1751 Gilpin St
Denver, CO, USA

National Register of Historic Places - Pierce T. Smith House

Statement of Significant:

The Pierce T. Smith House, constructed in 1891, is significant for its architectural design representing the Queen Anne style in its basic form.

The Queen Anne characteristics of the Smith House are seen in the complex roof combining steeply pitched hip, truncated hip, gable and conical. They are also found in the contrasting textures and materials used on the exterior wall surfaces. Porches and bays are other important elements of the Queen Anne house. The Smith House, has three porches, one now enclosed is at the top of the bay on the north side of the house and the other two are on the front façade. The one-story circular front porch, with its conical roof is reminiscent of the towers which were found on many earlier Queen Anne houses. The elements of the front porch include porch columns that resemble heavy table legs and over-sized eave bracketing.

The interior of the house contains much fine golden oak woodwork and is a good example of the excellent craftsmanship available for upper-middle class home construction in the 1890s. The original owner/occupant of the house was Dr. Pierce T. Smith, a dentist who came to Denver ca. 1880. He first practiced with Dr. Edward Lawrence in an office on Larimer Street, but soon went on his own in an office in the Tabor Opera House Building.at 16th and Curtis streets. In 1891, Smith formed a partnership with H.A. Fynn and a few years later with Ben A. McGee. For reasons unknown, Smith left dental practice ca. 1899 to become the vice-president and general manager of the International Mining Exchange.
Dr. Smith moved from 1751 Gilpin to 1451 High Street ca. 1894 and from that time to 1913, the owners or occupants of the house are unknown.2 On May 19, 1913, the house was bought by Mrs. Pauline Youngberg and sometime between 1913 and 1926, it was converted to a four-unit rooming house.3 In 1927, the house was known as the Woodbine Apartments and contained eleven units. The name had changed to the King Apartments by 1929.

The builder of the Smith House, Glen W. Huntington, was one of the city's most prolific residential builder/architects.5 He came to Denver in 1880 and was associated with James C. Mosier, a builder in the late 1880s constructing houses in the Whittier Neighbor- hood.

From the late 1890s to ca. 1906, Huntington worked in the office of William C. Fisher, one of Denver's most prominent architects, and then established his own practice. One of Huntington's best known non-residential buildings is Denver Fire Station Number One (1910) on Tremont Street, listed in the National Register and a designated Denver Landmark.