Draft:William Norman Bowman House-Yamecila



The William Norman Bowman House, known as Yamecila and the Savio House until 2022, at 325 King St. in Denver, Colorado, was built in 1910. It is a large house, the largest in its neighborhood (the Barnum subdivision of Denver), and is located atop a hill so it also the highest.

It was deemed significant for its architecture, as "an unusual example of early 20th century Eclectic architecture with Colonial Revival features", and for its association with Denver architect William Norman Bowman. It is also deemed significant "for its history as a tuberculosis sanitorium when it was owned by the Sisters of Saint Francis."

From ____ to 2022 it has been the Savio House, a home for delinquent boys? operated by the Denver Lions Club Lions Club

Description

The house faces east onto King Street, with two conical-roofed towers atop octagonal two-story bays on either side of its front porch. The porch has a flat roof and Doric columns on each side, from which concrete steps descend to the street.

"In 1924, the Sisters of St. Francis purchased the house from the Bowmans and established Mt. Alverna Convent and St. Francis Sanitorium to care for tubercular nuns. They did some initial remodeling to meet their needs such as enlarging the kitchen and remodeling the back hall area in the northwest corner of the house into a small chapel. In 1925, the two story cottage at the south rear of the main house was stuccoed and re-roofed and the entire site was landscaped. In 1927 the sisters had Bowman design a new chapel which was constructed at the northwest corner of the house and connected by a short hallway from the main house. They also needed more rooms to house the sick nuns under their care and Bowman also designed a U-shaped sanitorium building west of the chapel connected by a short hallway. The sanitorium contained 11 rooms, all with hot and cold water and several rooms had private baths. / The chapel, designed in the Colonial style, is a small rectangular, one story building of red brick which matches the main house. The short hallway connection to the house is also one story and of red brick with a single one-over-one wood sash window. The roof of the chapel is hipped with a steep pitch and there is a triangular brick parapet centered over the north front entrance. The double door entrance has a fan light above and is flanked by narrow vertical multi-pane windows. Originally the doors into the chapel had panes of colored glass similar to a French door, but these doors were replaced after 1966 with solid wood doors. At the south rear of the chapel is a small rectangular wing with a sloping roof and round arched entrance which served as a dressing room for the priest. The room is now used for storage. The interior of the chapel has been remodeled into a large conference room used for family counseling. The chapel furnishings have been removed and the walls covered with wood paneling. / The sanitorium is attached to the west side of the chapel by a short hallway which leads to the U-shaped building that originally contained the private hospital rooms. These rooms are now used as dormitory and classroom space by Savio House. The bottom of the U faced north and the open space at the top faced to the south. In 1983, the inside of the U was filled in to create a dining hall and community meeting room for Savio House."

also known as the Savio House or Yamecila or Bowman House?

Historic function: Domestic; Religion; Health Care Historic subfunction: Single Dwelling; Church Related Residence; Sanatorium Criteria: event, architecture/engineering Number of acres: 3 Number of contributing buildings: 3