By Maya Barboa-Ojinaga, Museum Education Specialist
The Eaton House, located at Boardwalk Park behind the Windsor History Museum Buildings, was built by Colorado’s 10th Governor, Benjamin Harrison Eaton, in 1902. B.H. Eaton had been in Northern Colorado since 1866, owning numerous properties and many acres of land. Many acres of which were located on or near the Cache la Poudre River, which B.H. Eaton claimed as his. Because of his ownership of these properties and of the river, along with his knowledge and expertise of irrigation, B.H. Eaton created a leasing irrigation system that brought him much affluence.
On many of B.H. Eaton’s properties, he would build brick houses for ditch and farm laborers to reside in. When he acquired Lots 1-6 next to Windsor Lake in 1902, it was no surprise that B.H. Eaton planned to build a brick house on the property for future laborers. Construction of the house quickly began and was completed by 1903. The house served as housing for laborers for just a short time, as B.H. Eaton died in 1904. The executor of B.H. Eaton’s estate, Bruce Eaton, sold the house to then Windsor Mayor Charles Yancey in 1905. Over the years the house served as a single-family home until 2004, when the then owner of the Eaton House, Marie Mueller, sold the home to the Town of Windsor.
The historic significance of the house in its connection to farming and water rights in early Windsor history, as well as its connection to a prominent figure in Colorado history, makes it an important historic site for the town. In 2024, the Town of Windsor Museums received a grant from the Cache La Poudre National Heritage Alliance to help restore the Eaton House.
Restoration of the Eaton House is almost complete, taking the house back to its original exterior along with more usable space inside for offices and classrooms for museum programs. The Eaton House will be open this summer, with several museum education programs and summer camps running at the site, along with the Cache La Poudre National Heritage Alliance moving their offices there and opening an information desk and gift shop during the weekends.
Stay tuned for information about an Eaton House opening event for the community later this summer.