Bella Vira Story
Sam and Elvira (Varra) Aranci were local dairy farmers whose families have a long history in Fort Collins. After emigrating from Italy in 1908 at the age of 16, Sam Aranci started his first dairy farm in 1921 on 40 acres off West Elizabeth at the current location of the Siena subdivision. In 1938 Sam and Elvira moved the farm two miles away to a quarter section at 2106 South Taft Hill Road. The relocated farm stretched a ¼ mile along Taft Hill Road across the street from Blevins Junior High and east one mile to Shields street. The eastern portion included much of what is currently Roland Moore Park. Sam and Elvira had two children Anthony and Evelyn. Evelyn (Minatta) was born in 1915 and left the family farm to get her elementary education degree from Greely College, graduating in 1941. Evelyn eventually moved to Pueblo for a teaching job where she met her husband Al who worked for 30 years at the Pueblo steel mill. AL and Evelyn raised their three boys in Pueblo but came to Fort Collins every summer and Christmas to spend time on the farm with Evelyns’ parents and large extended family in Fort Collins.
The 35 acre parcel at the southwest corner of Overland Trail and West Elizabeth was originally operated by the Arancis’ as a cherry orchard and grazing pasture for livestock. Extended family members recall fond memories of picking cherries to be hauled to Loveland for processing. A grassfire sometime during the 1950’s came from the adjacent college property to the north and scorched the trees which Sam Aranci eventually pulled up. The cherry business had dried up by that time and the property has mostly been a quiet pastoral setting until now. The Aranci’s grandson, Sam Minatta made a home on the property in 1970 and lived there for almost 40 years. |
John MInatta describes his Grandfather whose given name was Sabatino Caranci as a determined entrepreneur who made many sacrifices and overcame huge challenges to create a life for his family. Sabatino came from a rural part of Italy and had no education, nor did he speak English when he first arrived in America. He adopted the name Sam to fit into his new homeland and later changed his last name to Aranci. Sam’s first opportunity to make a living in Colorado came shoveling coal out of railcars in the Louisville area where he met his future father in law Jack (Donato) Varra, working alongside him. After marrying Donato’s sixteen year old daughter Elvira in 1912, the young couple were eventually able to get a loan with Elvira’s parents to purchase a 40 acre parcel on West Elizabeth where they started their dairy business.
The family’s most compelling recollection of Sabatino and Elvira was how hard they labored to grow their farm from nothing. After starting out delivering milk to local merchants with a horse and wagon in the 1920’s, the Aranci’s eventually had a semi tank truck pulling up to their modest barn on Taft Hill to draw and deliver the raw milk to local bottlers. Around 1970 at the age of 78, Sam Aranci retired his cows but much to the annoyance of Elvira, Sam could always be found out driving his tractor around the yard into his 80’s. As the City grew up around Sam he always encouraged his daughter and grandchildren to work hard and develop his land into something productive once farming in the city was no longer viable. Sam had started working on land development ideas but passed away in 1991 at the age of 99 before he could get started.
The Overland Trail property was identified in 2003 by the City as a necessary component to the local storm drainage basin. In 2004 the City purchased 4 acres of the original 35 acre site and constructed a detention pond that ties into The Pond’s subdivision already existing stormwater detention areas. In 1996, Sam Arancis’ grandson, John MInatta with the support of his brothers Al and Sam developed the original 40 acre dairy farm on West Elizabeth into a 117 single family home subdivision called Siena. The Siena project worked out well so the family decided to invest in land planning during negotiations with the City for the detention pond at the Overland Trail site. For a variety of reasons the family took their time working through the entitlement process before receiving an approved plat on April 30, 2008 for 60 single family homes and 25 townhomes on the remaining 31 acres.
The wheels had come off the bus in the land development industry at this time and the family considered themselves lucky that the project did not get finished any sooner, or that banks would not lend them construction money in the 2007-2008 period. Minatta states that “We probably would have lost the entire project if we had started moving dirt around the front of the recession”. In 2013 as housing began to recover, the Minatta’s negotiated a deal to sell the entitled 60 single family lots on 27 acres to Richmond American Homes and keep the 25 townhome parcel on 3.7 acres along Overland Trail. They are building Tuscan themed custom, townhomes designed by local architect Dana Lockwood. The project is named Bella Vira (veer uh) after the family matriarch Elvira and uses her photo from 1918 for the company logo.
The family’s most compelling recollection of Sabatino and Elvira was how hard they labored to grow their farm from nothing. After starting out delivering milk to local merchants with a horse and wagon in the 1920’s, the Aranci’s eventually had a semi tank truck pulling up to their modest barn on Taft Hill to draw and deliver the raw milk to local bottlers. Around 1970 at the age of 78, Sam Aranci retired his cows but much to the annoyance of Elvira, Sam could always be found out driving his tractor around the yard into his 80’s. As the City grew up around Sam he always encouraged his daughter and grandchildren to work hard and develop his land into something productive once farming in the city was no longer viable. Sam had started working on land development ideas but passed away in 1991 at the age of 99 before he could get started.
The Overland Trail property was identified in 2003 by the City as a necessary component to the local storm drainage basin. In 2004 the City purchased 4 acres of the original 35 acre site and constructed a detention pond that ties into The Pond’s subdivision already existing stormwater detention areas. In 1996, Sam Arancis’ grandson, John MInatta with the support of his brothers Al and Sam developed the original 40 acre dairy farm on West Elizabeth into a 117 single family home subdivision called Siena. The Siena project worked out well so the family decided to invest in land planning during negotiations with the City for the detention pond at the Overland Trail site. For a variety of reasons the family took their time working through the entitlement process before receiving an approved plat on April 30, 2008 for 60 single family homes and 25 townhomes on the remaining 31 acres.
The wheels had come off the bus in the land development industry at this time and the family considered themselves lucky that the project did not get finished any sooner, or that banks would not lend them construction money in the 2007-2008 period. Minatta states that “We probably would have lost the entire project if we had started moving dirt around the front of the recession”. In 2013 as housing began to recover, the Minatta’s negotiated a deal to sell the entitled 60 single family lots on 27 acres to Richmond American Homes and keep the 25 townhome parcel on 3.7 acres along Overland Trail. They are building Tuscan themed custom, townhomes designed by local architect Dana Lockwood. The project is named Bella Vira (veer uh) after the family matriarch Elvira and uses her photo from 1918 for the company logo.