Estemere Visitors
last updated
28 Jun 2007
On 09 May 2000, Reverend Mason Brown drove up. He introduced himself and said
that he attended the "Colorado Baptist Church Camp" at Estemere when
he was 12 or 13 years old, about 1942. He said that he stayed in a second floor
bedroom on the east side of the main house. They played "barnyard
golf" on the lawn. It was a combination of croquet and golf. They used
croquet mallets and balls that were a little larger than croquet balls. He
recalls someone said the balls were made from bowling pins! They used coffee
cans sunk into the ground and numbered like a golf course. He could not remember
much about the house or the grounds. Reverend Brown said that the Colorado
Baptist group is now known as the Black Forest Baptist Camp and Conference
Center, and that Baptist Road is named after them.
REVEREND MASON L. BROWN
5758 S. GALLUP ST. APT. 101
LITTLETON, CO 80120-2135
303-730-1386
On 25 May 2000, Glenn and Joleen Dalton drove up. Glenn
was told, while researching his ancestry, that his grandfather, Daniel Dalton,
had worked on Estemere and Estemere's fountains, around 1900. This
information came from work-application papers recently discovered in Iowa.
Daniel was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Glenn and Joleen think Daniel may be
buried in the Monument area.
GLENN & JOLENE DALTON
15337 RED MOUNTAIN LANE
COLLBRAN, CO 81624
970-487-3204
On 26 July 2000 a group from the Community Senior Center, 3295 W.
72nd Ave., Westminster, CO 80030, 303-426-4310, under the direction of Gini
Granholm, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator, visited Estemere. There were
nine guests: Margaret Huss, Bernice Lesser, Mary Lenihan, Joe Lenihan, Terry
Lootens,
WilAnn Lamsens, Wilma Finch, Yvonne Martin, and Gini. Margaret's father,
H.H. Nininger, was the head of the Rocky Mountain Summer School at Estemere from
1922 to 1930. Margaret was born in 1925 and has many recollections of
Estemere, including falling down the step on the west side of the house and
getting a four inch splinter in her leg. She says she carries a piece of
it in her still today! Margaret believes the beautiful dining table that
graces the Estemere dining room was in use during the Rocky Mountain Summer
School days. (A photo on the Denver Library web page shows the back of a
dining room chair--it is not like the current chairs.) All enjoyed coffee and Danish after an extensive tour of the
house and grounds. Gini remarked upon leaving that this was their best
outing this year.
MARGARET HUSS
7891 OSCEOLA ST.
WESTMINSTER, CO 80030
303-428-1371
On 31 August 2000 Clara Euhus (nee Richter) and her sons Milton
and Keith Euhus visited Estemere. Clara was a student at Rocky Mountain
Summer School in 1928 and 1929 (or 1927 and 1928). Clara graduated from
Hoxie, KS, high school in 1927. Clara was a school teacher in Hoxie and
had to take college classes to continue teaching. Clara worked serving and
washing dishes at RMSS to pay her room and board of $8 per week! Clara
roomed with Christina Schlicher and Olive Thompson. They stayed in the
"Carnation Room" which is the bedroom in the NW corner of the second
floor. Clara recalls the big occasion when enrollment reached 100
students. Several of the students lived at Estemere, but many lived in the
town and in the Glen. About five male students lived in the Cottage (Twin
Pines Lodge back then). She remembers that most of the furniture was
birdseye maple. It was a big deal to her that there was running hot and
cold water in the kitchen for doing dishes in large dish pans and that the water
was poured down the drain! Hoxie, KS, must have been pretty primitive in
1928! On Sundays Clara and Olive would pack sack lunches for the students
who would hike, sit around, or drive to Denver for the day. Clara was born
in 1908 and now lives at:
