WHAT:  RMGA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING – BYERS-EVANS HOUSE MUSEUM

WHEN:  November 14, 2016, 6:30 pm – Networking, 7:00 PM – Short Meeting, Election of the 2017 Board/Officers, 7:15 PM – History and Tour of the Byers-Evans House Museum.

 
WHERE:  1310 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80204.

PROGRAM:  Museum Director, Jillian Allison, and volunteers, will provide the Museum history and the tour of the Museum.  

PARKING:  There is street parking and the parking meters stop running at 6 PM. 

Byers-Evans House Museum 

Guide Line Review

Byers-Evans House

​Jillian Allison, Director of the Byers-Evans House Museum was introduced by President Larry Foos.  Jillian represents the Byers-Evans House Museum which is a member of RMGA.  We entered the museum through the main door which is at the south side of the house and is part of the addition (1902).  Guests would also use this door for entrance and exit. 

Jillian gave us an overview of all the programs that the Museum offers: including events with History Colorado.  History Colorado operates eight other museums throughout the state.  Look for additional information on the website.  The Georgetown Loop railroad train is owned by History Colorado though it is operated by a concessionaire.  The other museums each have their own gift shops so the items offered may be different in each shop. 

Holiday decorating will be done during the week of November 21-26 this year.  The Museum is also offering seven teas this holiday season – on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.  The teas also include a tour of the house – charges are $25 for adults, $20 for History Colorado members and children.  History Colorado offers combination tickets – free at the Byers-Evans if they purchase a ticket at History Colorado or there is a $5 discount at History Colorado if the combination ticket is purchased at the Byers-Evans House.  These combination tickets have no expiration date.  The Museum is open on Sundays and offer a tour every day at 3:30 pm. 

The museum will be offering historic workshops, some of which are: weaving in January, cooking –using Baby Doe Tabor’s recipes (the Four Mile House volunteers will use their historic ovens), bring collections from History Colorado.  Last week the workshop group made Christmas cards. 

The museum also has art focus tours – the artwork in the house is the focus, with information on who created it and who collected it.  These tours will be held once a month by appointment and groups are limited to 8-30 people.  Tours of the house typically take about 45-50 minutes.  There are lockers available in the gift shop (free) so that backpacks and large bags are not a danger to many of the items in the various rooms of the house.  Photos are allowed inside the house BUT not flash.  Like many other museums, items are artifacts and should not be touched. 

Byers-Evans House Museum also has student tours – typically 3rd and 4th graders.  They receive character cards before their visit and play the role of someone who lived in the house or worked there or was a prominent citizen who visited there. 

Byers-Evans does not participate in the First Fridays art tours because the house does not have large gallery space for additional artwork.  The Byers-Evans is focused on the family and the history of the house in Denver – 2017 will see the focus change to women and the role they played in developing Colorado and Denver. 

The house was built in 1883 for William and Elizabeth Byers and is Italianate in design.  The Byers lived in the house about six years and then sold it to William (died 1924) and Cornelia Evans.  The Evans family lived in the house for 91 years, ending with the death of Margaret Evans.  The house then became a museum.  The period displayed in the house is 1912-1924.  Most of the rooms represent the period around 1912.  Originally the house had 3500 square feet of space, now it has 10,000 square feet of space. 

We met in what was a bedroom at one time in the addition and split into two groups, one led by Jillian and the other by docent Ellen __________________________ . 

We started our tour in the back parlor (family only).  On the mantle are photos of William Evans and his mother, Margaret.  John Evans was the second Territorial Governor of Colorado.  He was from Illinois – Evanston, Illinois is named for him. John Evans started Northwestern University.  William Evans was his son. 

William Evans owned the streetcar company in Denver.  There were more than 250 miles of streetcar tracks in Denver.  The company owned what is now the REI building (it was the original power plant for the electric streetcars, built in 1901), the current Hotel Teatro (this was the site of the original Evans home and after John Evans’ death in 1897 the house was torn down and the site became the offices of the trolley company (1911)), and the Spaghetti Factory building was also part of the company. 

The house has books everywhere, also in the family parlor are souvenirs from travels around the world – Italy, China, Japan. 

In 1883 the “front” parlor, where guests would be entertained, had a painted ceiling which has been replicated.  Around the doorway to the front parlor is Lyncrusta Walton, and on the mantel are three items owned by the Byers family – clock, candlesticks, and _____________ .  The fireplace has Minton tiles depicting Aesop’s Fables and Tales of King Arthur.  In 1909 the house was electrified and radiators were installed. 

What was the front parlor was redone in 1912 – the wallpaper, lights, curtain rods were all done then and have not been changed since.  The remodel was done to convert the room into a salon for daughter Margaret to give piano recitals.  The front door has a buffalo head door knocker and is a double door.  The piano (1901) is not original to the house.  One of the front windows has a bullet hole – from a time when William owned the trolley company and there were strikes against low pay and working conditions – after this incident the children were escorted to school.  In 1920 there was a major strike, however, William no longer owned the trolley company.   Originally the stairs had short risers and went up at the side of the room.  There is an elevator - large enough for two or three people behind the stairs that was added in the 1950s for Cornelia. 

