174 S 4th St

Early investors in Carbondale, William Gelder and George Arthur Rice, purchased these three lots, with 174 S 4th St in the middle, from the Carbondale Town and Land Co. in 1888. According to the 1880 census George worked as an assayer, and served as a senator. His partner William was a prominent member of Glenwood Springs who served as a county judge, and was also a partner in Hotel Glenwood as well as president of Glenwood National Bank. Gelder and Rice bought several lots, including these three that at one time had matching homes. As real estate investors, the two had a reputation as "townsite sharks", according to the local newspaper, the Avalanche. Lawyer David Beaman, and later drug store owner Edward Tandy would at one time own an interest in these properties. Tandy served as Mayor of Carbondale in the early 1900's. Characteristic of this Late Victorian style is the clipped front gable roof. Originally, the three homes would have had a single window on either each side of the central door, turned wood posts, coved lap siding and decorative fish scale shingles. In the early days, Victorian homes were of a dark color or natural, possibly stained, wood.