HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 01/18/2022 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 011, 2022, DESIGNAT Agenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY January 18, 2022
City Council
STAFF
Jim Bertolini, Historic Preservation Planner
Claire Havelda, Legal
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 011, 2022, Designating the Maxwell Rock House, 1433 South Overland Trail,
Fort Collins, Colorado, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the Code of the City of Fort
Collins.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This item is a quasi-judicial matter and if it is considered on the discussion agenda, it will be considered in
accordance with Section 1(f) of the Council’s Rules of Meeting Procedures adopted in Resolution 2021 -093.
The purpose of this item is to request City landmark designation for the property at 1433 South Overland Trail. In
cooperation with the property owner, the Ponds at Overland Trail HOA, City staff and the Historic Preservation
Commission (the “Commission”) have determined the property to be eligible for designation under Standards 2,
Persons/Groups for association with Paul and Emerald Maxwell, important figures in the social history of what is
now west Fort Collins, and under Standard 3, Design/Construction for the property's significance as a rare
surviving example of a stone masonry farmhouse in the Fort Collins area. The HOA owner is requesting
designation, which will provide protection of the property's exterior and immediate grounds, and access to
financial incentives for preservation.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
The Maxwell Rock House at 1433 South Overland Trail is significant under Standards 2, Persons/Groups for
association with Paul & Emerald Maxwell, important figures in the social history of what is now west Fort
Collins, and under Standard 3, Design/Construction for the property's significance as a rare surviving example
of a stone masonry farmhouse in the Fort Collins area.
The Maxwell Rock House is significant as the home from 1940-1972 of Paul & Emerald Maxwell, two
distinguished figures in the agricultural, social, and economic development of what is now west Fort Collins
during the early and mid-1900s. Both Paul and Emerald (Hawley) grew up on farms in the area previously
called North Fossil Creek or District No. 10 (after the school district formed for thi s area in the early 1900s and
housed at the No. 10/Laporte Avenue School at 2540 Laporte Avenue). As young adults, both were active in
the Empire Grange, co-founded by their parents, where they met, married in 1914 and moved to Idaho. Upon
their return to Fort Collins in the 1920s, both resumed leadership roles in the Empire Grange. Emerald was a
socialite among the farming families along Maxwell Road, now Overland Trail, regularly organizing gatherings
for the Empire Grange and South Side Club. Paul Maxwell became a prolific leader in both social and political
circles. In the 1930s and 1940s, he frequently served as the “master” (president) of the Empire Grange,
including providing leadership and guidance to area farmers during the Second World War. He chai red the No.
10 School District board during its construction of the Laporte Avenue school in 1938, including securing
Agenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 2
Works Progress Administration funding for its construction. He also served in various other local and state
level positions including elected office. Besides this, the Maxwells owned significant farm land in what is now
west Fort Collins, although most has been redeveloped into housing developments or City Natural Areas.
The Maxwell Rock House is also significant under Standard 3, Design/Construction for its reflection of rare,
uncut local stone construction built from stones gathered on the Maxwell farm properties over the late 1930s.
While stone construction for building foundations and even entire buildings, such as the Masonic/Oddfellow ’s
Lodge at 149 West Mountain Avenue, or the Avery House at 328 West Mountain, these are typically cut,
dressed, and coursed stone from local quarries. Less common were uncut, uncoursed stone buildings. During
the City’s 1997 survey of agricultural resourc es, only two such farmhouses existed in the study area, the
Watrous House at 1337 West Vine Drive, and this property at 1433 South Overland Trail, both of which
survive. Such construction reflects a form of vernacular architecture that reflects how farmers frequently
adapted traditional building types with locally -available materials such as local stone and timber.
The house also reflects a transitional vernacular style of home construction, that incorporated traditional stone -
and-lumber construction with newer mid-20th century styles, likely indicating an interest in building a “modern”
house on the new farm complex. The side-gabled dwelling with two parallel projecting gables on the east
façade exhibits elements of Tudor Revival, Cape Cod, and Minimal Tra ditional stylistic elements without
strongly characterizing any one style.
The property retains strong integrity under all seven aspects related to its period of significance, defined as
1937-1972, corresponding with the property’s first construction and closing with the Maxwell family’s sale of
the property in 1972.
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Designation as a Fort Collins Landmark qualifies property owners for certain financial incentives funded by the
City, including a 0% interest revolving loan program and Design Assistance mini-grant program. Private
property owners may also leverage State tax incentives for repairs and modifications that meet national
preservation standards. This includes non-profit entities such as HOAs and Greek Life organizations that can
transfer the state tax incentive to another, taxable entity.
BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
After a hearing held at its December 15, 2021, regular meeting, the Commission adopted a motion on a vote of
6-0 (2 vacancies, 1 recusal) to recommend Council designate the Maxwell Rock House as a Fort Collins
Landmark in accordance with City Code Chapter 14, based on the property’s significance under Standards 2,
Persons/Groups, and 3 Design/Construction, and its historic integrity under all seven aspec ts as confirmed in
Commission Resolution 5, 2021.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
Specific to this nomination request, public outreach involved interaction with the property owner and the public
hearing on December 15, 2021.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Nomination Information (PDF)
2. Location Map (PDF)
3. Historic Preservation Commission Resolution (PDF)
Historic Preservation Services
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.4250
preservation@fcgov.com
fcgov.com/historicpreservation
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Fort Collins Landmark Designation
LOCATION INFORMATION
Address: 1433 S. Overland Trail
Legal Description: That portion of Tract A, The Ponds at Overland Trail, First Filing,
Larimer County Parcel #9717406001 that corresponds to the described boundary in Exibit
A to this nomination.
Property Name (historic and/or common): Maxwell Rock House
OWNER INFORMATION
Name: The Ponds at Overland Trail (HOA) – Timothy Johnson, President
Company/Organization (if applicable): Property manager: Onsite Property
Management Services, Inc.
Phone: 970-282-8281
Email: Summer@onsiteproperty.com (Summer Manzanares – Community
Association Manager)
Mailing Address: 2121 Midpoint Drive, Ste 302, Fort Collins, CO 80525
CLASSIFICATION
Category Ownership Status Present Use Existing Designation
Building Public Occupied Commercial Nat’l Register
Structure Private Unoccupied Educational State Register
Site Religious
Object Residential
District Entertainment
Government
Other Vacant
FORM PREPARED BY
Name and Title: Jim Bertolini, Historic Preservation Planner
Address: Development Review Center, 281 N. College Avenue, Fort Collins,
CO 80521
Phone: 970-416-4250
Email: jbertolini@fcgov.com
Relationship to Owner: N/A –nomination prepared at HOA’s request
ATTACHMENT 1
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DATE: November 24, 2021
TYPE OF DESIGNATION and BOUNDARIES
Individual Landmark Property Landmark District
Explanation of Boundaries: That portion of Tract A, The Ponds at Overland Trail,
First Filing, Larimer County Parcel #9717406001 that is described below and in
Exhibit A to this nomination. The boundary is limited to the building and its
immediate environment, although connected additions to the building that
transcend the boundary are subject to the same review process as other exterior
alterations to the building under Municipal Code 14, Article IV.
