So mused Carbondale resident Lynn Siodmak when describing the house she and her partner Joel Rem had purchased at the corner of Euclid Avenue and 2nd Street last fall. As it turns out, the walls — and house — had a lot to say, thanks to her research and that by members of the Carbondale Historic Preservation Commission (CHPC).
The Sopris Sun recently sat down with Siodmak and Eric Doud, chair of the CHPC, to discuss the building and its history. County tax records for the property date only to 1949, but Doud knew the house was much older than that. The structure required some asbestos remediation work. During that process all interior wall and ceiling materials were removed down to the outer shell, revealing much about its construction and age.
202 Euclid and its owners
The house was built in three stages. The first was a rectangular log cabin, oriented east-west along the northern (Euclid) side of the property. Doud estimated that it dates from the mid-1890s. At that time the area did not have a sawmill that could provide framing and other sawn lumber; in addition, “The windows and doors are representative of that period.” The squared logs, undoubtedly cut from the surrounding forests, were chinked with scrap wood and lime.
Doud characterized the construction as “pioneer” style, adding, “It has to be a very early house in Carbondale’s history, one of the very first.” He elaborated, “It’s a very simple house … but it is an extremely good representative of that particular style and period. Its simplicity is [of] exceptional value,” and its humble style “fits the bill” of Carbondale as “a working-class town.”
The second portion, an addition perpendicular to the first, was probably added soon thereafter. It extended south from the original structure and also consisted of squared, chinked logs. Interestingly, the original Douglas fir flooring in these sections had to be brought in by train.
The exposed raw interior of the house revealed remnants of a fire, probably in a stove or chimney, but the damage was repaired. At some point after that (probably in the 1910s or 1920s) the addition was extended farther south, this time with frame construction. A gabled roof in two sections (east-west and north-south) was constructed over the existing roof structure.
Removing some of the exterior siding revealed three layers of cladding. However, underneath those could be seen whitewash on the original log walls. Siodmak wondered if that was an attempt to make the structure look more like a “town home,” to which Doud responded humorously, “Only miners and derelicts lived in cabins.”
The first known owners of the 202 Euclid house were Beulah and Bailey Sterrett, who acquired it in 1937. The two had moved from Virginia to the Valley in 1920, establishing a ranch west of town. Bailey died in 1943, and Beulah later married John Wilson, who had arrived in the Valley in 1904.
Beulah (1900–99) had a remarkable life – truly one of Carbondale’s “town mothers.” As Siodmak described her, “She helped to establish the Carbondale Fire District, the Gordon Cooper Library (now the Carbondale branch of GCPL), the Rebekah’s Near New store, the Tri-County Medical Clinic, and Carbondale Senior Housing. She was a caseworker for Garfield County for 24 years and retired as the Director of Public Welfare.” A September 1978 front-page article in the Valley Journal highlighted her 50 years of service to the Rebekahs.
Beulah sold the property to the Erzinger family in 1968, who were Swiss and lived mostly in Switzerland, renting the house out. Siodmak and Rem bought the property from an Erzinger descendant in 2025.
Future plans
Initially, Siodmak hoped that she and Rem might “integrate the old house with the new” one they are planning for the north side of their lot. She has had considerable experience renovating and restoring old homes, as well as a couple of Airstream trailers. However, they are designing a highly efficient, fireproof, low-carbon-footprint Passivhaus (passive house) structure, which will make using any of the inefficient old building problematic.
They intend to use some of the original logs to make interior wall paneling. Siodmak said she would like to use some of the old logs to make a free-standing “weaver’s cottage” structure but doesn’t know if there will be room for it in the house footprint. She and Rem plan to deconstruct the old house and have reached out to salvage operations, since “the logs can be saved.”
She and Doud talked of the powerful “soul” in the old wood and the hope that such a presence can be preserved in the new house.