Historic Home Feature: 1905 Folk Victorian

How did the owners double the square footage while maintaining historic charm?

The Lambert House, 1905
Style: Folk Victorian

This Folk Victorian home has a pitched roof and cross gable with returns. It was originally built in 1905 as a 1,500-square-foot three-bedroom house with no bathrooms, even though Fort Collins had city water available. A previous owner turned one of the bedrooms into a large bathroom. In that bathroom the current owners kept one of the original windows for an architectural reference point. John and Anna Lyndon were the first owners of this home in the Loomis Addition. Then in 1916 Isaac Riddle sold the property to Henry Dietz for “one dollar and other valuable considerations.” This small house had many owners over the years, including J.R. Straub in 1962. He was the head of research for Forney Industries, which is still in business in Fort Collins.

In 2011 John and Vicki Lambert purchased this home and began a restoration and addition at the same time. The challenge for the Lamberts was to double the square footage and maintain the historic appeal. In keeping with the original design they put beadboard cabinets in the kitchen and kept one of the original cabinets for storage in the upstairs closet.

Mr. Lambert did all of the woodwork and saved the original doors and hardware. He also built the breakfast nook in the same beadboard style. In the dining room and entryway, the built-in hutch and staircase are original to the house. The fireplaces have been removed but the Lamberts left the exposed brick chimney as a design feature both upstairs and downstairs. The lot is over 9,000 square feet. This allowed the owners to build a carriage house but because of building codes, they had to connect the two structures with a bridge. The addition is a seamless blend of the old with the new.