june 6-7 - Historic Denver

E s t. 1 9 7 0
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Vol um e 3 4
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Number 5
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Spring 2009
Historic Denver’s 36th Annual
Mid-Century
Modern Hilltop
Neighborhood
june 6-7
Heritage Tourism: Investing In Place
Tickets
By Annie Levinsky & Laura Libby
$12 (members)
$15 (non-members)
Available on our secure website,
www.historicdenver.org
or on tour day at our Carson Elementary
ticket sales booth
Check in
Carson Elementary School, 5420 E.
1st Avenue. Buy your tickets here or
pick up tickets purchased online. You’ll
receive your tour map and then begin an
unforgettable tour of six architecturally
significant private Hilltop homes and the
Epiphany Episcopal Church.
Visit
www.historicdenver.org for more
tour details or call Michael Schlut at
720.891.4956.
In 2007
Historic Denver
dipped its toes into
the heritage preservation pool- initiating
a collaboration among disparate historic
sites around Denver. Funds from several
sources, the federal Preserve America
Initiative, the Colorado State Historical
Fund, the Colorado Tourism Office,
Tourism Cares for Tomorrow, and support from the City of Denver’s Office of
Cultural Affairs jump-started the effort
and soon we had a bona-fide heritage
tourism program: Denver Story Trek.
But what is heritage tourism, how
does it relate to historic preservation
and what is its value for Denver and for
Colorado?
The National Trust for Historic
Preservation defines heritage tourism
as “traveling to experience the places,
artifacts and activities that authentically
represent the stories and people of the
past and present. It includes cultural,
historic and natural resources.” You hear
this same practice called cultural tourism, cultural heritage tourism, and more
recently in relation to urban settings, civic
tourism.
These terms, and this form of tourism, have become increasingly popular
over the last couple of years as studies
have revealed the positive economic
impact of heritage tourism. You’ve probably even heard the phrase that heritage
travelers “stay longer and spend more,”
and this is certainly true. Travelers who
engage in the local culture and heritage of
a destination spend more time in the local
hotels and restaurants than those who
arrive for other reasons.
While Historic Denver is certainly
interested in supporting a strong tourism
industry in the metro-area, our reasons
for engaging in the creation of a heritage
tourism program go beyond the dollars
and cents, and come back to the heart of
our mission: saving the places that matter
to our community.
Heritage tourism supports our mission in several ways. First, with a strong
tourism industry we can encourage viable
options for the rehabilitation and reuse
of historic structures. This was certainly
some of the reason behind the proliferation of historic house museums in the
1960s and 1970s, but today it’s a much
broader, more diverse endeavor. Historic
structures without active and obvious
uses do not need to become museums
to benefit from the economic engine of
tourism. Take the Wynkoop Brewing
Company or the Capitol Hill Bed &
Breakfast as great examples.
Perhaps a less-obvious, but equally
powerful, motivation for Historic
Denver’s leadership in heritage tourism is
to foster a preservation ethic. Certainly,
there are many Denverites that are wellinformed about our local history, the
shared stories of our frontier town and
the architectural highlights that serve as
symbols of our unique urban identity.
But for each of these choir singers, there
are many more who have arrived more
recently, never heard the stories and are
not aware that kayaking down the Platte
River takes you directly through the
heart of early Denver or that the reason
you see the word “mizpah” all over
downtown is because the same word
used to grace the entrance to Union
Station, welcoming the thousands of
travelers who arrived by train.
It is precisely these kinds of stories
that begin to tie us to place — to connect
us to the façades and landscapes that surround us, and ultimately motivate us to
Continued on page 3
Denver, CO
Permit No. 756
Historic Denver, Inc.
P.O. Box 480491
Denver, CO 80248-9900
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Non Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
Historic Denver News
history ON
SALE
Historic Denver Guide Book Series
www. historicdenver.org
to peruse & purchase through may 31
The Modern Denver Collection
Sale Price $40 (A $55 Value)
In This Issue:
Page 1
Heritage Tourism
Page 4
Preservation Briefs
Page 6
Urban Living
Page 7
Modernism Deconstructed
5
The Denver Architectural Collection
Sale price $40 (a $55 value)
5
Page 8
Scared Landmarks
Dear Pru
Page 10
Molly Brown House Museum
Page 12
Calendar of Events
Denver: The Modern City
The Arapahoe Acres Historic District
East Colfax Avenue Historic District
Lowry: Military Base to Modern Urban Community
The Mid-Century Modern House in Denver
The Arapahoe Acres Historic District
East Colfax Avenue Historic District
Denver: The Modern City
Lowry: Military Base to Modern Urban Community
The Mid-Century Modern House in Denver
The Essential Denver Collection
Sale price, 6 guides for $45 (a $65 value)
6
Architectural Styles of Denver
Denver Women in Their Places
Historic Denver Landmarks for Children and Families
Lower Downtown Historic District
Molly Brown’s Capitol Hill, 2nd Edition
Historic Sacred Places of Denver
19th Century Denver Neighborhoods
Sale price: $45 (a $65 value)
6
Curtis Park Historic District
Potter-Highlands Historic District
Baker Historic District
Wyman Historic District
Whittier Neighborhood and San Rafael Historic District
Molly Brown’s Capitol Hill, 2nd Edition
20th Century Denver Neighborhoods
Sale price: $40 (a $55 value)
5
Washington Park Historic District
Montclair Neighborhood
Historic Cheesman Park
East 7th Avenue Historic District
Northwest Congress Park Neighborhood
Historic Denver, Inc.
1628 16th Street, Suite 200
Denver, CO 80202
303.534.5288 tel.
303.534.5296 fax
www.historicdenver.org
Officers
Chair
First Vice Chair
Second Vice Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Karen J. Jonas
Sarah S. Krause
Tina Bishop
James S. Bershof
Carol J. Burt
Board of Trustees
Margy Anderson
Katrina Benes
Anne Bond
Tamara Campfield
Bar Chadwick
Michael P. Coughlin
Holly Bunch Dencker
Catherine C. Gale
Kenneth Geist
Thomas E. J. Hazard
Fabby Hillyard
Kenneth Ho
James Kroll
Thomas A. Lorz
Christie G. Murata
David Pfeifer
Holly Price
Mark Sheldon
Rosemary Stoffel
Cynthia M. Stovall
Margaret Toal
Elizabeth Walker
HD Central Office
Executive Director Robert Musgraves x57
Director of Development and Membership
Michael Schlut x56
Director of Communications
Heather Quiroga x59
Preservation Program Coordinator
John Olson x58
Director Preservation Advocacy Alice Gilbertson x52
Preservation Assistant
Michael Webber x53
Sacred Landmarks
Preservation
A Program of Historic Denver
Preservation Advisory and Referrals
720.891.4958
Molly Brown
House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania St.
