique river rock fireplace was owned by members of the Kiteley family from 1920 to 1970.  Ernest Leon Kiteley lived in the home starting in 1920 when he owned a hardware store and managed the Golden West Flour Mill until this death by accident in the mill in 1943.  The home was also owned by Rev. Eugene A. Larson for 30 years while he was pastor of First Evangelical Lutheran Church at the corner of 3^rd and Terry.

1030 FIFTH AVENUE / H. H. Ure House – built 1922

This bungalow style home was originally owned by the Ure family for 35 years from 1922 to 1957.  Henry H. Ure was a master mechanic who came to Longmont in the early 1900s from Chicago (he was born in Utica, NY).  He was likely drawn to the booming agricultural industry and specifically the Great Western Sugar Company Longmont factory west of town. 

428 PRATT STREET / L.O. Munson House – built 1872

This stately dwelling with distinctive brown brick columns, topped by Ionic capitals, located at each of the home’s four corners was first owned by Louis "Lou" Oviatt Munson.  In 1884, Lou married Miss Louella Terry, daughter of pioneer settler Judge Seth Terry -- the first elected president of the Chicago Colony. Munson supported his family as a “commissions merchant”, buying and selling wheat and other commodities.

908 THIRD AVENUE / Charles Kistler House – built 1887

This classic American Foursquare was built by Charles Kistler in 1887 who was married to James Denio's daughter, Grace. The Denios were owners of the Longmont Flour Mill which was located just down the hill at the site of Old Mill Park.  Kistler operated a drug store in Longmont until he became president of the Longmont National Bank. The Kistlers later moved to another Foursquare at 1005 Third Avenue.

1013 FOURTH AVENUE / Knox House – built 1906

This home built in 1906 was first owned by Grant and Lillie Knox.  For many years Grant Knox served Longmont as a Justice of the Peace. His office was located on the second floor of the Longmont City Hall.   The home was also owned for 30 years by Joseph and Seletha Brown.  Seletha was a published author and active in the St. Vrain Historical Society.  The book “They Came to Stay” that captures Longmont’s early history is dedicated to her efforts.

2007

330 Bross Street / Schey House – built 1905

Solomon Schey was born on December 24, 1853, in Germany. According to They Came to Stay⁵, when he was only thirteen, Solomon journeyed to New York City to work for his older brother’s wholesale clothing business. Branching out on his own, in 1879, he opened a men’s clothing establishment in Central City with a friend, M. S. Rafield. As Central City’s mining boom played out, Solomon and his wife, Betsy Firestone, moved to Longmont. Here, Schey and Rafield continued their partnership and opened a clothing store in 1882. The Schey and Rafield Clothing Store was located at 370 Main Street.  This American Foursquare built in 1905 reflects the success attained Solomon Schey.

621 Gay Street / Stewart House – built 1910

This home built in 1910 was the home of Homer C. and Blanche Stewart until 1945.  Homer was an active member of the Masonic Lodge and was elected to marshal in 1934.  Homer worked at the U.S. Post Office in Longmont for 38 years, a number of which he served as assistant postmaster.  The Stewarts sold the home to Barbara Marie Stedman in 1945.  Marie Sjogren of Lyons married Corporal Aldro J. Stedman in June 1944.  In November of 1944, Aldro was killed in an airplane crash while training in Georgia.    Marie lived in the home until 1985.

633 Bross Street / Beattie House – built 1908

This home built in 1908 was the home of Arthur A. and Ida Jaynes Beattie until 1927.  Ida was the daughter of Judge S. D. Jaynes.  Arthur was a foreman at the Empson Packing Company in Longmont.  The Empson’s built the craftsmen style home at 1228 Third Avenue and operated the cannery at 15 Third Avenue.  The Empson cannery canned vegetables produced on Longmont area farms.  In 1920, the plant was sold to Charles Lewis Hover and later merged with the Kuner Pickle Company. 

534 Bowen Street / Nutting House – built 1937

The lot where the home sits was owned by Elias B. Hanson in the late 1920s and early 1930s.  Hanson was a well-known building contractor who introduced the first California bungalow houses to Longmont.  The bungalow style architecture of this home suggests it may have been built by Hanson (also associated with 438 Collyer Street) in 1937 for Madge L. and Fred A. Nutting.  Fred operated the Nutting Motor Company selling Pontiacs and Buicks at 513 Main Street. 

858 Third Avenue / Emmons-Adler House – built 1903

The American Foursquare built by Amos Jesse Emmons in 1903 reflects the result of hard work that began when Amos started farming on his own at the age of sixteen. His father died when he was two and after the death of his mother, he joined the army to fight in the Civil War. Mustered out in 1866, he came to Colorado in search of his brother, George, who had come West in 1864.  In 1876 he married Lovina Robinson and became the father of 7 children. In 1898, Emmons and his family moved to 858 Third Avenue. In 1903, the original house was razed and the present house was built.

