Larson House - 918 24th Street

 Print Listing Historical Name - Blagen House; Wharton House
Style - Modern Movements/Minimal Traditional
Built Year - 1949
State ID - 5WL5002

Description - The residence at 918 24th Street consists of: the original single-story cross-gabled dwelling, which overall measures 32' N-S (deep) by 30' E-W (across); an original attached garage on the east (side) elevation, which measures 18' N-S by 16' E-W. the house is supported by a painted white concrete foundation, penetrated at intervals by 2-light basement windows. The house's exterior walls are clad with white undulated asbestos or asphalt shingle siding, with horizontal wood siding in the upper gable ends. The gabled roof is moderately-pitched, and is covered with grey asphalt composition shingles. The eaves are boxed, with a minimal overhang. A large single-light fixed-pane picture window, flanked on either side by a narrow 2/2 double-hung sash window, penetrates the façade wall to the west of the entry porch (north elevation). Elsewhere, the home's windows are predominately 1/1 double-hung sash with painted white wood frames and surrounds. A painted white wood-paneled front door, with fanlight, and covered by a white synthetic storm door, is located near the east end of the façade. This door enters the house from a 5-step, 4' by 7' concrete porch, covered by a shed roof. The porch roof is supported by a painted white 4" by 4" wood post, and the steps are flanked by black wrought iron railings. A white metal-paneled roll-away garage door provides vehicular access to the garage at the east end of the north elevation. The garage door opens onto a concrete driveway which extends to 24th Street to the north. A 4-light hopper, or fixed-pane, window penetrates the garage's east wall. A wood-paneled door, covered by a painted white wood storm door, enters the east elevation of the 18' by 16' flat-roofed addition. This door leads into the house from a 6-step concrete stoop. A large fixed-pane picture window penetrates the south wall of the addition.

Historical Background - Weld County Assessor records and Greeley city directories both indicate that this house, with an attached garage, was built in 1949. Jewell b. Blagen is listed as the property's first owner and occupant, from 1950 until the early 1960s. A barber/beautician, Blagen, and his wife Dora, had previously lived 1840 12th Avenue, in Greeley's Cranford Neighborhood, in the early 1940s. In the 1930s, Blagen had been a partner with H.W. Dumler in a barbershop located at 904 1/2 9th Avenue, and in the 1940s, he had been the proprietor of Blagen's Beauty Shop in Greeley. Following the Blagens, who lived here for more than a decade, this house was next owned and occupied by Clarence M. and Sarah Iona Wharton. The Whartons lived here between circa 1962 and the early 1970s. The house was occupied by John Walters, in the mid-1970s, before it evidently became a rental property. From the late 1970s to the present (2006) the house has been home to a progression of relatively short-term tenants, including several who were presumably students at the University of Northern Colorado. Weld County Assessor records indicate that the property has been owned by Luverne and Mark Larson of Greeley since 1983.