Denver, CO 80203
303.832.4092
www.mollybrown.org
Director Annie Robb Levinsky x11
Collections Manager
Kelly Rasmussen x16
Museum Store Andrea Malcomb x15
Volunteer Coordinator
Allison Alter x10
Museum Educator
Alison Salutz x17
Historic Denver News
Managing Editor
Andrea Malcomb
Graphic Design
Printing
Mailhouse
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Southeast Denver Graphics
Direct Mail Concepts
Historic Denver News welcomes your letters,
contents of which may be edited for length and
clarity. Please include your name, address and
telephone number in correspondence to:
Editor, Historic Denver News,
1628 16th St., Suite 200, Denver CO 80202.
Architectural Photography
303.825.5280|Denver, CO
pb5280.com
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Historic Denver Inc.
Spring 2009
Heritage Tourism:
Investing in Place
Continued from page 1
honor and protect them. As Dan Shilling
put it in his recent publication Civic
Tourism: the Poetry and Politics of Place,
“the more people know the story of a
place, the more likely they are to take
pride in and be stewards of that place.”
This interest in the stories of a place
is a core element of Historic Denver’s
Story Trek, even lending itself to the
project’s name. Currently, Denver Story
Trek includes print brochures with maps,
a website, free audio tours accessible via
cell phone and a signage plan that is currently in the installation phase.
Denver Story Trek “invests in the
story” in several ways. First, Story Trek
gets tourists out of their cars and onto
the street, either on foot or on a bicycle.
When exploring by foot or by bike, tourists are experiencing a three-dimensional
place, seeing our historic landmarks
on the human scale and moving slowly
enough to really appreciate the details and
nuances. Not to mention that being outside is a quintessentially Denver thing to
do, adding another element of authenticity.
Denver Story Trek also involves more
than one kind of place. It does not just
feature museums, or even just the pantheon of well-known landmarks, but also
includes the everyday places that define
Denver – our parks, local businesses and
perhaps most importantly, our neighborhoods. This diversity adds depth to the
experience of place, as most visitors do
not just want to see what Denver is like,
they want to feel it and to imagine what
it would be like to live here.
Finally, Denver Story Trek makes
a commitment to weaving in the personal stories of place. Landmarks are not
defined only by their dates of construction, or even by their architects, but also
by the people who have experienced them
and made them part of their own narratives. For this reason, Denver Story Trek
includes not only the “official” history of
each location, but also invites the public
to share their memories and connections.
Dennis Gallagher remembering Helen
Bonfils’ operettas at Cheesman Park, Joe
Craft describing the nuns playing baseball
at St. Anthony’s in the 1930s, or Harry
Lewis expressing pride in having worked
on the construction of the Broadway
Plaza Building in 1954 all help create a
stronger sense of place and add meaning
Cyclists in Old Town Fort Collins, Photo: Sam Cox
to the built environment that both visitors and locals encounter.
Historic Denver’s Story Trek is
part of the Colorado Heritage Tourism
Program, a larger network of opportunities offered around the state for local
groups striving to share the stories of
their regions. The Colorado Heritage
Tourism Program was established as
a partnership between the Colorado
Historical Society’s State Historical Fund
and the Colorado Tourism Office to
advance local efforts.
The Colorado Heritage Tourism
Program functions as part of the
Colorado Tourism Office, which conducts
a wide range of travel market research.
The annual visitor survey, conducted by
Longwoods International, gauges the
number of out of town, overnight leisure
trips and the amount spent on these trips.
As an initial step in the heritage tourism program’s development, questions
were added to the annual visitor study to
determine the cultural heritage tourism
market in Colorado. The research demonstrated heritage travelers contribute significantly to Colorado’s economy. More than
8 million visitors to Colorado engaged in
cultural heritage activities in 2003 (the
year of the study) and spent $2.6 billion,
accounting for 45% of the state’s total
overnight leisure visitor spending.
The research also indicated that
Colorado could do more to capitalize
on the growth opportunities in this market segment. As a result, the Colorado
Heritage Tourism Program was launched
in 2005. The Heritage Tourism Program
partners include the Department of
Local Affairs, Colorado Department of
Transportation, Colorado State Parks,
the Division of Wildlife, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation and the
Colorado Council on the Arts.
The first order of business for the
Heritage Tourism Initiative was the
Strategic Plan for Colorado Heritage
Tourism Enhancement. The strategic plan
is organized into six categories; heritage
products and experiences, marketing and
communications, information and visitor services infrastructure, government
relations, funding and organizations. The
CTO has also infused the official State
Vacation Guide, www.colorado.com, and
other advertising and PR materials with
new heritage content, and a pilot project
initiative was launched to employ and
test the broader strategy sets and determine the best way to enhance and support local programming.
Working with seven heritage tourism grant recipients spanning 33 counties, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation and the Colorado Heritage
Tourism Program have launched a variety of development initiatives intended
to provide a structural framework for
one of the most robust heritage tourism
programs in the nation. Historic Denver’s
Story Trek has received one of these seven
heritage tourism grants, and is actively
participating in the statewide initiative.
In addition to the statewide partnerships, Denver Story Trek has also
provided an ideal vehicle for outreach
zo enhance local partnerships. Historic
Denver is now working more closely than
ever with other heritage sites, including
The Byers Evans House Museum, The
Kirkland Museum, The Black American
West Museum and Four Mile Historic
Park. Additionally, the organization has
forged a great collaboration with the
Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and the
Denver Metro Convention & Visitors
Bureau. Internally, Denver Story Trek
provides a great intersection between the
preservation advocacy work of Historic
Denver’s downtown office with the public
programming and audience of the Molly
Brown House Museum. These intersections and alliances make more and more
sense as preservationists, like everyone,
feel the pinch of a tightening economy
and look for creative ways to ensure that
the special places in our city, the places
that remind us we’re home and that captivate our imaginations, stay with us well
into the future.