The boundaries of the property being designated as a Fort Collins Landmark correspond
to the legal description of the property, above. The property (hereinafter the “Property”)
consists of That portion of Tract A, The Ponds at Overland Trail, First Filing,
Larimer County Parcel #9717406001 that is described as follows:
A tract of land located in the southeast quarter of Section 17, Township 7 North, Range
69 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado,
the said tract is also located in Tract A of the Plat of The Ponds At Overland Trail First
Filing, a plat of record with the Clerk and Recorder of Larimer County, more particularly
described as follows;
Considering the east line of the said southeast quarter of Section 17 as bearing North 00
degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds East between a 2. 5 11 Aluminum Cap monument at the
southeast corner of Section 17 and a 2. 5 11 Aluminum Cap monument at the east quarter
corner Section 17, based upon GPS observation and the City of Fort Collins coordinate
base, and with all bearings contained herein relative thereto;
Commencing at the said southeast corner of Section 17;
THENCE along the east line of the said southeast quarter of Section 17, North 00
degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds East for a distance of 387.61 feet;
THENCE leaving the said east line, North 89 degrees 25 minutes 49 seconds West
for a distance of 261.83 feet to the TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING OF THIS
DESCRIPTION;
THENCE North 44 degrees 18 minutes 42 seconds East for a distance of 42.68
feet;
THENCE North 03 degrees 22 minutes 00 seconds West for a distance of 52.36
feet;
THENCE North 40 degrees 53 minutes 22 seconds West for a distance of 23.51
feet;
THENCE North 75 degrees 44 minutes 37 seconds West for a distance of 29.87
feet;
THENCE South 77 degrees 15 minutes 42 seconds West for a distance of 33.29
feet;
THENCE South 07 degrees 26 minutes 21 seconds West for a distance of 31.58
feet;
THENCE South 03 degrees 28 minutes 19 seconds East for a distance of 53.37
feet;
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THENCE South 81 degrees 40 minutes 27 seconds East for a distance of 24.83
feet;
THENCE South 64 degrees 46 minutes 53 seconds East for a distance of 29 .15
feet to the point of beginning. Containing 7232 square feet more or less.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE and INTEGRITY
Properties are eligible for designation if they possess both significance and integrity.
Significance is the importance of a site, structure, object or district to the history,
architecture, archeology, engineering or culture of our community, State or Nation. For
designation as Fort Collins Landmarks or Fort Collins Landmark Districts properties must
meet one (1) or more of the following standards set forth in Fort Collins Municipal Code
Section 14-22(a):
Standard 1: Events
This property is associated with events that have made a recognizable contribution to
the broad patterns of the history of the community, State or Nation. It is associated with
either (or both) of these two (2) types of events:
a) A specific event marking an important moment in Fort Collins prehistory or
history; and/or
b) A pattern of events or a historic trend that made a recognizable
contribution to the development of the community, State or Nation.
Click here to enter text.
Standard 2: Persons/Groups
This property is associated with the lives of persons or groups of persons recognizable
in the history of the community, State or Nation whose specific contributions to that
history can be identified and documented.
The Maxwell Rock House is significant as the home from 1940-1972 of Paul
& Emerald Maxwell, two distinguished figures in the agricultural, social,
and economic development of what is now west Fort Collins during the
early and mid-1900s. Both Paul and Emerald (Hawley) grew up on farms in
in the area that was variously referred to as North Fossil Creek or District
No. 10 (after the school district formed for this area in the early 1900s and
housed at the No. 10/Laporte Avenue School at 2540 Laporte Avenue). As
young adults, both were active in the Empire Grange co-founded by their
parents, where they met – they married in 1914 and moved to Idaho. Upon
their return to Fort Collins in the 1920s, both resumed leadership roles in
the Empire Grange. Emerald was a socialite among the farming families
along Maxwell Road, now Overland Trail, regularly organizing gatherings
for the Empire Grange and South Side Club. Paul Maxwell became a prolific
leader in both social and political circles. In the 1930s and 1940s, he
frequently served as the “master” (president) of the Empire Grange,
including providing leadership and guidance to area farmers during the
Second World War. He chaired the No. 10 School District board during its
construction of the Laporte Avenue school in 1938, including securing
Works Progress Administration funding for its construction. He also served
in various other local and state level positions including elected office. In
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addition to this, the Maxwells owned significant amounts of farm land in
what is now west Fort Collins, although most has been redeveloped into
housing developments or City Natural Areas.
Standard 3: Design/Construction
This property embodies the identifiable characteristics of a type, period or method of
construction; represents the work of a craftsman or architect whose work is
distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality; possesses high artistic
values or design concepts; or is part of a recognizable and distinguishable group of
properties.
The Maxwell Rock House is significant under Standard 3,
Design/Construction for its reflection of rare, uncut local stone
construction built from stones gathered on the Maxwell farm properties
over the late 1930s. While stone construction for building foundations and
even entire buildings, such as the Masonic/Oddfellow’s Lodge at 149 W.
Mountain Avenue, or the Avery House at 328 W. Mountain, these are
typically cut, dressed, and coursed stone from local quarries. Less
common were uncut, uncoursed stone buildings. During the City’s 1997
survey of agricultural resources, only two such farmhouses were known to
exist in the study area, the Watrous House at 1337 West Vine Drive, and
this property at 1433 S. Overland Trail, both of which survive. Such
construction reflect a form of vernacular architecture that reflects how
farmers frequently adapted traditional building types with locally-available
materials such as local stone and timber.
The house also reflects a transitional vernacular style of home
construction, that incorporated traditional stone-and-lumber construction
with newer mid-20th century styles, likely indicating an interest in building a
“modern” house on the new farm complex. The side-gabled dwelling with
two parallel projecting gables on the east façade exhibits elements of
Tudor Revival, Cape Cod, and Minimal Traditional stylistic elements
without strongly characterizing any one style.
Standard 4: Information Potential
This property has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or
history.
Click here to enter text.
Period of Significance is the discrete chronological period (or periods) during which a
historic property gained its significance. Additions or alterations to a property that have
significance in their own right can warrant the extension of a Period of Significance.
Period(s) of Significance:
The period of significance for the Maxwell Rock House corresponds with
its construction between 1937-1940 and extends through Paul and
Emerald’s occupancy of the home in 1972, at which point the family sold
the land, although members of the family remained on the property through
Emerald Maxwell’s death in 1984.
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Integrity is the ability of a site, structure, object or district to be able to convey its
significance. The integrity of a resource is based on the degree to which it retains all or
some of seven (7) aspects or qualities set forth in Fort Collins Municipal Code Section
14-22(b): location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. All
seven qualities do not need to be present for a site, structure, object or district to be
eligible as long as the overall sense of past time and place is evident.
Standard 1: Location is the place where the resource was constructed or the place
where the historic or prehistoric event occurred.
The Maxwell Rock House retains integrity of location on the original site
where the extended Maxwell family farmed between the 1890s and 1960s
where it was built by Paul and Emerald Maxwell and their children between
1937 and 1941.
Standard 2: Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan space,
structure and style of a resource.
