An 1880s Victorian Mansion in the Colorado Rockies: The Estemere Estate at Palmer Lake

by Edwards, Daniel

  N. J. Bond returned to Colorado to revive his gold mining operations in Park County in 1874, and by 1880 he was spending a good part of each year in Denver and in Alma, near Buckskin Joe, which by then nearly had become a ghost town. Bond spent time in Colorado during the 1880s, and it is certainly probable that he visited his daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters at Estamere more than once during that decade.

  Many of the residents of Denver whom Thompson contacted and worked with during his years at Palmer Lake likely paid visits to Estamere, but no guest book survives, and the society and business pages of the newspapers contain very few references to guests at Estamere from 1883 to 1890. In his plans for developing the town, Thompson did obtain the support and often the participation of many prominent Denver businessmen in the fields of real estate and investments, banking, merchandise, law, education, and religion. Many of these men and their families must have stopped by Estamere when they were at Palmer Lake on vacation, or looking over business prospects for buying land or investing in one of Thompson’s projects.

  Finley’s daughters Mary Estelle Thompson (l) and Ada Lucile Thompson Campbell.

  Thompson seems to have had few professional contacts in Colorado Springs, but in his early years at Palmer Lake he did have dealings with several officials of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, most notably Dr. William A. Bell of Manitou Springs (a member of the Board and confidant of Gen. Palmer), Col. David C. Dodge (general manager of the railroad), Maj. S. K. Hooper (general passenger agent), and William S. Jackson (who served at one time as president of the railroad). Mrs. William J. Palmer did pay a visit to Palmer Lake in August 1883, but it is not known whether she or her husband, General William Jackson Palmer, founder and president of the railroad (and founder of Colorado Springs), ever came to see Thompson at Estamere.

  Joel F. Vaile’s Dispute with Dr. Thompson

  Joel F. Vaile, a prominent Denver attorney with the D&RG, had built a small summer cabin on the hillside above Estamere about 1884. In the summer of 1889, Vaile had complained personally to Thompson about further construction on the Estamere property and followed up by writing a pointed letter to him in April 1890:

  You have, as I am advised, re-platted a part of Palmer Lake, and in doing so, have obliterated Pine Street, and certain other streets in which we are interested. Last summer…you had extended your buildings across Pine St. and were then extending walls northward, thereby cutting off our access to the village below. You then said that you would give us a permanent foot way across your grounds, and fix up good and substantial steps….

  I now find that you have made further radical changes. The course of the proposed footpath has been obstructed not only by a high wall with no steps, but also by an iron fence, and to go around this would require a circuitous course to the north…

  [W]hen we bought [our property], Highland Road extended southerly to a junction with Glenway as shown on the inclosed [sic] plat. You have now built a wire fence across this highway, and in doing so have encroached several feet on to Block 48. Further down, south of your house, you have continued your stone wall and put an iron gate across “Glen-way,” keeping the same locked and [you] have put up a sign “Private Grounds,” thereby interrupting a public highway which had long been travelled…. All of this has been done without notice to the owners of Block 48. In your proceedings for changing the plat you gave us no notice, although you were perfectly familiar with our title and knew where we were to be found.

  The course you have taken is in my opinion an outrageous abuse of the rights of those to whom you had sold property. And we must insist upon a correction of the abuse, and some preservation of our rights…. We shall content ourselves with a written, properly executed grant of a permanent easement for foot passage…through all intervening private proper legal proceedings to enforce our rights.[10]

  Subsequently, Thompson did build steps for the Vailes to use, but failed to convey a 10-foot right of way across the Estamere property or give two lots in Block 54 to Vaile as he had promised. After Thompson had left Palmer Lake, Vaile wrote to Jacob Murphey in August 1891 seeking his help to obtain from Ada Thompson a conveyance for a new pipe line and hydrant that would provide water to his cabin.

