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Melby House -
2407 10th Avenue
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
McDonald House
Style -
No Style
Built Year -
1948
State ID -
5WL.4954
Description -
The single-story wood frame dwelling at 2407 10th Avenue is made up of: a main side-gabled section, an intersecting front gabled section on the east elevation (façade) which in part covers the front porch; an 12' by 20' attached garage located at the rear northwest corner; and an enclosed, 25' by 11' shed-roofed rear patio at the south end of the west elevation. The house is supported by a low unpainted concrete foundation, and the foundation walls are penetrated by single-light hopper basement windows with painted white wood frames and surrounds. The roof is moderately-pitched, and is covered with grey asphalt composition shingles. The eaves are boxed, with painted white wood trim, but with a minimal overhang. There is no chimney. A single-light fixed-pane picture window penetrates the façade wall to the south of the entry porch. Bands of two and three 2-light windows flank a horizontal sliding glass bypass door which enters the enclosed shed-roofed patio near the south end of the west elevation. Elsewhere, the home's windows are entirely single and paired 1/1 double-hung sash with painted white wood frames and surrounds. A painted white wood-paneled front door, with two small upper sash lights, and covered by a white metal storm door, leads into the house on the façade from a 10' by 6' 3-step concrete porch. The porch is covered by the intersecting front gable, supported by one painted white squared wood post. A small, probably not original, wood deck extends from the north side of the porch.
Historical Background -
Weld County Assessor records indicate that this house was built in 1948 and Greeley city directories reveal that it was owned and occupied by Glenn W. and Phyllis McDonald through the late 1970s. The son of John A. McDonald, Glenn was born in 1917. He grew up in Greeley, graduating from Greeley High School in 1935. On September 6, 1942, he was married to Miss Phyllis Duffield who was then a student at the Colorado State Teachers College. The daughter of Clarence K. and Louis Jane (Chadbourne) Duffield, Phyllis was born in Colorado Springs on July 27, 1921. After graduating high school there, she came to Greeley in 1939. Phyllis and Glenn met the following year, and after a two year courtship they were married in the Shove Chapel on the Colorado campus in Colorado Springs. They then made their home in Greeley.
Glenn McDonald worked for the postal service in Greeley for many years, while Phyllis enjoyed a long successful career as a teacher and guidance counselor in the Platteville and Greeley-Evans school systems. She received her bachelor's degree in foreign languages in 1943, followed by master's degrees in secondary education and guidance counseling. She then began her teaching career at Platteville High School in 1956, and subsequently taught French and Latin, and later worked as a guidance counselor at several Greeley area schools. Among other possible locations, she taught at Heath Junior High, Greeley Central High School, and Greeley West High School. She retired from Heath Junior High as a guidance counselor in 1979.
Glenn and Phyllis both had a love for music and of singing, and in face, they had met while members of the Park Congregational Church choir. They then became members of the First Congregational Church where they were integral members of the choir for more then fifty years. Glenn also sang in the Greeley Elks Club Chorus from 1949 to 1983. Phyllis McDonald passed away in Greeley on June 22, 2001, at the age of 79. She was survived by her husband, and by a son and daughter-in-law - John William "Bill" and Beth (Jorgens) McDonald. More recently, athletic and music scholarship endowments have been established at the University of Northern Colorado, in the honor of Phyllis J. and Glenn W. McDonald.
Following the McDonalds long initial tenure at this address (circa 1948 - late 1970s), the property was acquired by Rubin and Ruth Miller, who then maintained it as a well cared for rental. (Mr. and Mrs. Miller still live a block away at 2407 10th Avenue Court). From 2002 to the present (2006), the property has been owned by Dwayne C. Melby of Greeley. He has continued to maintain it as a rental property.
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