The heritage tourism umbrella has
allowed Historic Denver to think about
preservation, and communicate the significance of our city’s historic places from
a fresh perspective. We invite you to learn
more about Story Trek and encourage
you to experience our city and state history on your next getaway. Start by visiting www.DenverStoryTrek.org and plan
your Trek! ;
Whats the Story?
We want to hear your story.
Call Denver Story Trek at
303.562.2407
Be a tourist in your own town by exploring Denver’s historic
places on Denver Story Trek. Story Trek is a self-guided tour of
the city, with stops organized geographically and by theme. All
sites are accessible by foot, bike or auto. Pick up a brochure at
the Molly Brown House, the 16th St. Mall Visitors Center or
visit www.denverstorytrek.org. Free audio information on each
site is available 24 hours a day by calling 303.562.2407.
You can also add your story to the Trek. Simply call 303.562.2407
and follow the instructions.
Denver Story Trek lead sites include the Molly Brown House
Museum, Black American West Museum, Byers Evans House
Museum, Four Mile Historic Park and Kirkland Museum of
Fine and Decorative Art.
Historic Denver Inc.
3
Historic Denver News
Preservation
Briefs
and the Senate Education Committee.
Two amendments introduced on the
Senate floor in an effort to fix some of
the inequities were unfortunately rejected
- neither could gain a majority of votes
due to the strong lobbying efforts of the
opposition.
The State Historical Fund, the primary source of preservation dollars statewide, will now not only have reduced
funds due to the current economic climate, but will also now have its growth
limited to 3% per year, ensuring that
funding levels do not return to 2007
levels for many years. Moving forward,
Historic Denver will need your support
more than ever to continue to provide
technical assistance to preservation projects across the metro area.
Two Historic Denver
grant management
projects come to a
successful end
16th Street Mall
Amendment 50 Update
On February 5, 2009 the 16th
Street Mall was named to Colorado
Preservation, Inc.’s Most Endangered
Places list. The list calls attention to
landmarks and landscapes statewide that
face threats from a variety of sources,
including intentional demolition or inevitable deterioration. The 16th Street Mall
is unusual for the list, as it’s the first
designed linear landscape ever included.
Historic Denver, Inc. nominated the
Mall for the list last fall, when newspapers reported that RTD was considering replacing the iconic granite pavers.
Since the fall, RTD has worked with
the Downtown Denver Partnership, the
City of Denver and Historic Denver to
find solutions to the Mall’s challenges.
Currently, members of all these organizations, as well as others, are working
under the auspices of the 16th Street Mall
Steering Committee, which recently hired
a consulting firm, Matrix/EDAW, to conduct a technical assessment of the Mall’s
current condition, from the characterdefining elements down to the underground workings. Public meetings were
held on April 15 and May 5 to present
the consultant’s findings, as well as three
rehabilitation alternatives, to the public.
Go to www.historicdenver.org for
further details.
On March 11, 2009, the Colorado
State Senate approved HB 09-1272,
the bill implementing constitutional
Amendment 50. In November, Colorado
voters approved Amendment 50, which
allows for the three limited gaming communities (Black Hawk, Central City and
Cripple Creek) to individually opt to
extend their gaming hours, add additional
games, and/or raise bet limits.
The premise behind Amendment 50,
and the basis upon which its sponsors
garnered public support, was a simple
“win-win” proposition - More money
for community colleges and more money
for historic preservation. That was the
pitch. However, when it came time to
put Amendment 50 into effect, this is
not what happened. Instead, House Bill
09-1272 was drafted with complicated
language representing a blatant attempt
to take away from the share of revenues
that were expressly intended by the supporters of Amendment 50 to remain
with the historic preservation recipients
of “old rules” limited gaming revenues,
including the State Historical Fund.
Historic Denver worked closely with
statewide partners, including Colorado
Preservation, Inc., to voice our concerns
to state legislators on several occasions,
including testifying at hearings in front
of both the House Education Committee
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Historic Denver Inc.
The 430 Years Church of God in
Christ on 23rd and Washington in the
San Rafael neighborhood has just completed work made possible by a State
Historical Fund grant which has restored
its beautiful stained glass windows, its
wood window frames and tracery, added
protective clear glazing, restored wood
louvers in its steeple, and painted much
of its exterior wood trim. The church is
once again ready to serve its congregation
and community with an extra bit of pride
and polish.
The Highlands Masonic Temple, pictured above on 35th and Federal in the
Potter Highlands neighborhood is wrapping up work on its masonry and gutters.
The State Historical Fund made it possible to clean, re-point, and repair masonry
on the entire exterior of the building,
rehabilitate the original lead crusting
found on its cornice and columns, and
attend to water issues along its cornice,
gutters, downspouts, and foundation. The
building is now clean and dry.
Historic Denver, Inc. was proud to
be a part of the process for both of these
structures through its grant management
program. For more information about
HD’s grant management program or to
find out how to be eligible for a SHF
grant, please visit our website or call us
at 720-891-4958.
Partners in the Field
Update
Under the auspices of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation’s Partners
in the Field Grant, Historic Denver, Inc.
continues to identify potential pilot communities and suburbs by meeting with
planners, preservation staff and community members in Littleton and Arvada to
determine their preservation needs. Other
recent Partners in the Field activities and
accomplishments include: participating
in workshops and conducting presentations on a variety of topics including
designation, design review, tax credits,
demolition review and other technical
preservation assistance; developing and
hosting metro Denver area Modernism
and Curtis Park house tours for Colorado
Preservation Inc.’s annual conference; laying the groundwork for Historic Denver’s
Mid-Century Modern June, 2009 house
tour; developing a new outreach, education and membership program for young
professionals; preparing a State Historical
Fund grant application for City-Wide
Survey Methodology on behalf of City
and County of Denver; and providing
input into potential impact on Denver
and suburbs of proposed light rail lines,
including post-war resources, as part of
Section 106 review process.
