Historic Homes Feature: 630 Peterson St. - The Addie R. DeBolt Residence

c. 1906
Owners: Tim and Carol Cochran
Style - Queen Anne

Welcome to the Addie R. Debolt House. For some, perhaps, welcome back, as this home was featured on the 1999 Historic Homes Tour.

The Addie R. Debolt residence was designated a Historic Landmark Property in 1998 and named for one of the property’s earliest owners. Interestingly, it seems while Addie purchased this lot in 1903, she never resided here. In fact, as best can be determined from contemporaneous records, there was not a home on this site during Addie’s lifetime. She tragically passed away at the family home on Mathews Street in November 1904, age 48, from typhoid fever. Her obituary tells us she contracted the illness caring for her neighbor’s children who were suffering typhoid fever. Her husband, Leroy, a saddler with a business in the Welch Block on College Avenue, sold the land at this site to A. J. Hood, a local carpenter, for $135 in July of 1906, in an effort to provide for his and Addie’s minor daughter, Nettie. A. J. Hood subdivided the lot, reselling this parcel in January of 1907 for $1500, suggesting the home was constructed in late 1906.

The years following construction saw quick succession of families residing here: the first residents may have been Harry Hartman (a clerk of the district court, who incidentally oversaw the legal transfer of this very property) with his wife and children; in 1908 a store owner named Orlando Aldrich lived here with his family; in 1909, shoe salesman Joseph Alpert resided here briefly with his wife; and in 1913 the building housed the Tully family. Whilst residing here, their daughter Kathleen, a graduate of the Colorado Agricultural College, earned the highest grade in the national civil service examination for domestic science teachers [The Weekly Courier, July 28, 1916]. In 1919, a dentist named John Schwab, who had offices in the Avery Block, lived here with his wife, Naomi. This building was expanded in the last twenty years with a complementary rear addition. The house remains a wonderful example of the Queen Anne style, illustrated in the original part of the home by the hipped roof with cross gables, the dominant front-facing, ornamented gable, the bay windows, an asymmetrical facade and porch, and the simple windows and surrounds. Queen Anne homes were a popular style across the country at the turn of the previous century, as the floor plans and building supplies were available for order from catalogs, and shipped via railroad. Two similar homes, one with an enclosed porch and the other not enclosed, are located nearby on East Myrtle Street.

Queen Anne homes typically also have an asymmetrical floor plan within, complementing the asymmetry of the exterior. Period gems to be found within this home include tall ceilings, original cabinetry, original Japanned door hinges throughout and a set of original pocket doors. The owners also possess the home’s original Abstract of Title.

Jodie Chamberlain