An 1880s Victorian Mansion in the Colorado Rockies: The Estemere Estate at Palmer Lake

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An 1880s Victorian Mansion in the Colorado Rockies: The Estemere Estate at Palmer Lake Page 22

by Edwards, Daniel


  The following lithograph shows a very early rendition of Estamere III. Was this drawn by Sterner for Thompson? It depicts the tower, “observatory,” and one fountain in their correct respective places, although the boxy structure of the remainder of the house does not resemble the Estemere of today.

  A newspaper article from 01 January 1889 stated:

  Dr. Thompson has completed plans for a 100-foot tower on his private grounds. The tower is to be surmounted with a miniature representation of the clock in Westminster Hall, London. The clock will strike every five minutes, and can be heard four miles. It was manufactured in England and is now in Denver.[182]

  The clock was never installed and its whereabouts are unknown. No other record was discovered regarding this clock. The citizens of Palmer Lake are indeed fortunate that the clock was not installed, as a chime that sounded every five minutes and could be heard for four miles would have driven everyone mad from lack of sleep!

  Design concept for Estamere, ca. 1887.

  We do know that in 1883 Thompson commissioned Sterner to design a home for him in Denver, but it was never built. A lithograph of that house is seen on the next page. Sterner was the architect of the Antlers Hotel, Glen Eyre (William Palmer’s estate), and Briarhurst (the William Bell House) in Colorado Springs, as well as other famous structures in and around Colorado Springs, some owned by the D&RG railroad or its officials with whom Thompson was acquainted. Sterner moved to New York City in 1906 where he became famous for remodeling “brownstones.” A Google search for “Frederick J. Sterner” will return many articles about this famous architect.

  Several factors suggest the possibility of a continuing association of Sterner with Estamere. Edward W. Rollins was loaning money to Finley Thompson by 1886. Rollins became president of the Denver Athletic Club in 1888 and led the effort to construct a new building for the Club on 14th and Glenarm in Denver that was completed in 1891. The architect was Frederick J. Sterner. That same year Rollins’ company assumed control of Estamere. Rollins later sold Estamere to Eben Smith, and the firm of Varian and Sterner already had done some work for Smith in Denver from 1894 to 1898. It is likely that Smith at least consulted with Sterner when he upgraded Estamere from 1898 to 1901, especially if he knew that Sterner had drawn plans for Finley Thompson in 1887.

  Compare Estamere III (below and on the cover) with the house illustrated in the Sterner lithograph. The two exhibit similar architectural details. One may reasonably assume that Sterner either assisted or provided specific suggestions to Thompson for the additions to convert the rather simple Estamere II into the Queen Anne Victorian Estamere III.

  Estamere III 1893 by Poley. From Dan Edwards’ collection.

  The 1893 photo of Estamere, above and on the cover, was scanned at 1600 dpi from an original photograph in Dan Edwards’ collection. The photo on the DVD has amazing resolution. One can see at least eight lighting rods on the roofs, a water faucet with a hose attached leading to the lower fountain, the “stable” attached to the left side of the Carriage House, the Cottage, and urns on the right-most set of steps. Several of the capstones for the rock wall are missing. The east Billiard Room’s stained glass windows show caned stained-glass medallions.

  Sterner lithograph of a home in Denver he designed for W.F. Thompson.

  Purchased by Roger Ward on eBay.

  In addition to the rooms of Estamere II, Estamere III now had the following:

  The Main Floor

  Servant’s Bedroom, Servant’s Bathroom, a larger Kitchen, Billiard Room with fireplace, and two rooms for Thompson’s office—with a fireplace in each. Some speculate that these two rooms were used by Thompson as a reception room and a procedure room for practicing oral surgery in Palmer Lake. Dr. Thompson may have had a dental chair at Estamere, but there is no evidence that he ever had an established dental practice anywhere in Colorado.

  The Billiard Room fireplace with its ornate mantel.