  Dean Henry Martyn Hart

  One prominent guest who stayed at Estamere, or in one of its “villas” or cottages, during the summer of 1884, was the Rev. H. Martyn Hart, then rector of St. John’s Cathedral in Denver. Hart, born in England in 1838, became rector of an Anglican Church and headmaster of a boys’ preparatory school in Blackheath, near London, in 1861. Hart met Thompson, who had arrived with his family in London with no job, and in 1879 engaged him to be the school’s dentist. Hart had first visited Denver in 1872 while on a tour around the world to recover his health. St. John’s Episcopal Church offered Hart a salary of $4,000 to be its fifth rector in 1879. Dean Hart moved the church into its first cathedral in 1881, and after a fire destroyed that building in 1903, he oversaw the building of a second cathedral that was opened in 1911. It is still in use today. Hart remained an Englishmen at heart, sent his children back to England for their education, and did not become a U.S. citizen until 1919. He died in 1920 after serving his congregation for 40 years.

  Hart studied science in college and translated a book on the sea from French into English. In 1887, he was one of the founders of a charity organization that supported local health and welfare efforts in Denver; this was the beginning of the United Way. As a prominent civic leader in Denver, he wrote articles and sermons on topics such as “Evolution and Its Relation to Man and Religion,” “The Ten Commandments in the Twentieth Century,” the failure of public schools to produce students of character, and a book critical of Christian Science.

  One probable reason that brought Thompson to Denver from London in late 1882, after retiring from the dental profession, was his connection with Dean Hart. Hart was also a member of the first Colorado Chautauqua committee and lectured at its 1887 assembly in Glen Park. That Hart was a major source for Thompson’s obituary, published in a Denver paper in 1892, testifies to the strong friendship between the two men.

  During the 1887 and 1889 Chautauqua sessions held in Glen Park (a wooded area of 150 acres Thompson had sold to the Glen Park Association in 1886), some of the professors and clergymen who participated in the sessions also must have visited the Thompson family at Estamere. Thompson held the minor position of sanitary superintendent in the local Chautauqua organization, but he was mayor of Palmer Lake in 1889 and undoubtedly hosted some social gatherings for people attending the Chautauqua. The Rocklands Hotel that Thompson played a major role in establishing opened for business in July 1889. The hotel was across the street from Estamere, and some of the hotel patrons whom Thompson knew or wanted to meet were likely invited to a meal or to indulge in some leisure activity at Thompson’s home.

  There is no record that the women in Thompson’s family—his wife, Ada; his mother, Clarissa; and his sister Nettie Berry—were active in Denver or Colorado Springs high society, but they undoubtedly invited some women they met in those cities, as well as local residents and friends of neighbors visiting the town, to have tea or a meal at Estamere.

  By the summer of 1888, Thompson’s rebuilding of Estamere was probably complete, and he was making plans to go to England to obtain financing for the sanitarium he planned to build at Palmer Lake.

  Thompson agreed to rent out Estamere for the summer of 1888 at a monthly rate of $125. In early July, Charles Kountze of Denver and his family had taken up residence.

  Charles B. Kountze

  Charles B. Kountze was the son of Christian Kountze, who was born in Saxony and had served as an apprentice journeyman weaver while traveling to Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, and Copenhagen. Christian immigrated to the United States in 1816. He opened a store in Pittsburgh before settling in Osnaburg, near Canton, Ohio. He made four of his sons partners in his country store as they were growing up to teach them the fundamentals of business. They learne
d their lessons well and later became prominent bankers.

  One son, Augustus Kountze, first went to Omaha and, soon joined by his brothers, Herman and Luther, established in 1857 the house of Kountze Brothers that became the First National Bank of Omaha. In 1862, Luther left for Denver where he opened a banking and gold buying office in a drug store; this was the second bank of the Kountze Brothers. At the age of 19, Charles B. Kountze joined his brother Luther in Denver in 1864. Two years later, the Colorado National Bank was organized with Luther Kountze as president and Charles as cashier. The two brothers also founded a bank at Central City and one at Cheyenne, Wyoming.

