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Barker House -
1809 12TH AV
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
McDowell House; Trent House
Style -
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements/Craftsman
Built Year -
1924
State ID -
5WL3519
Description -
This Craftsman style residence is a rectangular, one story, wood frame structure with an asphalt shingle, side gabled roof. Roof features include triangular brackets under the clipped gable over the porch and exposed beams on the gable ends. It has stucco exterior. The one-story, concrete covered porch has a clipped gable roof and a metal balustrade rail. Windows are primarily multi-light-over-one, which is typical for the style.
Historical Background -
This Craftsman style house was constructed in 1924 and served initially as the James L. McDowell family residence. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Dean C. Royer family lived here, followed by Frank Potts in the mid-1940s. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Homer G. & Dorothy I. Grant resided here and also during these years the home's basement was leased out to tenants as 1809 1/2 12th Avenue.
In about 1955, Dorothy Grant sold the property to Spencer S. and Bessie Ternt, who subsequently lived and owned here for many years. Born at Port Byron, Illinois on February 27, 1897, Spencer Trent came of age as the son of Lincoln and Emma (Stone) Trent. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I. After his discharge from the military, he was married to Bessie Borst at Rock Island, Illinois, on April 26, 1919. Following their marriage, the Trents moved to Telluride, Colorado, where Spencer was employed as a bookkeeper at the Tom Boy Mine. In 1926, the Trent family moved to Greeley where Spencer became an insurance agent for the American General Life Insurance Company. Bessie, over the years, worked variously at the Weld County Court House, for Davis Farms and for Montgomery Wards. The Trents raised a family of three children in Telluride and Greeley, including daughters Eleanor and Adeleen, and son Kenneth. Bessie Trent passed away on March 15, 1972, and Spencer Trent died nine years later on May 13, 1981.
Prior to his death, Spencer Trent passed this property on to his daughter, Eleanor, and her husband, Donald Barker. Now retired, Donald and Eleanor (Trent) Barker have lived and owned here from that time to the present. Donald Barker was born in 1922 on a farm east of Greeley. In the early 1940s, his family moved to town, and on November 9, 1944, Donald was married to Eleanor Trent in Greeley. Circa 1946, Donald went to work for the F.W. Woolworth Company, subsequently enjoying a long career managing stores in Wyoming, Nebraska and New Mexico. Beginning in the late 1940s, Donald and Eleanor also raised a family of three children. Following Donald's retirement from F.W. Woolworth in 1978, the Barkers moved back to Greeley. They Barkers lived in the house for more than two decades before they sold it to the current owner.
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