The Maxwell Rock House retains integrity of design. The home was built as
a single-story, wood frame building with uncut, uncoursed stone masonry
exterior walls with minimal ornamentation that evoked the Tudor Revival
Style. It retains the overall side-gabled massing and paired gablets on the
east façade, the inset porch, stone walls, simple wood window openings,
and wood shingling in the gable ends. The primary detraction from integrity
of design is the replacement of the historic wood shingle roof with a lower
maintenance green standing seam metal roof, however, the building retains
its other essential characteristics.
Standard 3: Setting is the physical environment of a resource. Setting refers to the
character of the place; it involves how, not just where, the resource is situated and its
relationship to the surrounding features and open space.
The setting is disrupted by the loss of the full farmstead, which comprised
of a barn, two additional dwellings, a matching stone garage, and assorted
outbuildings. However, the remaining significance of the property as a
reflection of the Maxwell family’s contribution to local history, and as an
example of vernacular building construction, is still conveyed to a
sufficient degree as the house remains in a low-density housing
development and surrounded by open space.
Standard 4: Materials are the physical elements that form a resource.
The house retains integrity of materials, possessing most of its original
materials, especially the distinctive rock walls and wood shingles in the
gable ends. It also retains its simple wood window openings and simple
porch framing. The wood shingle roof remains, although it is covered with
a green standing seam metal roof in 2006. The main loss of historic
materials are the loss of the exterior doors, some of which are stored
inside the building, which have been replaced with hollow core doors for
improved security.
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Standard 5: Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture
or people during any given period in history or prehistory. It is the evidence of artisans'
labor and skill in constructing or altering a building, structure or site.
The house retains integrity of workmanship, showcasing the distinctive
rock wall construction on the exterior, over wood framing and interior
sheathing. The wood shingling on the gable ends remains, as do the wood
window frames. The main loss of historic workmanship is the replacement
of the wood shingle roof with standing seam metal.
Standard 6: Feeling is a resource’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a
particular time. It results from the presence of physical features that, taken together,
convey the resource's historic or prehistoric character.
The building retains sufficient integrity of feeling related to the Maxwell
Rock House, although the overall feeling is one of a suburban housing
development rather than an agricultural farmstead. The buffers between the
development and the surviving farmhouse, and the preservation of open
space along Overland Trail that used to be Maxwell family farm land, helps
retain some sense of the former agricultural landscape.
Standard 7: Association is the direct link between an important event or person and a
historic or prehistoric resource. A resource retains association if it is the place where the
event or activity occurred and is sufficiently intact to convey that relationship to an
observer. Like feeling, association requires the presence of physical features that
convey a property's historic character.
The Maxwell Rock House has sufficient integrity of Association to connect
the property with the Maxwell family’s construction of the building and
occupation of it from the 1940s-1970s. While the loss of the larger
agricultural complex is significant, the retention of the Rock House with
strong integrity of its physical features, interior and exterior, provides
enough integrity to sufficiently connect the building to key aspects of its
history, specifically its importance as an example of vernacular rock
construction, and as the residence of one of the prominent farming families
of present-day west Fort Collins.
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HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Maxwell Rock House is distinctive as one of only two farmhouses in Fort Collins
constructed exclusively of local stone. Paul Melville Maxwell, along with sons Robert and
Stuart, began hauling the native moss rock to the building site in 1937. From 1939, even before
the home was fully completed, until 1972, the dwelling was the home of Paul’s and Emerald’s
extended family. The home reflects both the leadership of the Maxwells in the social,
agricultural, and political life of the rural farming communities west of Fort Collins in the 1940s,
and a distinctive method of native stone construction that appears to be one of the only
examples of its kind in the Fort Collins area. As part of preliminary planning of the Ponds at
Overland Trail development, the property was determined eligible for City Landmark designation
by the Landmark Preservation Commission at its November 8, 1994 regular meeting, after
hearing testimony from Fort Collins residents Gayla Martinez and Erma Devers (daughter of
Paul & Emerald Maxwell).1
Maxwell Family
When Paul and Emerald (Hawley) Maxwell and their sons constructed the stone house between
1937 and 1941, they were continuing a longer legacy as members of long-standing agricultural
families in the west Fort Collins area. Paul Maxwell was the son of early Fort Collins settlers
Robert Garibaldi Maxwell and Minnie Annie Hann Maxwell. Robert Garibaldi Maxwell, known as
“Gar” in some circles since his father was Robert as well, was born in Peoria County, Illinois on
April 21, 1860. He later moved to Harlan, Iowa, where he met and married Minnie Annie Hann
on December 25, 1889. While in Iowa, they had their first four sons, Paul, Parke, Ray, and
Ralph.2 Paul Maxwell, the future builder of the Maxwell Rock House, was born November 29,
1890 while they lived in Iowa.
Minnie’s parents, Philemon and Alta Amelia Hann had moved to Fort Collins in the early 1890s,
soon after Minnie’s marriage to Robert. Philemon and Alta operated farmland along West
Mulberry Street west of the town of Fort Collins. Upon Philemon’s death in 1899, Minnie and
Robert inherited the Hann farm property on what is now West Mulberry Street and relocated
from Iowa to Fort Collins in 1899.3 Once here, Robert and Minnie homesteaded additional land
to the east of the farm, where they constructed the brick two-story home at 2340 West Mulberry.
Known as the Maxwell House, this property was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1980 and designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in 1982. Robert also owned much of the
land in the foothills along Overland Trail Road, which until 1958 was named Maxwell Road.
Robert was known in both Iowa and Fort Collins as an accomplished stock raiser, frequently
winning awards for both cattle and pigs. He transported both his cattle and Poland China pig
herds to Fort Collins and ran them on the former Hann property. Robert amassed a collection of
ribbons for his shorthorn cattle and the pigs at various county fairs and the National Western
Stock Show in Denver. Robert continued to farm most of the family land, either solely, with the
help of his children, or helping his children on land for which he had passed on title, until his
death in 1955. Much of his former land he had deeded either to Paul & Emerald Maxwell or to
Ray, two of the children that remained in the Fort Collins area.4 After he passed, he was
1 Carol Tunner to Wallace Noel, November 10, 1994, property folder 1433 S Overland Trail, City of Fort Collins,
Historic Preservation Division property files.
2 Erma L. Devers, Maxwell & Hann family history notes, January 1, 2000, copy in property folder 1433 S Overland
Trail, City of Fort Collins, Historic Preservation Division property files.
3 Devers, 3rd page.
4 Floyd Maxwell to Fort Collins City Manager’s Office, June 3, 1998, “Robert G. Maxwell” folder, Fort Collins Museum
of Discovery.
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remembered as a pioneer in the swine industry in Fort Collins for helping introduce and refine
the industry in Larimer County.5
Figures 1, 2, &3; Left: Robert G. Maxwell, 1890, (H26021); center: Minnie A. Maxwell, no date, (H26022); right:
Paul Maxwell, no date, (M00955), Courtesy of the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery.
5 “Robert Maxwell,” obituary, Fort Collins Coloradoan, February 10, 1955.
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Figure 4: Section of “Map of the Irrigated Farms North of Denver: Tributary to the Factories of the Great
Western Sugar Company (portion),” 1914, Maxwell Family holdings shown in red outline. The northernmost
section is at the intersection of W. Mulberry and Impala Drive where the R.G. & Minnie Maxwell residence
remains, along with the Empire Grange. The southern two sections include the majority of cattle-raising and
alfalfa land and the future location of the Rock House. LC00110.3, Courtesy of the Fort Collins Museum of
Discovery.
