One thing the tiny mansion at 1306 Ivinson Ave. in Laramie doesn’t lack for are chairs.
That got the house, which is a piece of Laramie history that’s just been listed for $1.03 million, widespread notice the Zillow Gone Wild Reddit channel.
“Please take a seat! or 12 …” the post says, above a somewhat whimsical photo of a sunroom packed with all manner of seating – couches, chairs, loveseats, benches, stools and futons.
The posted photo is eye-fetching, thanks to bright pops of lemon-yellow seats juxtaposed with ice-cool blue window shades, two colors that sit opposite each other on the color wheel.
A green wall off in the distance with warm, dark wood is the perfect backdrop, along with a red tile floor that somehow hangs together well in spite of a coat-of-many-colors vibe.
Coldwell Banker’s Mariah Jeffery, who has the listing, told Cowboy State Daily the Zillow Gone Wild post was an unexpected surprise.
“My husband is my photographer and he’s on Reddit a lot,” she said. “And so he just woke up in the morning, looked, and it was like, ‘Hey, I took that picture!’”
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange)
Hitchcock History
Thanks to the post in the Zillow Gone Wild Reddit channel, which has 250,000 followers, Jeffery’s day was punctuated by new people reaching out for more details about 1306 Ivinson Ave., many of them curious about whether the historic property still has its swimming pool.
It doesn’t, but what it does have is an interesting history.
This is a Hitchcock original, just not the movie-making Hitchcock.
The house was built in 1937 by the sons of architect Wilbur Hitchcock, who followed in their father’s then-famous footsteps with an architecture firm of their own.
“(Wilbur) Hitchcock was a true Renaissance man, and a local legend who shaped Laramie’s skyline with over 300 designs,” Jeffery says in a YouTube video she made about the home. “Some of Hitchcock’s other designs included (the) original Ivinson mansion, built in 1892, which has since been converted to the Laramie Plains Museums.”
Hitchcock landed in Laramie as a civil engineering student in 1908, coming from South Dakota.
His father had been a carpenter and so, while Hitchcock was going to school, he designed and built a variety of homes in Laramie, according to the Albany County Historical Society.
After graduating, Hitchcock opened his own architectural firm, ultimately designing about 70 homes in Laramie, each one distinct and attractive.
He also worked with William Dubois on the Albany County Courthouse and designed several other structures in Laramie, including the Masonic Temple, Laramie Plains Civic Center, Alice Hardie Stevens Center, Whiting School, Nellie Isles School, and the Ivinson Home for Ladies, not to mention a number of buildings on the University of Wyoming campus, where he served as architect from 1917-1922.
Hitchcock and his sons built numerous structures across Wyoming as well, ranging from barns to garages to houses.
They designed banks, gas stations and armories, as well as schools in Hanna, Medicine Bow, Saratoga, Lusk, Wheatland and Sundance.
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange)
Tudor Trend
Tudors were quite popular in the 1920s and 1930s. People liked their European charm with dramatically steep roofs and decorative half-timbering creating strong lines and stunning contrasts.
The 4,922-square-foot almost-mansion at 1306 Ivinson features solid cherrywood doors and trim throughout both its main and upper levels.
It was acquired by the University of Wyoming in 1955, which renovated it, adding a substantial expansion so it could serve as the home for the UW president through the early 1990s.
That is part of the reason for all the chairs, Jeffery believes, which are scattered throughout the home — not just in the sunroom that caught Zillow Gone Wild’s attention.
The president did a lot of entertaining, often with extremely large groups of people. He needed lots of seating for his guests.
More recently, it’s been used as an Airbnb, Jeffery said, with four rental permits. It has generated up to $7,000 in monthly income.
“It’s a big house,” Jeffery said. “And they have designed it to maximize space for people to stay there, if there are events or just football games or whatever people want to stay there short term.”
The home has seven bedrooms and five bathrooms in all, as well as extra areas that can be converted into sleeping space if desired.
“He’s had that house rented out to sororities and fraternities before, so they can cram a lot of people in there,” she said.
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange) 
Laramie’s 1937 Hitchcock House was once home to University of Wyoming presidents. Not quite a mansion, the nearly 5,000-square-foot house has hit the market, listing at $1.03 million. (Courtesy Coldwell Banker, The Property Exchange)
Step Into A Time Capsule
Jeffrey’s favorite thing about the home is how it feels like a time capsule the minute one steps inside. The home is a stunning piece of Laramie history that has been maintained into the modern era.
“Most of the furniture can be included with this — not the grand piano," she said, "but it just has a very, like old-time feel. You step into it and feel like you are in the 1930s, but, at the same time, it’s been updated with all of the stuff you can update, without making it feel too modern.”
Those updates include plumbing and electrical, two things that can be quite expensive to fix on a historical home.
“He did it the right way, too,” Jeffery said. “With licensed contractors, and it cost him $150,000 to upgrade it to all modern standards without sacrificing the traditional feel.”
With such extensive renovations, the seller is taking a bit of a “haircut” with the listing price, Jeffery added.
“He really put a lot of work, time, blood, sweat, tears into this house,” she said. “He wanted to restore this house and maintain it and have it looking the best while modernizing and all that.
"But he lives all the way in San Francisco, so it’s difficult going back and forth. … He’s needing to stay closer to home.”
Choose Your Own Adventure
At one time, the 1306 Ivinson Ave. home had Laramie’s only outdoor residential swimming pool.
That was a sensation for the time, but the pool was filled in after about eight years in operation and is no longer visible on the 10,454-square-foot lot.
The home today still has multiple fireplaces, though, as well as luxury finishing touches like elegant granite countertops.
Its backyard is ideal for entertaining, stuffed with 30 different fragrant and beautiful peonies. There’s also a revitalized irrigation system on the property, keeping everything — including those peonies — lush and green.
There’s a bit of a labyrinth feel to the home, with two staircases inside the home that lead to the basement, as well as an exterior staircase allowing one to slip out the back.
The home and propertycovers three city blocks, so actually has a large footprint.
There’s a lingering sense of mysteries yet to be uncovered around every corner and lots of space to explore.
It’s a choose-your-own-adventure, with upper level bedrooms, a basement living space, and the main floor which has that spacious, seating-filled sunroom in between.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
