Rifle House is the oldest building in Rifle, Colorado. Built prior to 1900 it survived the fire of 1902 which destroyed the rest of the downtown area. It was built as a hotel /boarding house and the second floor has remained a rooming house for over 125 years. The main floor was the hotel lobby and dining room originally, but served as the home of Rifle’s newspaper, the Telegram for over 20 years. While many of the buildings in the downtown area have remained with a few owners, The Rifle House seems to have suffered with the boom bust economy of Rifle over the years.

Built by A.J. Wiseman of non-kilned bricks from his own brickyard, Rifle House was owned by local Rifle families until the 1970’s. After the fire of 1902 the property was merged with the north half of the lots owned by McLearn Mercantile. The depression hit Rifle and the building was foreclosed on in 1927 and bought by Ida Hilton who sold it to the Ardus family after WWII. Changing hands quickly in 1945 it was finally bought by J.H.Barley and his wife who were owners and publishers of the Rifle Telegram. The floor of the north part of the building was reinforced with a stout scaffolding in the basement to accommodate the weight of the printing presses.

In the 60’s the Barleys sold the paper to William Dunaway and the building to James and Ruby Richarson. In 1974 the building finally went to Aspen owners and had different tenants during the up and down oil shale booms of the next twenty years. Big Dan’s Liquor left its mark in concrete on the steps of 201 Railroad.

The building returned to local owners, Sally Brands and Joh Savage in 1993. John’s law office at 201 Railroad was redone in the style of an early 20th century law office and the exterior of the building was restored to its historic façade. The north offices at 205 Railroad hosted different businesses and professionals until it became the headquarters of Savage Land Company and JBS Construction.

Over the years the second floor has remained a rooming house but a remodel is in its future as two downtown apartments.