Insider Tours: Center for Colorado Women’s History
Friday, September 27
Join us for a guided tour of the Byers-Evans House, home to the Center for Colorado Women’s History, during Doors Open Denver 2024.
Located in the heart of the Golden Triangle neighborhood, this was home to two of early Denver’s most prominent families. The neighborhood is one of the city’s oldest, and its proximity to Denver’s Civic Center made it a very desirable place to live. Byers-Evans was originally built for William Byers (1831-1903) and Elizabeth Sumner Byers (1834-1920) in 1883, and sold to William Gray Evans (1855-1924) and Cornelia Lunt Gray Evans (1863-1955) six years later. It now serves as the Center for Colorado Women’s History.
The house is Italianate in design and made of common plum-colored brick. The details on the exterior include arched stonework over the windows, ornate chimneys and decorative brickwork in geometric designs on different sections of the house. The original structure encompassed 3,500 square feet and now spans over 10,000 square feet of space. There is an ornamental cast iron widow’s walk that encircles all but the north side of the house. The house also features leaded glass, segmental and Tudor arches above the second story bay window and a Mansard porch roof.
In 1912, the front parlor was remodeled to become a salon. Between the family parlor and the library is an archway of Lincrusta-Walton. The house has nine fireplaces in addition to central heating. Over the years, several other alterations were made to the house. In 1900, the front porch was altered, in 1902 a bathroom and pantry were added to the north side of the house and, in 1905, a bedroom, bathroom and closet were added to the apartment wing. Following those additions, the servants’ dining room and laundry were added in 1909, and in 1911 the front stairway was moved. Keeping up with the times, an elevator was installed in 1954 behind the front stairs. In 1972 a burglar alarm was installed, and finally, new dining room wallpaper from England was installed in 1979.
The Evans’ family descendants donated the house and its contents to the Colorado State Historical Society in 1981. The museum’s house tours opened in 1991 with renovations to the period of significance from 1912 to 1924. The home became the Center for Colorado Women’s History in 2018 to share the diverse stories of women in Colorado. The Center is open daily for self-guided and docent-led tours.
References
Tremmel Goldstein, M. (2002). Women in Their Places—A Guide to Women’s History Sites. Denver, Colorado: Historic Denver, Inc.
Byers-Evans House National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form.
Voelz Chandler, M. (2013). Guide to Denver Architecture. Denver, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing.
Pearson, M. (2007). Historic Denver Landmarks. Denver, Colorado: Historic Denver, Inc.
National Register of Historic Places, Byers-Evans Home, Denver, Denver County, Colorado, NationalRegister #70000158.