Ever wonder when your Lafayette house was built and who built it? Did a prominent local merchant or politician live in it? Was it moved there from a local coal mine?
We can help put the pieces of the puzzle together in an accurate, orderly manner and cap it off with a framed history to hang on the wall.
Finding build dates for houses in Old Town Lafayette can be frustrating. Although the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder records show date of construction, that date was often just a guess — the county courthouse burned down and all the records were lost in the Feb. 1932 fire. So public officials just assigned arbitrary dates. (1908 and 1910 were the preferred dates.)
Our research process involves scouring county records, newspaper archives, census records, genealogy sites and local history books. But not all records are available in books or in digital format. With decades of experience accessing “hidden” historical documents at libraries and historical archives across the Front Range, combined with an extensive private collection of local maps and photographs, we can assemble a more complete and factual history of your home. (If we can’t find any history about your house, you get your money back.) Most research projects take 30-45 days, so be patient.
You can view several house histories we assembled for our own house renovation projects at 5999bees.com. Others, including “Then and Now” features can be found on this website.
Sorry, but we’re limiting these research packages to Lafayette but hope to expand to Louisville and Erie in the near future.
House History Packages
Choose from packages below with different levels of professional research, for pre-1974 residential and commercial buildings.
Basic Residential – $150
A framed 8 1/2” x 11” history of your home highlighting ownership, association with significant persons and general architectural features. Includes up to 2 hours of research.
Deluxe Residential – $250
A framed 11” x 14” history of your home highlighting ownership, association with significant persons and general architectural features. Includes historical images if any are found and map images if the structure is shown on historical maps. Includes up to 4 hours of online research and research at local, county and state repositories.
Commercial – $600
Six hours of research using online research and in-person research at local, county and state repositories. Includes a mounted 16” x 20” history of the structure and up to eight additional historical photographs (if any are found) and map images if shown on any historical maps. The perfect option for City of Lafayette historical preservation review or a special use review process.
Note: If you’re buying a Home History as a gift, just put the address of the house you want researched in the shipping address area. Also, when ordering via our PayPal link, you don’t need to sign up for PayPal membership. After you select the “Checkout” button, just select the bottom “Pay with card” option in the shopping cart. Then they’ll just collect your credit card information and won’t bother you.
About the researcher:
Doug Conarroe has been researching and documenting Boulder County historical structures for 25 years, first with Historic Boulder, Inc. where he served on the board of directors and as President of the organization, then with the Lafayette Historical Preservation Commission, where he served as board member for five years. He’s written three books on local history — “Ghost and Legends of Lafayette and Louisville, “Lost Lafayette Colorado,” and “80026 – An Illustrated History of Lafayette, Colorado.” All three books are available locally at the Lafayette History Museum and Read Queen bookstore. The home that Doug and his wife, Dana Coffield, own was the first locally landmarked historic structure in 2000. Doug’s history blog at lafayettehistory.com includes several dozen features on notable local persons and places.
Questions?
Contact me at info at lafayettehistory.com.
