The tale of Fort Collins' Taco Bell house (2024)

Note: This story was originally published in April 2016.

It's a familiar story.

You're driving through Fort Collins for the first time.

Maybe you're a student starting at Colorado State University or a transplant seeking fresh air in our foothills.You're cruising down College Avenue or rounding the corner atProspect Road whenyou see it.Perched on alot inthe northeast corner, its tan bricks call to you— its clay tile roof, corbelled brick archways, detailed wooden modillions and Mission-style chimney takeyou back to another age of architecture. Back when Marla Cinnamon, now 73, was just a girl visiting her grandparent's house.

Then you see the little sign out front and the parking lot. Thenthe drive-thru ...

Is that a Taco Bell...in a house?

Located at 1530 S. College Ave., the single-level Spanish-style home has served asone of the city's Taco Bells since 1993. But it wasn't one of those things that just fell into place, at least not at first.

Once threatened with a wrecking ball, its days were numbered in the early1990s, when a franchise ownerwas dead-set on demolishing the now-86-year-old home.Fort Collins city plannerswereequally set on saving it.

"I used to have a lot of miracles follow me in my career," said Carol Tunner, a retired Fort Collins city planner."(And) I don't know, it was just one of those miracles."

The history

Built in 1930 byRichardIrl Mawson, founder of Mawson Lumber, it served as the home for hisfamily, which includedhis wife, Isabel, son, R. Wallace and niece,Roberta.

While the Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean styleswerepopular at that time among homes in the Southwest and California, there werea smaller number of homesbuilt like themin Colorado, according to the archive at the Fort CollinsMuseum of Discovery. Distinguished byexpert craftsmanship, Mawson's home was known for its brick masonry and attention to detail.

"It was built like a brick outhouse," Tunner said. "In the basem*nt, the rafters were much closer than normal rafters would be. He really just spared no expense to build that thing strong."

After Mawson and his wife moved to Denver in 1943— he died six years later—the home hashad various owners. Dr. James Wickersham, an optometrist,lived and worked out of it for years, according to tax records tied to the address. Andit's intermittently called the Mawson house, theMawson/Wickersham house and the Wickersham residence.

By the early 1970s, the area where Mawson's house ishad changed. A Taco Bellat 1538 S. College Ave., next door to the Mawson housein the lot closest to Prospect Road, was built in 1972. Anddue to high visibility in the area, its owner, theLoveland-based franchise ownership group Taco Caliente Inc.,looked to expand the restaurant to include a drive-thru.

The original plan was to raze the Mawson house and the existing Taco Bell next door and put a large "M-90" in the two lots— a "Model 90" restaurant that would seat 90 people, include an expanded parking lot and adrive-thru.

"When I heard they were going to tear it down, I was just sick about it," said Tunner, who retired from the city planning office in 2007 after 20 years.

And thus began the battle to save it.

"They came in and asked about what the process would be (to tear it down).We had a meeting with them, and we said, 'Well, the process would be that we don't want the house torn down,'" said Ted Shepard, nowFort Collins' chief planner.

"Together, we sort of approached them and said we think we have a better idea for you," Shepard added. "Because this house is Spanish mission, why tear down the real thing and build the fake thing?"

Talks withthe city about it werestrained.

"We rolled up our sleeves and tried to figure out what we could do," Shepard said. "After a lot of negotiation— and I mean a lot— we offered that the land development guidance system was a flexible zoning system that would allow him a drive-thru lane (at the Mawson/Wickersham house)."

Basically, planners saidwe'll give you your drive-thru lane if you save thehouse. Theidea wasn't well-received at first.

Why get rid of the real thing?

Around that time, Tunner said she also called Taco Bell's corporate office in California. She asked for the head of corporate architecture and was pleased to have been sent to a woman with what sounded like a Spanish accent.

Tunner pleaded her case.

"I said, 'Look, this is a Taco Bell,'" Tunner said. "It has a Spanish clay tile roof, it has arched windows and doorways. The little chimney is (in the shape) of a little bell tower!"

Tunner then went walking along the median on College Avenue, taking pictures of each individual home in the neighborhood, taping them together andcreatinga photo streetscape forTaco Bell to get an idea of what the homes looked like along that stretch.

But it remained a bit of a tug-of-war until late 1991 when an article in the Coloradoan said Taco Caliente gave up on its plan to raze the home and agreed to remodel it.

In August 1992, it was announcedTaco Bell Corp. had purchased 10 area Taco Bells from Taco Caliente, including the two in Fort Collins, according to the Coloradoan. The company said itplanned to see the renovation of the Mawson house.

In June 1993, the Taco Bell restaurant that had sat next to the Mawson house for 21 years was demolished. A Coloradoan article details the demolition as lasting 12 minutes, with employees allowed to throw bricks and trash can lids through its windows before it was torn down.

Remodeling the Mawson house to make it into a Taco Bell cost the company $360,000, according to the article. They built an addition on the back, where the kitchen is located, and turned the old bathroom window into the drive-thru window.

"It worked out beautifully," Tunner said, adding thatthe company told her it was the first time a Taco Bell had been placed inside a residence. The city of Fort Collins later received a chapter award from the American Planning Association in Colorado for its historic preservation efforts.

Since then, the Taco Bell at 1530 S. College hasserved up tacos for 23 years. A decade ago,ithad aspecial customer.

In the area for a friend's son's graduation inWyoming,Marla Cinnamonwalked in the Taco Bell at 1530 S. College.

The last time she'd seen itshe was a little girl, back when it was still owned by her grandfather R. Irl Mawson.

Roberta (Mawson) McCracken— R. Irl Mawson's niece whom he raised as his own— had eight children, Cinnamon being one of her four girls.

When I found her number, gave it a call and broughtup the old Mawson house, her reaction was immediate.

"The Taco Bell!" she said.

"I was only 3the first time I was there, so I remember very sketchy things," Cinnamon recalled, addingher siblings and mother moved to Fort Collins for a few years while her father served in World WarII. "I was pretty young, soI have a vision in my mind that it was big.

"I remember putting the car out of gear and rolling down the driveway."

So when she passed through Fort Collins10 years ago, she made a point to stop at the old family home.

"It was different than most Taco Bells," Cinnamon said. "I thought they had done a fairly good job with it."

She walked through, took some pictures,sat down in the home her grandfather had builtand enjoyed some tacos.

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