Turn to Colorado history for inspiration

We like to look at houses and buildings. Even when we are on vacation we’ll stop to tour an open house. If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll have seen our photos from our visit to CityCenter in Las Vegas.
   Some other places we turn to find architectural and design inspiration are web sites, shelter magazines, and our friends’ and neighbors’ houses. We watch the decorating shows on TV as well as the comedies and dramas. If there is a living space, we’re takin’ notes on the design. We like to tour model homes, too. (You do know that we furnish model homes for builders here in Summit County, don’t you?)

Lula Myers Ranch House

And then there is one more place: historical homes and buildings. The Summit Historical Society maintains historical houses and other buildings in Breckenridge, Dillon, Montezuma and Silverthorne. A family outing to these places yields at least three benefits: 1.) you might pick up some design ideas for your own home, 2.) you might learn a fact or two about the early days in Colorado, and 3.) you get away from the TV, video games and the computer for a day.
   Here is a summary of some of the buildings. The descriptions are courtesy of the Summit Historical Society. See its website for more information and directions. After you take a tour, stop in and tell us what you saw, what you liked, and how home furnishings have changed in 100 years or so. Have fun!
   William Harrison Briggle House, Breckenridge. In 1898, William and Kathleen Briggle bought a one-room log cabin and enlarged it by six rooms downstairs and three rooms upstairs, and then put clapboard over the entire structure. The dark-green trim represents dollar bills. Large windows in the dining room and front parlor resemble bank windows.
   At a time when closets were taxed as rooms, the Briggles had a dressing room that contained three closets. You’ll see dresses, suits, shoes and hats that still fill the closets. You’ll also see what Katie’s neighbors envied most–her cold pantry. Really two rooms, the inner room has a gravity-pull sink and well-stocked shelves of kitchenware; the outer room served as a refrigerator. 
   Lula Myers Ranch House, Dillon. This two-story, 16-foot by 24-foot log house was built in 1885 by Charles Delker under the Federal Homestead Act. The logs are hand hewn with an ax and chinked with sticks, rocks, clay and rags, with flattened cans nailed over the chinking on the outside. The house was occupied by two well-known Summit County families: the Delkers and the Myers. Both men made most of their money in mining-related businesses. Many parties and social events were held in this house. A cookstove, kitchen utensils, housekeeping tools, china, and other household items are on display.
   Slate Creek Hall, Silverthorne. In 1936, ranching families built a community hall.  The men, employed by the Work Project of America, used wood from nearby forests to build the 30-foot by 60-foot structure. (The floor is made of imported tongue-in-groove jointed oak.) Wooden folding chairs and benches were the only furniture in the hall. Every other weekend, the chairs were pushed against the walls so people from all over the county could dance to the strains of local bands and square-dance callers. The dances were followed by midnight suppers.

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