CLARA EUHUS
2068 S. COYOTE AVE.
YUMA, AZ 85364
520-783-5710.KEITH EUHUS
2681 S. VIRGINIA DR. #1
YUMA, AZ 85364
On
13 September 2000 Margaret Huss, her sister Doris Banks, and Doris' husband John
visited (Doris is on the right in the photo). Margaret and Doris are the
daughters of H.H. Nininger (see 26 July 2000 entry, above). They have a
brother who is two years older than Doris. Doris was born in 1929 so she
was 11 years old during the last year the Rocky Mountain Summer School was held
at Estemere. Professor Nininger moved to Denver in 1930 to be the Curator
of Meteorites for the Denver Museum of Natural History. He later retired
to Sedona, AZ and died in 1986. He is the author of Nininger's Catalog
of Meteorites. Doris and John live in Sedona, AZ, in the house built
by Professor Nininger in 1957-1959. John was City Attorney for Denver
until his retirement in 1975. Doris mentioned that Professor Nininger cut
stones and meteorites at R.S. Niswanger's general store which was a block down
the street from the Estemere. Doris mentioned that what is now the Chapel
was the "carbide" plant that provided acetylene gas for lighting
Estemere prior to electricity coming to the house. Doris also recalled
that she and Margaret found an old, rusty "sword" in the tower.
The tower had always been a 'scary' place for them to visit, but finding the
sword made it even scarier! Margaret brought with her original 1929 and
1930 RMSS year books in mint condition. She and Doris were kind enough to
allow me to photocopy them! What a treasure! We will add them to the
history of Estemere collection that we are assembling to help preserve
Estemere's past. From these year books I discovered: Dr. Thompson
was a native of Akron, Ohio; graduated from Belvue Medical School in New York
City; that Dr. Thompson had "acquired an immense fortune. . .and began a
life of adventure . . . lived for eighteen months in Paris and six years in
London"; decorated one small room of the Estemere with Indian curios he
brought from Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico; that the RMSS, Inc., purchased
Estemere from Mrs. Cora Costello and other heirs to the Ebon Smith estate in
1926; that there were only gas lights in 1930; the RMSS had 150 students in
1930; careful reading of the school history seems to indicate that the Estemere
was not used by the RMSS until it was acquired in 1926; it's not clear where in
Palmer Lake classes were held prior to 1926.
DORIS AND JOHN BANKS
PO BOX 890
SEDONA, AZ 86336
520-282-6517
On
21 July 2001 Ashton Rollins II and his wife, Victoria D., drove up.
Victoria had found the reference on the CHRONOLOGY page to E.H. Rollins & Sons Investment Co. of Denver
taking over Estemere in 1894 after Dr. Thompson's disappearance. Ashton is
the great-great grandson of E.H. Rollins. Ashton and Victoria are curious
about the source of E.H.'s wealth--it obviously benefited from his investment
banking activities! Kim gave them a tour of Estemere.
ASHTON ROLLINS II and VICTORIA D. ROLLINS
6101 CRESTBROOK DRIVE
MORRISON, CO 80465
303-697-3292
Seniors on
the Loose Hiking Club from the Westminster (Colorado) Senior Center
visited Estemere on 28 July 2001. Pictured here is Kim Ward, Gertrude,
Cecilia, Margaret Huss (daughter of H.H. Nininger--See 13 September 2000 entry
above), Dorothy, and Judy (left to right). They enjoyed an extensive
tour of Estemere, then enjoyed coffee, tea, and Peach Tea Cake on the porch
while Roger and Margaret read from the 1929 and 1930 Rocky Mountain Summer
School yearbooks!
On 04 August 2001
Sara Robison, who owned the "Carpenter's House" (the carpenter who
built most of Estemere--across the street from Estemere) brought over some
original letters and abstract information on Estemere.
Sally (Sara) Robison
PO Box 18
Rockvale, CO 81244
Helen Anderson and her son came by in late July 2001, to see Estemere. Helen is 92 years old. She is writing a book on historic homes in the Colorado Springs area. Estemere is the last one for her to visit. She hopes to publish the book later this year.
Helen Anderson
719-577-9356
Our son, Eric, with
his friend Crystal Baxter, visited over the weekend of 04 August.
Julia and Verena
Scharl visited from 04-25 August from Munich, Germany. Verena lived
with us in Park City, UT, for the 1996 school year as an exchange student.
Ray and Linda
Ferbrache', owners of COLORADO HOUSE OF DOORS and the creators of the beautiful
new Victorian storm and screen doors used on the main house, delivered three
more doors on Friday, 24 August 2001. We enjoyed showing them around
Estemere and we had a nice lunch with them in Palmer Lake at Mike and Ingrid's new sandwich
shop--Bella Panini.
