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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 06/04/2013 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 083, 2013, DESIGNATDATE: June 4, 2013 STAFF: Josh Weinberg AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL 26 SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 083, 2013, Designating the Johnson Farm Property, 2608 East Drake Road as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The owner of the property, Gino Campana of Johnson Farm LLC, is initiating this request for Fort Collins Landmark designation for the Johnson Farm Property at 2608 East Drake Road. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The property is eligible for designation as a Fort Collins Landmark under Designation Standards 1, 2, and 3 for its association with significant historical events and persons, and also for its architectural significance to Fort Collins. The Johnson Farm is significant under Standard One (1) for its association with agricultural contexts in Fort Collins since the late nineteenth century, including the open range cattle industry, farming and ranching, and sheep raising. The property is additionally significant under Standard Two (2) for its association with several prominent Fort Collins citizens, including Charles Evans and the Johnson brothers: Elmer, Wesley, Edwin, and Harvey. The Johnsons first moved to Fort Collins in 1902 where they established multiple farms in the area. Throughout the twentieth century, the Johnsons thrived in farming and stock raising. One Johnson brother in particular, Harvey, exerted significant political influence in the city as President of the Water Supply and Storage Company and Mayor from 1963 to 1967. Furthermore, the property also holds significance under Standard Three (3). Its two farmhouses, built in the 1910s by Elmer Johnson, are excellent examples of vernacular agricultural architecture. Also, the Johnson barn, built around 1918, represents one of the city’s few remaining examples of a bank barn. It is built into the side of the land’s natural grade to provide livestock easier access to forage stored in the barn. FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACTS Recognition of the Johnson Farm Property at 2608 East Drake Road as a Fort Collins Landmark enables its owner to qualify for federal, state and local financial incentive programs available only to designated properties. Additionally, based upon research conducted by Clarion Associates, the property would see an increase in value following designation. Clarion Associates attributed this increase to the fact that future owners also qualify for the financial incentives; the perception that designated properties are better maintained; the appeal of owning a recognized historic landmark; and the assurance of predictability that design review offers. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION At a public hearing held on April 10, 2013, the Landmark Preservation Commission voted unanimously 8-0 to recommend designation of this property under Designation Standards 1, 2, and 3 for its association with significant historical events and persons, and also for its architectural significance to Fort Collins. June 4, 2013 -2- ITEM 26 ATTACHMENTS 1. Location and Vicinity Maps 2. Historic Landmark Designation Nomination Form and Signed Consent Form 3. LPC Staff Report 4. Resolution 6, 2013, Landmark Preservation Commission, Recommending Landmark Designation of the Johnson Farm Property. 5. Photos of Property 6. PowerPoint presentation Liberty Common High School Skunk Pond Catfish Pond Custer Dr Limon Dr Illinois Dr Iowa Dr Canby Way Trestle Rd Yearling Dr Des Moines Dr Krisron Rd Kansas Dr Cutting Horse Dr Rockford Dr P a r k f r o n t D r Sandbur Dr Topeka Ln C hase Dr D e n v e r D r Straw f o r k D r Kerry Hill Dr Scarecrow Rd Cocklebur Ln Drysdale Ln Haymaker Ln Perendale Ln Gooseberry Ln Blue Y o n der Way W illow Tr e Rigden Pkwy E Drake Rd © Fort Collins 2608 East Landmark Drake Designation Road Site Map These map products and all underlying data are developed for use by the City of Fort Collins for its internal purposes only, and were not designed or intended for general use by members of the public. The City makes no representation or warranty as to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness, and in particular, its accuracy in labeling or displaying dimensions, contours, property boundaries, or placement of location of any map features thereon. THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS MAKES NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR WARRANTY FOR FITNESS OF USE FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THESE MAP PRODUCTS OR THE UNDERLYING DATA. Any users of these map products, map applications, or data, accepts same AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, and assumes all responsibility of the use thereof, and further covenants and agrees to hold the City harmless from and against all damage, loss, or liability arising from any use of this map product, in consideration of the City's having made this information available. Independent verification of all data contained herein should be obtained by any users of these products, or underlying data. The City disclaims, and shall not be held liable for any and all damage, loss, or liability, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, which arises or may arise from these map products or the use thereof by any person or entity. 