Guide Line Review
Hiwan Homestead Museum and Picnic
We met at about 5:30 to set up the tables for the picnic and to network. John Steinle was to be our host; John is a business member and has done a lot for RMGA, including hosting the Lariat Loop FAM in April. Unfortunately, John was unable to attend; however, we had three guides to give us a tour of the homestead: Meghan Vickers, Hiwan Homestead Museum Program Coordinator, Susan Grannell, Customer Service Representative, and Joyce Rutherford, Custodian/Tour Guide donated their time to give us a great tour of the homestead.
The Homestead is easily accessed from I-70 at exit 252 (Bergen Park Parkway) and a very short distance off Bergen Parkway on Douglas Park Road. There is plenty of parking available. Hiwan Homestead has many school children visitors so there is also ample parking for coaches. There are restrooms available in the buildings behind the main homestead building.
At 6:00 pm we divided up into three groups and toured the homestead. I was in Meghan’s group so this narrative is based on what I learned from Meghan.
We entered the homestead through the original back door which is now the front door. The current special exhibit is “The Reverend and the Reservation” – a display of Native American artifacts and gifts that were given to Ernest Mounsey, father of Bill Mounsey, who with his wife Louise have loaned these items to Hiwan Homestead. The house was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1974.
Mary Neosho Williams and her daughter, Josepha, bought the land when it had only a big barn on the property. Before 1914 there were only three rooms, now there are 25 rooms with seven fireplaces, seven staircases, seven bathrooms and seven outside entrances. In 1914, Mary died. Josepha graduated from medical school in 1889 – Gross Medical College here in Denver. Josepha ran a sanatorium with her partner Madeleine Marquette from 1891-1897 and they also ran a nurses’ training school.
The homestead was originally primarily a summer home. When there were guests, they stayed in tents in the back yard (a tent is currently set up in the back yard). Among distinguished guests was the poet, Robert Frost. Eric’s house was built for him and his nanny in 1897 – couldn’t raise a baby in a tent. However, the guests continued to live in the tents.
The barn is now the main room of the homestead. Jack Spence built the tower and the library/sitting room – the coyote pelts are not original, however, they have early photos showing many coyote pelts on display. Jack Spence built the playhouse across the creek behind the offices as well. This was built for Eric and then used by Eric’s children as a playhouse – huge playhouse. Jack also built adjustable bookshelves – an idea ahead of its time.
In 1896 Josepha married Charles Winfield Douglas and they had one child, a son, named Frederick Huntington Douglas but he was always called Eric. Charles Winfield Douglas was a priest in the Episcopal Church and was also a musician who wrote many hymns and Gregorian chants for the hymnal – many of his pieces are included in the 1940 hymnal. The piano in the living room is original to the house, owned by Charles Douglas, it is a 1907 Steinway. Father Douglas did most of his church work in English and used this piano.
Fred Harvey is credited with creating the first restaurant chain in the United States. Harvey and his company also became leaders in promoting tourism in the American Southwest in the late 19th century. The company and its employees, including the famous waitresses who came to be known as "Harvey Girls", successfully brought new higher standards of both civility and dining to a region widely regarded in the era as "the Wild West". Fred worked with the Indian tribes and bought their artwork and then sold it in the Harvey stores. Eric was a collector of Native American Arts and became curator of Native American Arts at the Denver Museum of Art (DAM). Eric gave many pieces from his collection to the DAM. The DAM’s Douglas Society supports native arts around the world. The house has many pieces that were returned by the DAM because they were damaged or cracked.
In the living room is a chair made of buffalo horns that was once owned by Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota tribe. This chair was traded for food during a very harsh winter.
The golden eagle is also original to the house; it is not legal now to have eagles killed or mounted but this item is “grandfathered” into the house. The fabric above the archway out of the living room is also original to the house.
After Mary’s death, the Douglas’s housed and entertained priests in training and they always seemed to have guests as well so they began to add on to the house.
In the dining room, the wall paintings were done by Eric – Native American designs. The dining table was built for the house. The chair seats, now covered in cowhide (with the softer hairy side out) were originally covered in horsehair. The rug under the dining table came from the Troutdale dining room. Troutdale was a mountain resort nearby.