Grant News: State
Historical Fund
Awards Nearly $4
Million in New
Grants to Help
Preserve Colorado’s
Heritage
Earlier this year the State Historical
Fund, a program of the Colorado
Historical Society, awarded 37 grants for
historic preservation totaling $3,846,140
for the second competitive grant round
of fiscal year 2009. These new grants join
the Fund’s 409 active grant projects totaling nearly $46 million in direct investment in the State of Colorado. “The SHF
grants program stimulates Colorado’s
economy by funding construction projects
that create jobs and boost local economies,” said Steve Turner, Director of the
State Historical Fund and Deputy State
Historic Preservation Officer. “Research
shows that each $1 in grant funds results
in an economic return of $6. So the total
economic impact of this investment is
more than $275 million going into communities across the state.”
For a complete list of SHF grants
funded during this round, please call
Laurie Dunklee, SHF public relations specialist, at 303.866.2049.
Spring 2009
HISTORIC DENVER’S
Restoration for Living
Awards
Continued from page 4
Union Station Urban
Design Standards and
Guidelines and the
General Development
Plan
The Union Station Neighborhood
Company and Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill LLP released draft #5 of the
Urban Design Standards and Guidelines
for Denver’s Union Station on February
11, 2009. A meeting was held on
February 18th in which SOM summarized the make-up of the document
and outlined its intent. An invitation to
comment on the document was made
concurrently to the members of the Union
Station Advisory Committee and other
consulting parties to the process. A deadline was set for March 5th for the public
and advisory members to comment, while
a deadline of March 16th was set for
consulting parties’ comments based on an
earlier agreement. The Design Standards
and Guidelines was presented (with comments) jointly to the Denver Landmark
Preservation Commission and Zoning
Board on April 7th.
A summary of comments from the
public and consulting parties have been
compiled and grouped according to popular categories:
Public Space
Sidewalks/Streetscapes
Historic Station
Transit Architecture
Mixed Use Building Design
Bicycle Circulation
Parking
Sustainable Design
Interim Conditions
The General Development Plan for
Denver Union Station was presented to
the Land Use and Urban Design breakout group (BOG) and has now been
sent to the City for review. Much of the
content of the General Development
Plan has been crafted over the seven
year run of the Union Station Advisory
Committee which momentously ended
its existence as of March 18, 2009. The
new authority taking the place of the
Advisory Committee is named Denver
Union Station Project Authority (DUSPA)
and was created by Denver City Council.
It has a Board of Directors with membership incorporating representatives of all
the partner agencies.
It is important to note that recently
the Colorado State Historical Fund has
awarded Historic Denver, Inc. a grant
which will facilitate a Historic Structure
Assessment of the Denver Union Station.
This process will be done in conjunction with the partner agencies included
in DUSPA. This thorough examination
of the condition and potential of Denver
Union Station will affect much of the station’s development both within the building and at its periphery. Historic Denver
will be involved throughout the process
as it administers the grant.
For more information about the
Denver Union Station’s Urban Design
Standards and Guidelines and for more
updates about the process surrounding
Denver Union Station redevelopment,
please visit www.denverunionstation.org.
Staff Update
In December, 2008, Historic Denver,
Inc. lost a great talent as Erika Warzel left
to join the ranks of the State Historical
Fund. We are pleased to announce
that our new Preservation Programs
Coordinator, John Olson (formerly of
Humphries Poli Architects, PC), has
picked up where Erika left off. We wish
you well, Erika. Welcome, John!
Correction
We’re thankful to HD reader Bob
Janowski who points out, in reference to
our recent article about a grant awarded
to assess restoration of St. Patrick’s
Mission Church, (HD News, Winter
2008/09 issue) that the building is not
in the Potter Highlands neighborhood as
stated. Mr. Janowski writes: “Much of
the area formerly referred to as North
Denver has taken on the name Highland
since the Potter Highlands Historic
District was established in the late 1980’s,
but that district and the city’s official
Potter Highlands neighborhood did
not extend beyond the thirty-six blocks
bounded by 32nd and 38th Avenues,
Federal Boulevard on the west and Zuni
Street on the east. It’s of some historical
significance, as St. Patrick’s, the Platte
River Bottoms, and Little Italy were all
built within the city limits of Denver. Potter Highlands was not.” ;
Enter Your Renovation Project!*
Historic Denver’s, Restoration For Living Awards,
Recognize
Contractors, Architects and
HOMEOWNERS
Whose Renovation Projects Respect A Home’s History While Allowing For
The Conveniences Of Modern Life.
*Deadline is May 14th, 2009
Award Categories
Best Exterior Renovation
Best Interior Renovation
Best Kitchen Renovation
Best Bathroom Renovation
Best Sympathetic Addition
...and new this year, the Resourceful Renovation
Entering Is Quick & Easy!
For contest rules, details and online entry forms visit us at
www.HistoricDenver.org or call 720-891-4959
Winners
Will receive a Historic Denver cast
bronze house plaque recognizing your home and will be
featured the remodle in the award-winning Historic Denver
News. The winner of the Resourceful Renovation Award will
receive a $250 gift certificate for the Habitat for Humanity
Home Improvement Outlets.
Award Proudly sponsored by
Historic Denver Inc.
5
Historic Denver News
urban
living
3475 Belcaro Lane, built in 1949, was designed by architect Walter Simon. The original front yard
landscape was designed by landscape architect: S.R. deBoer.
The Belcaro Park
Ranch House Style
guest columnist Susan Livingston
M
ost articles about Belcaro Park
focus on Belcaro’s most famous
buildings - the Phipps Mansion
and Tennis House - because of their architectural and social prominence. However,
the predominant style in Belcaro Park
is the single story ranch home, and it is
this style that characterizes the grace and
uniqueness of Belcaro Park.
Belcaro Park is located in south-central Denver, between S. Harrison and S.
Steele Streets, and between E. Exposition
and E. Tennessee Avenues. The Phipps
family built the original Mansion and
Tennis House in the center of their estate.
After World War II, the family sold off
the land around it for real estate development. On the property to the east and
south, homes were built in the popular
fashion of that time - single-story brick
ranches.
The Belcaro neighborhood has an
organic feel that connects the home to the
landscape. Large lots create a park-like
setting with large front yards on curvilinear streets. The Belcaro Park ranch
house style is distinguished by single story
houses that are wider than they are deep,
and hipped roofs pitched at a moderate
slope. The homes are brick with minimal
wood trim, contrasting stone or brick
around the front doors, and attached
garages. Many homes were built in the
popular brick color of the 1950s – buff
or yellow. Roof materials range from
red tiles, shingles or shake. These homes
fit into the lifestyle favored by families
in the 1950s - the large front and back
yards for children’s play and the curving
streets attractive to growing children to
6
Historic Denver Inc.
ride their bikes in safety. Today they are
bought by residents who still appreciate the ranch house, the large yards and
park-like setting.
