2 weeks Ago By Josie Taris, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
The Durrett Cottage in Redstone is an Osgood-era home largely unaltered from its original state. The Redstone Historical Society hopes to purchase it for preservation and use it as a home base for its operations. With a generous offer from owners of a time-capsule cottage, the Redstone Historical Society might finally get the space it wants for tours, exhibits and storage of town artifacts.
First, it needs to raise the funds. The DeMaestri-Durrett Cottage is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house on the corner of Redstone Boulevard and Firehouse Road, just north of the Redstone Inn. According to the Pitkin County Assessor’s Office, the home was built in 1892.
Jeff Bier, president of the Redstone Historical Society, said the house has remained largely untouched in its century-plus life. “It has been in the same family for over 80 years, and it has been used sparingly. Consequently, it has not changed since the early days,” he said.
“It’s got the original tub, sinks, floors, and also even some of the furniture from back in the day, which was Stickley back then.” Ownership of the house traces back to John Osgood, the coal baron who built up Redstone around the coke ovens and Coal Basin mine. The cottage, like many other Redstone buildings, was constructed to serve employees, Bier said.
Ancestors of the Durretts, the family that now owns the cottage, first came into possession in 1944, according to the society. After years of using it as a second home of sorts, Bier said the family approached him a year ago about selling the property and gaining some sort of historical designation. Getting the property would be a game-changer for the society, as nearly all of Redstone’s historical artifacts are spread amongst community members’ garages, offices and homes.
“We have a tremendous amount of interest in the history of Redstone. It’s surprising, the history of Redstone for such a small area,” he said. “There’s a lot of documentation, photos and items from that period that people want to [see].
We have a lot of that, people want to donate, but we don’t have the space for it right now.” Many of the art, photographs and antique items were displayed in the Redstone Castle, once Osgood’s home. Bier said that since the 2022 sale of the castle from the Carvers to St.
Regis Aspen majority owner Stephane DeBaets , the works have been spread amongst the community. The assessor’s office calculated the property’s fair-market value at $515,300 in 2024. Bier said the society is looking to raise $400,000 to $500,000 to cover the purchase price and other building costs.
Bier contacted Suzannah Reid, the county’s contracted historic preservation officer, to help figure out a strategy to designate the building as historic. Many buildings in Redstone have already received individual designations, including the inn, but Reid said the cottage is one of the most “untouched” of the original cottages. “I think it’s just the perfect timing for the [Redstone] Historical Society, and it would be the perfect house for them to take over,” she said.
“The county’s looking for ways that they can help, but nothing has been clearly settled on yet.” Bier said he’d considered a transferable development right, or a TDR, for the property. It’s a method to incentivize multiple kinds of preservation.
The owner of a property can “sell” the right to develop elsewhere in the county in exchange for some type of preservation. That strategy is moot in Redstone, as the town itself is already on the National Register of Historic Places with strict, local preservation parameters from the Redstone Historic Commission around development and alterations on existing structures, Reid said. Now, they are pursuing an official designation from the National Register for the cottage.
Reid explained they must fill out an application explaining the historic significance of the house and include a detailed report of any changes/updates made to the house over its life. First, the state must approve the application, then it will go to the federal level. If approved, Reid said the society can leverage that designation to apply for state grants to help with the purchase of the house.
A general grant from the State Historical Fund could bring in up to $250,000 for the purchase price of the cottage, but requires a 25% match — $62,500. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the society collected less than $50,000 annually since 2009. “We don't have the ability to go out and actually borrow money because we don’t have a huge income stream.
We rely on donations,” Bier said. “We don’t think the expenses would be dramatic, but it would still be insurance, utilities and maintenance.” Even if they win the grant at its fullest, Bier said they still have a long way to go to raise the necessary funds.
“So far, there’s been a lot of support verbally but nothing financially,” he said. The society is a team of neighbors donating their time, and Bier said they feel a little out of their depth trying to raise such a large sum to acquire property. Bier said their team of volunteers could keep the building regularly staffed in the summer and on the weekends in the winter, offering regular tours and hosting field trips.
The Redstone Historical Society will host an open house to tour the Durrett Cottage from 11 a.m. to 2 p.
m. on Saturday, with refreshments and society board members offering tours of the cottage. Donation envelopes will be available.
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