The Story Of Our Nation Can Be Gleaned From These Historic Homes

Ten local homes with historic pasts, unique architecture, and important stories

From farmland & mines, to small towns, to burgeoning suburbs, the land most of us live on today has seen an incredible transformation over the last hundred years. In 2023 Yellow Scene Magazine explored the history of BOCO and the North Metro, illuminating the stories of how farmland and mining towns transformed, slowly at first, into growing suburbs that soon connected Denver to Boulder. What was once the space in between two cities had filled in.

Interestingly enough, some of the earliest buildings have been relocated from their original location. Elizabeth Beaudoin, curator of history for the city of Longmont, spoke to YS about the phenomenon of moving entire structures into “archeology parks” to not only preserve history, but open land for development. Some of these early farms stood on the most scenic or fertile land as early settlers naturally took the best plots when they arrived. Although the structures no longer stand where they were constructed, some museums and archaeology parks have relocated them to teach about the history of early settlers in Colorado.

The story of how the land was stolen from the indigenous nations living here always echoes in the past. We do need to acknowledge that many of these structures were built shortly after people were forcibly removed or killed, and make sure that looking back on the architecture and pioneer stories does not glamorize the genocidal aspect of the dark colonial past.

Arnett Fullen House

Arnett-Fullen House – Boulder
Built 1877

Possibly the most iconic home in all of Boulder, the Arnett-Fullen house’s foundation was laid in 1877. The house is full of tales, some maybe too tall to believe. Its original owner, Willamete Arnett, died in Alaska while prospecting for gold at the turn of the century. Over its 147 year life span, the building has been used as a showpiece for the wealthy, government office, historic center, and a stop on ghost tours due its rumors of hauntings.

When finished, it was the most expensive home in the area by far, double that of nearby Mapleton Hill homes, itself an “upper class” neighborhood. The cost of construction was about $4,000, which roughly translates to just over $120,000 today.

Current owner’s described it to the Daily Camera as “a little farmhouse with ostentatious Victorian aspirations.” More specifically, AboutBoulder states that architect George E. King created “… an excellent example of Queen Anne-style architecture. This style was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s, characterized by asymmetrical facades, towers, and turrets, often with ornate details such as stained glass windows, decorative shingles, and carved woodwork.”

Often included in ghost tours due to stories of the place being haunted, it’s up to you to decide whether little Olivia Fullen still roams the halls or not. The legend of its ghostly apparition was heightened by the home’s inspiration for a horror novel that spawned its nickname of “Gingerbread House.” Childlike figures do actually appear in the windows from time to time — as a prank by the current owners.

Brunner Farmhouse – Broomfield
Built 1908

The Brunner farmhouse still stands, but not in its original location. As Broomfeild boomed in the 1990s, suburbs and shopping centers now grew from the farmland. The house was relocated to preserve its history and also make way for the Broomfield Town Center development.

Brunner farmhouse was renovated several times over the decades, some of the main improvements being heating and cooking mechanisms. The history of the nation’s transition from coal to natural gas and electricity can be traced through changes the kitchen and other rooms have been through.

The farmhouse was built in 1908 when Broomfield was still just two gas stations and a smattering of local businesses. The home is named after the second ever mayor of Broomfield, Dr. Brunner, who lived here. Dr. Brunner — himself a gardener — would likely be very pleased to see that the house, although in a new location, is still surrounded by flowers and gardens maintained by community volunteers.

The property is open for visits and the events are held here throughout the year. The yellow walls and welcoming porch have seen countless visitors and locals join together for community gatherings for well over 100 years now.

Wise Homestead Museum – Erie
Built 1869

The Wise Homestead museum is an interesting mixture of rural and Victorian architecture. Victorian homes, as adapted in the United States, often consisted of a simple internal structure adorned with asymmetrical features, steep sloping roofs, porches, and intricate wood detailings. They were usually two or more stories high, and built “up” instead of “out.” Traditional Western farmhouses, in contrast, were usually long, squat, and rectangular single story buildings. The Wise Homestead combines both features: the facade of a more decadent style and the practicality of living on a homestead.

