Historic Denver - Don't miss Historic Denver's 33rd Annual House Tour which takes place on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, September 10, 2004 from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m. in Denver's Congress Park Neighborhood.
Six Congress Park homes are on the tour. In addition, the event includes a self-guided driving tour featuring five historic buildings in the neighborhood.
"The annual House Tour is an opportunity for Historic Denver to showcase many aspects of the neighborhood, including local homes, business and sacred places that have been maintained and restored to preserve and protect our City's architectural legacy," Kathleen Brooker, President of Historic Denver said.
The tour features six homes in the Congress Park Historic District which stretches from York Street to Colorado Boulevard and runs from Colfax Avenue to 6 th Avenue including a Dutch Colonial Revival, a Queen Anne, a Mission Revival and several Denver Four Squares. In addition, the Historic Lowenstein / Bonfils Theatre, built in the Art Moderne architectural style; Firehouse #15, a Classic Revival; the Unity in Diversity Church built in a Gothic Revival style; and two historic schools--Stevens and Teller are included in the self-guided driving tour.
In 1859, General William Larimer and his son staked out the area, known today as Congress and Cheesman Parks as a cemetery for the city of Denver on land formerly inhabited by the Arapahoe people. For $1.25 per acre the city of Denver bought the land, known as Prospect Hill Cemetery or Mount Prospect, in 1872.
By the 1890s, the cemetery had fallen into disrepair and Senator Teller persuaded the U.S. Congress to allow the land to become a park, hence the name Congress Park. At the same time, Denver's population was growing and housing construction boomed. Denver was at that time the third largest city in the western United States. Undeveloped land close to the city center with access to transportation became desirable. With streetcars traversing Colfax and 12 th Avenue, the Capital Heights neighborhood, part of which is known as Congress Park today, flourished.
The Capital Heights neighborhood included elaborately built mansions for the wealthy as well as simpler homes for working class families. Situated throughout the neighborhood are duplexes and apartment buildings, many either Art Deco or 1960s modern. Architecturally, the neighborhood is filled with homes built in the Victorian, Queen Anne, Dutch Colonial, four square and bungalow styles built between the 1890s to the 1940s.
The 33rd Annual Historic Denver House Tour Guidebook includes information on the Sacred Landmarks Preservation Program and a self-guided driving tour of Congress Park churches. Stained glass window posters will also be available during the tour with all proceeds supporting Sacred Landmarks Preservation, a Historic Denver program designed to help restore urban sacred treasures. A commemorative poster of a Barbara Froula original painting of the Congress Park neighborhood will also be available for $25 during the tour with proceeds benefiting Historic Denver.
Volunteers are still needed for the house tour and will receive a free house tour ticket and event t-shirt in exchange for volunteering a few hours of time. Call Historic Denver at 303-534-5288 Ext. 14 for more information and the volunteer training schedule.
The 33rd Annual Historic Denver House Tour runs from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Saturday, September 9 th and from 12 p.m. - 4 p.m., Sunday, September 10 th. Parking is available at East High School, across the street from the House Tour starting point at the new Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax and Elizabeth. Tickets cost $12 in advance ($10 for Historic Denver members) and $15 on the day of the Tour. A portion of the proceeds benefit Congress Park's Teller Elementary School. Advanced purchase tickets are on sale now at area King Soopers stores and on line at
www.historicdenver.org or by calling (303) 534-5288.
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