Richards House

The elaborate Richards House was built for the son of the early Wyoming governor, DeForest Richards. He, J. DeForest, had followed his father into the family banking business as vice president of the First National Bank in Douglas, which the elder Richards had established, in partnership with his brother, in 1886. When his father, while still governor of Wyoming, died suddenly in 1903, the then twenty-eight-year-old J. DeForest assumed control of the family’s local banking and business interests, and simultaneously built this new residence, at 4th and Cedar Street. Its completion was an event of some note—for the local newspaper at the time, in a feature entitled “A Handsome Home,” hailed it as nothing less than “a monument to the confidence and pride which our people feel in the future of Douglas.” The architect, who remains unknown, managed to combine an eclectic assortment of elements into a reasonably integrated whole that bears the stamp of no particular style; as such, it can best be described as “eclectic vernacular.” At two-and-one-half stories, its proportions place it, for Douglas, firmly into the “mansion” category. The natural wood shingle siding on the upper stories lends it a rustic look, while the multiple, steeply-pitched, gabled roofs suggest turn-of-the-century Victorian. Arches within the side gables of the main roof are of a vaguely Gothic character. Diamond-patterned window mullions draw the eye toward the uppermost story, where the projecting gables, with exposed, Craftsman-style ornamental support brackets, are framed by wide, decorative boards that boldly contrast with the dark shingle siding, and emphasize the gables’ triangular geometry. J. DeForest inhabited the home until around 1911, in which year, the house was purchased by the Douglas dry goods merchant, George Metcalf.