There was a lot of pride in construction and design when the homes were
built. Walter Simon, J. Roger Musick, and
Wm. C. Muchow are prominent Denver
architects who built in Belcaro. Contractorarchitects from multi-generational Denver
contractor families, such as James “Add”
Adams, built other homes. Owners hired
Denver landscape architects such as Jane
Silverstein Ries and S. R. deBoer.
Historic Denver News wrote in the
January/February 2005 issue about the
Belcaro Park neighborhood and threats to
its architectural integrity by inappropriate infill and additions. Most of the new
additions and infill have been closer to
the Phipps Mansion, and some streets
have lost their ranch house homogenous
appearance. But away from the mansion
the homes have not been threatened as
much and their design integrity is more
intact. Streets with the most examples of
the Belcaro Park ranch house style are
Harrison, Jackson, Garfield, Monroe,
Belcaro Drive and Belcaro Lane, but there
is representation all over the neighborhood.
It is the will of the homeowners,
expressed through their home owners association, to protect the qualities
that distinguish Belcaro. The Belcaro
covenants state that all new construction, whether an addition or infill, must
be of “compatible in style, architecture,
materials, appearance, and height to the
other residences…” Ranch homes easily
lend themselves easily to additions, and in
Belcaro there are many successful examples
of homes that have added space without
affecting the original architectural integrity.
In October 2008, the National Trust
for Historic Preservation’s National
Preservation Conference was held in
Tulsa, Oklahoma, where conference goers
were treated to a tour of Ranch Acres
Historic District, an area of ranch homes
listed in the National Register of Historic
Places. The resemblance between Belcaro
Park and Ranch Acres is startling and
many of the qualities that distinguish
Belcaro Park are the same qualities that
qualified Ranch Acres for the National
Register. Ranch Acres’ designation and
the designation of similar post-war neighborhoods, such as Englewood’s Arapahoe
Acres, (the nation’s first post-war neighborhood to be listed on the National
Register) is proof that the aesthetic of
the ranch home is not only deserving of
historic recognition, but is infact being
recognized across the country.
Belcaro Park may someday decide
to seek historic designation, but until
then, the covenant review is one resource
helping its residents to protect and preserve their historic Belcaro Park Ranch
Homes. ;
Susan Livingston will soon graduate
from CU-Denver with both a Certificate
in Historic Preservation and a Masters
in Urban Planning. She has been active
in Belcaro Park as Architectural Review
Chair and President.
Spring 2009
Modernism
Deconstructed: A H i llt o p H o u se T o u r P r i me r
Mod-ern-ism [mod-er-niz-uh m]
Modern character, tendencies, or values; adherence to or sympathy with what is modern. A deliberate philosophical and practical estrangement or divergence from the past in the
arts and literature; occurring especially in the course of the 20th century and taking form in any of various innovative movements and styles.
Modernism is complicated.
The term reaches beyond any one style or period into the broader realms of culture and philosophy. From the movement came the innovative work of intellectuals like Freud
and Einstein and artists such as Picasso, Stravinsky and T. S. Eliot. To the 2009 mind, however, the most popularly tangible expression of modernism may be the art and architecture
we associate with it. Under the enormous mid-century modern “umbrella” coexist regional and global sub-styles (and their proponents) that span decades. Modernist architects like
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius revolutionized design and construction techniques with the idea that form followed function and that the natural beauty of setting
and the organic building materials were ornament enough. The Hilltop neighborhood, setting of Historic Denver’s 2009 house tour, is rich with examples of modernism in myriad
sub-styles from the early 20th century through the 1970s.
As primer and guide (and to make your Historic Denver House Tour experience more interesting!) we’ve listed the defining characteristics of eight modernism sub-styles present
in Hilltop. One cautionary note about the dates listed – we could have annotated each with “and beyond.” The dates are somewhat fluid given that, for decades after which “major”
work in the style was most popular or common, elements have been reinterpreted, abstracted and otherwise “borrowed” widely. In many cases work is still being created in what
might be considered homage to the periods.
For further reading, please see “Historic Denver Guides: The Mid-Century Modern House in Denver” by Michael Paglia and Diane Wray Tomasso available for purchase at the
Molly Brown House Museum store or online at www.HistoricDenver.org.
International Style: 1920s - 30s
Horizontal orientation
Ribbon windows
Large glazed areas
Industrial materials
Cubist building volumes
No ornamentation
Cantilevers
Flat roofs
Expressionist Architecture: 1910s - 30s
Sculptural forms
Dramatic site planning
Irregularly shaped windows
Organic or geometric plans
Cantilevers
Experimental materials
Nontraditional structural elements
Cast-in-place concrete
Same materials used inside and out
Unconventional roofs and roofs as
continuations of walls
Horizontal orientation
Cantilevers
Cubist building volumes
Overhanging eaves
Geometric ornamentation
Ribbon, clerestory, and corner windows
Flat, gabled, and sculptural roofs
Traditional materials used inside and out
Brick and concrete block laid in patterns
Second Phase International: 1950s-70s
Large glazed areas
No eaves
Cantilevers
Rectilinear building volumes
No ornamentation
Flat and unconventional roofs
Glass and metal curtain walls
Horizontal orientation but strong
secondary verticals
Horizontal orientation
Ribbon windows and belt courses
Hooded or recessed windows
Large areas without glazing
Industrial materials
Sculptural expression of building volumes
No ornamentation
Decorative use of functional elements
Flat and shed roof forms
Rustic Modernism*: 1960s - 70s
Brutalism: 1950s - 70s
Vertical orientation
Expressed corners
Recessed windows
Vertical piers
No eaves
Flat roofs
Simplified arrangement of building forms
Concrete or metal screen walls
Late Modernism: 1960s - 70s
Usonian Style: 1930s - 50s
Formalism: 1903s - 40s
Vertical orientation
Over-scaled proportions
No eaves
Thick vertical piers
No eaves
Flat roofs
Cast in place concrete or aggregate
Metals, including Cor-Ten steel
Vertical, recessed windows of tinted glass
Complex formal arrangement of building
volumes
Use of horizontal and vertical elements
Over-scaled proportions
Horizontal ribbon and vertical slit windows
Skylight and clerestory windows
Traditional materials of brick, stone and
shingles
No ornamentation
Integration of indoors and outdoors
Deep eaves
Prominent shed, gable, and hip roof forms
*Term coined by authors Diane Wray and Michael
Paglia in the Historic Denver guidebook The MidCentury Modern House in Denver.
