HomeMy WebLinkAbout550 13th St ArchibaldAttachment available until Jan 5, 2023
From:aaron@flapjackfarm.com
To:Brandt, Clare; Noble, Aubrey
Cc:Mary Kay Sunset; Tom Gallagher; Olivia Brown; Jenifer Kennedy
Subject:Kennedy Presentation for Tomorrow
Date:Tuesday, December 6, 2022 3:17:48 PM
External Sender
HI Clare and Aubrey,
Yesterday we received a letter from the original owner (Peggy Archibald) that was quite a
treasure trove of accurate information regarding 550 13th Street. Much of it confirmed the
research we had completed over the last few weeks as we prepared for this hearing.
We have now incorporated the contents of the letter into our presentation. If the board
members have any time to prepare for our portion of the hearing, it would be best if they read
her letter. I believe it stands as the most definitive archive of information regarding the design
and construction of the home. I’ve attached it here below my presentation. Hoping you’ve
already seen/read it.
Please advise if there is any issue accessing my 24MB PDF document below.
Thank you!
Aaron Kennedy
303-641-6419
Click to Download
Kennedy HIS2022-00245.pdf
23.5 MB
December 5, 2022
Boulder Landmark Commission
City of Boulder
1777 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80302
I have just familiarized myself with a Memorandum To The Landmarks Board,
created by City of Boulder staff that was recently shared with me. I wish to
address some misconceptions and misinformation regarding my former property
at 550 13th Street that appear in this document as this report contains incorrect
and erroneous information, numerous assumptions, is factually inaccurate, and is
overly reliant on the memories of an individual (Roselle Mullens George) who was
a child of approximately 12-years of age when my home was built, and it is
important to me that the record be corrected.
Let me explain the exact history of this house, which was built by myself and my
husband John. Although my husband was not a trained architect, he was very
interested in the field and was skilled in design. Sue Mullins was a personal friend
of ours who drew plans but was not a licensed architect. She drew up plans for
this property based my husband’s vision and our desires, and based upon John’s
initial concepts, sketches and design. Sue did not develop the vision for the
structure or the layout of the home or what should be developed on the
property.
Sue did this for many of her friends in Boulder, assisting them with putting on
paper a family’s ideas, needs and desires, but not imposing or adding a personal
artistic vision, her personal creativity or personally refining concepts for projects.
That is how she worked, and she offered to help us with our house. With my
husband's knowledge and my strong input, she put together a plan for 550 13th
St. according to our wishes, our needs, our design vision and John’s initial plans.
The property at 550 13th St. was designed and conceptualized by my husband
John and myself. Because of this, the home has our fingerprints on it, not Sue
Mullins’.
In regards to Sue, I want to strongly emphasize that she was not a licensed
architect or a professional designer at the time we asked her to assist us with
drawings, and the design of the home is entirely ours: John and I should be
credited for the design of the property, not Sue.
The house is now 60 years old and while it was a lovely place to raise our family, it
was never built as a "monument" nor is it historically or architecturally significant
by any stretch of the imagination.
Despite the assertions made in the Memorandum, we did not choose an
esteemed, high-end or locally renowned builder to execute the construction of
the home. We were young and facing tight money and time constraints. As such,
we picked the cheapest “available now” option, who happened to be Ralf Faith, of
Longmont. Ralf, described in the Memorandum as “Longmont’s best builder” was
so “good” that he died from electrocution on a jobsite a few years after working
for us after failing to turn off the power on a project. His passing was a reflection
of a lack of attention to important detail, a personality trait that we experienced
when working with him during construction of our home.
The structure was an inexpensive build, completed in a mere three months. The
timeframe is indicative of the type of the builder we used: an inexpensive
contractor who was not in high demand or locally famous for his work. The
timeframe of three months is also a reflection of the simplicity of my husband’s
concept for the home – the structure is basically a box, with little complexity or
design nuance.
Finally, for City of Boulder staff to give my house some degree of importance or to
consider the property to have some level of significance because I owned and
lived in it for an extended period of time seems strange, as neither myself or my
husband are notable or significant personalities nor are we renowned for
anything on a national, regional or local level.
I hope this helps clarify the actual provenance of the house located at 550 13th St,
the design history behind the home and the circumstances surrounding the
construction of this property. I have shared this letter with some of my former
neighbors as well as the new owners (Jennifer and Aaron Kennedy). Feel free to
contact me with any further questions.
Sincerely,
Margaret M. Arch
Former Owner
550 13th St
Boulder, CO 80302
parchibaldfamily@gmail.com