A Home With a History
In Boulder, Colorado, historic buildings, houses, districts, etc., can be found all over the city. Whether you are walking down Pearl Street, or exploring different neighborhoods, you can always find a little piece of Boulder’s history.
Carmela Weber and her husband just recently moved into a new home. However, this home is anything but new, and is one of the oldest houses in Boulder.
The Hannah Barker House, Weber’s new home, tells a story that is all too familiar with boulder natives.
Hannah Barker emigrated from Ireland to the Untied States in about 1852, and then moved to Boulder in 1869. In 1877, she married her husband Ezra Barker who was a successful businessman. Barker and her husband built their house in the Highland Lawn Town, which they developed. Highland Lawn Town remained an independent community until 1891 when Boulder expanded into the territory.
However, after 6 years of marriage, Ezra died. Hannah Barker did not have any children, but she still able to thrive even though she was left alone due to her husbands death.
Hannah Barker was very involved in Boulder, and she was a teacher, businesswoman, and land developer. She was one of the first women on the Board of the Bank of Boulder and she also platted Highland Lawn in 1884. She was very involved, and even as a woman who did not have very many opportunities in that time period, she was able to leave her mark.
Abby Daniels is the executive director at Historic Boulder, a non-profit whose goal is to save historic buildings, houses, etc., such as Hannah Barkers house.
“During her half century in Colorado, this spirited, independent woman played a role in Boulder’s evolution from a backward mining supply town into a prosperous and forward looking city,” Daniels stated.
Weber has lived in Boulder for years, so she too knew of Hannah Barker’s history as well as the significance of her home.
“This house has been this enigma in Boulder for years because it has beautiful bones, but it was literally like a haunted house. It was weird that it was just sitting here for so long and just falling down, it was just such a beautiful house. We’re living in the house of this woman who was very fierce, and really contributed a lot to the community,” Weber stated.
In 2006, Historic Boulder turned in an application to have the home designated as a landmark. By the end of 2010, the house was donated to the non-profit, and they immediately were ready to start work on it. Fraternities and sororities from the University of Colorado Boulder volunteered to rehabilitate the house, as well as members from Boulder’s community.
“We had the Sigma Alpha Epsilons help us, and other fraternities and sororities help us with clearing out the yard, and then we sold it a year ago to a guy who really finished the interior, it was just gutted. The first thing we did was spend $12,000 just to clean out the interior, and then we did the foundation and the exterior,” Daniels stated.
Daniel Wein was the man who purchased the home from Historic Boulder. Afterwards, a story was posted in the Daily Camera, and that is how Weber and her husband found out that the Hannah Barker house was being restored.
“We just moved from a house on Grove Street, so we had an 1890s house, it was brick and it was cute, we just needed a little more space. So, we were thinking of doing a remodel, and but it was very old, and also in the flood plain, so there were a lot of complications with codes, so I recommended to my husband to call our friend David Wein who we had read about buying this house, And I thought since David Wein had got through all of the landmark, he might have some advice as to how we should approach this,” Weber stated.
Once Weber’s husband called Wein, he explained how Wein thought the house would be perfect for their family. From there, they were able to buy the home from him and begin the renovation process.
“A lot of work had already happened before we stepped in, and it was actually really tricky timing because all of the trains had left the station on the timeline and the plan, and it was kind of a plan that was going to be for a generic house, not custom. So then when we were jumped in, we were suddenly making all of these decisions and choices to change things, and the contractors did a pretty amazing job staying on track in light of that change that was not really anticipated,” stated Weber.
Although the Weber’s wanted a more modern interior, they still wanted Hannah Barker’s history to live on in their home.
“She’s our muse, it’s really awesome that we get to live in this house with this great history. We really envision this being a meeting space, like if you’ve seen pictures with all these people on the porch, she was a big civic leader both from a business perspective and a philanthropist, and that really aligns with my husband and I’s lives anyway. So we really want to see the house come back to life as a collective where people could meet and things could happen here, not just like a private-closed residence,” Weber stated.
Finally after five months of work, the Weber’s moved into their new home on October 5.
“It’s exciting to be in the house, it’s not totally livable, so I don’t have the total nirvana that I’ll have, but ideally thanksgiving. We’re even closer to the mountains than we were, and close to the creek, and so that’s been super great. So, I love the history and it feels like ours. It’s a cool combination, it’s like super old, but it’s also new,” Weber stated.