Carl H. Adler was born in Culp, Germany and at the age of three, his family moved to the United States. It is uncertain when Alder moved to Colorado. However, he soon established himself as a successful farmer and rancher in the Mead area. In 1919, Adler married Marry Minch and became the father of thirteen children. Adler and his family moved to the home after his retirement in 1951.

2006

1017 Fourth Avenue / Kiteley-Dodd House – built ca. 1903

The Kiteley-Dodd House was built between 1903 and 1910 at 1017 Fourth Avenue. Ralph Kiteley, son of John Arnette Kiteley, came to Longmont with his parents in 1879. Ralph owned and operated the Longmont Hardware Store and at one time had a Nash auto agency there. During the 1930’s Guy and Florence Dodd owned the home. Guy was the son of Alva and Della Gould Dodd (Della was reported to have been the first white child born in the Left Hand Valley). ⁵ The Victorian styled residence was also home to George M. Shaffer, a superintendent of the Great Western Sugar Company factory in Longmont and Ann Biggs, a third grade teacher at Mountain View school.

339 PRATT Street / Donovan House – built 1890

John A. Donovan built the Donovan House in 1890 at 339 Pratt Street. He came to Longmont in 1885 to be associated with his brothers D.C. and T.T. Donovan in their lumber business (originally located on the north side of Fourth Avenue between Main and Coffman). John was elected City Alderman of Longmont in 1898 and Mayor in 1901.⁵

The home is representative of the American Foursquare architectural style (e.g., Denver Square). This style was the most popular vernacular form of the Prairie architecture pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. The hallmarks of the American Foursquare include a height of two-and-one-half stories, usually with four large, boxy rooms to a floor, a center dormer, and a large front porch with wide stairs. This home features decorative leaded glass windows.

420 Terry Street / Wyman-White House – built 1886

George Wyman, a prominent Mason and president of Longmont’s First National Bank, built the Wyman-White House in 1886 at 420 Terry Street. In 1894 the home was sold to Eben White, an original member of the Chicago-Colorado colony, arriving in Colorado in 1871 or 1872. Eben drove the spring-wagon “stage” between Erie and Longmont before turning to mining in the hills west of Boulder.³ He operated a grocery, then worked for the Emerson-Buckingham bank, and finally established a loan and insurance firm in his own name.

The home is representative of Italianate architectural characteristics. This home features a truncated, hipped roof that is different from the high peaked roofs typical of this time period. Another prominent feature that helps to distinguish an Italianate building are the large bracketed eaves underneath the roof. This home has paired brackets placed underneath a deep trim band.

415 Coffman Street / Pennock House – built 1912

Dr. Vivian R. Pennock built the Pennock House in 1912 at 415 Coffman Street. The son of Longmont pioneers Porter R. and Ellen (Coffin) Pennock, Vivian R. Pennock was born on May 8, 1870.¹ He graduated from Longmont High School and received his medical degree from the University of Colorado Medical School in 1894. Dr. Pennock practiced in Silver Plume and Cripple Creek before moving to Longmont in 1903 with his wife Lillian Large and their three children. Dr. Pennock established Longmont’s first hospital at Fourth Avenue and Coffman Street in association with Dr. C.F. Andrew. The Longmont Hospital Association – the name under which the Longmont Clinic began – is considered one of the oldest group medical practices in Colorado and one of the first of its kind in the United States.²

The home is representative of late 19th and 20th Century Revivals (e.g., Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival). The Revival style is often a combination of various styles and contemporary elements. Generally the Revival house is larger with some elements exaggerated or out of proportion with other parts of the house. Characteristics found in this home include a symmetrical facade and a pediment (triangular gable) that extends forward and is supported on columns to form an entry porch.

819 Sixth Avenue / Wheaton House – built 1909

Hugh and Marie Wheaton built the Wheaton House in 1909 at 819 Sixth Avenue. In the years surrounding 1910, Hugh, and his father W.H. Wheaton, ran a livery business (care, feeding, and stabling of horses for pay) located at 223-225 Main Street. The business is advertised in the 1910-1911 Longmont city directory as “W.H. & H.C. Wheaton – Proprietors Rocky Mountain Livery”.⁴

The home is representative of Late-Victorian architectural characteristics. Victorian architecture consists of those styles that were popular during the last decades of the reign of Britain’s Queen Victoria. Notable attributes include steep-pitched gabled roofs and shingled insets.

¹ Architectural Inventory Form, City of Longmont and Cultural Resource Historians, January 2006.

² Longmont Clinic Newsletter, 100th Anniversary Issue, Spring 2006.