We ascended the stairs and entered the master bedroom with its wonderful poppy wallpaper and original half-tester bed which is said to come from New Orleans (1860s) and has mosquito netting.  The house has lots of closets (unusual for the time).   Many of the rugs are original in the house.

Family photos are displayed everywhere in the house.  William and Cornelia had four children, Margaret, John (the banker) who married Gladys Cheesman, Josephine and Catherine.  The family also had a ranch in Evergreen and Margaret’s grandchildren live there now.  William was a major sportsman – sport fishing was one of his loves. 

We then went into Josephine’s bedroom.  Josephine studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and also went to Paris went her sister, Margaret, when Margaret went there to study piano.  Josephine worked for the Red Cross during World War I and came home a changed person (possibly with shell shock – what is now called PTSD).  In 1918, Josephine was 31 years old.  Josephine created fabrics and leather work.  There are many examples of her leatherwork throughout the house – book covers and pieces of furniture with leather insets.  Her room has a fantastic closet with mirrored doors and built-in drawers that takes up an entire wall of the room.  Josephine died in 1969.  Her room looked out to the wall of the Art Museum and the window has corrugated panes of glass.   
We then went into the servants’ bedrooms.  The first was the cook’s (Carrie Erickson).  Carrie was Swedish and often the servants who worked there were also Swedish.  They also had a chauffeur – David Martin – who we saw a photo of. 

Daughter Catherine lived her entire life in the house.  She had a smaller bedroom next to Carrie’s.  She never married and over time became the house manager.  From her bedroom she could see the courtyard, deliveries being made, visitors arriving, all the comings and goings of the servants.  She also was a professional volunteer, loved big hats and loved baseball (there are baseball gloves on a book rack in her room).  On the mantel is a clock that was a gift from Gladys Cheesman. 

The addition was built in 1897 after John Evans’ death.  William built it for his mother and sister (Anne) to come and live there.  There is a sitting room on the second floor of this addition.  It has a prayer closet (Margaret) and a short set of stairs leads to this closet.  The family were devout Methodists.  This room also has a cabinet done by Josephine in 1900 when she was in Paris, featuring leather panels on each of the doors and drawers. 

William’s sister Anne (1870-1941) lived in the house for 40 years and was a collector – her collections became the foundation of the Denver Art Museum (which is right next door).  Margaret Evans (1889-1981), William’s sister, was married, widowed and then moved back into the house with her mother and sisters.  Anne was just inducted in the Colorado Hall of Fame.  Anne was also the first female president of the library commission, worked on the design of Civic Center Park, was an artist and also on the Board of the Central City Opera.  Her sitting room is quite different from the rest of the house and accesses a very large porch over the front of the house.  In Anne’s bedroom we saw hair jewelry, shoe button hook and a glove stretcher as well as her opera glasses. 

We descended the “back” stairs to the library which is still part of the addition. There are many things here that came from the home of John and Margaret Evans.  There are several sculpted pieces by Elsie Ward (she worked with Augustus St. Gaudins) and also made coins (some for the Mint). 

Josephine Evans, John Evans’ first wife’s child, married Samuel Elbert.  This Josephine died in her mid-20s.  The chapel at the University of Denver was named for her and was moved from across the street, stone by stone, to the DU campus.  Josephine Street is also named for her. 

We saw more family portraits – one with Margaret on the left (Anne’s mother), Anne in the center (age 12), and Cornelia on the right (Anne’s grandmother).  Several items in this portrait are in the house – the globe, footstools, and the vase).  This portrait was painted at the 14th Street home in the 1880s. 

The dining room grew with the renovation in 1912 – stained glass windows were added later as were the plate rails.  The dining table features Margaret Evans’ china – made in 1888 by Havilland. The crystal is Baccarat – made for William and Cornelia’s wedding.  Housekeeping items here include a “vacuum cleaner” and a carpet sweeper.  Josephine made the fabric for the chair seats.  There is a bell on the table to be used to call the servants – though servants were actually called by pressing a button on the floor. 

The kitchen has a John Van Range (1886) from Cincinnati, Ohio.  The cook, Carrie Erickson, worked here 35 years.  The windows and skylight both open so that the kitchen can be cooled – this is also part of the addition.  The cook’s pantry also has a skylight. 

Our last stop was the gift shop – also part of the expansion.  The museum offers many unusual and unique items in the gift shop.  There are restrooms on the first floor in the addition, off the parlor. 

For additional information, contact Jillian Allison, 303.620.4933, 1310 Bannock Street, Denver, CO 80204.  Her email is jillian.allison@state.co.us.  
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