COBWEB CORNERS: On the lookout for twins

By Mel McFarland

       After I did the story on the Avenue, a subject of interest came up. Did you ever notice the number of twin houses along the Avenue? In a modern development, this is not anything odd, but over here on the Westside it is rather novel. There are two varieties to be found.
       Years ago, some close friends bought a house over in the 2300 block of West Pikes Peak. They wanted to track down the history of the house, and in so doing they found the builder's name. At about the same time, he had built four houses using the same plans. One is a block away on Kiowa, but the farthest is more than a mile away. Over the years, most of the twins have been modified, with some benefiting from modern owners. There are two on Colorado Avenue near Goodwill. Goodwill might even own them. I saw a story in the 1904 newspapers, stating when they were finished. The owner was a prominent Colorado City businessman. At the time, a building boom was going on, so I assume the second house was an investment, even though it was right next door.
       The other variety of twin is more common, which is odd, because even though they are different in some ways, we do not always notice the difference. These houses are mirror images of each other. There are several nice examples all over town. One of my favorites is in downtown Colorado Springs. There were three houses, all built at the same time. The one on the right was a mirror image of the one on the left, while the one in the center had the same design elements, only centered. OK, lost you? Well, each had a porch as wide as the house, with a peak over the doorway. The one on the right had the peak on the far right, the one on the left had it far left, and the one in the center had it in the center. Is that better?
       Some houses you may not realize are twins because the other one may be gone, or is way across town. On North Tejon years ago, there were four cottages, two twins, two mirrors. All were bought and moved, but two remained together up on Cooper Street. When they widened the highway, these two finally separated. At least one is on the Westside today. I wonder if the project to photograph Westside houses this year picked up on these twins?