Both Robert and Minnie were active in local organizations and connected with other farming
families, such as the neighboring Hawley family, which included their son Paul’s future spouse,
Emerald Hawley. Minnie Maxwell was a charter member and co-founder of the South Side Club
established in 1909, which was a community social club active in the rural areas west of Fort
Collins at the time.6 Both the Maxwells and Hawleys were active in the agricultural community,
and were founders and strong supporters of the Empire Grange. In 1911, Paul and Minnie
donated land on West Mulberry for the Empire Grange (designated as a Landmark in 2003),
and in 1922 entered into a 99-year lease with the Colorado Agricultural College to allow for
construction of the Aggie “A” on a portion of their foothills land. Both remained at their West
Mulberry home and active in the Grange until they passed away, Robert in 1955, and Minnie in
1965 - their children continued the Grange legacy, with Paul and Emerald taking on leadership
roles in the 1930s and 1940s, and Parke stepping in by the 1950s.7
Robert and Minnie’s eldest son, Paul, married Emerald Julia Hawley on February 14, 1914.
Like the Maxwells and Hanns, Emerald came from families that took an active part in the early
establishment and development of the Fort Collins area. Emerald Hawley was the daughter of
early settlers William C.E. and Edith Marsh Hawley. Emerald’s grandfather, Charles Horace
Marsh, was one of the first judges in Larimer County, and her uncle was Captain C. C. Hawley,
who brought his family to the area in 1862. Both Paul and Emerald were active in the Empire
Grange on West Mulberry, representing the Empire Grange at various state and regional
Grange events. Immediately after their wedding in 1914, Paul and Emerald Maxwell left Fort
Collins to try their hand at homesteading near Jerome, Idaho, where five of their six children
were born.8 While in Jerome, Paul trained as a stonemason under master mason H.T. Pugh
while helping to construct the Sugarloaf School in Jerome, a property built of lava rock that
survives today and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.9
With their farming prospect diminishing in Jerome, and Robert Maxwell needing help in Fort
Collins, the family returned to Fort Collins in 1928. Upon their return, Paul and Emerald took up
residence in a small, one-bedroom house owned by the Maxwell family immediately adjacent to
Paul’s parents’ house at 2340 W. Mulberry. They are listed there in the 1930 census, and this is
likely the modified cottage at 2305 W. Mulberry that remains, but with minimal resemblance to
its historic appearance. The expectation was that in exchange for Paul’s help on the Robert &
Minnie farm, Paul would receive a third of the income generated, although Paul’s son Gene
recalled in his memoir that Paul was frequently lax in his duties. Instead hoping to establish a
cherry orchard on the family’s dryland holdings off Maxwell Road/Overland Trail, Paul was
frequently absent from haycutting and stacking/storing duties.10
Both Paul and Emerald resumed active membership in the Empire Grange, with Paul elected as
the “master” of the chapter for several years throughout the 1930s and 1940s, also serving as
6 Devers, 4th page.
7 Colorado Granger, (September 1957), photocopy, “Robert G. Maxwell” research folder, Fort Collins Museum of
Discovery.
8 “District No. 10,” The Fort Collins Express, March 5, 1914, p6.
9 National Register of Historic Places, “Sugarloaf School,” Jerome (vicinity), Jerome County, Idaho, NRIS# 83002306.
10 Eugene Maxwell, An American Odyssey: The Journeys of a Farm Boy who Became a Scientist, (Greeley: Anvil
Graphics, 2007), p50.
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the Master of the Colorado State Grange for a time.11 Well known as an area farmer in the
county, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Arthur M. Hyde appointed Paul along with two other farmers
to sit on the county seed loan committee, part of the New Deal programs to stabilize farming
during the Great Depression.12 In 1933, Paul participated in an experiment through the County
Extension office to grow five acres of Black Amber cane, a molasses sorghum variety used in
making syrups, molasses, and feed grains.13 That same year, he conducted a dryland
experiment on the Maxwell farms, successfully growing crops of Club Mariout barley, Brunker
oats, and Komar spring wheat, all of which yielded more per acre than was typical for dryland
farms.14
Paul’s leadership in the Grange throughout the 1930s and 1940s meant he was also appointed
or elected to other positions of leadership regarding agricultural and rural issues in what is now
west Fort Collins. In 1934, Paul was elected to head the Farm-Home Council, a new statewide
program pioneered in Larimer County to help build stronger connections between the university-
based Extension Service and farmers and farm homemakers.15 Throughout the 1930s, Paul
also wrote several op-eds in the Express Courier advocating independently, or on behalf of the
Empire Grange, for tax reforms and initiatives that would benefit farmers and rural school
districts, including creation of a state income tax in 1936. Paul also served as the chair of the
No. 10 School District board and oversaw important developments including construction of a
new schoolhouse in 1938 using a Public Works Administration grant – the school remains in
altered form at 2540 Laporte Avenue.16 After the start of the Second World War, as the often-
President of the Empire Grange, Paul Maxwell encouraged area farmers to participate in federal
and Extension Service programs to boost farm production to aid the war effort. At the same
time, Emerald was active in the South Side Club, a social club for rural families south of Fort
Collins in communities like Drake, Trilby, Fossil Creek, and Harmony. In 1937 she was elected
president of the club but regularly served in leadership roles in that organization and the
Grange, and hosted many social events at the Grange and her own residence.17
For most of this time, the Maxwells continued to live in the West Mulberry farmhouse near
Paul’s parents, Robert & Minnie. However, in 1937, with the family’s prospects improving, the
Maxwells began making plans to relocate permanently to the family’s dryland holdings along
Overland Trail. Not only was the family becoming too large to fit into the smaller house on West
Mulberry, but the cherry orchard Paul had established was beginning to thrive and required
more constant care, making the 1.5 mile trek to from the Empire Grange area too time-
consuming.18 In 1937, Paul and his sons Robert and Stuart began constructing the Maxwell
Rock House just northwest of the present-day intersection of Overland Trail and Prospect Road.
Paul had initially planned an adobe house to reduce costs but Emerald convinced him to
construct a more durable stone structure. Since Paul had stonemason experience, he, Robert,
and Stuart gathered and laid the stone themselves. The only work that was contracted out was
the timber framing and trim work, which a local carpenter named Mr. Grimsley completed.
11 “Empire Grange Installation,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, January 13, 1931, p4; “Maxwell,” obituary, p2; and
“Maxwell Dies at 70,” p1, January 8, 1961, Fort Collins Coloradoan.
12 “County Loan Groups Named,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, March 13, 1932, p1.
13 D.C. Bascom, “County Agent’s Column,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, May 17, 1933, p4.
14 “Dry Land Grain On Maxwell Farm Reported Good,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, July 16, 1933, p4.
15 “Paul Maxwell Heads Farm-Home Council,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, May 1, 1934, p1.
16 “Dealer at Denver Buys No. 10 Bonds,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, August 31, 1938, p6; and “Work is Begun on
No. 10 School, ibid, December 15, 1938, p2.
17 “South Side Club Elects Mrs. Maxwell President,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, January 11, 1937, p4.
