Entrepreneur P.H. Smith brought his family to Grand County from Kansas. In 1893 he started a sawmill in Grand Lake and acquired several local properties.
A skillful craftsman, P.H. Smith built many significant structures, including the Grand Lake Yacht Club, completed in 1912, and the Grand Lake Community House in 1920. These two structures still stand. This was a family business, and P.H.'s children also worked hard to make it a success. His second daughter, Georgia, married an English miner named Alfred Eslick in Idaho Springs, and moved her family, including their first five children, to Grand Lake in 1904.
The Cottage Court was said by the last owner, Grace Eslick, to have been built in 1911 by her future husband Clyde Eslick and father-in-law Alfred Eslick, with the guidance of Clyde's grandfather and successful builder P.H. Smith. Noted Grand Lake historian Patience Cairns Kemp wrote that the Cottage Court was completed in 1915, and it is that date that appears in walking tour publications, Historical Society presentations and on the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties.
The Bay Window Cottage, now at the back of this property, was built by the last Eslick child, Loren, and was originally located at the corner of Grand Avenue and Vine Street. It was intended as a check-in and store for guests
of the Cottage Court and other Smith-Eslick cottages and cabins. Loren completed it in 1933, had a party to celebrate, but sadly died in 1934. Folks in Grand Lake remember Loren's mother, Georgia, sitting in the bay window of the structure, waving at passing children. The Bay Window Cottage will be restored and used as a Welcome Center and Gift Shop, very similar to its original use.
(photo captions)
· P.H. Smith with daughters Genevieve, Mabel and Georgia.
· Clyde and Claude Eslick
· Grand Lake Yacht Club, 1912
· Grand Lake Community House, 1960
Grand Lake Area Historical Society · www.grandlakehistory.org970-627-9644 · glhistory@rkymtnhi.com
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