Boulder County preservation board recommends landmark status for Raymond cabins, Hummel Farmstead

The Boulder County Historic Preservation Advisory Board unanimously recommended landmark designation Aug. 6 for the Raymond Store Cabins and the city-owned Hummel Farmstead, sending both proposals to the county commissioners for a future decision.

The board conditionally approved the Raymond Store Cabins, at 2184 Riverside Drive near Lyons, under criteria covering mountain recreation and roadside commerce, the site’s connection to resort operator and builder Asa Woolley, its rustic cabin architecture and its potential contribution to a future Raymond historic district. The proposed landmark includes seven contributing buildings: the Raymond Store, five cabins and a wash house. Official meeting minutes record the conditional approval, and the meeting video shows all eight participating board members voting for the recommendation.

Rocky Retreat LLC, the current owner, told the board the deteriorating store likely would be converted into a two-bedroom rental cabin rather than reopen as a conventional store. The owner said the project would retain the historic exterior and incorporate period artifacts. That remains an applicant concept, not a county-approved use.

The board also recommended landmark designation for Hummel Farmstead, at 3902 N. 63rd St. The proposed landmark covers 3.96 acres within a roughly 78-acre city-owned property and includes a Queen Anne farmhouse, eight outbuildings and additional landscape and archaeological features. Staff recommended the designation based on agricultural, architectural and archaeological significance. The proposed period of significance is 1870 to 1951.

If the county commissioners approve either designation, exterior changes to structures or construction within the landmark area generally would require county review and approval of a Certificate of Appropriateness. Other reviews, including site-plan review, could also apply, according to county staff’s Aug. 6 agenda materials.

Routine maintenance using original or matching materials would generally be exempt if the county’s Community Planning & Permitting director determines the work is minor and will not damage existing features. Temporary emergency repairs also would be exempt from Certificate of Appropriateness review, although a building permit could still be required.

The county records reviewed do not identify when the Board of County Commissioners will consider the recommendations. County calendars reviewed through Aug. 8 did not list a subsequent hearing, and the Aug. 6 action was not a final landmark designation.

Hummel Farmstead’s proposed protections would overlap with the city’s broader plans for the Fort Chambers/Poor Farm property. The City of Boulder’s management-plan materials describe a long-term concept involving ecological restoration, continued agricultural use and a future interpretive visitor experience with trails, educational installations, reflection, healing and gathering. Those materials do not establish a final operating plan, opening date or detailed future use for the 3.96-acre landmark area.

The farmstead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Boulder County Poor Farm. The broader property also includes the Chambers homestead and Fort Chambers, where Boulder-area men organized before participating in the Nov. 29, 1864, Sand Creek Massacre. The city says members of Company D later took part in the killing of about 230 Arapaho and Cheyenne people and is developing interpretation with representatives of both tribes. The city’s account of Fort Chambers and the Sand Creek Massacre says the work is intended to correct older, inaccurate framing of the site’s history.

The city acquired the larger Fort Chambers/Poor Farm property in 2018. If approved, the county designations would add county-level review of exterior changes and construction while the city continues planning how to preserve, interpret and use the property.