1 inch = 83 feet Johnson Barn Original Farmhouse Main Farmhouse ATTACHMENT 1 Page 1 Fort Collins Landmark Designation LOCATION INFORMATION: Address: 2608 East Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525 Legal Description: Lot 1, Block 7 of Bucking Horse Filing Two, Located in Section 20, Township 7 North, Range 68 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, City of Fort Collins, State of Colorado. Property Name (historic and/or common): Johnson Farm Property OWNER INFORMATION: Name: Johnson Farm LLC Email: Phone: (970)229-5900 Address: 7307 Streamside Drive, 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: Josh Weinberg, Preservation Planner; John Kochanczyk, Historic Preservation Intern Address: City of Fort Collins, Planning, Development, and Transportation Services, P.O. Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522 Phone: 970-219-3974 Email: jweinberg@fcgov.com Relationship to Owner: None DATE: April 10, 2013 Planning, Development & Transportation Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580 ATTACHMENT 2 Page 2 TYPE OF DESIGNATION and BOUNDARIES Individual Landmark Property Landmark District Explanation of Boundaries: The boundaries of the property being designated as a Fort Collins Landmark correspond to the legal description of the property, above. SIGNIFICANCE Properties that possess exterior integrity are eligible for designation as Fort Collins Landmarks or Fort Collins Landmark Districts if they meet one (1) or more of the following standards for designation: Standard 1: The property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history; Standard 2: The property is associated with the lives of persons significant in history; Standard 3: The property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; Standard 4: The property has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Wesley Johnson Farm is significant to Fort Collins under Landmark Standard One (1) for its agricultural associations beginning in the late nineteenth century. Historic activities on the farm demonstrate multiple agricultural contexts significant to the city, including cattle and sheep raising, farming, and ranching. The property is additionally significant under Standard Two (2) for its association with several prominent Fort Collins citizens, including Charles Evans and the Johnson brothers: Elmer, Wesley, Edwin, and Harvey. The Johnsons first moved to Fort Collins in 1902 where they established multiple farms in the area. Throughout the twentieth century, the Johnsons thrived in farming and stock raising. One Johnson brother in particular, Harvey, exerted significant political influence in the city as president of the Water Supply and Storage Company and mayor from 1963 to 1967. The property also holds significance under Standard Three (3). Its two farmhouses, built in the 1910s by Elmer Johnson, are excellent examples of vernacular agricultural architecture. Additionally, the Johnson barn, built around 1918, represents one of the city’s few remaining examples of a bank barn. It is built into the side of the land’s natural grade to provide livestock easier access to forage stored in the barn. Page 3 HISTORICAL INFORMATION At 2608 East Drake Road, the historic Wesley Johnson Farm is located on the north side of Drake nearly a half mile east of Timberline Road. The farm sits atop a ridge overlooking former agricultural bottom lands along the Cache le Poudre River and straddles the boundary between two quarter sections that were first claimed in the 1870s under the Homestead Act. In November 1873, a homestead patent was issued to Malon B. Gannon for property directly west of the current farm site. This homestead claim is the only evidence that connects Malon B. Gannon to the farm lands. Interestingly, records indicate this patent was linked to the state of Arkansas, rather than the U.S. General Land Office, which is likely a result of provisions within the Morrill Act. The Morrill Act was passed in 1862 during the Civil War to distribute federal lands to the states so they could be sold or leased to raise funds for the establishment of land-grant colleges. Most of the federal lands that were available at that time were located in the west, among the states and territories west of the Mississippi. However, the Confederate states (including Arkansas) were not allowed to claim lands until the conflict was settled. After the Civil War, the southern states were invited to claim lands in the western states and territories so they could also establish land-grant colleges. The land where the Johnson farm sits (or at least some of the former acreage) was most likely claimed by the State of Arkansas under this act, probably in the late 1860s or early 1870s. It was then sold to Gannon, which explains why he acquired the property from the State of Arkansas rather than directly from the U.S. General Land Office. The following year, in June 1874, the federal government issued a patent to Jacob Ganow for the quarter section where the Johnson farm buildings sit today, adjacent to Gannon’s property. Born in Ohio in 1839, Ganow first appeared in the 1870 census as a resident farmer in the Fort Collins area along with his wife, Luzetta, and four children. The