Hall/Smith Ranch Bungalow
The Hall Bungalow, built in 1916-17, is a distinctive, unpretentious but elegant log residence that reflects its early history as a private summer residence. Chicago Board of Trade members James M. Hall and John H. Scoville formed the Hall Ranch Company and purchased David Middlemas’s ranch in September 1916. The sale was reported as “one of the biggest deals ever made in the valley.” The partners soon constructed this ten-room log bungalow but visited with their families only a few times. They sold the ranch in 1919 to John “Jack” Patten (son of Chicago “Wheat King” James Patten). Patten named the ranch the Lazy T Ranch, but only three years later he sold it to Courtney R. Gleason, a Chicago real estate broker. While Gleason leased the ranch, he protected “this beautiful house,” keeping it unoccupied but well maintained. The Hall bungalow embodies classic Craftsman architectural details in the home’s low-pitched roof, wide eaves, and symmetrical façade with recessed front porch. The bungalow’s natural setting and the use of log and stone evoke the Rustic style. The blending of these styles continues in the stately but comfortable interior, which features log walls, wood floors, tongue-and-groove seventeen-foot ceilings, and a massive double river-rock fireplace. Paul T. Smith, whose family settled in the Boulder valley in the 1860s, and his new wife Vivian, purchased the ranch in 1938. Generations of the Smith family have lived in the residence ever since while operating a cattle ranch.
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