18 Eugene Maxwell, p74.
11
The family moved into the home in the winter of 1940-41 with their six children, Paul Willard,
Helen, Erma, Robert, Stuart, and Gene. In addition to the cattle raising, alfalfa growing, and
cherry orchard that the Maxwells had already established on the property, Paul and Emerald’s
family began running a small dairy with a mix of Guernsey and Jersey cows, raising chickens
and turkeys, and expanded the orchard to include apples. While the house was under
construction, a small dairy shack was the only shelter for cow milking, but this was later
expanded into a larger barn. The milk was transported daily to a creamery in town, possibly the
Poudre Valley Creamery that once stood at the northeast corner of Howes and Laporte streets.
The Maxwells also established a large household garden tended by Emerald and the children to
supplement household income, which often included peas, green beans, sweet corn, tomatoes,
carrots, beets, lettuce, squash, and pumpkins.19 By the mid-1940s, the property contained the
rock house, a garage (built from the same moss rock), outhouse, chicken coops, dairy building,
two barns, and two additional residences. These homes, a 1940s wood frame hipped roof
dwelling, and a 1948 log house, were built for Stuart and Robert and their families – by that time
Paul Willard was living with his grandparents, Robert and Minnie in their home on West
Mulberry Street, and Gene, as the youngest, lived with his parents into the 1940s.
Gene’s 2007 memoir includes recollections about farm operations, including night watches for
the high-maintenance turkeys, the complications of keeping a Guernsey bull on the property to
help breed and maintain the dairy herd, and the rhythm of turning the dairy cattle loose after
morning milking to graze in the foothills and herding them back in the afternoon. When attending
the Laporte Avenue/No. 10 school, Gene often helped on the farm especially in the spring and
summer, stacking alfalfa mix, running a disc harrow through the orchard to keep weeds down,
etc. While the cherry orchard was active, Paul took the harvest to a cherry cannery north of Fort
Collins and east of Terry Lake, a place Paul also worked as a foreman for many years.
Unfortunately, in 1941, a severe hailstorm damaged the orchard – several years later, a severe
cold snap killed off the majority of the orchard. Gene also noted that Paul’s ability to keep up
with the farm work over the 1940s deteriorated due to poor health that would later be diagnosed
as Parkinson’s Disease.20
In 1946, one of the frame dwellings, then rented by the McKlinicks, was completely destroyed in
a fire.21 In 1950, a 280-acre wildfire burned the area between Horsetooth Reservoir and the
Maxwell farm, threatening both the Aranci and Maxwell properties as well as experimental plots
for Colorado A&M to the north. While the Maxwell farm buildings were not threatened, much of
the forage crop for both farms’ livestock was lost.22
The history of public service extended to Paul and Emerald’s children, the eldest of whom came
of age during the Second World War. Both Stuart and Robert left the farm to serve in the military
later in the war. Stuart served in the Navy after completing fire control training at the Great
Lakes Naval Station.23 Robert served in the Army attached to “a special engineering
detachment” in eastern Tennessee, later revealed to be part of the Manhattan Project in Oak
Ridge.24 Following the war, Robert served as Chief Electrical Engineer for the F.E. Warren Air
Base, where one of his responsibilities was overseeing the missile silos in Northern Colorado
and Southern Wyoming. Stuart returned to Fort Collins after the war, and with his wife Shirley
19 Eugene Maxwell, pp98, 100, 105.
20 Eugene Maxwell, pp101-102, 104; Devers, 5th page.
21 “Farm Home Lost With All Contents,” Fort Collins Coloradoan, May 3, 1946, p2.
22 “Foothill Flames Ravage 280 Acres,” Fort Collins Coloradoan, January 23, 1950, p1.
23 “What People are Doing,” Fort Collins Coloradoan, May 6, 1945, p2.
24 “What People are Doing,” Fort Collins Express-Courier, March 12, 1945, p2, and same, Fort Collins Coloradoan,
September 20, 1945, p2.
12
and children, eventually took over management of the Overland Trail farm.25 Many of the
Maxwell children, especially Stuart and his wife Shirley, remained active in the Grange
throughout their working lives, with Stuart also serving as master of the Empire Grange over the
course of their farm ownership. Paul Maxwell suffered from Parkinson’s and arthritis in his later
years, including surviving a heart attack in 1959.26 He passed away in 1961 at the Larimer
County Hospital at the age of 70. After his death, Emerald continued to live at the house at 1433
S. Overland with her family, hosting social events with various local clubs including the Grange
until the family sold the property in 1972. She continued to live in the Rock House after the
property sold and passed away on January 18, 1984. She and Paul are both buried in
Grandview Cemetery.27
In 1972, Stuart and Shirley Maxwell sold the Maxwell Rock House land, and moved to the old
Lone Pine Ranch northwest of Red Feather Lakes, which they had purchased in 1965 (renamed
the Caerlaverock Ranch for the Maxwell castle in Scotland, this ranch is still operated by the
family).28 However, other members of the Maxwell family continued to farm and run livestock on
other family land farther west in the foothills, including the land that later became the Maxwell
Natural Area.29 In 1997, then owner Wally Knoll sold the Maxwell Rock House property to
Gateway American Properties, LLC. As part of the initial development planning for The Ponds
on Prospect, Ms. Erma M. Devers, daughter of Paul and Emerald Maxwell, recommended
saving both the foothills (which became part of the Maxwell Natural Area, and keeping the rock
house and garage as amenities for the development.30 On April 4, 1997, a demolition permit
was issued for all of the buildings excepting the Rock House. This building, setback a short
distance from Overland Trail Road, is now a historic feature of The Ponds, a residential housing
development.
Stone Farm Construction in Fort Collins
The Maxwell Rock House represents an architecturally distinctive example of vernacular
design and craftsmanship completed by the Maxwell family in the late1930s. It is only
one of two known farmhouses built of locally gathered stone (the other is the Watrous
farmstead at 1337 W. Vine Drive). It is also a rare reflection of transitional architecture
located on a farmstead. Most farmhouses in the Fort Collins area are either Victorian-
styled dwellings like those found at the Cunningham property at 2600 Cedarwood Drive
(Landmarked in 1993) and the Robert & Minnie Maxwell residence at 2340 W. Mulberry
Street, Craftsman-style cottages and bungalows like the Johnson Farm property at 2608
E. Drake Road (Landmarked in 2013), or un-styled cottages like Hipped Roof Boxes or
other common house types. The Maxwell Rock House includes an eclectic assemblage
of more mid-20th century styles dominated by Tudor Revival Form in its side-gabled
massing with matching front gablets and inset porch.
Vernacular architecture specifically refers to the use of traditional building methods and
styles based on culture and in reaction to the surrounding environment. The Maxwells
designed the Rock House with an eclectic mix of styles in fashion at the time,
predominantly Tudor Revival, and adapted the style and construction method to fit Paul’s
25 Devers, 9th page.
26 “Maxwell Suffers Attack,” Fort Collins Coloradoan, October 12, 1959, p2.
27 “Maxwell,” obituary, p2; and “Maxwell Dies at 70,” p1, January 8, 1961, Fort Collins Coloradoan.
