Denver’s Park Hill
neighborhood begins just east of City Park, for which it was named. City Park originated
in 1878 and featured an outdoor bandstand for evening concerts and a small zoo with bears
and buffalo. Between the 1890s and 1920s, City Park was transformed into Denver’s
urban showcase with the Denver Zoological Gardens and the Denver Museum of Natural History
(later renamed the Denver Museum of Nature and Science).
By 1912, Park Hill had emerged as one of Denver’s most fashionable residential
districts. Magnificently landscaped parkways, oversized lots with wide sidewalks, mature
shade trees and lawns, some of Denver’s most beautiful churches, and one of the
city’s richest tapestries of early 20th-century architecture distinguish Park Hill.
Many of Denver’s leading architects showcased their talents in Park Hill. Queen
Anne-style architecture is seen in Park Hill’s oldest homes, followed by the
ubiquitous Denver Square and Arts and Crafts-style bungalows in the first two decades of
the 20th century. These basic homes — with elaborate brick and stone trim, exposed
rafter ends, low-walled porches, and decorative dormers — are so varied that no two
Park Hill bungalows are exactly alike, even though there are hundreds of them.As Park Hill spread eastward, the Park Hill Tudor become
predominant with its steep pitched roof, front and side gables often with false
half-timbering, multipane casement windows, tall chimneys with elaborate brickwork, and
uncovered arched entryway. Other architectural styles found in Park Hill include French
Eclectic, Colonial Revival, Mediterranean, Streamline Moderne, International, and
post-World War II brick ranch houses. Today, Park Hill's nationally recognized
neighborhood organization sponsors an annual tour of the many historic homes in this
welcoming community.
Facts
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