Two-Story Farmhouse
The Turner Farm House was built between 1910 and 1912. The house was constructed as a two-story frame structure with a gable roof and pained wood siding in a style typical of early farm homes in Chaffee County. Double-hung, single-light windows flanked the front entryway, side, and rear doors. The pattern was repeated on the upper floors and on the east elevation. A covered porch was also original to the construction of the house along the front and west side. The only embellishments on the porch were cove molding on the fascia, turned columns, and molding adjacent to the house and around the columns. The front and side entries were fronted by simple wooden steps with no railing. The entire structure had a shake-shingle roof.
Heating was provided by three wood stoves located in the upstairs common room, kitchen, and living room. All stoves were vented by a brick chimney extending through the roof ridge. This was a heating system that was very common for residential structures of the period.
The frame structure included three bedrooms and a common room upstairs; a living room, dining room, kitchen, and full bath downstairs. Original fixtures in the bathroom were a claw foot bathtub, wall sink, and commode with an overhead water tank. Water was also available upstairs with the use of a corner sink installed in the southeast bedroom.
The frame structure included the usage of used lumber in the upstairs rooms, evidenced by the remnants of false front sign materials. Interior finishes consisted of rough-milled one-by material covered with muslin or cheesecloth and wallpaper. Both ceilings and walls were wallpapered throughout the house. All flooring installed throughout the house was 4” tongue and groove fir flooring, which was commonly used in the area. Fir was also used in floor molding and all other trim. All exterior doors were single light with three horizontal panels on the bottom. The front and side doors had etched glass, an expensive embellishment.
During construction, a large crawl space was retained under the front portion of the house, and a half-basement was installed under the rear of the house to store food items and coal. Access to the basement area was gained from the exterior of the house by cement steps with a wood hinged covering. There was also a coal chute installed on the west side of the house. After WWII, the Turners built an attached enclosed rear porch over the basement area the entire width of the house. Materials used were consistent with the main house, with the exception of fixed multi-light windows along the south wall and a poured concrete floor.
In 1958, the entire house was rewired, and the first wall plug-ins were installed. Previously Mrs. Turner had used all-electric appliances with the aid of a light socket adapter.
The house has been furnished with period items.
