Wild for Denver Real Estate

Washington Park, coined ‘Wash Park’ for short is one of Denver’s most beautiful south central neighborhoods. It has just about everything an urban dweller would want! The iconic Washington Park has 2 lakes, walking/biking trails, amazing views, a flower garden, water activities and wildlife! The homes in the neighborhood have something to offer most any searching home buyer. Old character and charm in the many bungalows or new build homes and duplexes typically displaying a more contemporary architectural style. Wash Park has several  commercial enclaves which provide some of the best dining in Denver and great locally owned shops!

Wash Park boundaries are University to the east, I-25 to the south, Broadway to the west and Alameda Ave. to the north.

*History Of Washington Park

Washington Park was initially designed by the German landscape architect Reinhard Schuetze between 1899 and 1908. His design remains fairly intact and included Smith and Grasmere lakes, and the Lily Pond, all fed with a city ditch that Shuetze had edged with Russian willows and other trees. Other pieces of his design remain intact and include the large meadow edged with a grove of trees to the south of Smith Lake, and the carriage-ways that meander through the park.

Later landscape architects, such as Saco Rienk DeBoer and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. have added their own contributions to the park, adding the elegant boat house, an evergreen grove on the north side of the park and other additions.

Washington Park as a neighborhood started development soon after the founding of Denver though it was still fairly rural in nature. By 1886, there was enough population to create Denver’s first suburb, South Denver, which by the silver bust of the 1890s was annexed into Denver due to financial difficulties. Development hastened with the creation of the park in 1899. Most of the houses were built of brick between 1900 and 1940.
Statue of Wynken, Blynken, and Nod in Washington Park

Eugene Field, a reporter for the Denver Tribune between 1881 and 1883 lived in a small cottage at 315 West Colfax. Field is best remembered, though, for his children’s poems. Years after Field left Denver and the house had been condemned, Molly Brown bought the house and donated it to the city. It was designated a landmark, moved to the east side of Washington Park, at Franklin St. and Exposition Ave. and restored. It served as the Eugene Field Branch of the Denver Public Library for many years. Field is further memorialized by the statue by Mabel Landrum Torrey, illustrating one of his most famous poems, Wynken, Blynken and Nod. In the 1970s the house became the headquarters of the Park People and the library moved to a new building at University Blvd. and Exposition Ave.

Recently, Washington Park has become a very popular urban neighborhood because of its central location, its closeness to the park, and its access to several commercial business enclaves. This has led to a transformation of the neighborhood, which worries some residents because of an increased density, more traffic, and the propensity of some developers to scrape historic homes and replace them with denser luxury duplexes, town-homes, or other development.

*Information from Wikipedia, Washington Park, Denver