census indicates that all four children were born in Missouri, suggesting that Ganow first arrived in the area around 1868 or 1869 after spending some time in the Midwest. According the 1880 census, Ganow continued to farm in the area, now employing two laborers and a carpenter in his household. The censuses represent the primary source of information available on the Ganow family. Grave records reveal that his wife, Luzetta, died in 1904 in Idaho, while Ganow passed away in 1911 in Valentine, Nebraska. The 1910 census lists several of the grown Ganow children living in Valentine, verifying the family’s migratory pattern following their life in Colorado.1 While little is known of the property’s use during the 1880s and 1890s, prominent cattlemen James B. Arthur, Joseph Jessup, and the Sherwood brothers owned property adjacent to the Wesley Johnson farm site, and their herds grazed in the area at the turn of the century before the Johnson family arrived in the Larimer County.2 For most of the twentieth century, the farm was owned and operated by members of the John Peter Johnson family. Historically, the Johnson family traces their heritage to nineteenth- century Sweden. Throughout their history, Swedish-American identity was important to the family. A 1979 family history by Edna Johnson Hoover emphasized this point: “The family may not have had much money but they always had good health and they kept the Faith. The strength of their character has been passed on to their children and their children’s children. It is interesting to note that not one of this ‘House Full of Swedes’ ever got in bad with the law or in any serious trouble. The generations that follow can be justly proud of their Swedish roots.”3 1 BLM, GLO Records, Agricultural Scrip Patent vol. 137, p. 277;1870 U.S. Census; 1880 U.S. Census; 1910 U.S. Census; cemetery records from www.findagrave.com. 2 Colorado Historical Society, “Historic Building Inventory Records: Jessup Farm,” June, 1992. 3 Edna Hoover Johnson, “A House Full of Swedes,” 1979, p. 11, in Harvey Johnson Papers, CSU Water Resources Archive. Page 4 The history of the Johnson family is an interesting tale of early American settlement, migration, and assimilation. However, this document will not tell that story in its entirety, but will focus instead on the family’s relationship with a specific piece of land, the Wesley Johnson farm property as it exists today, a small tract that illustrates over a century of agricultural and human history. In 1902, John Peter and Augusta Johnson moved their large family by covered wagon from Kansas to Ault, Colorado where they found early work in the sugar beet fields. Motivated by drought and the search for higher living standards, J. P. Johnson hoped to establish his family in an area where they would thrive as farmers, thus assuring the future prosperity of his children. Soon after arriving in Colorado, the Johnsons moved to the Fort Collins area and worked for one year on Jack Rigden’s farm. The Rigden farm was historically located near the Wesley Johnson farm site where Drake Road crosses the Cache le Poudre River, and Rigden’s lands overlapped with the historic Johnson farm. After spending nearly a year with Rigden, John P. Johnson traded his land in Kansas for a quarter section along Fossil Creek and moved the family south of town. One of the oldest Johnson children, Elmer, continued to work with Rigden. By 1914, Elmer, in partnership with Charles Evans, acquired the farm lands adjacent to Rigden’s farm where the Johnson Farm property is located today. 4 Throughout the 1910s and 1920s, members of the Johnson family partnered with Charles Evans, working with him on numerous farms in the Fort Collins area. Charles was the son of early Fort Collins settler James C. Evans who arrived in the city in 1879 and prospered as a businessman and politician, twice serving as state senator for Larimer County. An early graduate of Colorado Agricultural College, by 1910 Charles Evans was an established farmer and landowner who operated large scale agricultural ventures throughout the county.5 A 1909 article in the Fort Collins Weekly Courier described Evans as “not only an extensive feeder of both sheep and cattle, but also a scientific farmer and fancier of fine stock.” By this early date, he owned over one thousand acres in the area.6 In this same year, Evans purchased the “nw qr of se qr 20-7-68 and other land” for $13,280 in the close vicinity of what is now known as the Johnson Farm.7 This land was once the site of the historic Sherwood ranch settled by Jesse and F.W. Sherwood in 1860, an area that encompassed nearly 1,000 acres of prime grazing and farm land. By 1915, the Sherwood ranch was divided between a variety of owners, including Charles Evans, Jack Rigden, Joseph Jessup, Jack Cuthbertson, and Elmer Johnson.8 Throughout its history, the Wesley Johnson farm property was prominently associated with four of the twelve Johnson siblings: Elmer, Edwin, Wesley, and Harvey, as well as Edwin’s sons, Glen and Calvin.9 While the property was jointly owned by Elmer Johnson and Charles Evans, Elmer built and occupied the houses and barn that still stand at the farm, constructing both farmhouses around 1915 and the barn around 1918. Working in partnership with Evans, Elmer prospered raising cattle and sheep on the farm. Together, they convinced another Johnson brother, Harvey, to begin raising stock nearby on one of Evans’s farms in 1917. 