  The simple, steel fireplace mantel (with a marble top) in the

  easternmost room of Estemere III (bottom).

  Two views of Estamere with The Rocklands Hotel in the foreground.

  The Second Floor

  The fifth bedroom (Mrs. Thompson’s sewing room) was probably added at this time.

  The Third Floor

  The “Observatory” (which supposedly was used by Mrs. Thompson for her plants) was added to the northeast of the existing small sitting area with fireplace and access to the stairs to the Widow’s walk.

  Furnishings of Estamere III

  By the time Estamere III was completed around 1888, it was most assuredly regal. The interior contained fine fireplace mantels, probably from Germany, including tiles from Italy. The floors were covered with carpets (possibly wall-to-wall). The finest hardware was used for the door hinges and the doorknobs. Much of the interior trim work was shipped in from mills in Chicago. [Kim and Roger saw identical millwork on a tour of Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, Canada. The curator told us he had traced it to Chicago.] E. Chapin Gard, in his 1894 booklet, said that “About $75,000 has been expended on the house and premises….” [That’s over $1.5 million in 2011 dollars, which is surely a gross exaggeration.] Gard also mentions the stained glass windows in the billiard room that remain one of the highlights of the home today. We do not believe any furniture from Thompson’s days remains at Estamere today (except possibly a buffet), even though some believe the poker table is “original.” [The poker table has a moving-van sticker on its underside, indicating it was moved to Estemere by later tenants.] The buffet was surely present during Eben Smith’s days (see below), and it is possible that it belonged to Thompson, as there is a “side board in the dining room” in the list of Thompson’s furniture that Eben bought from Thompson’s sister, Mrs. Berry, in 1898.

  We have no record of the original lighting for Estamere. Lighting probably consisted of candles and oil lamps. [Eben Smith bought an acetylene generator and gas chandeliers in 1899, indicating there were no gas lights present when he bought Estamere.]

  We are often asked if we found any treasures during the restoration of Estemere. Unfortunately, we did not. However, behind the chapel, we found many pieces of broken glass and a few intact glass bottles. We found the trademark on one of the pieces and were thereby able to identify the china dishes probably owned by the Thompsons. We purchased a John Maddock & Sons “Seville” plate on eBay. [The Seville pattern dates to about 1890, so it may have been owned by Eben Smith.]

  (Left) Bits of a beautiful china dish found at Estemere. Unidentified pattern. ( Right) Several intact bottles were found. The left-most bottle is a cork-capped Vaseline™ bottle. The small trace of petroleum jelly it contained was still soft.

  The original Estamere washtub now at the Palmer Lake Museum.

  The Grounds of Estamere III

  Some of the features observable in early photographs are still part of Estemere today. In the cover photograph, one may see the beautiful cast-iron lamp posts at the top of the main steps, the two fountains with cherubs holding fish, and the cresting on top of the billiard room. Trees and shrubs have come and gone over the years.

  Occasionally, some of the outside features of the house were removed (e.g., the upper porches, finials on the roof peaks, lighting rods, and the lions), only to be replaced by later owners.

  Smith’s Work on Estamere III and Its Grounds

  Many changes took place at Estamere during the years Eben Smith owned the estate. The main one that changed the exterior of the main house, however, was the addition of a new master bedroom to the north-east end of the house in 1900—the last major modification to the buildings of Estamere for the next 100 years. Eben’s son, Frank, supervised the construction of the new bedroom.

  Based upon receipts in the Smith Collection at the Denver Public Library, Eben used the architectural Denver firm of Varian and Sterner for design work on his Denver house from 1894-1898, and perhaps at Estamere. In addition, there are many receipts for labor and materi
als used at Estamere during the time Smith owned the property. Of particular interest are the letters and invoices from John L. Woodbury. From these letters we learn that in 1899:

  · Woodbury had the inside of the house painted ($2/day) and carpeted.

