809 LaFarge Ave Historic Survey - Laserfiche WebLink

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Resource Number: 5BL 7986 Temporary Resource Number: 157508414011 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, most of the historic character -defining features have been preserved. 809 La Farge is consistent with these patterns and blends well with the scale and character of the neighborhood. This narrow, mid -block lot has a small front yard enclosed with chain link fence. The front yard has a flagstone patio and a grassy area. Narrow side yards are also grassy, as is the deep backyard that is enclosed with chain link fence. The rear yard has a brick -edged planter bed. 9. Changes in Condition: None. 10. Changes to Location or Size Information: None. 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. This house was associated with members of an early Slovak family in Louisville, the John Jasko family, who owned this property and are believed to have lived here. John Jasko was an early owner of Lots 1 through 5 of Block 5 of Jefferson Place, which translate to the addresses of 801 (5BL852), 805 (5BL7984), 809, 815 (5BL7988), and 817 La Farge (5BL7989). John Jasko's twin, Joseph Jasko, later in time owned the next two houses to the north of this house, 815 La Farge and 817 La Farge. This house is also one of a few on La Farge owned by the Coet family, the others being 817 La Farge and 821 La Farge (5BL7990). This house is unusual in that Boulder County gives the year of construction as 1882, which is much earlier than the years of construction that the County gives for other buildings in Jefferson Place. The earliest Sanborn maps, those for 1893 and 1900, show a house on this site (although the house appears to have been slightly enlarged by the time of the 1908 Sanborn map). The house also appears in the correct location on the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map. The historical survey information given for this house in 2000 states, "Constructed in 1882, this is one of Louisville's oldest residences." A reason why the 1882 date could be correct is that it is a date when the lot in question exchanged hands, which lends credence to the idea that someone purchased the land and began to build on it. William Hart purchased Lots 1 through 5 from the sister-in-law of Charles Welch, Lucy Welch, in 1882 and owned them until 1892. In a Rocky Mountain News article from 1883, Hart is referred to as being the manager of the Louisville Co -Operative Store, but nothing else about him could be located. The Co -Operative Store is believed to refer to the Miners Trading Co. building that was located at the northwest corner of Pine and Main. Property records show that Hart owned a few different properties in Jefferson Place. John and Helen Jasko then purchased Lots 1 through 5 in 1892. They owned Lot 3, which is 809 La Farge, until 1903 and they are believed to have resided there during their period of ownership. John Jasko was a twin of Joseph Jasko, who later owned 815 and 817 La Farge. They were both born in 1868 in Slovakia. John married Helen Valince; they had both emigrated to the U.S. in the 1880s. John and Helen had several children and John worked as a coal miner in Louisville. When they moved from downtown Louisville in the early 1900s, they took up farming just outside of town near Baseline Rd. John died in 1952 and Helen in 1955. The Jasko brothers' mother, Mary, is listed as living with the John Jasko family at what appears to be this location in the 1900 federal census. She had come to the U.S. in 1896. 2