10 In 1920, the U.S. census indicated Elmer Johnson as the farm’s owner. At this time, many people lived and worked on the property. Elmer’s parents, John and Augusta, his grandmother, son, two daughters, brother Ivan, sister Viola, and wife May all lived at the farm as part of his household. Also enumerated on the site were four farm laborers, two of them 4 Harvey Johnson oral history, interviewed by Jim Hansen, August 27, 1985, p. 4-6, in Harvey Johnson Papers; Bill Hartman, Harvey Johnson: A Remarkable Man, unpublished biography manuscript, 1981, in Harvey Johnson Papers; “A House Full of Swedes,” 11; 1914 plat map. 5 Ansel Watrous, History of Larimer County (Fort Collins: Courier Printing & Publishing Company, 1911): 393. 6 Fort Collins Weekly Courier, March 3, 1909. 7 Fort Collins Weekly Courier, April 21, 1909. 8 The Courier Farmer, April 20, 1915. 9 Cultural Resource Historians, Fort Collins Agricultural Resources Survey, “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994. 10 Associated Cultural Resource Experts, “Joseph Jessup and Wesley Johnson Farmsteads Preservation and Development Plan,” April 2001, 8-9; Harvey Johnson oral interview, August 27, 1985, 13-14. Page 5 single and two living with their families.11 In 1920, Elmer was elected secretary of the Larimer County Breeders’ Association.12 He continued to engage in cattle farming and agricultural production on the farm until the global recession in 1929. The 1930s proved to be a tumultuous period for the Johnson family. The effects of the Great Depression were widespread, affecting farmers across the nation, and the Johnsons were not immune to its impacts. By 1929, Elmer lost the farm in the years leading up to the Depression, and the farm was acquired by Charles Wright by 1930. Elmer later moved his family to Greeley before retiring from farming in 1955. After his brother lost the farm, Edwin Johnson rented and worked at the property until 1934. Of all the Johnson siblings, Edwin alone fought for the U.S. in World War I for two years, returning to Colorado after receiving a shrapnel injury to the foot. In 1919, he married Cora Edwards, and the couple raised three children: Glen, Calvin, and Augusta. Edwin and his family joined Elmer on the farm in 1922, and Ed continued to rent the property after Elmer lost the property. Calvin was born on the site in 1925.13 The 1940 plat map indicated Horace E. Pastorius as the farm’s owner, though it is unknown when he acquired the property. Pastorius was the son of a prominent Colorado Springs landowner, also named Horace E. Pastorius. The elder Pastorius graduated from Harvard in 1899 with a degree in agriculture before moving his family to Colorado Springs in 1900. After several trips to the area with Charles Wright in the 1910s, the Pastorius family moved to Fort Collins by 1920. A 1920 advertisement in the Fort Collins Courier detailed a large farm sale conducted by the Horace Pastorius, senior.14 Little is known of the family’s activity in the area, but by 1940, Horace Pastorius, junior, owned the property where the Johnson Farm sits today. The 1940 census enumerated Pastorius, aged 35, employed in farming with property worth $12,500. Obviously, some farmers were able to prosper and increase their landholdings during the Depression. According to a deed of trust located in Harvey Johnson’s papers, Pastorius sold the farm to Wesley and Minnie Johnson in January 1941.15 For many years, Wesley rented property from Charles Evans and worked lands near the farm that now bears his name. The 1940 census shows that Wesley, his wife, and three daughters leased and farmed land on Hospital Road, enumerated just one page after Pastorius. The following year, the family moved to lands acquired from Pastorius, returning the farm to Johnson family ownership after the property was lost during the Depression. During Wesley’s tenure on the farm, he grew grains and sugar beets in addition to raising sheep and cattle. In January 1944, he was appointed to the board of directors of the Fort Collins Lamb Feeders Association. According to a local biographer, “Farming, church work, and his family occupied all his time. It was on this farm that Wesley was killed in a farming accident on Nov. 21, 1944 at the age of 57. His untimely death left a great void in a family who loved him.”16 Family records offer further glimpses of Wesley’s character: “Wesley was known everywhere for his sunny disposition and he loved little children. The welcome mat was 11 1920 U.S. Census; One of Elmer’s workers, Wilbur Hugus, was counted on the 1920 Census in June of that year. Curiously, a February 4, 1920 article in the Fort Collins Courier claims that Hugus perished of the influenza virus while working on the farm, yet he still appears in the census enumerated several months later. 12 Fort Collins Courier, January 29, 1920, May 19, 1920, December 3, 1920. 13 “Elmer B. Johnson (1883-1972),” Johnson family genealogy file, August 1979, in Harvey Johnson Papers; “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994; Cora and Edwin Johnson oral history, July 31, 1975, interviewed by Charlene Tresner, p. 4-6, 16-17, in Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Archive; Fort Collins Courier, November 9, 1922. 