#38. Van Gieson House

This home has been extensively remodeled from the original, but the identifying bay windows are still intact.  According to notes by Edna Robertson Shaffer, provided to the museum by Carol and Jeff Dodds, this house was the first frame house to be built in Del Norte.  It was built by a Mr. Hughes.

Mr. Van Gieson was a promoter who built roads going into the Summit District from the Pinos Creek side.  He was also a mine owner in the district.  Another owner of the home was R. C. Nisbit, who was a well-known agricultural leader and worked with R. A. Chisholm of the potato industry.  He served on the Agricultural College Board and was active politically.  He operated produce shops along Grand Avenue, which are now gone.  He also was in business with A. G. Beere.

A. G. Beere owned the home at one time. He was a business partner with Fred Freeman and William Smiley. When the Freeman block was built in 1902, Freeman, William Smiley, and A. G. Beere were equal business partners in the mercantile store.

Other owners have included Frank Field, and Maude and John Duncan.  Their granddaughter, Kay Hutchinson, remodeled the house to its present look.

Turn left on Columbia.