Grand Lake in Grand County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)

The Smith Eslick Cottage Court

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

1. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court Marker
(panel 1)

Inscription. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court (panel 1)The Smith-Eslick Cottage Court is believed to be the oldest original-condition motel in the United States. Built at about the same time as the 1915 opening of Rocky Mountain National Park and the development of more and better roads in the area, the Smith-Eslick Cottage Court was the first Grand Lake structure designed to accommodate both visitors and their cars.

The Cottage Court has four living units for overnight accommodations, with a covered three-sided space for parking a car adjacent to each unit, all integrated under a single roof line.

Designed from the start with these attached accommodation units and adjacent carports, the Cottage Court is a very early example of what would later be called a "motor court" and still later a "motel". With its exterior patterned, bark-on, half-round lodgepole siding, the Court exhibits the Rocky Mountain Rustic style of architecture common throughout Grand Lake. The entire structure is made of lodgepole pine the area’s native, customary and most available building material at the time.

The Cottage Court's location along the old road,

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then the main road, into town was designed to make it easily accessible to the automobile tourist. At a time when hotels and stand-alone cabins were the only accommodations offered to the Grand Lake area visitor, the Smith-Eslick Cottage was unusual and a precursor of future similar structures throughout the United States.

The Details (panel 2) The Cottage Court has four units for overnight accommodations, with a covered space for parking a car adjacent to each unit. The exterior retains the original bark-on, half-round lodgepole pine siding, known locally as "barkie”. Each living space is 14 feet wide, and each adjacent carport is 6 feet wide.

The roof is covered with several layers of rolled roofing material on wood. On each unit's back wall there is one window, hinged so it opens to the inside. One of each of the windows on the front is designed to slide sideways, allowing summer breezes to ventilate the unit. The structure has its original window glass and screens. It is believed that all the wood used in the Cottage Court is from P.H. Smith's Grand Lake sawmill.

The two units at the south end of the structure, nearest

The Smith Eslick Cottage Court Marker<br>(<i>panel 2 - The Details</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

2. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court Marker
(panel 2 - The Details)

Lake Avenue, have remnants of rolled and patterned cardboard which was the only insulation and wall covering. There are no ceilings in those two units, simply exposed rafters. The two units at the north end have upgrades installed by Clyde Eslick in the 1930s and 1940s. Electricity was late in coming to Grand Lake, and it is possible that Clyde installed the wiring and simple bulb lights in each unit at this same time.

Each accommodation unit was equipped with a small cast iron, "miner's" stove, which vented to a hole in the back side of the roof, a fold-down table hinged to the wall, and a bed. Plumbing was never installed inside the Cottage Court, and visitors used a nearby washhouse and outhouse.

Recently, the entire Cottage Court structure had to be relocated 150 feet across the street from its original site. Since the Cottage Court is the oldest structure of its kind, and is a rare symbol of the early automobile tourism, the Historical Society is determined to preserve the structure.

Grand Lake Area Historical Society • www.grandlakehistory.org
970-627-9644 • [email protected]

Topics. This historical marker is

The Smith Eslick Cottage Court Marker (<i>wide view; marker visible between window and carport</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

3. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court Marker (wide view; marker visible between window and carport)

listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Parks & Recreational Areas • Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical year for this entry is 1915.

Location. 40° 15.084′ N, 105° 49.414′ W. Marker is in Grand Lake, Colorado, in Grand County. It is on Vine Street north of Lake Avenue, on the left when traveling north. Marker panels are mounted at eye-level, directly on the Smith-Eslick Cottage Court building, between the window and the carport, and beside the carport door, of the south unit, near the southeast corner of the row. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 725 Lake Avenue, Grand Lake CO 80447, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Colorado High Rockies and on the Continental Divide.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Why Did They Come? (here, next to this marker); The Smith-Eslick Family (a few steps from this marker); Automobiles Come to Grand Lake

The Smith Eslick Cottage Court<br>(<i>unit front and window detail</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

4. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court
(unit front and window detail)

(a few steps from this marker); The Smith-Eslick Cottage Camp (a few steps from this marker); Smith Eslick Cottage Camp (within shouting distance of this marker); The Bay Window Cottage (within shouting distance of this marker); Grand Lake (approx. 0.2 miles away); Public Square (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Grand Lake.

More about this marker. This is a two-panel marker; each panel is framed and covered with transparent acrylic.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. The Smith-Eslick Cottage Camp

The Smith Eslick Cottage Court<br>(<i>unit window and entrance detail</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

5. The Smith Eslick Cottage Court
(unit window and entrance detail)

1915 Eslick's Cottage Court Sign (<i>mounted on south end of cottage court row</i>) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 17, 2015

6. 1915 Eslick's Cottage Court Sign (mounted on south end of cottage court row)

Kauffman House Walking Tour
Historic Site
1915
Eslick’s
Cottage
Court
Grand Lake Area Historical Society
Partial funding provided by a State Historic Fund
grant from the Colorado Historical Society

Credits. This page was last revised on October 29, 2020. It was originally submitted on February 12, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 357 times since then and 9 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on February 12, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.