GCH21W Virtual Cache Unusual Houses 1 - Soddy
Type: Virtual | Size: Virtual Virtual | Difficulty: 1 out of 5 | Terrain: 1 out of 5
By: Grand High Pobah @ | Hide Date: 10/12/2003 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 46.864 W105° 07.550 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
When the pioneers came west across the plains and settled, traditional home building materials were at a premium. Lumber and brick on the plains was just not available in adequate supply. Sod was a ready alternative material. Unfortunately very few homes of this type still exist today because of the very nature of the material (dirt). This location has an excellent example of a sod house. The number of sod houses that exist in this condition are rare.

As best as can be determined, the house was build prior to 1864, possibly even before 1859. By all accounts, it is probably one of the oldest sod houses still existing. It is believed that the sod was cut from near the bluffs to the north, on the other side of I-70.

The coordinates given are for the center of the back patio of the home. From there you can see the way the house was constructed through a glass panel on the wall. The walls are 2 feet thick. No lightweight construction tradoffs here! The stucco on the exterior and the modern shingle roof are concessions to the preservation process.

This building and the other historical structures located here are tended to by the very capable and dedicated members of the Wheat Ridge Historical Society. Although it is a museum, it is open even when volunteers are not present. Volunteers are normally available to explain and show off the facilities on Fridays from 10-2 (no charge) or by special arrangement at other times. Contact either Claudia Worth at 303-467-0023 (cworth1234@aol.com) or Charlotte Whetsel at 303-423-0989. It is well worth it to get a tour. I took my 84 year old father there a couple of years ago and I thought I would never get him to leave.

Send me an email with a count of the number of windows in the sod house to gain credit for this find.

The site is handicap assessible.
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 Logs

29 Logs: Found it 29  

Found it 07/02/2019 By sleuthers
Very interesting house. I want to return when it's open to the public with my wife. Have sent email to GHP. Cheers.

Found it 06/23/2019 By ( Zug ) / Shnelly12
Tftc!!! In town from Knoxville TN for some adventures. Thanks for bringing us here!!

Found it 05/30/2019 By TFulton42
Our first full day in Denver so we spent some time touring around and grabbing a few caches. A very interesting spot!

Thanks!

Found it 05/28/2019 By JeffS47
Colorado trip withMike Ott. We're from Delaware.

Found it 05/28/2019 By MikeOtt
It looks like a comfy house inside amazing how low it is

Found it 10/11/2018 By BigChiefS4
Day 5 of an epic 6 day journey out to the western frontier. I had some vacation time that I needed to burn up by the end of the year, and what better way to use it than to go Geocaching! My main goal was to find caches in New Mexico and Nevada, which would complete my map in the western US. The rest of the 4 remaining states are on the East Coast. Secondary goals were to find oldies, mostly virtuals, and high favorited caches. The only bad part of the trip was that it rained every single day of my vacation.

I headed south out of MN on Sunday and returned home on Friday.
Sunday - Drive all the way through to Colorado (15 hours!)
Monday - Cache in and around Denver and Colorado Springs, with an attempt at Pike's Peak (closed at Mile 14)
Tuesday - Head south towards GC19 and then west through Wolf Creek Pass
Wednesday - Four Corners monument and west towards Nevada
Thursday - After a night in Richfield, UT, head east through the skiing areas of Colorado towards Nebraska
Friday - The long drive home

Thanks to all the cache owners for placing these caches for me to find and for keeping the oldies going all these years.
Some cool history here!

Found it 10/05/2018 By geogooose
I was driving near the area and wanted to stop to get the details for this virtual. As I stopped to count the windows, a group was cleaning nearby. One guy walked over and asked if I was counting windows and said they get quite a few people. We talked for a bit about the area and where I was caching from. Pretty cool to run into someone here. Thanks for the cache!

Found it 10/02/2018 By TeamKimi186
Day Seven of our Epic Adventure-The Quest for 5000, to Mingo and Beyond. Last one before heading to the airport and back to NY. No sitting this one out, if you know what I mean. Thank you for bringing us here and for the smiley.

Found it 10/02/2018 By softball29
Final cache before heading to Denver International and catching a flight home. Fun trip and so many caches. I liked this one. Interesting little spot. Answers sent. Thanks for the smiley!

