Masonville Mercantile and contents to be auctioned Nov. 16

MASONVILLE — A store that was a community gathering place for 128 years will be sold at auction this month, along with its contents and the real estate in the Larimer County foothills on which it sits.

Founded during the small gold rush in Buckhorn Canyon in 1896, the original building has been a general store, wedding venue, tavern and more. It was moved to its current site at the corner of West Larimer County Road 38E and Buckhorn Road using logs and a team of horses in the 1920s.

It operated as a general store well into the 1970s, and was purchased by Bob Webb and his family in 1972. After Mardi Denny joined the family and the business two years later, they added a bar called The Ville, selling 3.2 beer. When that went out of style, the business added vintage clothing and wedding attire.

Family members including Mardi’s daughter, Melanie Denny-Patton, continued to run the Mercantile after the original owners’ passing, with the management assistance of Iowans Holly and Bruce Cook, who began running it in 2018. The store was sold to Roy Youree late that year, but Denny-Patton and her husband, Rodger Patton, bought it in 2020 and the Cooks joined as part owners. Finally, the decision was made to close the business and sell the property. Its last day in business was Oct. 27.

A live and online auction will be held beginning at 11 a.m. Nov. 16 in the gymnasium at Big Thompson Elementary School, 7702 W. U.S. Highway 34 in Loveland.

Items to be auctioned include such artifacts as a chuckwagon, cigar-store Indian, antique stoves, vintage clothes, cash registers and more.

Also included in the sale will be the original building, an adjacent 20 acres of land, two homes and 10 units of Big Thompson River water rights.

Details of the auction are available online at www.pacificauction.com or by calling Pacific Auction and Realty at 303-772-7676.

According to Pacific Auction’s sale notice, a new owner could “continue the great tradition of the Mercantile or bring your own concept to this highly desirable corner.”

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