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Identification:
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Preferred Structure Name:
| Leiffer House
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Structure Number:
| HS-0836
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Other Structure Name(s):
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Other Structure Name(s)
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1.
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Kidd-Fink House
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Park:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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Historic District:
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Historic District
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| No records. |
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Structure State:
| Colorado
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Structure County:
| Larimer
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Region:
| Intermountain
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Cluster:
| Rocky Mountain
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Administrative Unit:
| Rocky Mountain National Park
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LCS ID:
| 052101
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Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
| Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
| 08/02/1978
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National Historic Landmark?:
| No
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Significance Level:
| Local
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Short Significance Description:
| Significant under criterion C for its rustic architecture. Old form, dates listed as 1923.
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Long Significance Description:
| The Leiffer house is significant for its rustic design. Both the National Park Service and private individuals built in the rustic style, creating the unified architectural statement we see today. The first director of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather, and his assistant, Horace Albright, advocated rustic design within the National Park Service as early as 1918 believing that buildings should blend with their natural surroundings. Private individuals followed their example. With wood shingle roofs, log framing, stone foundations, exposed rafter tails, and dark-stained siding, many buildings within Rocky Mountain National Park exemplify this design philosophy. The Leiffer House is a unique instance of a contrived rustic adaptation of the Southern California Craftsman style (1900-1920) to the Rocky Mountain West using local materials--notably fire-killed timber--for their decorative values. Enos A. Mills, naturalist and "father of Rocky Mountain National Park" acquired the land from the original homesteader, Carlyle Lamb, in 1901. He sold the land to May L. Kidd in 1917 who built the house in 1923. Julia M. Fink purchased the property in 1929. In 1942, Murry H. and Dorothy C. Leiffer purchased the property. They donated it to the National Park Service in 1977. The Park Service gained full possession in 1988. The Leiffers gave all the interior furnishings to the park service as well.
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Construction Period:
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Construction Period:
| Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
| Begin Year
| Begin Year AD/BC
| End Year
| End Year AD/BC
| Designer
| Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1923
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AD
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Kidd, May L.
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Other
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Function and Use:
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Primary Historic Function:
| Single Family House
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Primary Current Use:
| Dormitory (Bunkhouse)
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Structure Contains Museum Collections?:
| No
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Other Functions or Uses:
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Other Function(s) or Use(s)
| Historic or Current
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| No records. |
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Physical Description:
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Structure Type:
| Building
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Volume:
| 2,000 - 20,000 cubic feet
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Square Feet:
| 1256
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Material(s):
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Structural Component(s)
| Material(s)
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1.
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Roof
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Shingle
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2.
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Walls
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Log
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3.
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Framing
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Wood
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4.
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Foundation
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Fieldstone
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Short Physical Description:
| Two-story, frame building with side gable roof clad in wood shingles. Siding is vertical and horizontal half-logs chinked with tar and concrete. Lots of divided light windows mark the rear facade. Interior has stick style log ballustrades and stone fireplace.
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Long Physical Description:
| The two-story building has a rectangular plan and a front gable roof covered in green asphalt shingles. The chimney is rubblestone with metal stove pipe cap. There are exposed rafter ends. The walls are horizontal and vertical logs chinked with concrete and tar. Wood shingle siding and horizontal log window bays add interest to the exterior. Wood windows are divided into six lights. A large bay of windows at the west elevation allows lights to stream into the building. Wood panel and screen doors are painted. There is a rubblestone entrance stoop and patio. The interior is distinctively rustic. The ceilings are exposed wood framing. The walls are exposed logs and unfinished wood framing. The interior trim is whole wood logs. The balustrade on the stairs and loft are stick style.
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