We discover more every year about our unique property, but here are a few random tidbits we know so far:

The original mansion that stood on the land was built in 1890 and located where the Ring and Field are. It extended out into the driveway quite a ways as well, we’re told. The house was brick with lots of fancy stained glass windows and a large wrap-around porch. The current brick house we’re living in was originally the carriage house to the mansion. I absolutely love to think how horses bedded in the same structure that we lay our heads at night.

We don’t have the address for the original house because there were apparently no addresses when loveland was initially settled, and then through the years a few 1st Street addresses around our house appeared, changed, and/or disappeared so we’re still trying to suss out which house address is ours as we slowly make our way through the Library’s history books. It’s a fun winter date-night activity for us.   **if there are any history buffs reading this we’d LOVE any more information you might have, or might be able to find, about our beloved home’s history.

The original mansion burned down in, we’re told, the late 1960’s and stood mostly untouched for about 20 years until Jason’s grandfather wanted to purchase the property. The original house had to either be repaired or torn down to facilitate the sale and so the sellers chose to dismantle her.

Some of the bricks from the original house are being repurposed on the exterior of the Hobbit coop. One day our wonderful neighbor, Butch the Gingerbread Man (blue house on the corner), came by to see what I was building and when I explained the project he said he wanted to give me a stack of bricks that have been sitting in his backyard for years which he salvaged from the main house as they were tearing it down. Needless to say that was one of the greatest and most original gifts I’ve ever received! You can see which bricks on the coop are from the old house – they’re the ones protruding just a bit out further than all the rest.

At some point in the early 1900’s a brick mason and his son owned the property and I’m wondering if that’s why there are so many brick layers on the exterior of the house. All the exterior walls are, depending on the room, 16-20″ thick due to 3 layers brick, plaster, framing and then drywall.

According to our most vetran-to-the-hood neighbors a “hoarder cat lady” lived here for a long while. Supposedly half the house still had no flooring and was still just dirt and so she used cardboard for flooring. She passed away in the home and it was a bit of a neighborhood spectacle as the home was cleaned out of all her amassed belongings.

The covered patio in the West yard used to be a stone outbuilding, and you can still see the perimeter of the foundation around the cement pad.

The garage was built in 1991 by Jason’s grandfather.

On the West property line at the driveway you can still see metal horse ties that have been pounded down back onto the concrete curb.

Several times while digging I’ve found brick or stone borders and walkways buried 9-12″ below the surface, so you can tell how much organic matter has collected on top of the ground in the 127 years. And who knows? Those may not even be original walkways and borders either.

We’ve found many marbles, a 1902 coin, a metal belt buckle, wire rim glasses, and several beautiful old bottles while digging in the yard. Jason is thinking about investing in a metal detector to see what else we can find.

 

 

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