14 1940 plat map; 1920 U.S. Census; 1919 Harvard University alumni directory; Fort Collins Weekly Courier, February 16, 1912, October 9, 1914; Fort Collins Courier, June 17, 1920, September 21, 1920. 15 1940 U.S. Census; Deed of trust to Wesley Johnson, January 24, 1941, in Harvey Johnson Papers. 16 Larimer County Heritage Writers, History of Larimer County, CO, Volume II (Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1987): 726; Fort Collins Coloradoan, January 29, 1964. Page 6 always out at his home.”17 His widow, Minnie, retained ownership of the property until the late 1960s, leasing the land to local farmers and other members of the extended Johnson family.18 After Wesley Johnson’s tragic death, the family continued to farm the property. Harvey Johnson served as administrator of Wesley’s estate and operated the farm through the 1950s, primarily raising sheep and cattle. Harvey was a prominent member of the Johnson family, serving as president of the Water Supply and Storage Company for over thirty years. Known by locals as “Mr. Water,” he also served two terms as mayor of Fort Collins from 1963 to 1967. Johnson was perhaps the foremost expert in irrigation and water law in the city. His leadership at the Water Supply and Storage Company expanded the city’s access to Western Slope water. He exerted a significant influence on securing water diversion projects from the Grand Ditch and Laramie River into the Poudre River. During his tenure as mayor, he focused his attention on acquiring water rights to facilitate the city’s long term growth, and he also established the city’s water board. Throughout this period, Harvey managed Wesley’s property and continued to act on Minnie’s behalf as financial trustee.19 In the late 1960s, Harvey sold the farm to his nephew, Calvin Johnson, who incorporated the lands into Spring Creek Farms, Inc., a company he formed with his brother Glen and father Edwin. Spring Creek operated many farms in the Fort Collins area, growing crops including sugar beets, corn, alfalfa, beans, and grains. The Johnsons also owned a cattle feeding company called Caled which they operated on the nearby Jessup farm. After Edwin retired from the business, Calvin managed farming operations for Spring Creek, while his brother Glen took charge of the company’s business and finances. Calvin resided on the property for a time before moving to another Johnson farmhouse at 2600 South Timberline, later renting the Drake farmhouses to private occupants.20 With the city’s adoption of a new statewide annexation policy in 1987, Fort Collins began to incorporate surrounding fields and farm lands. As the city increasingly expanded, farms became subject to annexation after several years within the city’s legal limits. By 1992, the Johnson farm lands encompassed over 400 acres being quickly surrounded by suburban growth. Ultimately, the property was annexed to the city as part of the Timberline Annex, but only after addressing concerns brought before city council by Glen and Calvin Johnson. The Johnson brothers expressed alarm about their ability to operate a farm within city limits, correctly foreseeing the eventual decline of urban agricultural production as the city expanded. Glen Johnson commented on the growth of the city and its potential effects on his family’s historic farm, “It’s very difficult to run an agricultural business when you are entirely surrounded by busy roads and housing developments. Sooner or later the traffic and other constraints are going to make it too difficult to continue operating as a farm. We know that progress is impossible to stop. We just want to keep our property the way it is as long as possible.” Addressing the reality of suburban growth in Fort Collins, chief city planner Ken Waido responded to the Johnson brothers’ concerns: “We have a lot of people asking us if they can keep the cows, if they can keep hunting, things like that. We try to be sensitive to their lifestyle; unfortunately there are some aspects of rural life that just don’t go with urban life.”21 By 2001, the Johnson Farm property and adjacent lands owned by Spring Creek, including the Joseph Jessup Farm, were sold by Calvin Johnson. Plans for adaptive reuse stalled during the 2000s, and the properties were acquired by Gino Campana and his brothers Tony and Mike in 2011. Campana, through his development company, Bellisimo, is the current owner seeking Local Landmark designation. The company is presently undertaking an innovative adaptive reuse plan to preserve the historic integrity and character of the Wesley 17 “John Wesley Johnson (1888-1944),” Johnson Family genealogy file. 18 1940 U.S. Census; 1940 plat map; 1956 plat map. 19 Harvey Johnson oral history, interviewed by David McComb, 1973-1973, 94, in Harvey Johnson Papers; Hartman, 19-22; “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994. 20 1963 plat map; “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994; Cora and Edwin Johnson oral history, 16-17. 