The Harbeck Bergheim House is located at 1206 Euclid Avenue on the northwest corner of Beach Park. Today it houses the Boulder Museum of History. The house was built in 1899-1900 by J.H. Harbeck and his wife, Katherine Ardell Hammell Harbeck. Mr. Harbeck was a stock broker and owned a chain-store in New York City. He and his wife had spent previous summers in Boulder, arriving in the late spring and leaving in the fall for Mexico. They enjoyed the city so much that they decided to build a house here. They moved in to the house at University Place in August of 1900. In the fall of 1910, as Mr. and Mrs. Harbeck prepared to leave for New York and a visit to Europe, they ordered that if they did not return, the house was not to be occupied for twenty years. This was meant to protect the nearby graves of three dogs, to whom the Harbecks were devoted. The dogs, Beauty, Jim, and Rover, had been accorded funeral services and casket burials. On November 10 of that year Mr. Harbeck died of pneumonia. Kate Harbeck died in 1931 after injuries she received from a revolving door at the Plaza Hotel where she lived. She willed $50,000 to the Boulder Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. At the time there was no such organization in Boulder. An animal protection group was formed and received the bequest. Today that group is believed to be the Boulder Humane Society.
The house changed hands for the next five or six years. William Beach bought the land surrounding the house in 1937 and immediately presented it to the city as a park. In 1939 Milton Bergheim purchased the house. Mr. Bergheim owned a clothing store on Pearl Street. He and his wife and children lived in the house until 1969 when the City of Boulder purchased it. The house was used for cultural activities such as ballroom dancing lessons, and lectures by the city until 1985. At that time the Boulder Historical Society moved its museum into the house, where it remains today.
The house, called "eclectic", has very unique architecture for the Boulder area. It has even been compared in style to a French Chateau. The exterior is made of Indiana Limestone with stone and wood trim. Grecian Ionic columns support the portico, which in turn support the delicately shaped balustrade. Beneath the cornices are attractive dentils and bracketed eaves. Dormers with oval "eye" windows protrude on three sides of the hipped roof.
The wide, Dutch-style front door is often a point of interest. Nine feet high and four feet wide, there is no known reason why the door is so large. It is flanked by leaded glass panels. To the right, next to the fireplace, is a bay window with a window seat. This fireplace - as well as those in the living room and upstairs sitting room- is set with Italian tile. The opening is lined with brass and the mantel is made of hand-carved maple. Below the stair landing is another built-in-seat. One enters the living room through double pocket doors. Facing the street is a large bay window. A wide door leads into the dining room where there is an east bay window. The built-in buffet has drawers, doors, and leaded glass cupboard doors and sides, all fitted for keys.
Leaving the dining room by the side (hallway) door, is a bathroom to the left. It used to have a glass-fronted medicine cabinet. A hallway door leads to the basement (which is used for extra storage). The kitchen is in the southeast corner of the first floor. Museum offices are in two small connecting rooms to the right of the hallway. These were probably used as servants´ quarters.
The beautiful staircase is enhanced by a Tiffany window in a dramatic art nouveau design of leaves and flowers. Pinks, browns, greens, and golds predominate and create a rainbow of colors in the late afternoon sun. Left at the top of the stairs is the northernmost room, a sitting room with a fireplace. Adjoining is the master bedroom. According to one account, this room once contained two double brass beds, several dressers, comfortable chairs, and many other pieces as well. Another large bedroom is above the dining room and opens off the master bedroom. At the south end of the upstairs hall is the spacious bathroom with original floor tile and old-fashioned accessories. On the west end of the hallway there is a door leading to the attic which now houses the costume collection. Stories of the Bergheims suggest that the daughters of the family used the attic as a skating rink. Beyond the attic door are two small rooms now used as offices.
When the house was built, it stood on its own. Not only were there no other houses right next to it, there were very few trees either. The neighborhood surrounding the Harbeck-Bergheim house has changed considerably, largely in part with the University. Many people know "that big white house that stands by itself on the Hill" but very few know its unique history.
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