Carlton House Complex
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Academy Superintendent Residence (Carlton House Complex)
1930, 1937, Richard S. Requa and George Washington Smith. Pine Valley (NR)
This complex in the Spanish Colonial style, as popularized by its two Southern California architects, was designed for the widow of Cripple Creek mine and mill owner Albert E. Carlton. After he died, Ethel Carlton went into a building frenzy, transforming a simple country cottage her husband had built into an elaborate residence that locals dubbed the Ritz-Carlton. Designed as a setting for entertaining, it incorporates guest houses and outbuildings connected by courtyards. The main house (1930) is a rambling abode, with walls of stucco over structural clay tile, a type of construction patented by Richard Requa. Requa, a San Diego architect, defined and championed Spanish-American architecture in books and articles as well as his buildings. After Mrs. Carlton moved out in 1950, the complex became the private Pine Valley Club. The Air Force Academy acquired it in 1955 and converted it to housing for the base superintendent and visiting dignitaries.
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