28 Devers, 9th page.
29 City of Fort Collins, City Clerk, Ordinance 2011-16, March 1, 2011,
https://citydocs.fcgov.com/?cmd=convert&vid=3&docid=1692099&dt=ORDINANCE&doc_download_date=MAR-01-
2011&ORDINANCE_NO=016, accessed November 30, 2021.
30 City of Fort Collins, Minutes of the Planning & Zoning Board, August 22, 1994
13
stonemason abilities and locally available materials. While they hired a professional
framer, Mr. Grimley, to complete the lumber frame and interior sheathing, as well as the
trim work, the exterior rock wall materials were gathered from Maxwell farm land in the
area and laid in uncoursed fashion by the Maxwells themselves.31 Eugene Maxwell
described the evolution of the farmhouse in his 2007 memoir, noting that Mr. Grimsley
hand-planed the lumber from clear heart pine. The interior floor was pine but covered in
cardboard for the first few years. A new feature of the home from their prior residence on
West Mulberry Street was that the kitchen and dining room were now separated (along
the south side of the building). The kitchen counter was fashioned from the workbench
used during the home’s construction, and initially, the kitchen had no cupboards and few
shelves. The walls and ceilings were originally covered with thin, olive drab building
paper, with a sheet of asbestos used to protect the paper from the heat of the stovepipe.
While the house was later electrified, no heat was added for the bedrooms until much
later. Initially, there was no floor in the attic, and no insulation for the outer walls.
However, as the Maxwells gained wealth over the 1940s, they hired a local plasterer,
Stanley Ricketts, to finish the interior walls. Aided by Stuart Maxwell, Ricketts removed
the building paper and replaced it with lath and plaster. The laths were affixed to the 2x4
studs of the wall framework and the ceiling joists, mostly being 1.5-inch wide and ¼ inch
thick, and nailed with ½ inch spacing. Ricketts added a layer of mortar over the lath to
form a bond, and then applied a finish coat of wet lime (calcium oxide) to form the
current smooth, white surface of the walls.32 During Eugene Maxwell’s time at the
property, there was not indoor plumbing, with a privy behind the garage serving as the
only restroom.33
While the use of stone as a building material is fairly common in the Fort Collins area,
most stone used for buildings was harvested from local sandstone quarries, cut,
dressed, and coursed for use in higher-style, distinctive buildings like the Franklin Avery
House at 328 W. Mountain or the original Masonic/Oddfellow’s Hall at 141-149 W.
Mountain, now the Rio Grande restaurant and dance hall. Examples of the Tudor
Revival style frequently used either stone or stucco and false half-timbering, as the style
emulated building construction from a period in England when timber was in short
supply. Uncoursed masonry was rare, but a necessity when using uncut stone gathered
from the surrounding area. In this case, the stone masonry forms the exterior walls, but
the primary structural system is wood-framed, with wood sheathing between the lathe-
and-plaster interior walls. This appears to be a rare example of this method of
construction, and may be the only, or at least one of the only, examples of this form of
native stone construction surviving in Fort Collins.
The interior is laid out with a central living room, indicative of the modern, open
floorplans common in Arts-and-Crafts and later architectural movements, but retains a
front parlor at its northeast corner, a vestige of earlier Victorian interior layouts. Although
the farmhouse is no longer accompanied by the other farm complex structures,
demolished in the late-1990s for the Ponds at Overland development, and only portions
of formerly agricultural setting remain as recreational open space, the distinctive
farmhouse itself remains to reflect the architectural importance of the dwelling.
Farming in North Fossil Creek
31 Eugene Maxwell, pp80-81.
32 Eugene Maxwell, p81.
33 Eugene Maxwell, p84.
14
Although the Maxwell farm property does not retain enough of its agricultural features to
be significant as a reflection of local agricultural history, a brief summary of regional
farming history is included here for context. The north Fossil Creek area where Robert
and Minnie Maxwell and their offspring chose to farm, was part of a set of small farming
communities known collectively as Fossil Creek – this also included the settlements of
Drake, McClelland, Harmony, and Trilby where area farmers established smaller rural
schools or social halls like the Grange. In the area of north Fossil Creek, the Maxwell
family became influential, not only through co-founding the Empire Grange as the
community’s primary social institution, but through close relationships with the Extension
Service to experiment with crops and animal husbandry, and ongoing leadership in
government, at the state and local levels. The Maxwell property is among a dwindling
number of extant farmhouses in this area of former farm lands that have been
redeveloped as residential neighborhoods since the 1960s. Most former farm steads
have been completely redeveloped but some remain, although most, like this property,
only retain their farmhouses, with the agricultural land redeveloped into new
neighborhoods. The Maxwell Rock House stands as a visible reminder of the productive
agricultural lands that used to sit along the foothills west of Fort Collins and east of
Horsetooth Reservoir, many straddling the Pleasant Valley & Lake Canal, constructed in
1861 and one of the earliest ditches along the Cache la Poudre River. The 1914 map of
farms in the Fort Collins area shows R.G. Maxwell’s property at what was then the
intersection of Maxwell and Prospect Roads, along with other prominent farm family
names such as the Hawleys, Freys, Collamers, Johnsons, Roesches, and Herringtons.
Among the most important social and political institutions for farmers during the late
1800s and early 1900s was the Grange, or the Patrons of Husbandry. The organization
formed in 1867 to advocate for the interests of farmers and provide a mechanism for
farmers to organize for their social, political, and economic benefit. By 1874, Colorado
formed a territory-wide organization and soon after, Larimer County hosted the Collins,
Flora, Virginia Dale, and Agricultural College chapters. Founded later in 1904, the
Empire Grange is among the longest lasting and remains active in its original location on
East Mulberry. The Maxwells and Hawleys were founding members and Paul and
Emerald Maxwell were instrumental in Empire Grange business and leadership from the
1920s through the 1950s.
The farms themselves rotated through various crops and livestock depending on market
conditions, but sheep, cattle (both beef and dairy), and feed crops remained high on the
list. Many of the crops grown by the Maxwells in the fields around the Rock House were
feed crops like alfalfa, wheat, oat, and sorghum. According to Eugene Maxwell’s 2007
memoir, the primary operations at the farm were the dairy, the alfalfa for feeding the
dairy cattle, and the cherry orchard before it succumbed to severe weather.34 The
Maxwells also planted an orchard, a common practice on most successful farms, and
operated a small dairy. Such smaller dairy and livestock operations were usually
dependent on small, local feed mills like the Poudre Valley Cooperative that used to
operate at 359 Linden Street, now the Ginger & Baker restaurant, and the former Poudre
Valley Creamery at the northeast corner of Howes & Laporte (all but the “butterfly”
creamery lab building were demolished to construct the City Utilities Administration
building in 2011). While the farm itself is no longer present, the farmhouse itself and the
34 Eugene Maxwell, p98.
15
open space around it is a reminder of the agriculture that once dominated Larimer
County’s economy.35
35 City of Fort Collins, Agriculture in the Fort Collins Urban Growth Area, 1862-1994, by Carl & Karen McWilliams,
(Fort Collins: 1995): pp22-29
16
ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION
Construction Date: 1937-1941
Architect/Builder: Paul, Emerald, Robert, and Stuart Maxwell; “Mr. Grimsley”
carpenter
Building Materials: Stone, Wood, Metal
Architectural Style: Tudor Revival - Vernacular
Description:
East façade, November 23, 2021.