³ Architectural Inventory Form, City of Longmont and Cultural Resource Historians, August 2005.

⁴ Architectural Inventory Form, City of Longmont and Cultural Resource Historians, November 2005.

⁵ "They Came to Stay," St. Vrain Historical Society, 1971.

2005

1238 SIXTH AVENUE / Dworak House – built 1921

Built 1921, the Alfred V. Dworak house exhibits the Cape Cod architectural style.  This style expresses a renewed interest in America's colonial past.  Over the course of a few generations, a modest, one- to one-and-a-half-story house with wooden shutters emerged. Reverend Timothy Dwight, a president of Yale University, is credited with recognizing these houses as a class and coining the term "Cape Cod."

Alfred V. Dworak owned the home from 1945 to 1949.  He graduated from Longmont High School in 1914.  Dworak was an insurance and real estate broker for half a century before his death in 1966.   He served on the Colorado Real Estate Licensing Board in the 1930’s and 1940’s.  A bronze plaque was placed in memory Dworak in 400-block of Main Street in 1969.

960 FIFTH AVENUE / Townley House – built 1928

This English or Norman Cottage is the modest, very simplified version of the Tudor or Jacobean/Elizabethan styles of residential architecture.  The most distinguishing feature is the steeply pitched roof and steeply pitched projecting front entrance.  Decorative stone and brickwork are also characteristics of this style of architecture.

John Lawrence Townley Jr., son of John Lawrence Townley, first elected treasurer of the Chicago-Colorado Colony, built the home shortly after marrying his wife Nellie Hard.  John Jr. and his family arrived in Longmont in 1871 when he was 9 years old.

Nellie Townley taught in the Longmont school system for 24 years as an English teacher at Longmont junior and senior high schools. Nellie is recognized as one of sixteen graduating seniors of Longmont High School in 1905. She also was State Poetry Chairman for the Federation of Women's Clubs.

310 PRATT STREET / Paxton House – built 1904

Built in 1904 for John W. Paxton, a president of the Longmont National Bank (elected in 1905 and 1909) the home exhibits the American Four Square architecture style. 

The American Foursquare boxy shape provided roomy interiors for homes on small city lots. Many Foursquares are trimmed with tiled roofs, cornice-line brackets, or other details drawn from Craftsman, Italian Renaissance, or Mission architecture.  Popularized by pattern books and Sears Roebuck & Company mail order kits, the American Foursquare spread to residential neighborhoods throughout the United States. Sears also offered a machine that could manufacture cement blocks on site.

Frederick W. Baxter owned the home from 1914 to 1948.  In 1934, Baxter and Roscoe A. Douglas of Johnstown opened the Douglas Cash Store in Longmont featuring ladies ready-to-wear, dry goods, shoes, men’s clothing, furnishings, and notions.

419 TERRY STREET / Bashor House – built 1910

The Nora and Alpheus Bashor House was built by Ann and David Lykins.  The Lykins sold the home to Nora and Alpheus Bashor in 1917. 

Alpheus Bashor was a master of many trades – a successful farmer, apiculturist, writer and for many years the leading auctioneer in northern Colorado”.  A 1903 biography notes that Alpheus Bashor was a frequent contributor to the Longmont Ledger newspaper.  The September 1943 obituary published in the Daily Times-Call states “…kept himself well versed in matters of interest and played his role in the progress of the community”. 

The home features unique architecture characteristics including decorative braces and 18-pane upper-story windows.

537 TERRY STREET / Thompson House – built ca. 1887

John Thompson, who came to Longmont in 1871, built the J.B. Thompson House in the Queen Anne style.  Thompson was an incorporator of the narrow gauge Longmont and Erie Railroad in 1878. He went into the hardware business in 1877, located at 346 Main Street. He was Town Clerk in 1875, Town Treasurer in 1883, and was elected Mayor in 1888. He was also director of the First National Bank, a charter member of the First Congregational Church and active in civic affairs.

In addition to being a public-spirited citizen, he was also a humorist. Before he arrived in Colorado, he wrote a satirical poem about the advantages of the Colorado climate (Experiments in Colorado Colonization). In later years, he wrote humorous articles for the Longmont Call known now as the Longmont Times-Call.

921 LONGS PEAK AVENUE / Judish House – built 1939

Built in 1939, Leah and Anthony Judish owned this home from 1945 to 2002.  A 1958 newspaper article recounts the Judish’s efforts to raise a herd of reindeer in a five acre lot just south of Third Avenue on Hover Road. 

Prior to moving to Longmont, the Judishes lived in various parts of Alaska where Anthony was employed by the Department of Interior looking after a herd of 30,000 reindeer.  In the late 1940’s, Judish had ten reindeer shipped by air freight from Nome to Seattle and then trucked to Longmont.