In 1889, Josepha graduated from Gross Medical School in Denver and became one of Colorado's first women doctors. Seven years later, Josepha married Canon Charles Winfred Douglas, an Episcopal clergyman who achieved world acclaim for his musical work.display picture

Josepha Douglas died in 1938 and the house was sold to Tulsa oilman, Darst Buchanan. His wife re-named the land Hiwan Ranch. Buchanan's Hiwan Hereford cattle were known throughout the country and won many stock show prizes.

Six generations of notable families lived in this rustic mountain lodge before it was developed as a museum by Jefferson County Open Space in 1974.

The Rustic Style -notes on the architecture

The Rocky Mountain Rustic style of architecture is similar to the rustic architecture style found in the great lodges in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Indicative of this style was the use of natural materials, including logs, stone, antlers, and wood paneling. As decorative elements, tree branches were steamed and bent into elaborate shapes and wrought iron and copper were used to accent the lodges. The epitome of this Adirondack style can be seen in William West Durant's great lodge at Camp Pine Knot.

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Adirondack style spread West and was adapted for use in the Rocky Mountains. Prominent Denver architect, Jacques Benedict, captured the rustic feeling in his several buildings in the mountain area, particularly in the Gates "Chalet" in Kittredge, the main lodge built for William Baehr (now part of the Pine Valley Ranch Open Space park), and the Chief Hosa Lodge in Genesee.

The great lodge at Chief Hosa features a steep-pitched roof with massive end chimneys of rough stone, dormers, clipped gables, and a stone arcade. To complement its natural setting, Benedict used tree-branch gable supports, rock walls, log railings, and tree bark shingles. Inside, the stone walls rise to exposed log ceiling beams in rooms warmed by three massive stone fireplaces, lighted by arched stone windows, and furnished with rustic furniture.

Benedict explained his design of the Hosa Lodge in Denver Municipal Facts (March 1919): "Hosa Lodge was always there. It lay about before one's eyes as surface rock and spruce trees growing on the very ledge upon which it stands today, as a sort of collection of waste material at hand. We simply piled up the rock in layers, leaving some openings for light. We laid felled trunks across the top and called it a lodge, and it suffices. It remains rock and red bark like its setting."

Chief Hosa Lodge
The Chief Hosa Lodge, designed and built by Jacques Benedict in 1918, is a prime example of the Rocky Mountain Archtecture. (Jefferson County Historical Society Archive, Hiwan Homestead Museum, neg #3032a)

Jock Spence, builder of the Hiwan Homestead Museum and other structures in the area continued this philosophy in many of his constructions. Camp Neosho, as the Hiwan Museum was historically known, features massive stone fireplaces, log railings, a solid master staircase made of half logs supported by a log stringer, wood shingles, and plywood paneling throughout.

The dining room is the most elegant room in the home and features a custom-built, 12 foot table; hickory dining chairs upholstered with animal hide; a copper scrollwork fire screen, a window seat with storage benches contained within; a built-in hutch with cabinets, drawers and shelves; and built-in china cabinets with shelves that can be adjusted using notched pegs.

The simple lines and use of natural materials in the dining room combine aspects of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie style, the Arts and Crafts Movement and the Rocky Mountain Rustic style. The outbuildings in the complex, with their wood shingle roofs and bark-on log siding work in harmony with the tall stands of pine forests that blanket the area and reflect the natural environment of Evergreen.

Rocky Mountain Rustic style survives today and can be seen in new buildings in towns such as Telluride, Vail and Aspen. Locally, the Evergreen Lake House, built in 1993 and designed by Murata Outland Associates, is a modern interpretation of the Rocky Mountain Rustic style

Last Modified: Mar 28, 2009 10:17 PM