Our Casa
130 W. Abriendo Ave.
In March 2008, CASA of Pueblo moved into our very first building; finally, our own home that houses our administrative offices. This historic home was built sometime in the early 1900’s. CASA of Pueblo purchased this home from Edward and Sylvia Lane on December 5, 2007, and then our new home was updated over the next few months before we could move in. Prior to CASA owning the building, Mr. and Mrs. Lane owned an antique store here (Abriendo Antiques). Their story about the building follows below.
On March 24, 2008, La Vert W. Hoag (through her foundation and in her memory) presented our CASA Board of Directors with a letter of intent to pay off the remaining mortgage balance so that our new home would truly be ours and our fund raising efforts could be focused on expanding our program to serve more children. On April 15, 2008, our new building was fully paid off.
It is with our sincerest thanks to La Vert W. Hoag and her foundation for making our dream of a building for CASA a reality.
THIS OLD HOUSE
By Ed & Sylvia Lane
We bought and moved into this old house in 1989. We had retired from education and were ready to start a new chapter in our lives. It was the perfect setting for our passion…antiques.
Over the almost twenty years we were "residents", we tried to learn as much about the building as we could. Most of what we know are tales passed on word of mouth. We do not swear to the authenticity of any of them, but it paints a picture of the unfolding history of lifestyles in a period of over 100 years as seen through the "eyes" of a building.
According to some records, the house was built in 1900. There is even a question on this. One city official stated he thought it may have built later, but apparently there is a lack of accurate records because of a fire that destroyed many. It would have been a time of horse drawn carriages, gas lights, the iceman, coal furnaces, cooking stoves and laundry on an enclosed back porch, consisting of a couple of tubs and a washboard. There was probably an outhouse about where the back fence is now located. The Junction area catered to the nearby railroad, providing hotels and lodging to the men who worked the trains.
We never found out about the original owner. We suspect he was upper class, perhaps a banker or business owner. Certainly not as grand as many of the wonderful mansions scattered through Pueblo, but it would have been one of the finer houses of the day.
There is (or was) a ghost in the house when one of our daughters was living upstairs in the early 90’s. Not knowing any ghosts, we can only pass on the information she related to us. It was a very young ghost, a boy about 11 or 12 years of age. He was generally quiet during the day, but at night when the traffic was at a softer, slower lull and there was only the occasional sirens of the fire station next door to disturb the peaceful dark, Bobby came out to play. He played so much havoc on her sleep, she was finally forced to bring in someone to convince Bobby to move on. She tried researching a Bobby that may have lived in the house and learned there was a boy who had died during a flu outbreak in the early part of the 1900’s. Perhaps it was the young child of the family who first lived there.
We have no idea of change of ownership, but sometime in the early years, the house was transformed into a bawdy house with the ladies providing their services upstairs. In the basement there is a small rectangular depression, rumored to have been a hideaway for booze during prohibition. With the history of the Mafia in Pueblo, it is not difficult to imagine the house as one of their enterprises with gambling on the first floor, the ladies on the second and the booze tucked away in the basement. Of course, this is only supposition and rumor.
About seven years ago, an elderly lady came into the shop asking to just look around. As a young girl during the depression, her mother had run a boarding house here. She and her sister slept in the glassed-in front porch. As you will learn, that porch without air conditioning gets hotter than a firecracker in the summer and colder than Jack Frost in the winter. At the time of her visit, she was in her 80’s and seemed to have fond memories of her life in Pueblo. She was living in California but had come back for a class reunion. She and her husband looked around for about an hour, exploring every nook and cranny. Sometime later, a friend of hers stopped in to say the lady had a great trip, revisited most of her old memories, went back to California, laid down on the couch and peacefully passed away.
The Hardwicks purchased the house in 1941. Veta Hardwick taught piano and her husband, Harold taught violin. They created a music school in the upstairs rooms later bringing in another teacher, Bradley Singer. They lived in the downstairs quarters and raised two children, son Skip and daughter Beverly. At some point, they added the back bedroom, bathroom and breakfast nook. Many a Puebloan would come into the shop remembering music lessons taken in the house. Some fond memories and some not so fond, depending on how good they were at music or how much attention they had given to practicing and whether the lessons were their desire or Mama’s. Veta and Harold lived in the house until their retirement. Skip and his large family lived there for a time finally selling the house to us. Skip still lives in Pueblo and probably is the expert on the place.
The house has a definite aura about it, but not the same for all who walk in the door. For us, it was a warm, welcoming, friendly house that seemed to say, "Glad you’re here", even though we filled every nook and cranny with yesterday’s recyclables. The upstairs was used for a work room to repair dolls and other antiques, living space at times for three of our own children, salesrooms for some of the bulkier antiques and storage for a multitude of things waiting to go down to the first floor. Some folks would walk in and start dreaming of living there and how they would redecorate and refurbish to take it back to it’s roots. Others had different sensations. One lady did not get much further than the front entry when she asked if the house was haunted. Since we had no answer for that question, she asked if she could bring in her father. They both went upstairs and spent some time, coming down to inform us there were certainly other spirits living there but not to worry, "They are friendly." Another couple wandered in one day, just touring and shopping in the area. They asked if we had a basement. They were shown the stairs, but the lady refused to go down. She said, "The devil lives down there." Perhaps we had not been paying attention. While we were there, the basement was used for mirror resilvering, building stained glass windows, drying gourds and laundry.
There was one scary problem with the basement. We had installed an alarm system and all areas of the house were wired. At one particular time, the alarm would sound in the middle of the night triggering response from the police, alarm company and of course, us. The house was checked thoroughly and no reason could be found. The controls showed the alarm was being triggered every night in the basement. The window that was wired was near the old coal bin chute. That window faced Quincy. Was someone trying to break in? Why would they try again and again knowing they would trigger an alarm? It didn’t make sense. The alarm was checked and was fine. The police were now charging for false alarms. One morning, when the basement door was opened, a very angry black cat came tearing out. It must have wandered in at some point when the garage door was open and strolled downstairs to look for mice. With all the very dark corners, it would have been impossible to spot at night. The poor thing was stranded for a few weeks before it got smart enough to come out during the daytime. Come to think of it, we never spotted any signs of mice after that.
The soil at the house is wonderful for planting. The Smoke Tree is especially showy when it blooms. The Hibiscus by the back gate was a hand-me-down from Grandma. The holly, peonies and all the other bushes were there when we moved in. A new rose bush was planted beside the front entrance a few years ago. We tried perennials in the two beds facing Abriendo with mixed success.
We have loved this old house. In some ways it is like parting with an old friend or family member. If there are ghost living there, trust us, they are just there to help and perhaps create a little mischief now and then. Now you have a built in excuse if things are misplaced or the door is inadvertently left unlocked. "It must have been Bobby!"
We are delighted to pass it on to folks who work with children and who are doing so much to improve the old place. It’s like an old woman finally getting that face lift she has dreamed so long for. We are sure you will learn to love her too.
In June, 2010, our yard was in desperate need of repair and landscaping. A large group of friends stepped in to help us and the following You Tube video chronicles this amazing transformation! Please take a moment to see this dramatic and extreme makeover!
Watch the YouTube Video of our
Extreme Makeover by clicking below.
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