And the winners are....

So I've shown you all kinds of colorful homes here in Leadville. Below are the most fabulous in my humble opinion. First let me tell you a bit about some of these houses. You've probably noticed that a lot of these houses look the same. The have a simple gable roof in the front, with a large window underneath, and door to one side, or set back just a bit. Most of these houses are called 'shotgun' houses. These are homes that are one room wide, and have two to four rooms going back. They are easy and inexpensive to build, and thus may have been quick, cheap housing for mine workers that flocked here in the late 1800's.

The popular theory of shotgun houses is that they were a precedent in Africa, and came with slaves as they arrived in Haiti. As many slaves were soon brought to the American South, they brought this house style with them, mostly to New Orleans. You can find lots of shotgun houses in New Orleans, and a lot of Haitian culture of course. Now how these spread as far as Leadville is to be determined. Actually you can find these homes as far as California and in most U.S. states. (Though I don't think I ever saw one in Alaska.) Likely they spread with workers of different trades as they were easy to build. You can find more about shotgun houses and look at floor plans here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotgun_house.

Keep in mind that of the pictures I've already shown you, that 'Victorian' detailing was NOT original to the houses. These laborers were not so concerned about adding nice pink shingles to the front of there homes. This detailing was likely added years later as they were sold to new residents and the town tried to add some color to their lives. The houses I'm showing you below are not all shotguns, you should be able to tell the difference pretty easily. They are all fantastic however, and I would live in one in a heartbeat! This first one goes out to my friend Sara who will no doubt love the color...you know you want to Sara!