COLORADO HOUSE OF DOORS
6976 COUNTY ROAD 107
SALIDA, CO 81201
719-539-4568
On 01 February 2002 Winnie Metzler (see notes under "Chronology") and her friend Mary Jo Bond visited Estemere. Winnie gave us a number of photographs of her family when they owned Estemere from 1935-1944. Click on "Vessey-1941" at the top of this page to see the photos.
Chuck
Pyle, Estemere Neighbor, Singer, Song Writer, Recording Artist, Always on the
Road, and All-Around Good Guy, brought over his new Martin guitar to entertain
us and a few guests prior to dinner 01 May 2002. Chuck's greatest fame
came in a USA Today interview of Bill Gates on 05 September 2000, when Bill
named Chuck his "Favorite Music Entertainer." Thanks, Chuck!
On
Saturday, 18 May 2002, Lacey Leber and her fiancé, Robert Dorland, used the
Estermere grounds for their wedding photographs, prior to their wedding later
that day. For more photographs, go here: http://www.angelfire.com/az2/dorbanr/
.
Robert
and Lacey Dorband
7735 Kaleb Grove
Apt. 1314
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(719)262-6604
robertandlacey@yahoo.com
Bruce
and Kris Oliver, of Birmingham, Alabama, visited for a few days in June,
2002. We met Bruce and Kris while on a cruise around South America in the
winter of 2001. They were teaching and directing bridge (the card game) on
the ship. Kim and I learned bridge from Kris. This photo was taken
at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.
Sally
Achenbach stopped by for a tour of Estemere on 02 August 2002. She lived
in Palmer Lake many years ago having graduated from Lewis Palmer High School in
the late 1960s and had always admired the house. Sally and Sally Robison (Romack)
(see above) were best friends.
Sally
Achenbach
28892 Pleasant Mound Road
Boscobel, WI 53805
sallyrt66@hotmail.com
On 14 December 2002
we were invaded by a pack of Tigers!
"We are Pack 67 Den 3 Tiger Cubs from 1st grade Prairie Winds Elementary. The boys are Jake Hill, Eric Bergdoll, Richard Ito, Trystan Broeker, Andrew Premovich, Brandon Graczyk, Chase Wisnowski, and Pierce Torrance. One of the requirements for Tiger Cubs is to complete 5 "Go See It"s in different categories, and the visit to Estemere fulfilled the historical site category. Thanks once again; I know it will be one of the most memorable "Go See It"s--not only for the kids, but for the parents as well!" Andy Bergdoll is the Den Leader. Andy Hill organized the visit to Estemere.
On 22 January 2004
David M. Forsyth came by. David had been emailing me for a couple of
years. He was working on his Master's Thesis on Eben Smith, the second
owner of Estemere, and had found my web site. David has now finished his
thesis and he delivered a bound copy for us to add to the "Estemere History
Room." As a result of our emails and my web site, David was able to get in
touch with Anne McCarroll (see Estemere 1901).
He and Anne have corresponded extensively, and Anne has provided David with
numerous photos and information for his thesis. Thank you David and Anne
for contributing to our knowledge of Estemere's history. I will eventually
read David's thesis and update the Estemere information for the Eben and Cora
Smith years.
DAVID FORSYTH
3025 S. YATES ST.
DENVER, CO 80236
303-922-6063
Email: dave103177@aol.com
On
15 July 2004 Francis Koelzer, Helen, and Marianna of 338 F. Road, Centralia, KS
66415, tel. 785-857-3904, came by Estemere to visit. They were friends of
the Leonards and visited Estemere many times. Francis commented that
whenever they came the Leonards always put them to work!
On
24
June, 2007 Dana Franzen and Shelley Pruett and 10 friends attended a Brunch at
the Estemere that they bid on at the Tri-Lakes Women's Club Wine and Roses event
last November. They enjoyed a marvelous brunch prepared and served by
these seven members of the TLWC:
The
guests then enjoyed a tour of the Estemere conducted by Roger.