21 Fort Collins Coloradoan, “Don’t fence me in, farmers say: City’s plan to annex property has brothers ready to fight,” December 28, 1992. Page 7 Johnson Farm. Bellisimo plans to restore the historic buildings on the Johnson Farm, where they will locate their main offices within the broader Buckinghorse subdivision, an area comprising much of the historic Johnson and Jessup farm lands. Although agricultural practices on these lands have ceased, the historic Wesley Johnson farm will stand as a testament to the history of his family and others who established farms in the Fort Collins area in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Page 8 ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION Construction Date: ca. 1915 Architect/Builder: Elmer Johnson Building Materials: Wood, stone, concrete Architectural Style: Vernacular agricultural Description: Historic buildings on the Johnson Farm Property include two farmhouses and a large barn. As late as 2001, several additional outbuildings stood on the site, but the historic granary, outhouse, and loafing sheds have since fallen due to disrepair. The remaining buildings on the site represent an excellent example of twentieth-century vernacular architecture displaying high integrity, and the barn is a rare and excellent example of the bank barn type in Fort Collins. Constructed by Elmer Johnson around 1915, probably with the help of his brothers and neighbors, the property’s original house stands one story tall with a front-gabled roof, wood shingles, and overhanging eaves. Like the barn, it is built into the natural slope of the land so that a basement level garage opens to grade at the rear elevation of the house. The rectangular plan house sits on a poured concrete foundation that encloses the basement garage and is clad in beveled wood siding on the upper level. Basement walls are exposed concrete with three rectangular hopper windows on the north and south elevations. All windows on the house are wood-framed, but they are currently boarded over. The west, or primary elevation, contains two large rectangular windows beneath the gabled-end and a wood-framed door on its south side. Two small stone steps provide access to the door. The north elevation also contains two large, rectangular windows beneath the roof eaves. The east elevation, at the rear of the house, includes one large rectangular window on the main level, and large wood plank garage doors opening from the basement. The south elevation contains three rectangular windows, much like the north elevation with the addition of one window toward its western side. Slightly southwest of the farm’s original house sits the property’s main farmhouse, constructed by Elmer Johnson shortly after the house described above. Resting on a poured concrete foundation, this one-story vernacular house has an irregular plan with hipped roof and wood shingles. Its walls are wood-framed, and the house is clad in horizontal wood siding painted white. Multiple additions were added to the main core of the house throughout the years. All windows on the house are wood-framed, and currently boarded over. A screened-in porch with a shed roof sits in front of the house’s main entrance on the east elevation containing a row of rectangular windows broken by a door frame that is also boarded over. An additional rectangular window sits to the north of the porch on the house’s main wall. The south elevation includes a centrally located door, currently boarded, flanked by two small rectangular windows. The south elevation features extending additions on either side, each with a boarded rectangular window. A stone foundation sits centrally on the south elevation, indicating that an addition once stood here enclosing the entrance On the west elevation of the house, two rectangular windows sit to either side of the extending addition, and one small square window sits toward the north. The simple northern elevation contains a single rectangular window. Additions also extend to the east and west of the house’s main plan on the north elevation. Constructed around 1918 by Elmer Johnson, the property’s barn stands north of the two farmhouses. This large, two-story barn sits on a concrete foundation with a gambrel roof, flared eaves, and wood shingles. A cross-gambrel section extends from the roof on the west elevation, while the north elevation contains a gabled hay hood beneath the eaves. A centrally-located gabled-roof cupola sits at the top of the structure. The Johnson barn represents an intact and well-preserved example of a bank barn type, holding a high level of integrity. Bank barns were typically built into a hillside to take advantage of the natural grade Page 9 of the land, allowing ground-level access to both the upper and lower floors. The barn facilitated access for wagons or trucks carrying feed or hay to the upper floor, which could be easily distributed to animals in the barn and corrals surrounding the lower-level entrance. The barn is aligned on a north-south axis, and exterior walls are clad in wood, shiplap siding. The north and south elevations include pairs of 8/8 double-hung windows, and several boarded square hopper windows located between the upper story and the foundation provided light to the stables in the lower story. On the south elevation, large hayloft doors sit beneath the gabled roof junction. Underneath the cross-gambrel roof on the west elevation, a large horizontal sliding barn door, with vertical plank siding, opens to the interior of the barn. Three rectangular windows, currently boarded, provide light to the upper story while several small square windows are contained in the concrete wall of the lower story. The east elevation includes two vertical plank horizontal sliding barn doors that provide access to the barn’s lower story. Five rectangular