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Weatherwax House -
1862 12TH AV
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Kellerman House; Bennett House
Style -
Bungalow
Built Year -
1918
State ID -
5WL3495
Description -
The residence at 1862 12th Avenue is located at the northeast corner of 12th Avenue and 19th Street. The dwelling rests on a 3-foot high concrete foundation, with 3-light hopper basement windows, which have painted white wood frames and surrounds. The house is of wood frame construction; however, its exterior walls are made of a wire-cut brown brick veneer, laid in running bond. Painted beige horizontal wood siding appears in the upper gable end of the cross gabled front porch roof. The house is covered by a low-pitched hipped roof, with black asphalt shingles, and with exposed rafter ends beneath the eaves. There are two red brick chimneys - one located on the ridge, and the other located on the west-facing roof slope. The home's windows are primarily single and paired 8-over-1, or 12-over-1, double-hung sash, with painted brown wood frames and surrounds, and with brown brick rowlock sills. A wood-paneled front door, with eight small square, upper sash lights, opens onto a 15' by 15' screened in porch, located at the house's southwest corner. Exhibiting elements of the Craftsman style, this porch is approached by five concrete and flagstone steps, and features brown brick kneewalls, and distinctive tapered brick columns, which support a cross gabled porch roof. The porch roof, in turn, features decorative purlins and ridge poles in its upper gable ends. A secondary entrance is located on the home's south elevation, where a wood-paneled door, with one upper sash light, opens onto a concrete stoop.
Historical Background -
This Bungalow-style residence was constructed in 1918, and until 1922, it was the home of P.L. and Hope Kellerman. During these years, Mr. Kellerman was employed as manager of the Knight-Campbell Music Company, which was located at 817 9th Street. Following the Kellermans, this property became the residence of George Merriman, who lived here with his family between circa 1923 and 1928. For the next several years, then, this was the home of Earl C. and Elsie Hamilton. According to Greeley city directories, in the 1930s, Mr. Hamilton was employed as an engineer.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, 1862 12th Avenue was owned and occupied by Wesley B. and Ruth (Jones) King. Wesley Brundige King had been born in Greeley in 1900, the son of the Reverent and Mrs. John Wesley King. He was reared in Greeley, and after serving in the Army during World War I, he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he was a member of the Big Ten tennis team there. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1922, Mr. King returned to Greeley where he gained employment with the Hallett Drug Company. In 1935, Mr. King went to work for the Weld County Garage; he then worked there for the next thirty-two years, until he retired as the company's sales manager in 1967. Mr. King passed away just over one year later, in may 1968. He was survived by his wife, Ruth, a daughter Barbara, and a son, Robert. During his life, Mr. King was a member of the Greeley Elks Club, the Greeley Kiwanis Club, and he played first violin with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra.
The next owners of this property were Harley B. and Nona (Domke) Bennett, who lived and owned here from 1944 to 1966. Harley "Bud" Bennett had been born at Rockville, Missouri, on March 27, 1901. He married Nona Domke in Greeley on July 27, 1925. Mr. Bennett owned and operated Freeman Cleaners and later became the owner of Bennett Cleaners in Greeley, before he and his wife retired to California in 1966. In 1970 the Bennetts relocated to Ohio, where Mr. Bennett passed away in June 1978. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Bennetts raised two children in Greeley - a son John, who became a United States Air Force General, and a daughter Carol (Brehm).
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