Historic Silverton Downtown Loft

About Melissa Childs

My husband and I purchased this property in our 20s and operated an old fashioned soda fountain and drug store in the retail space while living upstairs in this apartment. (The apartment did not look like this at all then.) We renovated the apartment in 2017-2018. We are retired now and rent out both the Greene St. Loft and at the 13th Street Studio as vacation rentals. We manage to squeeze in some time in both apartments during the year. The cherry wood back bar and the stools were moved upstairs from the former soda fountain.

Why Melissa Childs chose Silverton

My family has been in the San Juan Mountains since the 1800s. My great grandfather, James William Jarvis, owned a ranch at the southern end of San Juan County and I spent time there at the ranch and in Durango during the summers. Several of my mother and step-father's family lived in Silverton during the late 1880s into the late 1930s. My mother and step father owned a home in Silverton on Reese Street for decades.

What makes this Apartment unique

This is a historic building that was built in 1895. It is unique to be able to stay above a retail space, right in the center of town, and still have spectacular views from all the windows. While the upstairs Loft has been renovated, the floors are original and are over 125 years old. The plaster was removed from the walls to reveal the beautiful, original brick work.