608 LaFarge Ave Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL7976 Temporary Resource Number: 157508436005 Change to General Architectural Description: The 2-story addition has complex hip roofs and is sided with the same yellow steel siding as the rest of the house. On the north side of the addition, there is a projecting bay with a hip roof at the first floor. The bay features one window and a wood panel door with one glass light, providing access to a brick and railroad tie stoop. On the east side, the first floor of the addition extends beyond the second floor. At the north end, it has a 45-degree clipped bay with a hipped roof and fixed or casement aluminum windows, plus a wood door flanked by two sidelights. The door opens to a large brick patio with three railroad tie steps down to the yard. The second floor of the addition has an outdoor deck at the south end, with a square wire railing. The second floor has slider windows, and a glass -in -wood door providing access to the deck. The south side of the addition is not visible. Landscape or special setting description: Jefferson Place Subdivision is a historic residential neighborhood adjacent to downtown Louisville. The subdivision is laid out on a standard urban grid of narrow, deep lots with rear alleys. Houses are built to a fairly consistent setback line along the streets with small front lawns, deep rear yards and mature landscaping. Small, carefully maintained single-family residences predominate. Most of the houses are wood framed, one or one and one-half stories in height, featuring white or light-colored horizontal wood or steel siding, gabled or hipped asphalt shingled roofs and front porches. While many of the houses have been modified over the years, many character -defining features have been retained. Although 608 LaFarge was extensively modified both in the 1950s and in 2005, the house is consistent with these patterns and blends relatively well with the scale and character of the neighborhood. The large 2005 addition is in the rear, retaining the scale of the original one-story cottage along LaFarge. 9. Changes in Condition: None. 10. Changes to Location or Size Information: Addition of 450 square feet = total 1304 square feet. 11. Changes in Ownership: Same ownership as 2000 inventory form. 12. Other Changes, Additions, or Observations: Further research has yielded more information about the ownership and use of the building. The following history gives additional information about the chain of ownership for 608 La Farge Ave., including specific information about families that owned it. It has been found that the Willis family of Louisville was the primary family associated with this property, having owned it for 33 years. Raffaele D Amato ownership, 1902-1926 Lots 10 and 11, which make up this property, were initially sold separately by the developer, Charles C. Welch. In 1898, Welch conveyed twenty-nine different lots in Jefferson Place to a Denver lawyer, Harper Orahood, apparently for Orahood to resell. Lot 10 was one of these lots. Orahood resold it to "Raffaele D Amato" in 1902. "Rafaele Di Amata" acquired Lot 11 in 1902 as well, but this lot was acquired from previous owners J.H. Gilfillan and, before him, Joseph Davis (the identity of the owner between Davis and Gilfillan could not be located). Davis had acquired it from Welch in 1894. Thus, Raffaele D Amato was the owner of both lots starting in 1902. The available Boulder County property records indicate that he was the owner until 1926. The 1904 Boulder County Directory for Louisville shows "Raffiel Dammatt" and his wife, Lizzie, living on "Lafarge btw. Pine & Hutchinson," which describes the location of 608 La Farge. His occupation is given as "miner." Unfortunately, no other information about this owner could be located. Boulder County gives 1900 as the year of construction of this house. However, it is the 1908 Sanborn map, as well as the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville, that show this house in the correct location and not the 1900 Sanborn map. The house appears to have been constructed between the time of the 1900 Sanborn map and the time of the 1908 Sanborn map. 2