The first house on the property was a log cabin, probably similar to the one President Lincoln was born in. Following the conclusion of the Civil War, the face of the nation changed. The Wise family was granted a U.S. Homestead Patent in 1870, with construction on the current home starting around the same time. Sara Wise, great-granddaughter of the original inhabitants, along with the Erie Historical Society, turned the home into a museum which is currently open on Saturdays for visits.

Thomas M. Callahan House

Thomas M. Callahan House – Longmont
Built 1892

Although located in Longmont, the Thomas M. Callahan House is constructed with red Lyons sandstone. The distinct pink-red colored stone was also used in many of UC Boulder’s buildings and can be seen on older homes of the wealthy in the area. Numerous prestigious buildings of the day used Lyons redstone to mark their importance.

The home is a fine example of the Queen Ann style Victorian revival architecture common at the time. This style was that of the wealthy — meant to portray class, sophistication, and worldliness. Queen Ann architecture is set apart by the distinctive corner turret or tower, L-shaped wrap-around porch, and other fanciful exterior decor. Both the construction materials and the style make the Callahan house a symbol of pride and wealth for the city. The Callahan’s themselves eventually moved to Nevada and donated the house to Longmont for use as an event space, which it still is today.

Miller House – Lafayette
Built late 1880s

Like so many plots on the Front Range, Mary Miller’s land was transformed with the discovery of coal. The Miller’s moved to Colorado before it was officially a state and Mary witnessed the growth of the coal industry that would forever shape the course of Colorado history. Their home too would grow from a rustic wood cabin to the formal structure that exists today, reflecting the growth and development the West was going through after the Civil War.

Mary had a hard life at times. In 1878, her husband died from alcohol abuse. She was forced to run the ranch herself. She buried two of her children before their thirteenth birthdays. Mary went on to found the town of Lafayette, named after her late husband, and saw great business success. She founded the first school, divided her land into neighborhoods, and formed a local bank with the profits from coal.

The Miller House serves as a reminder of the difficulty and transformation of living in a frontier area, but more importantly preserves the story of a woman who shaped a city long before she could even vote. Mary passed in 1921, one year after women’s suffrage was implemented.

Ginacci House – Louisville
Built in 1908

According to History Colorado, the Ginacci house “is a rare brick example of the modest residences constructed by local coal miners.” Not every home can have spiraling towers, Victorian facades, and intricate wood detailing. Sometimes a brick house that withstands the test of time is just as impressive.

As the name hints, the house is associated with the Italian population in Louisville. Once the residence of immigrant coal miners, the story of the Ginacci family is like many who came from abroad seeking a better life. Unfortunately for many men, and boys, that meant toiling underground in coal mines. Strikes were common throughout the interwar years of the 20s and 30s, often turning violent. Rights we take for granted today were fought for by the coal miners and other workers of this time.

Fittingly enough for its Italian roots, a spaghetti making machine was built when the house was expanded in 1926. The home is also known as the Jannucci House, a version of the last name the family used in a time before spelling was as rigidly codified as it is today.

Bowles House

Bowles House – Westminster
Built in 1871

The Bowles House was built in a different architectural style than other structures on this list. Most have been either Victiorian — or some derivation like Queen Ann — or older but simpler farmhouses. The Bowles House harkens back to the Renaissance days of Italy, conjuring up architectural memories of Florence in a style called Italianate.

Cowboy turned homesteader, Edward Bruce Bowles turned his initial wood-frame farm house into the beautiful brick home that stands today. He found success as not only a homesteader, but also as a horse breeder. He donated money to construct a train station in what was then called the town of Despain Junction. Westminster was a separate but nearby town at the time.

Having a railroad stop was the key to economic success for pioneer towns that wanted to transform into cities. Bowles was the second permanent white resident, behind only the man who gave the town its name, Pleasant Despain himself. The house has been a museum for decades now, offering tours on Saturdays.

William J. Gregory House – Westminster

Built in 1910

Westminster was founded years after Despain Junction, but unlike the earlier town, still survives today. One of the earliest homes in Westminster itself was the William J. Gregory House built in 1910. The home was associated with Westminster University, however the institution shut down in 1917 after its entire male student body went off to fight in WWI.

