The Hornbek Homestead was built and occupied by Adeline Hornbek and her four children from 1878 to 1905. The 1-½ story home had four bedrooms and eleven windows and a shingle roof. This was the first home in the valley to have more than one story. She also built a milk house, chicken house, a barn and large corral for her livestock. The homesteader cabins above were located on Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument property and moved to the Hornbek Homestead. The home itself is the only original building of Adeline's homestead left standing.

Adeline Hornbek hosted community socials and dances in the parlor of her home. The Lafferty family, who bought the home after Adeline Hornbek had died, added the well house in 1909. It is not known how Adeline got her water for the years she inhabited the homestead.

The root cellar was an early icebox used to store potatoes and garden vegetables, or glass jars of preserves. Adeline's root cellar had a double door that allowed a constant temperature of about 45 degrees year round. In winter, ice was cut from neighboring ponds and hauled by sled. The ice was stored in sawdust so it would last through the summers. This root cellar was caved in when the U.S. Government bought her land in 1973 and rebuilt it for today’s tours. A few of the original logs can be seen in the walls.