National and State Register

Milner-Schwarz House

Larimer County

The 1873 Milner-Schwarz House is architecturally significant as an excellent example of an I-House with a classic modification, a single-story rear wing built contemporaneously to the main section. Character-defining features of the I-House form include the two-room wide and one-room deep plan with a central passage and minimal exterior ornamentation. 

A view of the house from directly in front with overhanging roof and porch.

Milner-Schwarz House (2013 photograph.)

However, the Milner family added a Victorian style porch.  While most Colorado I-Houses were constructed of wood, the Milner-Schwarz House is constructed of brick, as the Milner sons were stone masons.  Colorado I-Houses typically differ from Midwest I-Houses in that the chimney is usually centrally positioned.  The Milner-Schwarz House, however, more closely reflects the Midwest version of the I-House with both of its chimneys located on the gable ends.