Historic Denver Inc.
7
Historic Denver News
Sacred
landmarks preservation
Dear
P r u dence
A feature of urban living
Dear Prudence,
We have just bought a great old
house with not so great looking iron radiators. Several of them have chipped layers
of old paint. How can we restore them?
Sincerely,
Cold Feet in Capitol Hill
Dear Cold Feet
Temple Emanuel on 16th Avenue and Pearl Street
S
acred places are part of the
DNA that make our cities function properly. Not always due
to religious sentiment, sacred
places can often extract zealousness from
unlikely sources, for any number of reasons, because these places are important
to all inhabitants of the city. The sacred
places of our neighborhoods in Denver
are the anchors of our society and their
affect extends far beyond those of us
who may belong to the congregation of
a church, synagogue, mosque or temple.
And that affect upon us is evident even
if we are not practitioners of the faith
that built the walls of these great spaces.
These places are our connections to each
other, acting as community centers, soup
kitchens, places of learning, voting stations, theater entertainment and much
more. And they are often historic, and
unfortunately, they are also often under
threat.
Threatened by declining membership and increased maintenance costs,
these sacred landmarks need an infusion of capital to keep them a vibrant
part of our city. Historic Denver, Inc.
has been happy to be a part of keeping
these sacred landmarks alive through
its Sacred Landmarks Preservation
Program. Through technical assistance,
many urban sacred places in Denver
have received grants to complete historic
structure assessments that have provided
critical preservation planning. The program has also enabled several sacred
places to be historically designated,
an important step for qualification to
receive funds. With these funds (much
of which has been made available by the
State Historical Fund), Historic Denver
has administered preservation, restoration and rehabilitation projects directly
benefiting sacred places.
A recent example of a sacred place
being helped by the program and the
8
Historic Denver Inc.
State Historical Fund is the 430 Years
Church in the San Rafael Historic
District. This 1883 Gothic Revival
Church on 23rd Avenue and Washington
Street is home to a small congregation
lead by Reverend R. Floyd Wesley. The
church has benefitted from a series of
restoration projects, which have repaired
the roof, cleaned the masonry and
restored many of its beautiful stained
glass windows. The congregation chose
this church due to its historic nature
and solidity in the neighborhood, as
well as its location, so that they could
fulfill their mission of helping the
needy. The church partners with organizations including: Congregational
Health Ministries, Hope Communities,
Comfort Care, the Five Points Business
Association, and Samaritan House.
All of these entities help to enliven the
space inside the church as well as to
activate this section of the community.
The results of the restoration effort have
ensured that the space is dry, free from
symptoms of exterior deterioration and
welcoming to residents, members, and
recipients of care.
Another current example is the
Temple Emanuel on 16th Avenue and
Pearl Street. Former home of the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in
the city, this 1899 building (with its
impressive 1924 addition) is now home
to Pathways Church. The Pathways
Church’s goals for the building include:
maintaining the Temple Emanuel as a
community center; building on the history of artistic and cultural expression that
has taken place in this hub of Denver and
expanding partnerships to mobilize people
to serve within and without the immediate neighborhood. The recent restoration
of the north façade and the repair of the
roof (both of which were heavily funded
by the State Historical Fund) have moved
Temple Emanuel and Pathways Church
further towards their goals.
It is because of these successes and
the historic placement of sacred places
at the cusp of activity in our cities that
we are able to have hope for even more
success. Denver is entrusted to continue
enriching its communities with these
sacred places and with each success, a
historic treasure is saved from threat and
a community is enriched. ;
For Information About
~S
acred Landmarks Preservation
Program and Historic Denver, Inc.,
visit www.historicdenver.org.
~ Issues involving sacred places
visit: The National Trust for
Historic Preservation’s Historic
Houses of Worship page at: www.
preservationnation.org/issues/historichouses-of-worship.
1883 Gothic Revival Church on 23rd
Avenue and Washington Street
~ Partners for Sacred Places at: www.
sacredplaces.org
I admire your desire to save those
grand old beasts. You have a few options,
including painting and bronzing. Both
methods require a serious amount of
preparation work, but the payoff will be
worth the effort!
To prepare the radiator for whichever treatment you choose, you’ll need
to remove all dust, grime and loose paint
using a commercial chemical stripper and
wire brush and then sand the raw surface
before priming. Use an oil-based primer
(the U.S. General Services Administration
suggests using one with a lot of zinc,
such as a zinc chromate.) Although it’s a
lot more work, apply the primer with a
brush – not an aerosol spray. There is a
wonderfully useful thing called a radiator
brush (!) which has a long, angled handle.
If you can’t find one, any brush meant
for use with oil-based paints can be used.
And do not ever use a latex paint on a
radiator – it will rust.
After it’s primed, you can decoratively highlight the radiator’s raised details
(if it has any) by applying two tones of
paint – one for the base color and one for
the raised embellishments. If you’re not a
gifted free-hand artist you can let the base
color dry, apply the second color and
while it’s still wet, wipe away the top coat
from wherever you want the base color to
show through for an “antiqued” look.
Another attractive option (though
one that will limit the radiator’s heat
output slightly) is to “bronze” it (either
the entire fixture or just the decorative
filigree) using a bronzing powder mixed
with a bronzing liquid (made especially
for this purpose) applied with a softbristle brush.
I hope I haven’t scared you off! It’s a
tedious, labor-intensive job meant for the
most dedicated of preservationist souls.
Happy laboring!
Pru
Spring 2009
Historic Denver
Events
2009
Is Off To A
Spectacular Start!
