Rizzolo House - 1850 12TH AV

 Print Listing Historical Name - Weaver House; Knies House
Style - Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Tudor Revival
Built Year - 1914
State ID - 5WL3492

Description - The residence at 1850 12th Avenue is located on the east side of 12th Avenue, in the block between Cranford Place and 19th Street. The dwelling rests on a low concrete foundation, which is faced with stone at the north end of the façade, on the west elevation, and is faced with stucco on the secondary elevations. There is a full basement, and the foundation walls are penetrated by 2-light and 3-light hopper basement windows. The house is of wood frame construction, but its exterior walls are penetrated by 2-light and 3-light hopper basement windows. The house is of wood frame construction, but its exterior walls have been cladded with horizontal aluminum siding. Painted light grey board-and-batten appears in the upper gable end, on the façade. The house is covered by a moderately-pitched intersecting hip and gable roof, with black asphalt shingles, and with boxed eaves. A large stone fireplace chimney is located near the south end of the façade. Windows on the façade include two 18-over-1 double-hung sash windows, with painted white wood frames and surrounds, and decorative painted black, wood shutters, and one 9-light side-hinged window, in the upper gable end. A large, 12-light fixed pane window is located on the south elevation, and a small 12-light window is located at the west end of the north elevation. Windows elsewhere are primarily single 1-over-1 double-hung sash, with painted white wood frames and surrounds. A stained dark brown, solid wood door, with a black wood screen door, opens onto a 4-step stone and concrete porch, located on the façade. The entry door is flanked by a sidelight with latticed panes and leads into an enclosed shed-roofed foyer. A painted white wood-paneled door, with a painted white wood screen door, opens onto a 4-step concrete porch located on the east (rear) elevation. A screened-in sun porch addition has been built onto the home's original south elevation.

Historical Background - Greeley city directories indicate that this house was constructed in the early 1910s, and has served as a single family residence from that time to the present. Occupants here through the early 1930s included J.Q. Williams, Sam Mooney, Spencer T. Turner, Dr. E.G. Netherton, L.F. Jaccard, F.G. Baxter, and Winfield Knies. According to the directories, Winfield Leroy Knies lived here in 1930; but in subsequent directories he is listed next door, at 1854 12th Avenue, until the early 1970s. Therefore, it is possible that the 1930 directory listing was in error, and that Mr. Knies actually lived at 1854 12th Avenue all along. Mr. Knies was born on July 31, 1892, at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. On June 3, 1917, he married Ruth Evelyn Kirkpatrick at Arriba, Colorado. Two years later, the young couple moved to Greeley where Winfield enrolled at the Colorado State Teachers' College. According to his obituary, Winfield became the college's first male president of the student body. Mr. Knies graduated from Colorado State Teachers' College in 1925, and then moved to Seattle where he earned a masters degree in business administration from the University of Washington. He then returned to Greeley where he became a professor of business education. Thirty-five years later, Knies retired from the University of Northern Colorado as an emeritus professor. He passed away on September 18, 1984, at the age of 92, survived by his wife Ruth, two daughters, and a son. In the late 1930s, 1850 12th Avenue was home to another notable Greeleyite, Dr. John A. Weaver Jr. Born on March 10, 1903, John A. Weaver, Jr. was the son of Dr. John A. Weaver, Sr. and Emma Cecile (Rochat) Weaver. A native of Indiana, the elder Dr. Weaver was a well-known physician and surgeon in Colorado, in the years surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Born in 1870, the elder Dr. Weaver came to Longmont with his family in 1882, as part of the Chicago Colony. After earning his medical degree in 1897, he arrived in Greeley in 1899, where he became one of the city's leading physicians and surgeons. He was married to Miss Emma Cecile Rochat in June 1900. Dr. John A. Weaver, Jr. earned his medical degree in 1930 from the University of Colorado Medical School at Denver. After completing his residency at New York City, Dr. John Weaver, Jr. enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a Greeley physician and surgeon. He passed away in Greeley, on February 3, 1999, at the age of 95. Between 1939 and 1953, this property was owned and occupied by the Thomas Faye family. The Frank C. Gregory family then lived and owned here until the mid-1960s.