  · Woodbury’s wages were $3/day.

  · The wrought-iron fence was painted with black asphaltum paint. The tips were painted bronze.

  · The gas (carbide?) house was built.

  · The “tank” house was built. [Is this the water tank seen in a few early photos taken from above Estamere?]

  · The stone wall was completed.

  · The grading of the lawn (and completing the stone wall?) created many loads of broken stone and debris.

  · There was a building called the “coal house.”

  · Water was supplied by both the town of Palmer Lake and the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad’s lines.

  In September 1900:

  · Woodbury spent many hours repairing the porch and roof; and packing household goods to ship, along with the horses, to Denver—apparently preparing for winter.

  · One chore was to “fix handles on commodes.”

  · Wages for shoveling snow were $0.20/hour.

  In February 1905 Woodbury reported that:

  · The D&RG railroad laid new water pipe from their reservoirs and left Estamere with the town’s water as its only source.

  · The temperature plunged to -27˚F that month.

  This postcard, below, shows the lions, and the flag flying above the tower. [The wooden flagpole, in bad shape, was still in the tower when the Wards bought Estemere in 1998. It is now behind the Shed.]

  Postcard of Estamere: photo ca. 1901. [Without “Wilson and Judd.”]

  This octagonal structure clearly seen in the foreground-middle of this postcard which dates from the RMSS days is believed to be the water tank that is mentioned in the Woodbury letters—used to supply water pressure for the estate and to run the two fountains.

  Behind and above Estemere, looking southwest, ca. 1930.

  Note Nininger’s comments from Chapter 5:

  The mansion’s self-sufficiency was completed by the effective carbide light system. This plant was situated in a little out-building up on the mountainside, lime-covered and somewhat noisome. But it fed a glow of soft gas-light into every corner of the big home, caught and reflected in a glorious collection of crystalled and chimneyed chandeliers.

  So, is the structure in the center of the photo, above, the carbide plant mentioned by Nininger and NOT a water tank? Other structures appear occasionally in photos of Estamere that compete for the honor of being the carbide house. The mystery of the location of the carbide house remains to this day.

  In this next postcard, postmarked 1914, several things can be noted: on the far right-hand side can be seen an octagonal “water tower” (?); the cherub is missing on the upper fountain; and there are no lions on the front steps. Hence, the photo must have been taken after 1906, the year Eben Smith died.

  After 1906 (no lions); postmarked 1914.

  On the right side of the photo above one can just make out the porch on the bedroom added by Eben Smith in 1900.

  From a photo on page 10 of the 1929 RMSS The Estemere (Chapter 5) there is a photo of the main house looking westward. In this photo one can see the porch over the outside door of the east bedroom. This porch also appears in several other photographs. No evidence of the porch remains today.

  The porch on the east bedroom.

  As mentioned earlier, the train service to Palmer Lake was excellent. Eben Smith availed himself of this convenient source of transportation to have goods and supplies shipped to Estamere, which is located only a few blocks from the site of the old train stations by the lake. Entire railroad cars may have transported large bundles of building materials for use at Estamere. We found a plank from one such shipment addressed to “Eben Smith Palmer Lake Colo,” in the attic of his new master bedroom. Also, one piece of bedroom flooring is similarly addressed to Eben on its underside.

  Plank from a shipping crate.

  Much of what we know about Eben’s modifications to Estamere may be gleaned from perusing the receipts found in the Eben Smith Collection at the Denver Public Library. Fortunately, Eben required all bills to be sent to his Denver office, that all receipts be stamped “Paid,” returned to him, and saved. After his death, these receipts were given to the Denver Library.

  From these receipts we find that Eben had a bathtub installed in 1898 and that he had a telephone at Estamere in 1899. We also learn about prices in the 1890s: a plumber cost $0.75 per hour, gardeners charged $0.25 per hour, rain gutter was $0.15/foot, a hand saw was $1.25, shipping a ton of coal was $0.50, and gasoline was $0.25 per gallon. [To convert these prices into 2011 dollars one must multiply by about 28—to learn more, visit Consumer Price Index.]

