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Benton House -
1120 16TH ST
 Print Listing
Historical Name -
Fine House
Style -
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements/Craftsman
Built Year -
1912
State ID -
5WLXX16
Description -
This Craftsman style bungalow is a rectangular, one-story, wood frame structure with an asphalt shingle, cross-gabled roof. Roof features include decorative, triangular knee braces underneath overhanging eaves, as well as exposed roof beams. It has a poured concrete foundation and wood shingle siding with several feet of lap siding above the foundation. The gable ends are stucco with simulated half-timbering. A shed dormer is located on the west side of the residence. There are also two window wells set on both the east and west sides of the concrete foundation. The one-story, partial-width porch has doubled square upper support columns which are set on the porch wall. Open, vertical porch railing exists between the support piers. Windows are predominantly one-over-one wood frame double hung. A single transom window is present on the main façade, situated west of the doorway. A six-light fixed window is also present on the main façade gable end. The original interior, brick chimney is located on the south slope of the roof. A detached two car garage is situated south of the main residence. The rectangular, wooden structure consists of a front gabled roof with asphalt shingles. Roof features also include overhanging eaves and exposed roof beams, consistent with the main residence. The detached garage was constructed at the same time or soon after the house. It also has a poured concrete foundation and wood shingle siding with several feet of lap siding above the foundation, again consistent with the main residence. The main entrance to the garage consists of large, double doors on the east side of the structure. There have not been significant exterior renovations to the house.
Historical Background -
Local dry goods salesman F.E. Rockwell and his wife, Elizabeth were the first owners of this 1912 bungalow. Several other occupants resided here until 1928, when Albert R. Fine and his family moved into the home at 1120 16th Street. Mr. Fine was the owner of the Greeley Coca Cola Bottling Co. His father, Bent Fine, had first acquired the business, known as the Greeley Bottling Manufacturing Works, when he emigrated from Kansas in 1908. Upon his death in 1912, ownership transferred to his wife and two sons. Albert eventually bought them out and became the sole owner of the company in 1922. Mr. Fine was an active member of the Greeley community, serving as President of the Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Weld County Red Cross, as well as sitting on the Advisory Board for the Salvation Army and serving as a member of the Rotary Club. Albert died in 1949 and his wife, Maude Fine, became the President of the company and lived in the house until just before her death in 1971. Maude Fine was also active in the community, serving as a member of the Soroptomist Club, the Oasis Rebekah Lodge, and the Daughters of Union Veterans organization. Their son, Donald, who served in the Air Force during World War II and later graduated from Colorado State College, was raised in the house as well.
Patrick A. Wilkinson, a teacher at Platte Valley High School in Kersey, Colorado, and his wife Marie, a needlework designer, moved into the house in 1972, residing there until the late 1980’s. Records indicate that Michael & Dolly Lang lived at the residence until the mid-1990s. The property changed hands several times until Carolyn Benton, the current owner of the residence, purchased the property in early 2008.
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