Thompson House - 1616 12TH AV

 Print Listing Historical Name - Bliss House; Bliss-Thompson House
Style - Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Colonial Revival
Built Year - 1926-7
State ID - 5WLxxx1

Description - This Colonial Revival style residence is a rectangular, two-story, wood frame structure with an asphalt shingle, hipped roof and foursquare plan. Roof features include wide overhanging boxed eaves. It has a concrete foundation with brick veneer and brick exterior. The symmetrical main facade is broken into three bays and contains a centered entrance. Wood framed sidelights flank the wood paneled and glazed door. The one-story, partial width porch has square, fluted columns with a balustrade rail on top. Stone urns top the brick knee walls flanking the concrete steps. Windows are primarily wood frame, one-over-one light double hung with brick sills and lintels. There are several picture windows with transoms and one-over-one windows on each side. Two brick chimneys are on the south wall and the north end of the roof ridge. There is a one-story, one room wing on the south side of the house with a flat roof and a metal balustrade rail around the edge.

Historical Background - The original owners of the house were Walter E. and Artie Bliss. They came to Greeley from Ohio in 1910. They had several children including three daughters and a son. Walter was a prominent local attorney who lived in the house with his family from the time it was built in 1926-27 until his death in May 1933. Bliss served as county attorney from 1913-1921 and later served as the Greeley City Attorney from 1929-1931. He was also on the Greeley School Board and was director of the Weld County Savings Bank for fifteen years. After his death in 1933, Artie continued to live in the house until 1942, when she sold it to John and Helen Stephenson. Artie later died while living at the Bonell Good Samaritan Center in October 1978. She was a member of the BE Chapter of PEO and the First Church of Christ Scientist. Helen Stephenson was born in Indiana but grew up in Greeley and graduated from the State Normal School, now the University of Northern Colorado. She attended the Columbia University School of Journalism and worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in New York after marrying John Stephenson in New York City. They returned to Greeley in 1941, where she was a vice president and chief executive officer of the Weld County Abstract and Investment Company. They returned to New York in 1951 and then moved to Florida. John died in 1970 and she returned to Greeley in 1988. They sold the house at 1616 12th Avenue to Dr. Roy and Pauline Swanson between 1948 and 1950. The Swansons owned and lived in the house from approximately 1950-1963. Roy practiced medicine in Greeley from 1945 to 1962 and died in 1970. Pauline worked as a dietician at Northern Colorado Medical Center after Roy’s retirement in 1962 until her retirement in 1978. She was active in many professional and community organizations, including the Colorado Dietetic Association, Weld County Medical Auxiliary, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, etc. She continued living in Greeley until her death in 1990. The Swansons sold the house to Marguerite Roe, a realtor with Funk Realty, who lived here for a year before selling it to Douglas Sears. Douglas and Diane Sears lived here from approximately 1966 - 1972. Sears graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in engineering and worked in engineering in various capacities until he went into real estate in 1963. In 1972 he and his two brothers formed Sears and Company Realtors, which he served as president until his retirement in 1982. He was a member of many professional and community organizations, including the Greeley Jaycees, Northern Colorado Homebuilders Association, United Way of Weld County, the Weld County Republican Central Committee, the National Association of Realtors and the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce, among others. Sears sold it to James Lang, who in turn sold it to Harlan C. Stientjes and his wife Judy around 1974. Harlan Stientjes was a local attorney who worked as a judge in Greeley Municipal Court and was a former prosecutor. He was a member of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association and the Kiwanis Club, among other organizations. His wife Judy was described as “a dedicated teacher, writer, community member, friend and mother.”