At 1433 Warm Springs Avenue sits an early 1900’s Georgian house. This style is mostly from 1720-1840, but the style still holds true to this piece of architecture as a neo-Georgian home. This house also has a lot of Dutch Colonial aspects to it. Especially it’s elongated roof top and porch hangings. This house has many windows of different shapes and sizes giving its 1800’s look a more contemporary style. The style originated in England and the first to hold it was Sir Wren. This house was once inhabited as a summer home by the mayor of Caldwell and his wife. This house was one of the first in Boise to have both electric and gas power. Mr. and Mrs. Little designed and helped build the house themselves. They would go work on it during the summer months and sometimes during political downtime. During this time they simply relaxed on the deck or sat by the fireplace. After his political career ended, Mr. Little permanently lived in the house. At old age, Mr. Little died in his sleep. Not too long after, his wife followed suit. After some time the McGee family took over the house in a less than perfect state.
The McGee’s have renovated much of the house to fit the modern times. The house has a second story porch and they recently elongated that porch in order to put in a brick oven and bar for barbeques. They also did renovations to the basement but kept the original tiling and piping. The first windows of the house were stained glass but due to time and weathering, the glass was replaced with regular glass panels. They also recently added a pool to the backyard which obviously weren’t popular in the early 1900’s. The house has also been painted inside and out due to regular maintenance, but has never had a full internal renovation.
Although this house has had many renovations, there are also many aspects of the house that have been there since the beginning of its time. Most of the lights fixtures in the house (besides the lamps and other portables) are all from the original workings of the house. The piping (plumbing) is also the same and can still be seen through the walls of the house. This is most prominent in the basements and the bathrooms. The toilets in the bathrooms are also from the original structure and the pipes are still visible outside of the walls. The master bath’s tub is also original with some painting and staining done to its exterior. The upstairs deck is also the same with the same fencing around it. The fencing is about two feet high and has been repainted. The stairwell inside is also original but has been repainted.
As stated before, the style of this house is Georgian from the 1720’s to the 1840’s. Georgian houses are very geometrical, matching the lines of the windows to the lines of the house. The sides of the house meet the roof at a point and resemble the front side of a barn door. These houses are also made of many squares and rectangles with random rounded edges throughout. This style also predominately has a fireplace in the middle of the house rather than the side. The front door has a panel at the top but is simplistic throughout and is capped with an intricate décor at its panel. Although this house does not have the moldings of a Georgian style, the fireplace and the stairwell have evidence of the delicate artwork at the frame.
When the McGee’s first acquired this house, it was at a less than perfect state. With their renovations though, they have been able to bring it to be one of the best looking houses on Warm Springs Avenue. Their renovations to the basements have made a whole apartment for their son Kraig. Complete with kitchen, pinball machine, and bathroom. There are multiple porches and a vast amount of backyard to make any family feel at home. It would be very hard to give up a house such as this one.