The Maxwell Rock House was built between 1937 and 1941 by the Maxwell family with
assistance from a carpenter named Grimsley. The inspiration for the home’s design may have
been the English Revival architecture styles popular in America at the time, especially the Tudor
Revival. The Maxwell Rock House contains many of the characteristics of this architectural
style, including steeply pitched gable roof, with twin peaks, roof eaves with minimal overhang;
and the use of square-cut wood shingles in the gable ends. Stone masonry as exterior cladding
is also common, if less frequent than half-timbering or brick cladding. There is a symmetrical,
inset porch with squared porch posts and a stone half wall centered on the building’s east
façade. A small stone chimney breaks the main side gable on the west elevation. The green
standing seam metal roof lays overtop historic wood shingles which are believed to remain
underneath.
The building’s east façade is dominated by the central, inset and recessed porch flanked by
projecting bays with steep gabled roofs and wood shingling in the gables. There are paired,
17
three-over-one wood sash windows in each gable end. The front door is now a standard hollow-
core with wood frame sidelights.
The south elevation includes a secondary entry, also replaced with a modern hollow core door
but retaining two paired windows, one pair which is smaller and centered in the side gable, and
one pair closer to the southeast corner of the building. There is also a small wood window in the
attic space. The elevation is dominated by the larger gable end with wood shingling.
The north elevation includes two smaller windows of different sizes near the corners and a
larger pair of sash windows matching those on other elevations of the house. This side has a
wood window in the gable end lighting the attic space.
The west (rear) elevation includes three wood windows of varying sizes and the chimney near
the roof ridge, but is otherwise unbroken and undecorated.
The exterior of the Rock House remains in good condition; however, the interior has suffered
from vandalism and neglect. The larger setting, once a farmstead, is now a more formally
landscaped natural area with concrete pathways leading to the house from the northwest,
northeast, and southeast, and a loop around the property. The driveway has been removed but
the Pleasant Valley and Lake Canal remains to the east, along with low wetlands closer to the
house, and many older cottonwood trees (Populus deltoides) around the house that appear to
date from the Maxwell era.
18
REFERENCE LIST or SOURCES of INFORMATION
City of Fort Collins, Agriculture in the Fort Collins Urban Growth Area, 1862-1994, by Carl &
Karen McWilliams, (Fort Collins: 1995).
City of Fort Collins, Historic Preservation Services. Historic Property Files, 1433 S. Overland
Trail.
City of Fort Collins, Public Records Database, 1433 S. Overland Trail,
https://citydocs.fcgov.com/, accessed November 2021.
Fort Collins City Directories (1902 -1999).
Fort Collins Coloradoan, online archives, https://coloradoan.newspapers.com/, accessed
November 2021.
Fort Collins History Connection, https://history.fcgov.com/, accessed November 2021.
Fort Collins Museum of Discovery, Local History Archive, Fort Collins, CO.
Larimer County Assessor’s Office, Residential Property Information.
Maxwell, Eugene. An American Odyssey: The Journeys of a Farm Boy who Became a Scientist.
Greeley, CO: Anvil Graphics, 2007.
McAlester, Virginia. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf (Random
House), 2013.
National Register of Historic Places, R.G. Maxwell House, Fort Collins, Larimer County,
Colorado, September 29, 1980, NRIS # 80000910.
National Register of Historic Places, “Sugarloaf School,” Jerome (vicinity), Jerome County,
Idaho, NRIS# 83002306.
19
MAPS and PHOTOGRAPHS
Excerpt of 1958 aerial image of the Maxwell Farm, showing the larger complex with 3 dwellings,
barn, garage, and assorted outbuildings, with fields, irrigation network, and orchard to the
southwest. (U.S. Geological Survey).
20
Close-up of the Maxwell Farm Complex in 1958. The Rock House is at the very top of the image
surrounded by trees and with the Lake Canal curving immediately to the northeast (U.S. Geological
Survey).
21
Image with annotations from Eugene Maxwells 2007 memoir.
22
East façade, November 23, 2021.
23
East façade and north elevation, November 23, 2021.
North and west elevations, looking southeast. November 23, 2021.
24
North and west elevations, looking southeast. November 23, 2021.
West elevation, looking east. November 23, 2021.
25
South and west elevations, looking northeast. November 23, 2021.
South elevation, looking northwest. November 23, 2021.
26
Farm complex and Rock House (photo left), showing original landscape, November,
1994 prior to redevelopment. Historic Preservation Services. The office has full photo-
documentation of the complex, and surveyed site maps of the farm complex from the
mid-1990s prior to demolition of all but the Rock House.
DESCRIPTION OF A TRACT OF LAND LOCATED AT 1433 OVERLAND TRAIL TO BE
DESIGNATED AS THE MAXWELL ROCK HOUSE HISTORIC SITE
A tract of land located in the southeast quarter of Section 17,
Township 7 North, Range 69 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, City
of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, the said tract is also
located in Tract A of the Plat of The Ponds At Overland Trail First
Filing, a plat of record with the Clerk and Recorder of Larimer County,
more particularly described as follows;
Considering the east line of the said southeast quarter of Section 1 7
as bearing North 00 degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds East between a 2. 5 11
Aluminum Cap monument at the southeast corner of Section 17 and a 2. 5 11
Aluminum Cap monument at the east quarter corner Section 17, based upon
GPS observation and the City of Fort Collins coordinate base, and with
all bearings contained herein relative thereto;
Commencing at the said southeast corner of Section 17;
THENCE along the east line of the said southeast quarter of
Section 17, North 00 degrees 34 minutes 11 seconds East for a distance
of 387.61 feet;
THENCE leaving the said east line, North 89 degrees 25 minutes 49
seconds West for a distance of 261.83 feet to the TRUE POINT OF
BEGINNING OF THIS DESCRIPTION;
THENCE North 44 degrees 18 minutes 42 seconds East for a distance
of 42.68 feet;
THENCE North 03 degrees 22 minutes 00 seconds West for a distance
of 52.36 feet;
THENCE North 40 degrees 53 minutes 22 seconds West for a distance
of 23.51 feet;
THENCE North 75 degrees 44 minutes 37 seconds West for a distance
of 29.87 feet;
THENCE South 77 degrees 15 minutes 42 seconds West for a distance
of 33.29 feet;
THENCE South 07 degrees 26 minutes 21 seconds West for a distance
of 31.58 feet;
THENCE South 03 degrees 28 minutes 19 seconds East for a distance
of 53.37 feet;
THENCE South 81 degrees 40 minutes 27 seconds East for a distance
of 24.83 feet;
THENCE South 64 degrees 46 minutes 53 seconds East for a distance
of 29 .15 feet to the point of beginning. Containing 7232 square feet
more or less.
The above described tract is subject to all easements and rights of
ways now existing or of record ..
PAGE 1 OF 2
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Exhibit A - Maxwell Rock House
City Landmark Nomination
1433 S. Overland Trail
/
I hereby state that the above description was prepared by me a nd is
true and correct to the best of my professional knowledge, belief a nd
opinion. The description is based upon previously recorded plats and
deeds and not upon a actual field survey.
