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Pickens House -
1128 CRANFORD PL
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Burnett House; Nelson House
Style -
Bungalow
Built Year -
1918
State ID -
5WL3702
Description -
This bungalow residence is located on the south side of Cranford Place, in the block between 11th and 12th Avenues. The house is supported by a low concrete foundation, with three-light hopper basement windows. Built of wood frame construction, the dwelling has painted white horizontal wood siding. It is covered by a low-pitched front gable roof, with grey asphalt shingles, and with exposed rafter ends, with a fascia board, beneath widely-overhanging eaves. Decorative purlins and a ridgepole, with knee braces, appear in the house's upper gable end, on the façade (north elevation). A brown brick chimney is located on the west-facing roof slope. The house's windows are primarily 1-over-1 double-hung sash, with painted white wood frames, and painted black wood surrounds. One non-historic, 20-light window is located on the south elevation. A stained natural brown solid wood door, with three leaded glass upper sash lights, and with an aluminum storm door, leads into the home from a 5-step gabled porch on the façade. Exhibiting elements of the Craftsman style, the porch features wood frame knee walls, squared post piers, and decorative purlins and a ridge pole, with knee braces. A rear entrance is located at the west end of the south elevation, where an entry door opens onto a concrete stoop.
Historical Background -
Constructed in the late 1910s, this residence has been home to several Greeley families over the years. According to the 1918 Greeley city directory, the home's first resident was Mrs. Myrtle Johnson. According to the directories, Mrs. Johnson did not live here for long, as between 1920 and circa 1926, this was the residence of William W. Burnett, the Greeley City Engineer. The home was then owned, in the late 1920s, by John Henry Shaw, a journalism instructor at Colorado State Teachers' College.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the house was occupied by a progression of families, most of whom lived here for relatively brief periods of time. Among the property's residents during these years were R.M. Askew, George Davis, Henry Dumler, Harry M. Kester, Laverne C. Cushing, E.V. Metzger, L.B. Biederman, A.J. Krout, Donald Speed, and Victor B. Preston. Interestingly, W.W. Burnett, who is listed in the directories as the property's owner in the early 1920s, is also listed as the resident here in 1938. George W. Davis, who lived here in the mid-1930s, had been born in 1895. He was a member of the Greeley City Council for a time, and served as Secretary of the Cache La Poudre Irrigation Company. Mr. Davis passed away in Greeley in November 1966.
In 1949, this property at 1128 Cranford Place became the home of Mrs. Andrea O. (Nilsson) Nelson. Mrs. Nelson subsequently lived and owned here until shortly before her death on June 7, 1983. She had been born on September 5, 1896, at Rorum, Sweden, the daughter of Anders and Elsie (Anderson) Nilsson. After immigrating to America, Andrea was married to Hokan Nelson at Greeley, in 1922. The Nelson family farmed in the Eaton and Greeley areas until Mr. Nelson's death in 1945. During these years, the couple raised a family of three daughters - Frances (Mrs. Duane Wilson), Edna (Mrs. George Webb), and Astrid (Mrs. James Eatherly). Mrs. Nelson retired to this house on Cranford Place in 1949, a few years after her husband's death. She then lived here until shortly before her own death in June 1983, at the age of 86.
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