  Luther Kountze left to visit Europe. Upon his return in 1868, he established another banking house of the Kountze Brothers in New York City. Augustus joined the New York firm, while Herman remained in Omaha. For years the New York banking offices of the Kountze Brothers were located at 141 Broadway. The four Kountze brothers proceeded to establish relations with banks in London, Scotland, Ireland, and the Continent. Their business became a leading dealer in bonds, securities, foreign exchange, and cable transfers, as well as a member of the New York Stock Exchange. Luther was a generous patron of the arts. He was one of the founders, directors, and stockholders of the Metropolitan Opera House Company.

  Charles Kountze was elected president of the Colorado National Bank in 1871 and remained in that position until his death. He served as Denver city treasurer from 1868 to 1871, treasurer of the Denver school board, and was involved financially in the construction of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad. Thompson must have met Kountze when he was seeking capital and investors for his Palmer Lake projects and probably took out loans from the Colorado National Bank. Kountze’s wife, Mary Estabrook, was the daughter of George Estabrook, who owned one of Denver’s finest stables and raised thoroughbred horses. Mary was considered one of the best equestrians in Denver, and Thompson may well have purchased his own horses from Estabrook upon his arrival in Denver (and perhaps named Estamere after him or her?).[11]

  Thompson returned to Palmer Lake from London in late November 1888 with Doctor Thomas Gaddes and resumed occupancy of Estamere.

  Dr. Thomas Gaddes

  One notable guest who stayed at Estamere was Dr. Thomas Gaddes of London. He came to Palmer Lake at Thompson’s urging to become the resident physician of the Palmer Lake Sanitarium that was built during the spring of 1889 and opened in early July of that year. Dr. Gaddes, who had degrees in engineering and dentistry, had been dean of the National Dental College in London where Thompson had taught from 1879 to 1882. Gaddes also had published a book and many articles on dentistry and served as editor of the London journals, Monthly Review of Dental Surgery and Dental Record. After Thompson’s death in 1892, Thomas Gaddes returned to England where he resumed the practice of dentistry and was elected president of the British Dental Association in 1902.

  Edward Kipps

  Other guests at Estamere from England during the summer of 1889 were Edward and Louise Kipps. Kipps, who had recently arrived in America, was an investor in the Palmer Lake Sanitarium and had been selling real estate in Denver. Kipps purchased $10,000 worth of stock in the Colorado Hotel & Sanitarium Co. and he loaned at least $8,500 to Thompson. He may have planned to stay at the Sanitarium when it opened, and perhaps he did, but he died of tuberculosis at Palmer Lake on 15 October at the young age of 28. Three days after Kipps died, Thompson, Gaddes, and William C. Daniels purchased land for the Greenmont Cemetery, a mile north-east of Palmer Lake. Kipps was the first to be buried there. Until recently, his was the only marked grave in that long-abandoned cemetery.

  Dr. Frank Abbott

  Dr. Thompson returned to Estamere from a visit to New York City in late July 1890 and had persuaded Dr. Frank Abbott to come with him to Palmer Lake. Abbott then was one of America’s most prominent dentists, having served as president of the American Dental Association in 1887-88. He was born in Shapleigh, Maine, on 05 September 1836, and at the age of 20 became a student of dentistry in the office of an Oneida, New York, dentist. Abbott began practicing dentistry in Johnstown, New York, in 1858. During the Civil War, he was a first lieutenant in a regiment of New York Volunteers and was taken prisoner at Harper’s Ferry.

  After the War, Abbott moved to New York City and graduated with a degree in medicine there in 1871. However, he then helped organize the New York College of Dentistry and served as its dean for 25 years. He was a member of several scientific and literary societies, published articles on dentistry, and assembled one of the country’s finest private collections of rare prints relating to American history. Abbott was elected president of the American Dental Association in 1887. He died in New York City of cardiac disease on 20 April 1897. It is likely that after Thompson left Palmer Lake for New York in August 1890, he continued his association with Dr. Frank Abbott, who had spoken at the graduation exercises when Thompson received a degree from New York College of Dentistry in February 1877.