  Lighting

  We know from his receipts that Eben used acetylene gas for lighting. Acetylene gas was produced by pouring water onto calcium carbide granules in an acetylene generator. The generator was usually housed in what was known as the “carbide house.” The carbide house was often removed from the main house by a few hundred feet, as it was prone to explode or catch on fire. At Estamere, the current “chapel” originally may have been the carbide house. The acetylene was delivered to the gas ceiling lamps via lead tubing having a very small internal diameter. [During our renovations copious amounts of this lead tubing was found in the floors, ceilings, and walls.]

  On 02 June of 1899 Eben bought an acetylene generator and then on 15 June he bought at least 23 chandeliers and pendant lights.

  The only new feature of interest in the looks of the town [Palmer Lake] is the illumination of the house and grounds of “Estamere,” Eben Smith’s home, by the private gas plant just completed.”[183]

  Eben had 2000 pounds of calcium carbide delivered to Estamere in 1901.

  Lead tubing for the “carbide” lights.

  Gas lights continued to be used at Estamere until 1932. [Sometime prior to 1932 natural gas was used for lighting, as we found “black pipe” throughout the house during restoration—black pipe is used only for natural gas.]

  It is unfortunate that in order to install the lead pipe—and later the black pipe, and still later the wiring for electric lights—it was necessary to cut holes in the ceilings of many of the rooms, or in the floors in the rooms above. The repairs to the floors often were done poorly, but the carpeting covered the repairs so the quality of the repairs was not a problem. However, when in 1998 we removed the carpeting, hoping to refinish the original floors and leave them bare, we discovered the problems. As a result, we opted to replace all of the floors with ash hardwood.

  1901 receipt for calcium carbide.

  Eben Smith’s Furnishings

  As with Dr. Thompson, we do not know much about the furnishings at Estamere during Eben’s ownership. However, because of a 1901 newspaper article on Estamere, we know that one piece of furniture from Eben’s tenure is still at Estemere today—a buffet. Much of what we know about Estamere during Eben Smith’s days is due to the full-page article in a 20 October 1901 Denver Times newspaper article.

  The buffet in the Denver Times 1901 article and the buffet today.

  We must assume that Dr. Thompson had a billiard table—after all, he built a billiard room onto the house! However, Thompson’s table must have been sold, as we find that in 1899 Eben bought a “Phister” model Brunswick-Balke-Collender “Carrom” (sic) table.

  Receipt for “Phister” table; below—photo of a Brunswick “Pfister”.

  The billiard table at Estemere today is still a Brunswick-Balke-Collender, but it is the “Wellington” model, manufactured from 1882-1905. One of Leonard’s sons said that his family brought the table and the chandelier above the billiard table to Estemere in the 1960s.

  The “Wellington” Brunswick billiard table at Estemere today.

  Eben also had a chalk bust of Admiral George Dewey in a small al
cove in an upper corner of the billiard room. Dewey was a Spanish-American War hero who became an Admiral of the Navy in 1899. He is the only U.S. Naval officer ever to achieve this rank. [The bust is still sitting there today.]

  Admiral Dewey photo and bust.

  List of furniture purchased from Mrs. Berry at Palmer Lake (undated, c. 1898)

  1 Small Table in Parlor

  1 Rocker in Parlor

  1 Carpet in Parlor

  9 Chairs in Dining Room

  1 Side Board in Dining Room

  1 Table in Reception Room

  2 Pictures in Dining Room

  1 Shield in Dining Room

  1 Wicker Rocker in Dining Room

  4 Chairs in Billiard Room

  2 Brackets in Billiard Room

  1 Table in front room upstairs

  1 Revolving Chair in front room upstairs

 

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