Skip to Main Content

CSU Archives and Special Collections

CSU Buildings and Grounds History

A history of CSU's building and grounds from 1870 to the present.

President’s House / Farm Superintendent’s House (1892 – 1946)

A dark with white trim 2-storied large house surrounded by trees on a tree lined street.

President's Home, 1935

From CSU's Sense of Place:  A Campus History of Colorado's Land-Grant University, by James E. Hansen, Gordon A. Hazard, and Linda M. Meyer.  Fort Collins, CO:  Colorado State University, 2018.

Architect – Harlan Thomas, F. B. Gough of Denver to lay out plans for heating and lighting the buildings to be connected with the Central Heating Plant in 1903

Builder – College staff did the remodeling work in 1903 and 1914, C. E. Walker Construction Company did the remodeling in 1931

The building that became the original “President’s House” in 1914 stood on the site of the current Student Services Building.  It was built in 1892 and first served as the home of the College Farm Superintendents and their families.  The young local engineering student and budding architect Harlan Thomas designed the house.  A horse stable to house the personal horses and buggy of the resident was built in 1895.  Beginning on November 1, 1896, the house was no longer the residence of the Professor of Agriculture.

In February 1903, the State Board of Agriculture voted to build a “Farm Cottage” for the Farm Manager just as soon as funds became available.  The “College Farm Superintendent’s House” underwent some remodeling and bathroom upgrades with the hiring of William Carlyle in the summer of 1903.  By the summer of 1908, Professor and Dean of Agriculture William Carlyle had moved to a stately home at the corner of Stover and Garfield that overlooked the recently acquired “East Farm” that had been purchased from Mr. Andrews.  Farm Manager William James “Billy” O’Brien and his family moved into this on-campus residence thus eliminating the need for a “Farm Cottage”.

During his first five years as College President, Charles A. Lory and his family lived in the house they owned at 903 Stover Street.  In June 1912, the State Board of Agriculture began discussing the desirability of having the President of the College live in the house.  Farm Manager “Billy” O’Brien and his family moved out of the former “Farm Superintendent’s House” during the summer of 1913.  They were moved into the remodeled “Miller House” located in the “Trees Area” of campus which is now on the southeast corner of West Plum and Meridian.

Following O’Brien’s departure, the house was extensively remodeled and the surrounding grounds landscaped into a well-kept lawn and flower beds.  A large sun porch was added during this period.  The Lory family moved in during the week of Spring Break in March 1914.  As mandated by the State Board of Agriculture, the house became the official home of the College President and his family. It was only a short walk from home to the office for the President especially once the new Administration Building was opened in 1924.  The house received an enlarged living room and some remodeling during 1931.

President Charles A. Lory and his family lived there from March 1914 until he retired in May 1940.  Dr. Roy M. Green moved in with his family as the second college president to live there, and its final resident.  Due to its distinct paint color, it was commonly called “The Green House”.  In June 1946, the house was razed to clear the way for the construction of the new men’s dorm, Braiden Hall.  It was said the sod that made up the lush lawn around the old house was moved over to the newly constructed Veterans’ Village to provide some nice landscaping for the sea of Quonset huts.

Sources by Gordon A. Hazard

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 16, 1891, page 201, item 10.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 17, 1891, page 207.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 11, 1891, page 219.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, July 17, 1891, pages 223, 229-230.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 11, 1891, page 257.

13th Annual Report of the Secretary of the State Board of Agriculture State of Colorado 1891 to the Governor, published 1892, page 5.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, January 1892, page 12, vol. 1, number 2.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, March 10, 1892, pages 274-275.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, April1892, page 41, vol. 1, number 5.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, May1892, page 51, vol. 1, number 6.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 11, 1892, pages 282-283, 287.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 15, 1892, pages 308-309.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 10, 1893, page 345.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 14, 1893, page 367.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 15, 1893, page 379.

City of Fort Collins Map, 1894,

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 13, 1894, pages 436-437.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 14, 1894, page 455.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, January 31, 1896, page 106.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, September 29, 1896, page 151.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 31, 1900, page 631.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 14, 1900, page 644.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, September 24, 1902, page 688.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 11, 1902, page 696.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 11, 1903, page 705.

“Map of the College Grounds – 1904”, by Ralph L. Parshall.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, April 25, 1905, page 790.

“The State Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Colorado, Catalogue and Prospectus – 1908-09”, published May 1908.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 6, 1912, page 324.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 4, 1913, page 329.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, June 19, 1913, page 292, vol. Dec. 1905 - Dec. 1916.

Report of the President of the Agricultural College at the Annual Meeting of the State Board of Agriculture on December 10, 1913, page 21.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, March 3, 1914, pages 1 and 2, vol. XXIII, number 24.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, March 31, 1914, page 310.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 3, 1914, page 335, vol. 3.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, April 5, 1916, page 369.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 7, 1916, page 349.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, October 3, 1922, page 1, col. 3, vol. XXXII, number 6.

Rocky Mountain Collegian, April 21, 1925, page 1, vol. XXXIV, number 56.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, August 24, 1929, page 533.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, July 21, 1930, page 595.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, December 10, 1930, page 64.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, June 2, 1931, page 67.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, November 28, 1931, pages 70-71.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, November 22, 1933, page 178, vol. Sept. 1930 – Aug. 1940.

State Board of Agriculture Executive Committee Minutes, January 26, 1934, page190, vol. Sept. 1930 – Aug. 1940.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, November 2, 1938, page 546.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, May 9, 1940, page 151.

State Board of Agriculture Minutes, March 9, 1946.

The Colorado State College Alumnus, March - April 1946, page 2, vol. XXVI, number 6.

The Colorado State College Alumnus, July - August 1946, page 16, vol. XXVI, number 8.

“Long Range Development Program”, Report to the Colorado State Planning Commission, March 1952, page 50.

“A History of Colorado State University 1870 – 1974”, by James E. Hansen II, 1974.

University of Colorado Library’s Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection.

Your Librarian

Profile Photo
Vicky Lopez-Terrill
she/her/hers
Contact:
Vicky Lopez-Terrill
Colorado State University Libraries
Archives and Special Collections
Room 202
970-491-1466
Social: Twitter Page

Library Help

Library Help

Connect with library staff via chat, email, phone or text.

URL: https://libguides.colostate.edu/campus_building_histories | Print Page