The house was originally built as a residence for the widow and the daughter of Denver real estate tycoon Walter Cheesman.

The widowed mother and young couple lived together until the birth of the Evans' first child, after which they relocated.

Boettcher was the head of a financial empire that eventually included sugar, livestock, cement, potash, steel, securities, utilities, and transportation.

The building needed a great deal of work, and its fate remained uncertain for nine months in 1959 as three agencies of the State rejected the offer.

The building was restored in the 1980s under the direction of Edward D. White Jr.[2] Upon taking office in January 2011, Governor John Hickenlooper and his family decided to maintain their private residence in Denver instead of moving to the Governor's Mansion,[3] though Hickenlooper did move into the mansion on a part-time basis after he separated from his wife in 2012.

[4] Hickenlooper's successor, Jared Polis, also chose to only live in the mansion on a part-time basis, staying there during legislative sessions while retaining his home in Boulder as his primary residence.