HooHaa Blog: My blog about caching and more

Found it 10/02/2018 By geo gpa and gma
Great little place to visit in the middle of a residential area. TFTC

Found it 09/13/2018 By ____Jamesbo
Got it! and got the little tour. Most of which I already know!

Found it 09/03/2018 By Firemnky
On a Fall trip through Colorado doing some caching and seeing the sites. A beautiful scenic drive through Rocky Mountain National Park. Visiting the downtown areas of Boulder, Denver, Castle Rock and Colorado Springs to name a few. We enjoyed a beautiful hike on the Barr trail at the Summit of Pikes Peak. It was a wonderful trip with quite a bit of caching thrown in along the way. Thanks for the fun virtual. Answers sent.

Found it 08/25/2018 By Trekkie79
Heading from Kansas City to California to see the granddaughters. Had to drive so we could pick up a few more counties. Left Burlington, CO, this morning and ended in Salina, UT. Got to see western Colorado for the first time. Went from temps in the low 60s to the mid 90s during the course of the day. Grabbed quite a few virtual and traditional caches. Great day and great caching.

I dropped Mrs. Trekkie off to count the windows while I turned around to get to the parking lot. She loves old houses and got the bonus of spying the old quilts inside.

Thanks for the smiley.
Trekkie79

Found it 08/11/2018 By TeamMNBS
Found it. Answers sent.

Found it 08/04/2018 By Skratch-N-Sniff
Wow, we take for granted what we have these days! Thanks for the virtual!

Found it 08/02/2018 By DrmWvr12
Luck would have it the volunteers were here doing some cleaning and graciously gave us a tour of all 4 buildings. It was great to see the varied methods of construction. While the sod was quite interesting, the Sears Kit house fascinated me more. Great collection of farm implements as well thanks for the cache!

Found it 08/02/2018 By tinselman
Great little museum. Wonderful volunteers. I'm glad to have found it. TFTC

Found it 07/31/2018 By Matze k
Today, the last day for us in America, Kattherine and I visited a few Virtual on the way to the hotel and found out the answers.

Found it 07/31/2018 By Kattherine
Found this one today with Matze k on our route from Estes Park to Denver.
This is a sweet little house.
We did a little walk around and count the windows.
Thanks for showing us this place with your virtual.
GCH21W

Found it 07/26/2018 By 2nd Son
Found with Strait Cash. We had some extra time so we decided to check out some of the local virtual caches. TFTFUN!

Found it 07/23/2018 By StraitCash
Tftc

Found it 07/12/2018 By Penny's pack
Flew into Denver and rented a car to drive to Vail for a meeting. What better way to break up the drive than stop for a virtual? LOL This one is really cool. By chance, the president of the historical society walked up right after I got there and we had a nice discussion about the house while I circled it counting windows! HAHA Email with answer sent. Definitely a favorite.

Found it 07/12/2018 By tc54915
Two week vacation and I made it to Denver without a problem. I have until 1130 pm on Friday to cache until I pick up another cachers at the airport....ohh what shall I do??? Hitting the virtuals and oldies of course...Tftc.

Found it 11/05/2016 By Rock Chalk
In Denver to visit family this weekend, so I have to pick my caching times carefully ;-)

Had lunch a few miles east of here, then spent a bit of time finding some high-favorite caches nearby. Unfortunately, the site was closed this afternoon, so we only got to see the exteriors. Still, a neat thing to see. Answer is en route to the CO. TFTC!

Found it 11/02/2016 By dcdawn
I had a grueling geocaching schedule planned for the day, so wanted to count windows and admire the sod house on the run. That didn't happen. As I was peering into the house from its patio, two volunteers came out to greet me. I enjoyed chatting with them and actually entering the abode. Very interesting! Thanks for taking me to this cool place...it gets a favorite.

Found it 10/30/2016 By mtrumbo1986
Ive spent nearly 23 years hanging out at the soddy house park i love it!

Found it 10/29/2016 By PaddlinMad
Interesting to see this up close! I like the view into the wall to see how it's made.

Found it 10/23/2016 By angelwolf970
TFTC with CuteLilFuzzyMonkey on the fourth and final day of our caching trip!

Found it 12/09/2015 By dustyriver
Congrats to BriGuy on his 400th find. Very interesting location. Explained to grand-little one how old things worked, how ground-level sob houses were built in tornado-alley Kansas, and the fun I had visiting relatives and staying in sod houses when I was young. Explained that sob is really mud, straw and mixed together. The expression on her face is priceless.