Gregory was a pastor and a professor at Westminster university, teaching language and Bible courses before it shuttered. The Westminster Castle, the original university building, is owned by a local church.

The curved eaves of the Gregory House construct starkly with the steep Victorian peaks of other historic homes of the era. History Colorado described it as “a rare Colorado example of a solid brick, two-and-a-half story Dutch Colonial Revival style residence.”

Grasso Park – Superior
Various dates

Grasso Park is an example of an outdoor museum that shows what a turn of the century farmstead looked like. It holds a collection of buildings ranging from the late 1800s to the early 1900s as well as farm equipment used at the time.

The land that is now Grasso park was once called Hake Homestead, a piece of land that again harkened back to the Civil War era Homestead Act. When the Hake’s left to seek fortune elsewhere, Frank Grasso took over and started a dairy farm to get away from the brutal coal miner’s life. Grasso was a Polish immigrant who served in the German Empire’s Army before migrating to the United States.

Grasso Park displays the changing architecture that reflects the shifts Colorado, and the nation as a whole, were going through. There are early homestead buildings, dairy farm remnants, farm equipment, and a coal shed. Grasso himself even led striking miners when they descended on the Columbine mine demanding better working conditions and pay. The main building is the temporary home of the Superior Historical Museum.

Dearfield Colony

Dearfield Colony Buildings
1910-1946

Oliver Toussaint Jackson, the son of two former slaves, was so inspired by reading Black literature emerging from the Reconstruction era that he decided to found a Black majority agricultural community in Weld County. In 1910 Jackson founded the Dearfield Colony as a place for Black farmers to establish self-sufficiency.

The farmers struggled financially throughout most of the colony’s history. WWI was a brief but glorious boom time with over 700 residents and a thriving religious and social scene. However, by the end of the second World War, the colony was mostly abandoned. The ravages of the dust bowl, the recruitment of young men into war, and the shifting nature of the global balance of power all played a hand in turning the wheel of time that made boom towns to ghost towns.

The main building that remains — a multi-purpose store — evokes a typical “Wild West” feel, presenting a tall false front, wide wooden porch, and a rectangular single story interior. More stories and information about the history of Black Colorado can be found in the Museum of Boulder’s new Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History exhibit. The Dearfield site itself is not open to the public and has sadly been vandalized from time to time.

Currently, there is movement towards recovering the colony’s history. In January 2023, a study was started to determine the future of the site. Possibilities include rebuilding fallen structures, conducting archaeological surveys, and officially designating it a National Park.

The spaces in between

Many of the historic homes and structures of Colorado were constructed between 1860 -1910 when the United States was emerging from the Civil War as a truly modern nation taking its place on a global scale. The Federal government greatly expanded, railroads crossed the continent, and robber barons made fortunes from transportation and energy monopolies. Colorado became a state during this period, as did several other Western territories.

Internal displacement of people is nothing new during and after civil wars. This was the time of the Homestead Act which gave farmers, mostly white ones, the opportunity to own land in areas the U.S. had never officially settled before. This was the time of Reconstruction, where many Black families fled the South to create memories in new lands. Most went to urban centers like Chicago, Charleston, or New Orleans, but plenty others ventured West to seek a frontier life instead.

White settlers pushed further West, indigenous inhabitants were pushed further to the fringes, Black folks finally free from the bondage of slavery spread across the continent. Immigrants arrived from Europe on the East coast and Asia on the West. These movements were made possible by emerging transportation technologies. This was a time of migration and resettlement, of imagined utopia and working class hell.

The global industrial powerhouse the U.S. became during the World Wars was built on the homesteads, coal mines, railroads, and oil fields across the nation. New wealthy classes, exemplified by their fanciful Victorian architecture, populated the most desirable neighborhoods. CU Boulder students, returning veterans, and waves of immigrants transformed the population over time. Indigenous land turned to homesteads that became mining towns that grew into suburbs. The stories of nationhood are traced through the walls and foundations of the historic homes of BOCO and the North Metro.