windows also sit at various places on the east elevation, currently boarded.22 22 Sources consulted for architectural description include: Fort Collins Agricultural Resources Survey, “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994; Andrews & Anderson, P.C., “Johnson and Jessup Farms Assessment/Feasibility Study,” 2001; Bellisimo, “Johnson Farm,” 2012; Associated Cultural Resource Experts, “Joseph Jessup and Wesley Johnson Farmsteads Preservation and Development Plan,” April 2001. Page 10 REFERENCE LIST or SOURCES of INFORMATION Andrews & Anderson, P.C., “Johnson and Jessup Farms Assessment/Feasibility Study,” 2001 Ansel Watrous, History of Larimer County, Fort Collins: Courier Publishing & Printing Company, 1911 Associated Cultural Resource Experts, “Joseph Jessup and Wesley Johnson Farmsteads Preservation and Development Plan,” April, 2001 City of Fort Collins Planning Department, Agriculture in the Fort Collins Urban Growth Area, 1862- 1994: Historic Contexts and Survey Report, March, 1995 Colorado Historical Society, “Historic Building Inventory Records: Jessup Farm,” June, 1992 Cora and Edwin Johnson, interviewed July 31, 1975, by Charlene Tresner, oral history transcript at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery The Courier Farmer Cultural Resource Historians, Fort Collins Agricultural Resources Survey, “Management Data Form: Wesley Johnson Farm,” May, 1994 Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com Fort Collins Coloradan Fort Collins Courier Fort Collins Weekly Courier Harvard University Alumni Directory, 1919 Harvey Johnson Papers, Colorado State University Water Resources Archive Larimer County Heritage Writers, History of Larimer County, CO, Volume II, Dallas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1987 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records, Agricultural Scrip Patent, vol. 137 U.S. Federal Census: 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1940 U.S. General Land Office plat maps: 1914, 1929, 1940, 1956, 1963 LANDMARK PRESERVATION COMMISSION April 10, 2013 STAFF REPORT REQUEST: Fort Collins Landmark Designation of the Johnson Farm Property at 2608 East Drake Road, Fort Collins, Colorado STAFF CONTACT: Josh Weinberg, Historic Preservation Planner APPLICANT: Gino Campana, Property Owner BACKGROUND: Staff is pleased to present for your consideration the Johnson Farm Property located at 2608 East Drake Road. The property has significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Preservation Standards (1), (2), and (3). The Johnson Farm Property is significant to Fort Collins under Landmark Standard One (1) for its agricultural associations beginning in the late nineteenth century. Historic activities on the farm demonstrate multiple agricultural contexts significant to the city, including cattle and sheep raising, farming, and ranching. The property is additionally significant under Standard Two (2) for its association with several prominent Fort Collins citizens, including Charles Evans and the Johnson brothers: Elmer, Wesley, Edwin, and Harvey. The Johnsons first moved to Fort Collins in 1902 where they established multiple farms in the area. Throughout the twentieth century, the Johnsons thrived in farming and stock raising. One Johnson brother in particular, Harvey, exerted significant political influence in the city as president of the Water Supply and Storage Company and mayor from 1963 to 1967. The property also holds significance under Standard Three (3). Its two farmhouses, built in the 1910s by Elmer Johnson, are excellent examples of vernacular agricultural architecture. Additionally, the Johnson barn, built around 1918, represents one of the city’s few remaining examples of a bank barn. It is built into the side of the land’s natural grade to provide livestock easier access to forage stored in the barn. See the Landmark designation application form for detailed historic and architectural descriptions of the historic farmstead. Staff Analysis: Staff finds that the Johnson Farm Property qualifies for Landmark designation under Fort Collins Landmark Designation Standards (1) (2) and (3). If the Landmark Preservation Commission determines that the property is eligible under these three standards, then the Commission may pass a resolution recommending City Council pass an ordinance designating the Johnson Farm Property as a Fort Collins Landmark according to City Code Chapter 14 under Designation Standards (1) (2) and (3). Planning, Development & Transportation Community Development & Neighborhood Services 281 North College Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580 ATTACHMENT 3 ATTACHMENT 4 Johnson Farm Property Fort Collins Landmark Designation 2608 East Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO Johnson Farm Property looking northwest. From left to right are the main farmhouse, original house, and barn. Johnson Farm Property looking northwest with view of original farmhouse and barn. ATTACHMENT 5 Main Farmhouse – South and West Elevations Main Farmhouse – West Elevation Main Farmhouse – East and North Elevations Main Farmhouse – South and East Elevations Original Farmhouse – West and South Elevations Original Farmhouse – South and East Elevations Original Farmhouse – East Elevation Original Farmhouse – North and West Elevations Johnson Barn – South and East Elevations (toppled outhouse