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O'Connor House -
1214 18TH ST
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Nelson House; Lebsack House
Style -
Bungalow
Built Year -
1926
State ID -
5WL3673
Description -
This Craftsman style bungalow residence is located on the south side of 18th Street in Greeley's Cranford neighborhood. The house is supported by a painted white concrete foundation, three feet in height, and penetrated by 3-light hopper basement windows. The dwelling is of wood frame construction, and its exterior walls are covered with distinctive pebble-dash stucco, applied over wood lath. The house is covered by a low-pitched, clipped, front-gable roof, with black asphalt shingles, and exposed rafter ends beneath the eaves. Decorative purlins and ridge poles are in the upper gable ends on the north and south elevations. A red brick fireplace chimney is located on the exterior of the east elevation, and another red brick chimney is located on the east-facing roof slope. A glass block bathroom window, located on the west elevation is probably not original. Windows elsewhere on the dwelling are primarily single, paired, or tripled, 1-over-1 double-hung sash, with painted white wood frames, painted green wood surrounds, and with exterior wood screens. A stained natural brown solid wood door, with six leaded glass lights, and with a white metal storm door, opens onto a Craftsman style porch, located on the north elevation (façade). The porch is approached by six concrete steps, and features a carpeted tongue-and-groove wood floor, wood frame kneewalls, and tapered, stuccoed, wood piers which supported a clipped gable porch roof. A secondary entrance is located on the south (rear) elevation, where a painted white wood-paneled door leads into the home from a concrete stoop, covered by a gabled hood, with kneebrace supports.
Historical Background -
Constructed in 1926, this bungalow has served continuously as a single-family home from that time to the present. Greeley city directories indicate that numerous families have lived here over the years. The property's original owner was Mrs. Lena Nelson. She lived here in the late 1920s, while she was employed at the Greeley Hospital. The property's next owners, in the early 1930s, were Thomas J. and Harriet S. Mahan. Thomas Mahan was a member of the faculty at the Colorado State Teachers' College.
The property's residents in the late 1930s and early 1940s, included Charles Behrman, Nye W. Austin, and Donald F. Haynes. In 1944, the property was acquired by Jacob and Katherine Lebsack, and the property then remained with the Lebsack family until the late 1960s. Jacob Daniel Lebsack, and his wife, Katherine Margaret Lebsack, were among the region's Germans from Russia population. Both were born in Frank, Russia - Jacob on April 9, 1882, and Katherine on December 4, 1885. They were married in Russia in 1903, and immigrated to America in 1912. The Lebsacks farmed near Hastings, Nebraska until 1917, when they moved to a farm near Proctor, Colorado, northeast of Sterling. The Lebsacks then farmed at that location until 1944, when they retired to this house in Greeley. Over the years, Jacob and Katherine reared a large family of ten children - Jacob, Jr., Rachel (Schuppe), Fred, John, Clarence, Lydia (Dobler), Leona (Steinmetz), Emma (Kautz), Freda (Flaig), and Ernestine (May). Jacob Lebsack Sr. passed away here at his residence on 18th Street, in February 1959 at the age of 76. Mrs. Lebsack continued to live here for several more years, before moving to 1218 3rd Avenue. She passed away on December 3, 1975, one day short of her ninetieth birthday.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, this property was home of Mrs. Gretchen M. Brass and family. During these years, Mrs. Brass was employed at McArthur Olds-Cadillac. In recent years, this property has been a rental. Daniel F. O'Connor, the property's current owner, has held it since March 1995.
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