We are Lisa Erickson, Ashton Durrett, and Anthony Durrett – and we are cousins and the current owners of the cottage at 138 Redstone Boulevard.  We have struggled to attach a name to the cottage which will honor the diverse members of our Italian family that have owned it over the years. But that is too cumbersome. The simplest way to honor them is to let people know all our relatives who owned and preserved the home through the years.

It was first purchased by our great uncle (Lisa’s great-great uncle), John Persano, in late August of 1944. And it was his intention to keep the home for the family as a retreat, as it has been for eighty years. John was the youngest child of Salvatore and Rosa Persano, who came to Leadville during the 1880s silver boom from their home Liguria, Italy. John was the brother of Dominic and of our respective grandmothers – Lisa’s great-grandmother, Josephine, and Letitia, the grandmother of Ashton and Anthony.

After the silver boon, the entire Persano family found their way to New Castle and Glenwood Springs, where they established permanent roots.  John Persano delivered the mail to the Crystal River and Frying Pan River valleys and was an avid fisherman. It was said that he could throw water out of a pail onto the floor and catch a fish from it. So it was natural thing for him to buy the cottage in Redstone, alongside the Crystal River in 1944.

On his death in 1963 John bequeathed the home to his niece, Rose DeMaestri, who worked for the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder. Rose died soon after in 1964, and the cottage was left by her to her brothers and sisters, Roma, John, Albert, and Josephine – Lisa’s grandmother.

In the administration of Rose’s estate, Albert acquired the cottage from his siblings. Albert and his wife, Katie, were successful restauranteurs in Glenwood Springs where they owned and operated the Buffalo Valley Inn during the fifties and sixties. Like John Persano, Albert and Katie opened the home to all of us. Albert DeMaestri’s first cousin was Flora Durrett of Glenwood Springs, and the three oldest of her four sons, Dick, Gregory and Ashton, worked for years alongside Albert and Katie at the Buffalo Valley Inn.

In 1984, the Redstone cottage was given to Gregory, who restored and maintained the cottage for the next thirty-three years.  Gregory will be remembered among other things as one of the founding members of CVEPA. He lived in Glenwood Springs and operated the Italian Underground restaurant for decades, but frequently stayed at the home during the summer months.  Upon his death in 2017, we three cousins inherited the home and since then have endeavored to care for it as all our relatives had done.

We each have fond memories of our times at the cottage, here are a few:

Lisa:

When my great uncle Alby (Albert DeMaestri) owned the home on the Boulevard my father, sister and I often spent summer vacations in Redstone.  I was born and raised on the coast of Los Angeles, so getting out of the smog and congestion of the city and into the Rockies was a blessing. Our cousins would take us hiking, mushroom hunting, river rafting, fishing, etc. Our grandparents would rent horses for us that we would ride through the forests and up to the Castle.

In 1968 Uncle Alby opened the home one winter for our family.   There, in that little cottage next to the Inn, I spent my most favorite Christmas. Warm memories are ingrained in my heart – like trudging through the snow to find the Christmas tree left by Santa.  We were told it was the one with the red ribbon tied around it. We put the tree on a sled and brought it back to the house. Another memory is taking turns sledding down the driveway and riding on a snowmobile to the castle.

One of my earliest memories is that the paved road ended at the fish hatchery and it was hard dirt road all the way to Redstone. That kept the tourists away so it was like our own private playground. In the 70s Mid-Continent Coal Mine was still operational and the Redstone Inn was closed, except for the Moose Head Saloon in the corner of the Inn. The coal miners would gather there at the end of the day. The Towne House was a great place to listen to live music and one cannot forget the legendary Fireman’s Ball.

Although Redstone has changed throughout the decades, it remains my favorite place on Earth. Saying goodbye to the cottage will be for us like the loss of a relative. But we were fortunate to have it for a lifetime. Always there, just waiting for us.

Ashton:

I began going to the home in Redstone in the late forties, along with relatives of our extended family.  My great uncle John was an avid fisherman.  As he worked the Crystal River up stream from the bridge, I would trail him from a distance.  I played at the Band Box on  the mound near the Inn.  I would pretend it was my fort, which I would defend against my imaginary enemies.

Later, as I spent time with my two older brothers, we explored the community, its water courses, the coke ovens, and the old unoccupied firehouse with its fire pole. What was so evident of those times was the absence of ambient noise and the small number of children such as ourselves. Apart from family activities, we would celebrate Labor Day and the Fourth of July holidays with employees, relatives and friends.

The house is still abundant with warm memories, and a bit sadness for the loss of simpler and quieter times. 

Anthony:

In the 1950s I was a kid growing up in Glenwood. My first recollection of the Redstone home was driving up the dirt road to Redstone in a huge black Packard automobile driven by our cousins, the La Donne’s from Southern California.

The Packard was like a limousine, and we didn’t own a car, so it was quite memorable to ride in a car that huge or fancy. The Crystal River had just then recovered from a huge flood that had overcome its banks and washed out huge portions of the dirt road. I had never before seen such devastation.

Our mom was a nurse at Valley View hospital in Glenwood and often when she had more than a day or two free she and I would stay in the cottage. My mom would spend her time relaxing and reading and visiting with the Kinneys next door while I, like every other kid who stayed there, explored the town and played both on the band stand on top of the Redstone bluff next to the bridge.

Other lasting memories include my first taste of beer next door where Mr. Kinney gave me a sip under the watchful eye of our mom, and like my brother Ashton being an altar boy for Sunday mass at what is now Joy & Wylde and the Redstone Art Gallery.