We went into the butler’s pantry next to the dining room. Now used for teas and special events in the homestead. There is a display of porcelain and tableware from early times. There are also some pieces of Coors porcelain though Coors now makes industrial porcelain (think space capsules).
The kitchen was renovated in the 1930s though the red handles on the doors date from the 1950s. The kitchen stove is still in use and school children make Johnnycake when they come on a field trip. The icebox has doors on both sides and there is a meat locker on the back porch.
From the kitchen we went to Father Douglas’s study which has a piano and a de Disse organ from 1926. The de Disse family ranch was located where Evergreen Lake is now. The organ was brought across the prairie in a covered wagon and amazingly survived the trip. Also in the study are owl andirons in the fireplace – the eyes would glow when the andirons got hot – not able to demonstrate since fireplaces have been closed off. Also in the back of the fireplace are pipes that would heat the water for use in the kitchen when the fireplace was in use.
In the chapel which is a many-sided room are many banners, replicas of silk banners that are stored away. Father Douglas used this room to have services at home (he was required to celebrate mass daily). There are cushions on a bench for Josepha to sit on. The chapel is the only room in the house built of non-native wood. The altar is hollow though it looks solid. The candlesticks and communion service are original, the sconces are also original.
The chapel can be rented for weddings – it can hold as many as 25 people and there are two closets and a bathroom attached.
When the second family moved into the house, the chapel was deconsecrated and daughter Wendy lived in this room. It was a bedroom and painted pink. During renovation, two other colors of paint were discovered as well.
Next to the chapel is Josepha’s bedroom. She was not well in later years and this room was close to the chapel. Josepha had a servant call bell that connected with her nurse’s room when she needed something. An important décor item in Josepha’s room are the tiles around the fireplace. They are Hopi design, some of the only 1,500 left in existence. There are 63 here and another 300 in the DAM. At the time, they cost about $1.50/each, now worth about $1,500 each. On the mantel is a Cochiti figurine – this one is a singer.
Next to Dr. Josepha’s room is a 1960’s bathroom containing photos of Dr. Josepha. The second family who lived here added this bathroom to go with daughter Wendy’s bedroom. Now Wendy’s bedroom furniture is in another bedroom on this floor.
Across the hall is the nursery – Josepha used it for Eric and then Eric used it for his children. The room was originally the nursemaid’s room.
The schoolroom was originally a bedroom and the seventh fireplace is behind a wall in this room. The schoolroom is set up to resemble an 1876 schoolroom (Colorado is the Centennial State). It is now used for day camps and educational programs. The students use slates and McGuffey Readers. Some of Miss Julie Douglas’s baskets and things are here – Miss Julie was a librarian.
In 1938 Dr. Josepha died and the property was sold to Darst and Ruth Buchanan. Darst was an oil man, after he retired he raised award winning Herefords. During WWII they raised turkeys, after the end of WWII, the surplus turkeys were sold to Swanson (so that’s where those early frozen dinners came from!!). In the 1950s he got into real estate development. In the 1970s their daughter Jean sold the property and house and then sold the land to the “Open Space” program. The grove (where we had the picnic) was sold to the Jefferson County Historical Society who bought three acres to save it from development (imagine condominiums next door). The museum and the grove are now owned by Open Space and the Historical Society owns the artwork, etc.
After our tour, we all gathered in the grove for the picnic that the Hospitality Committee – Bonnie Custer and Barbara Ford – had prepared.
--- Nancy Brueggeman
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Hiwan Homestead Museum and Picnic
WHEN: June 9, 2014, 5:30 pm. – networking, 6:00-7:00 – program, picnic to follow
WHERE: Hiwan Homestead – 4208 South Timbervale Drive, Evergreen, CO 80439
PROGRAM: Picnic and Tour of the Hiwan Homestead Museum. John Steinle is our host and he is a business member and has done a lot for RMGA. I hope you all will attend. Picnic follows the program. Contact Nancy Brueggeman to make reservations for the picnic. The cost is $5.00 per person, Her cell is, 303-809-7535, or home, 303-979-4852.
PARKING: The parking lot is big and it is free parking.