in foreground) Johnson Barn – South and West Elevations Johnson Barn – North and West Elevations 1 Request for Designation of the Johnson Farm Property as a Fort Collins Landmark Josh Weinberg and Karen McWilliams Historic Preservation Planners City Council Regular Meeting June 4, 2013 ATTACHMENT 6 2 Vicinity Map 3 Johnson Farm 4 Johnson Farm History • Historically associated with 100+ years of agricultural activity in Fort Collins • Linked to prominent and influential members of Fort Collins history • Represents one of the most intact farm complexes remaining in city 5 Johnson Farm – Current Condition Johnson Farm Complex Johnson Barn built ca. 1900 6 Landmark Preservation Commission Findings and Resolution April 10, 2013 Meeting • Designation application brought forward by property owner Gino Campana. • Property found to be Historically and Architecturally Significant under 3 of 4 Designation Standards • LPC Adopted (8-0) Resolution Recommending Council Approval of the Johnson Farm Property as a Landmark 7 Questions? ORDINANCE NO. 083, 2013 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS DESIGNATING THE JOHNSON FARM PROPERTY, 2608 EAST DRAKE ROAD, FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, AS A FORT COLLINS LANDMARK PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 14 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 14-2 of the City Code, the City Council has established a public policy encouraging the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of landmarks within the City; and WHEREAS, by Resolution dated April 10, 2013, the Landmark Preservation Commission (the "Commission") has determined that the Johnson Farm Property has significance to Fort Collins under Landmark Designation Standards (1), (2), and (3) for its association with significant historical events and persons, and also for its architectural significance to Fort Collins; and WHEREAS, the Commission has further determined that said property meets the criteria of a landmark as set forth in Section 14-5 of the Code and is eligible for designation as a Landmark, and has recommended to the City Council that said property be designated by the City Council as a landmark; and WHEREAS, the owner of the property, Gino Campana on behalf of Johnson Farm LLC, has consented to such landmark designation; 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 approve such recommendation and designate said property as a landmark. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the property known as the Johnson Farm Property, and the adjacent lands upon which the historical resources are located in the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado, described as follows, to wit: Lot 1, Block 7 of Bucking Horse Filing Two, Located in Section 20, Township 7 North, Range 68 West of the 6th Principal Meridian, City of Fort Collins, State of Colorado. be designated as a Fort Collins Landmark according to City Code Chapter 14. Section 2. That the criteria in Section 14-48 of the City Code will serve as the standards by which alterations, additions and other changes to the buildings and structures located upon the above described property will be reviewed for compliance with Chapter 14, Article III, of the City Code. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 4th day of June, A.D. 2013, and to be presented for final passage on the 18th day of June, A.D. 2013. _________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 18th day of June, A.D. 2013. _________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk e L n Nancy Gray Ave S i tting B u l l W a y Bucking Horse Ln Songbird Ln Haymeadow Way Kansas Dr Rigden Pkwy Windrow Dr Iowa Dr Katahdin Dr M i l e s H o use A v e N a n c y G r a y A v e E Drake Rd S Timberline Rd © Fort Collins 2608 East Landmark Drake Designation Road Vicinity Map These map products and all underlying data are developed for use by the City of Fort Collins for its internal purposes only, and were not designed or intended for general use by members of the public. The City makes no representation or warranty as to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness, and in particular, its accuracy in labeling or displaying dimensions, contours, property boundaries, or placement of location of any map features thereon. THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS MAKES NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR WARRANTY FOR FITNESS OF USE FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THESE MAP PRODUCTS OR THE UNDERLYING DATA. Any users of these map products, map applications, or data, accepts same AS IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, and assumes all responsibility of the use thereof, and further covenants and agrees to hold the City harmless from and against all damage, loss, or liability arising from any use of this map product, in consideration of the City's having made this information available. Independent verification of all data contained herein should be obtained by any users of these products, or underlying data. The City disclaims, and shall not be held liable for any and all damage, loss, or liability, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, which arises or may arise from these map products or the use thereof by any person or entity. 1 inch = 500 feet Johnson 2608 East Farm Drake Property Road ATTACHMENT 1