Here are highlights of Historic Denver
events to date…
Angels in the Architecture
In January, artists from the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of
Colorado raised the rafters at the 5th anniversary of our popular
Angels in the Architecture Concert. Our Capitol Hill host, St. John’s
Cathedral, proved to be the perfect space in which to ring in the new
year. Along with the BCOC, St. John’s organists Stephen Tappe and
Richard Robertson played the cathedral’s famed 75 year-old 8,000 pipe
Kimball organ. The concert benefitted Historic Denver’s Sacred Landmarks Program,
which provides historic places of worship with the technical expertise and advice necessary for the preservation and maintenance of their historic buildings. Many thanks to
our generous event sponsors: Van Camp’s Hardwood Floors, SlaterPaull Architects,
Ekman Design, St. John’s Cathedral, Anne and Brooks Bond and Gene and Sarah
Greene.
One Past 5 Happy Hour
Along with our partners at the National Trust for Historic
Preservation we launched a new, exciting program designed
to attract, educate and provide networking opportunities for
Denver’s young professionals. In February, our inaugural One
Past 5 Happy Hour event, held behind the clock faces at the top
of the 16th Street Mall’s historic Daniels & Fisher Clock Tower,
sold out in days and was a huge success thanks to co-chairs Holly Kylberg & Tom
Lorz and sponsors Nordstrom, Halcyon House Interior Design and Modern In Denver
Magazine. Food and drinks were provided by the Denver Chop House & Brewery, and
Food Network host Keegan Gerhard/d bar Desserts provided tasty desserts and created
a replica Clock Tower cake especially for the event. In the spirit of One Past 5, which
is to grant access to some of Denver’s most exclusive architectural icons, our fabulous
follow-up event in April opened the doors of the storied Phipps Mansion to our
One Past 5 attendees for a spring Polo party.
Thank You
We are once again indebted to co-chairs Holly Kylberg & Tom Lorz and our generous sponsors: Nordstrom, the Denver Chop House & Brewery, Halcyon House Design,
Cherry Creek Audio, Tryba Architects, Modern in Denver Magazine, Hans Osheim
Photography, Phipps Conference Center, Fleur Decor, Rocky Mountain Jaguar Club,
Denver Polo Classic and Pravda Vodka.
For details about future One Past 5 events, or for sponsorship opportunities, please
contact Mike Webber at 720.891.4953 or [email protected]. ;
Historic Denver Inc.
9
Historic Denver News
Molly Brown
House museum
Photo courtesy Denver Public Library
All that Gold Can Buy: Denver’s Mineral Millionaires
years ago the discovery of gold in Colorado brought thousands out west seeking their
fortune, very few however succeeded. The Brown family was among the lucky when J.J.
Brown, Margaret “Molly” Brown’s husband, struck gold in 1893 at the Little Johnny
Mine in Leadville, Colorado which was owned by the Ibex Mining Company. Gold quickly lined the pockets of the Browns, and in the typical fashion of the wealthy in Colorado,
they flocked to Denver, a portal from the plains up to the mountains. Once the Browns arrived in Denver, they
purchased an opulent home, bought the finest fashions, and supported the arts and culture of a growing city. The
Molly Brown House Museum will celebrate the anniversary of these early gold strikes with the exhibit All That
Gold Can Buy: Denver’s Mineral Millionaires. This exhibit will address the successful mining strikes made in
Colorado with a focus on the new millionaire society they created in Denver, which transformed our city.
Denver’s growth came largely from the successes of mining in Colorado during the city’s early development.
Mining wealth and the railroad continued to bring people into the city and created industrial growth, an expansion of trade with the need for new financial facilities, and a society of millionaires who supported the growing
trend. In the 1890s Denver’s warehouses and foundries supplied mining towns in Colorado and bordering states.
The resulting population expansion called for improvements such as a clean water supply, public education, and
transportation. Denver’s new high society called for growth in its culture and arts, hosting many fundraisers to
support their various causes.
As the money of the mineral millionaires filtered into Denver, Horace Tabor, a Leadville silver tycoon,
invested his profits in real estate. He built the Tabor Grand Opera House and the Tabor Block, which set new
standards for architecture and theatre-going in Denver. John Campion, owner of the Ibex Mining Company,
funded the John Campion’s Denver Museum (now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Neighborhoods
began to flourish and represented the classes that lived in them such as an area of Capitol Hill, formerly known
as Brown’s Bluff, where the new rich showcased their affluence through their building styles and materials. The
Brown’s purchase of the house at 1340 Pennsylvania Street, in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood, had modern
amenities such as central heating, indoor plumbing, electrical wiring, and a hand crank telephone which ensured
them an indisputable place in Denver’s social and business circles.
Millionaires in Denver created a society of their own and this summer you can experience some of the elegance and extravagance of this period in Colorado’s history. Silk ball gowns, crystal goblets and gilt chinaware
were the trappings of Victorian wealth, and on exhibit in the Museum will be objects from our extensive collection, exemplifying how the Browns, and their friends, spent all of that gold. All that Gold Can Buy: Denver’s
Mineral Millionaires opens May 19 and runs through September 20, 2009. ;
Carriage House
Museum Store
Tuesday-Saturday 10-4:30, Sunday 12-4:30
1340 Pennsylvania Street
303.832.4092 x13
*Bring in this ad to receive 10% off your total purchase
10
Historic Denver Inc.
Spring 2009
Thank You
BEC OME A
MEMBER OF
To Historic Denver’s New and Renewing Members
HISTORIC DENVER
December 2008 - March 2009
Thomas and Isabel Abbott
Patty Ryan Anton
Archdiocese of Denver
Mary Armstrong
Dennis and Barbara Baldwin
Robert Baron
Debbie Bennett
C.F. Benoit and H. L.