  Ira Kellogg Perego

  Thompson, along with his wife and three daughters, left Estamere and Palmer Lake in mid-August 1890 and never returned. Three days after the Thompsons’ departure, it was reported that Ira K. Perego, “a gentleman of fine culture and welcomed…as a valuable addition to society and business circles,” had taken possession of Estamere. Soon the new tenant was “arranging the house and premises in elegant and comfortable style. When completed it will be a model home.”[12]

  Ira’s father and other family members must have visited him at Estamere in September, for the Perego party from Brooklyn was staying at the Cliff House in Manitou Springs the next month. The Peregos were an old merchant family of New York. Thompson may have met the family at their store in New York or, more likely, met the younger Perego when he came to Colorado in hopes of recovering from “consumption” (tuberculosis). Perhaps Perego had been one of the first patients at the Palmer Lake Sanitarium and then agreed to rent Estamere when Thompson suddenly decided to leave town.

  The history of the firm Ira Perego & Sons began about 1798 when the original Ira Perego worked for a company in Manhattan that manufactured suspenders. Perego became a partner in the business a few years later and the proprietor in 1820. Perego & Co. became famous for making and selling “bosom” men’s shirts, for which the firm received a U.S. patent in 1861. As a newspaper article once put it, Ira Perego

  banished the old, poorly made, ill-fitting article which made its wearers resemble scarecrows, souring their tempers and embittering their lives, and in its place supplied a well-made article which fitted like a glove…. Everybody knows that it is the most perfect shirt on the market…. Through the medium of the shirt mainly the house gained celebrity and so large a share of public patronage that it became one of the most successful establishments of the kind in the country if not in the world.[13]

  Ira’s father, Ira Perego, took over the business in the 1850s, when the firm had stores at 175 Broadway and 85 Nassau Street. By the time young Ira K. became involved in the firm, it was patronized by bankers, merchants, and businessmen of New York City. It did a brisk mail order business as well.

  Ira Kellogg Perego was born in Brooklyn in 1854 and was educated at the Polytechnic Institute of New York. He began working at a wholesale fancy dry goods store in New York, but then went to Europe for his health. Upon his return, he went west “for treatment” and invested in mines in Colorado and Utah. Perego boarded at the St. James Hotel in Denver in 1892. He was a director and investor of the Salt Lake Natural Gas Company that was established the same year.

  The Perego store in New York City burned to the ground in 1891. Ira later returned to New York, but the family business, in which he was a partner, failed in August 1894. Ira soon returned to Colorado and appeared in the 1896 Denver business directory. Perego, a bachelor, died of tuberculosis at The Oakes Home in Denver in December 1898, but his body was sent back for burial in a Brooklyn cemetery. His obituary suggested he may have spent more than one summer at Palmer Lake “where he
had a fine place,”[14] although 1890 is the year we have a record of him at Palmer Lake. Ira K. Perego surely may have been the best-dressed gentleman ever to occupy Estamere.

  One mystery remains about Ira Perego’s relationship with Estamere, however. In the records of the El Paso County Treasurer, Perego’s name is recorded as the taxpayer for Block 80 (the Estamere property) in 1891 and 1892[15], yet no deed can be located that proves he ever owned the mansion. There is a deed by which Ada Mary Thompson transferred Estamere to E.H. Rollins and sons in October 1891. That firm is recorded as the taxpayer beginning in 1894. Even if Perego leased Estamere from the Rollins’ firm and agreed to pay the taxes due in 1891 and 1892, it is strange that the county treasurer would record Perego as the property owner if he were only leasing the property and did not have title to it.

  Estamere in Foreclosure (1891-1898)

  Edward W. Rollins and the Rollins Investment Company