58:, dissatisfied with available faculty housing prospects in Boulder, was urged into action by University regent Valentine Fischer. The two men gathered a group of like-minded, low-ranking, (and low-salaried) faculty together to find a solution. James G. Allen, a junior member of the history department, joined with Weihofen and six others. In a series of evening meetings the eight families decided on a plan and selected a site for the innovative community housing project. The group held a drawing to decide which lot went to which family. After all eight families had moved in (by April 1940), landscaping of the Commons and the building of an outdoor fireplace and shelter house began. All of the original structures exist today. Handball courts that were part of the James Hunter's original Commons landscaping plan were never built. The community garage burned down, but was rebuilt to duplicate the original.
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structure's overall footprint however, remains close to the original. An upstairs bedroom was expanded during the early 1980s. This added symmetry and balance to the street-facing side of the house. In 2011, a small sunroom (opening to the
Commons) was added at the rear of the house. A Japanese-style garden encloses the backyard patio area.
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Rawlings in 1972. Hunter
Rawlings was a member of the CU Classics Department at the time. Lawrence Kaptein (a faculty member in the College of Music at CU) and Ellen Brock (Associate Director of CU's Science Discovery Program), along with their young daughter, Emily, purchased the home from the Rawlings family in 1992.
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Although, each set of house plans was based on individual families' needs and tastes, all of the houses were designed so the living rooms would not interfere with either the
Commons or the mountain views. The Allen House has undergone several interior and exterior alterations over the years, the
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James and Marie Allen had two children, Elizabeth and James Jr. James Allen Sr. died in 1970. He had served as chairman of the
University of Colorado history department and was recognized as an authority on the history of early space exploration. Marie Allen sold the home to Hunter and Irene
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The Allen House was constructed in 1939/1940 as part of the first planned community in
Boulder. The district, comprising eight residences and an eight-car community garage, is commonly referred to throughout Boulder as "Little Russia" - presumably, due to its origins as a private, communal,
36:. The exterior is white-painted brick with a batten-board second floor. The recessed front entrance is decorated with quoins. Two stained-glass windows are incorporated into the side walls of the recessed entrance. Green shutters frame most of the windows as well as the front doorway.
73:(local history archive) of the Boulder Public Library. Photographs of the Allen House have been published in several books and newspapers. Pictures of the rear garden and Commons area can be seen in Gayl Gray's
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The original blueprints for the Allen House, James G. Hunter's landscaping plan for the
Commons area, construction-related documents, and information profiling the Allen family can be found at the
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32:, USA, is an Historic Landmark Building and registered as such with the City of Boulder. The structure is notable for its age, condition and for its membership in the
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Barker, Jane. "Focus on Homes: The Allen House on
Boulder's Faculty Row".
102:. Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Company. pp. 189–191.
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130:. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, Boulder. pp. 184–187.
77:. Interior photographs from the Rawlings' era can be seen in
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In 1939, Henry
Weihofen, a young law professor at the
153:"Boulder's Historic Districts: A Tour of Floral Park"
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34:Boulder Floral Park Historic District
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100:Historic Homes of Boulder County
79:Historic Homes of Boulder County
98:Barker, Jane Valentine (1979).
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