Weatherhead
Kay Berenbaum
George and Ann Bermant
Tina Bishop
Bonita Bock
Brooks and Anne Bond
Peter and Devon Bowes
James and Tabby Briggs
Hugh and Lynne Brown
James Cameron
H.B. Carlson
Tom Cella
Centro San Juan Diego
Genna Cinocco
Sandra Clinger
Louis L. and Sue Clinton
Edith Conklin and Peter
Bulkeley
Lois Court and Patrick
Reynolds
Kit Cowperthwaite
Cynthia B. Croasdaile
Aaron Cunningham
Dan and Annette Davis
Ingrid DeGreef
Bill and Mary DeGroot
James and Gail Delaney
Colman and Martha Dell
Dorothy Dever
Susanne Dimelow
Robert and Peggy Dorsey
Jacqueline Doyle
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Steve Ekman
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Ginny and Chuck Ennis
Vivian and Ted Epstein
Robin Ericson
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Phyllis and Kenneth Eveleigh
Bill S. and Janis Falkenberg
Ruth Falkenberg and Larry
Nelson
William Fickas
Gary and Maureen Flander
Nancy Foster
Kathryn and Wilbur Franklin
Helen French
Ford and Ann Frick
Richard Fromm and Deb
Armbruster
Sean M. Garrett
Ron Garrison
Sidney and Caleb Gates
Bradley and Angela Gaylord
James Gehres
Ken J. and Christine Geist
Kristina and Scott Gessler
Matt Goebel
Hillel Goldberg
Teryl R. and Mary Beth
Gorrell
Friday Green
Gene Greene
Jim and Rosalind Grenfell
Gwenael S. Hagan
Susan R. Halama
Joseph W. Halpern
Linda and Charles Hamlin
Don and Marianne Hamilton
Cathey Hansen
Linda Hargrave
Jim and Marty Hartmann
Rudi Hartmann and Kathy
Newman
Iris A. Hawkins
Polly Hays
Randal and Norma Heinz
Joann D. Helm
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Marguerite and John Holden
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KEW Realty
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J. K. Kuemmerlin-McLean
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Leisring
Phyllis Lerud
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Julian J. Lineham
Susan Livingston
Terry Lumme
Pamela Mahonchak
Evan Makovsky
Dolores Manalastas
Richard and Margaret
Marshall
Marte Reps and Associates,
Inc.
Betty Martin
David M. Martin, Jr.
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Carla McConnell
J.D. McCrumb
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Johnson
Ann Mullins
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Joan H. Prusse
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David C. Pfeifer
Helen Pfnister
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Dan and Laura Pino
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Murray
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Simone and Troy Raarup
Lesa Ragains-Oyler and
Theodore T. Oyler, III
Doris Reed
Elaine Reese
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Robert and Sandra Rhodes
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Ralph and Debbie Round
Connie Rule
Sally and Richard Russo
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Robert Schnautz
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Arnold and Marlene Siegel
St. John’s Episcopal Cathderal
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Huggett
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Audrey E. Vaseen
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Doug Walter
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Ruth Zielinski
Join
Today!
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ECOME A
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MEMBER OF
HISTORIC
DENVER
JOIN
TODAY
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of Historic Denver. Thank you.
Please circle a membership level and your preference of benefits within that level.
Standard level benefits are included at all membership levels.
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Discounts on select events, tours and programs
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thank you. If you are interested in learning about the
benefits of Planned Giving, please contact
Robert E. Musgraves, Executive Director, at 720.891.4957
Historic Denver Inc.
11
Spring 2009
Calendar of
EVENTS
May 19
June - August
July 18
October 21st
All that Gold Can
Buy: Denver’s Mineral
Millionaires
Mid-Summer Modern
Molly’s Birthday Bash
Annual Dinner Awards
Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Come blow out the candles with Molly
and enjoy traditional lawn games,
birthday cake and other delectable
treats. Bring the kids for a laid-back
Victorian afternoon, special youth
activities included. Saturday, July 18,
3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $12/
person, call 303.832.4092 x16 or visit
www.mollybrown.org.
Brown Palace Hotel
It seems strange, in the warm days
of May, to mention our kick-off
event of the cool-weather season.
Our Annual Awards Dinner is our
signature gathering in the historic
halls of the Brown Palace Hotel at
which we formally recognize and
honor the exemplary community
leaders, neighbors, architects, planners,
developers and related players writing
Denver’s preservation story. Please save
the date!
Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Not a member? This summer we invite
you to join us for a unique 3-month
celebration of modernism. We’ve
partnered with the Kirkland Museum
of Fine & Decorative Art and MID
(Modern in Denver) Magazine to offer
a summer’s worth of events in midcentury modern spirit, starting with
a June 4 kickoff party and our June
6 - 7 Historic Denver House Tour.
Highlights will include June and July
lectures, the Denver Modernism Show
and an end-of-summer fête. Please
visit www.historicdenver.org to learn
about this exclusive 3-month summer
membership.
150 years ago this year the discovery
of gold in Colorado spurred pioneers,
adventurers and capitalists to dream big
dreams. Thousands of hopefuls came
west to strike it rich, but only a few
actually succeeded. J.J. and Margaret
“Molly” Brown were among the lucky,
and with gold lining their pockets they
transformed life in Denver, buying an
opulent home, the finest fashions and
supporting art and culture. Their peers,
Denver’s millionaires, created a society
all their own, and you can experience
the elegance and extravagance of the
period this summer at the Molly Brown
House Museum. Exhibit opens May 19
and runs through September 20, 2009.
May 19
You’re Invited: Member
Only Reception
Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
You’re invited to the exclusive wine
& cheese opening of All That Gold
Can Buy, May 19, 2009 5 p.m. –
7p.m. If you’re not already a Historic
Denver member, be sure to visit www.
mollybrown.org or www.historicdenver.
org to join the club and experience the
gold yourself!
June 6 & 7 Mid-Century Modern
House Tour
Hilltop Neighborhood
The Hilltop neighborhood sets the stage
for the 36th Annual Historic Denver
House Tour. Tour six architecturally
significant private homes that
exemplify the early to late spectrum
of one of Denver’s model mid-century
neighborhoods. Tickets are $12 for
members and $15 for non-members
and are available for purchase online
at www.historicdenver.org or by calling
Michael Schlut at 720.891.4956.
12
Historic Denver Inc.
September 12
Gold Rush Tea
July 11
Summertime Cream Tea
Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Beat the heat and enjoy a nice cool
glass of iced tea, which made its debut
at the 1902 World’s Fair and quickly
become a Victorian novelty. Saturday,
July 11, 11:00 a.m.
Tickets are $15/person, call
303.832.4092 x16 or visit www.
mollybrown.org.
Molly Brown House Museum
1340 Pennsylvania Street
Although not well known, William
Russell Green was the man who began
the Colorado Gold Rush when he first
discovered gold on the banks of the
Cherry Creek. Hear Mr. Green speak
about his discovery while enjoying a
delightful tea. Saturday, September 12
11:00 a.m. & 1:00 p.m. Tickets are
$20/person, call 303.832.4092 x16 or
visit www.mollybrown.org.