WALLACE C. MUSCOTT COLORADO P.L.S. 17497
P.O. BOX 580 FORT COLLINS, CO 80522
PAGE 2 OF 2
LOCATION SKETCH
MAXWELL ROCK HOUSE HISTORIC SITE
Course
L1
Beo.rlng
N
J
NTS
L2
L3
L4
L5
L6
L7
L8
L9
L10
LU
N oo•34'11' E
N 99•25• 49• 'v/
N 44•18'42' E
N 03•22•00• 'v/
N 40.53'22' \J
N 75•44•37• 'v/
S 77•15•42• \J
S 07"26'21' 'v/
S 03•20•19• E
S 01•40•27• E
S 64.46'53' E
Dis to.nee
387.61'
261.83'
42.68'
52.36'
23.51'
29.87'
33.29'
31.58'
53.37'
24.83'
29.15'
JANUARY 11, 2007
LOT 7
WHEATGRASS
COURT
LOT 6
l<\SURV'r\PROJ\MISC\MAXHSC\MAX.DWO
LOT 5
E 1/4 CORNER~
17-7-69
TOTAL
HISTORIC SITE
7232 SO .FT.
----,..._ I v----
L2
SE CORNER
17-7-69 --
THIS SKETCH AND THE AREAS
SHOWN DEPICT THC ATTACMED
PROP£RlY DESCRIPTION ONLY
ANO DO NOT REPR(!;CNT A '
MONUMENTED BOUNDARY SURVt:Y,
_J
<{
Ct:
l-
o z :s
Ct: w > 0
......
_J
ATTACHMENT 2
ATTACHMENT 3
-1-
ORDINANCE NO. 011, 2022
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
DESIGNATING THE MAXWELL ROCK HOUSE, 1433 SOUTH OVERLAND TRAIL,
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, AS A FORT COLLINS LANDMARK PURSUANT TO
CHAPTER 14 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
WHEREAS, pursuant to City Code Section 14-1, the City Council has established a
public policy encouraging the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of historic landmarks
within the City; and
WHEREAS, by adoption of Resolution 5-2021 after a hearing held at its meeting on
December 15, 2021, the Historic Preservation Commission (the “Commission”) determined
that the Maxwell Rock House, 1433 South Overland Trail, in Fort Collins, as more specifically
described in the legal description below (the “Property”), is eligible for landmark designation
pursuant to City Code Chapter 14, Article II, for the Property’s significance to Fort Collins
under Standard of Significance 2, Persons/Groups as a reflection of the significant
contributions of Paul and Emerald Maxwell to the social and agricultural history of what is
now west Fort Collins, and under Standard of Significance 3, Design/Construction as a
significant and rare surviving example of a stone masonry farm house in the Fort Collins area,
contained in City Code Section 14-22(a)(1) and 14-22(a)(3) and strong integrity under all
seven standards of integrity under City Code Section 14-22(b)(1-7); and
WHEREAS, the Commission further determined that designation of the Property will
advance the policies and purposes set forth in City Code Sections 14-1 and 14-2 in a manner
and extent sufficient to justify designation; and
WHEREAS, the Historic Preservation Commission (the “Commission”) recommends
that the City Council designate the Property as a Fort Collins landmark; and
WHEREAS, the owner of the Property has consented to such landmark designation
and desires to protect the Property; and
WHEREAS, such landmark designation will preserve the Property’s significance to the
community; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has reviewed the recommendation of the Commission
and desires to follow such recommendation and designate the Property as a landmark; and
WHEREAS, designation of the Property as a landmark is necessary for the prosperity,
civic pride, and welfare of the public.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
-2-
Section 2. That the Property located in the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County,
Colorado, described as follows, to wit:
THAT PORTION OF TRACT A, THE PONDS AT OVERLAND TRAIL, FIRST FILING, LARIMER
COUNTY PARCEL #9717406001 THAT IS DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
A TRACT OF LAND LOCATED IN THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 17, TOWNSHIP 7
NORTH, RANGE 69 WEST OF THE SIXTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN, CITY OF FORT COLLINS,
LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO, THE SAID TRACT IS ALSO LOCATED IN TRACT A OF THE PLAT
OF THE PONDS AT OVERLAND TRAIL FIRST FILING, A PLAT OF RECORD WITH THE CLERK AND
RECORDER OF LARIMER COUNTY, MORE PARTICULARLY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS:
CONSIDERING THE EAST LINE OF THE SAID SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 17 AS
BEARING NORTH 00 DEGREES 34 MINUTES 11 SECONDS EAST BETWEEN A 2. 5 11 ALUMINUM
CAP MONUMENT AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SECTION 17 AND A 2. 5 11 ALUMINUM CAP
MONUMENT AT THE EAST QUARTER CORNER SECTION 17, BASED UPON GPS OBSERVATION
AND THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS COORDINATE BASE, AND WITH ALL BEARINGS CONTAINED
HEREIN RELATIVE THERETO;
COMMENCING AT THE SAID SOUTHEAST CORNER OF SECTION 17; THENCE ALONG THE EAST
LINE OF THE SAID SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF SECTION 17, NORTH 00 DEGREES 34 MINUTES 11
SECONDS EAST FOR A DISTANCE OF 387.61 FEET; THENCE LEAVING THE SAID EAST LINE,
NORTH 89 DEGREES 25 MINUTES 49 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 261.83 FEET TO THE
TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING OF THIS DESCRIPTION; THENCE NORTH 44 DEGREES 18 MINUTES
42 SECONDS EAST FOR A DISTANCE OF 42.68 FEET; THENCE NORTH 03 DEGREES 22 MINUTES
00 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 52.36 FEET; TH ENCE NORTH 40 DEGREES 53 MINUTES
22 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 23.51 FEET; THENCE NORTH 75 DEGREES 44 MINUTES
37 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 29.87 FEET; THENCE SOUTH 77 DEGREES 15 MINUTES
42 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 33.29 FEET; THENCE SOUTH 07 DEGREES 26 MINUTES
21 SECONDS WEST FOR A DISTANCE OF 31.58 FEET; THENCE SOUTH 03 DEGREES 28 MINUTES
19 SECONDS EAST FOR A DISTANCE OF 53.37 FEET; THENCE SOUTH 81 DEGREES 40 MINUTES
27 SECONDS EAST FOR A DISTANCE OF 24.83 FEET; THENCE SOUTH 64 DEGREES 46 MINUTES
53 SECONDS EAST FOR A DISTANCE OF 29.15 FEET TO THE POINT OF BEGINNING.
CONTAINING 7232 SQUARE FEET MORE OR LESS
be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark in accordance with City Code Chapter 14.
Section 3. That alterations, additions and other changes to the buildings and
structures located upon the Property will be reviewed for compliance with City Code Chapter
14, Article IV, as currently enacted or hereafter amended.
Section 4. That in compliance with Section 14-36 of the City Code, the City shall,
within fifteen days of the effective date of this Ordinance, record among the real estate records of
the County Clerk and Recorder a certified copy of this Ordinance designating the property.
-3-
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 18th day of
January, A.D. 2022, and to be presented for final passage on the 15th of February, A.D. 2022.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 15th of February, A.D. 2022.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk