What are homes like in Park Hill?
Park Hill is a large Denver neighborhood east of Colorado Boulevard and north of Colfax Avenue, made up of South, North and Northeast Park Hill. South Park Hill has the landscaped parkways, larger lots and the widest range of early twentieth century styles, from Tudor revival houses to Denver Squares and bungalows. Farther north you find more modest brick homes built after World War II.
Park Hill homes span more than a century of Denver building, which is why two houses a few blocks apart can feel like different markets. Park Hill is part of the City and County of Denver, east of City Park, and the Denver Public Library notes that the name comes from that closeness to the park. This guide explains where Park Hill starts and stops, how it was built, which rules affect additions and rebuilds, and what to check before you buy or sell here. For current prices and inventory, use the live numbers at the top of this page.
Where is Park Hill?
Greater Park Hill is bounded by Colfax Avenue on the south, Colorado Boulevard on the west, 52nd Avenue on the north and Quebec Street on the east, with the library also naming Syracuse Street along part of the eastern edge. It has three parts. South Park Hill runs from Colfax north to 23rd Avenue. North Park Hill runs from 23rd Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Northeast Park Hill continues north from there.
The three parts are quite different. South Park Hill holds most of the parkways and larger houses. The northern part of Park Hill includes an industrial area crossed by Interstate 70, the rail line to the airport and Union Pacific tracks, according to the Colorado Encyclopedia’s Park Hill entry by historian Thomas J. Noel. When you search here, decide early which part you mean.
How was Park Hill built?
Park Hill was first platted in 1887. Baron Alois von Winckler bought land near what is now Colorado and Montview Boulevards, which had held dairy farms and brickyards, and laid out a subdivision with a racetrack. A year earlier, in 1886, Jacob and Caroline Downing had platted Downington, stretching from Forest Street Parkway to Monaco Street Parkway, with wide medians and generous setbacks.
After von Winckler died in 1898, an eastern syndicate bought his land in 1899 and required houses on Montview Boulevard to sit 40 feet back from the street, a pattern you can still see. Denver annexed Park Hill in 1903. Streetcar lines on Colfax, 23rd and 26th Avenues drew more subdivisions, and the Park Railway Company ran from 1888 until the Denver Tramway Company absorbed it in 1899. By the early 1930s, the library says, Park Hill had become an automobile suburb.
Building came in two big waves: the 1920s and 1930s, then the 1940s and 1950s, when demand near the old Stapleton airport brought blocks of smaller tract houses to North Park Hill.
What kinds of homes are in Park Hill?
The library lists Victorian houses, including Queen Anne, along with Arts and Crafts houses, foursquares with Craftsman brackets and modest midcentury homes. The Colorado Encyclopedia describes Tudor mansions by the city’s leading architects and the widest variety of bungalows in Denver. One example on Montview is the Italian Renaissance house at 4101 Montview Boulevard, designed by J.J. Benedict in 1910. The Robinson House at 3435 Albion Street is the oldest remaining house in Park Hill.
In North Park Hill, many of the postwar houses are small brick homes, many of them 1,000 square feet or less as first built. Along Montview and the parkways in South Park Hill, lots are larger, and the 40 foot Montview setback still shapes how houses sit on their lots.
What rules shape what you can build in Park Hill?
Start with the zone district. Most of Park Hill is zoned urban single unit, and the letter at the end of the district code sets the minimum lot size. A 2016 report in the neighborhood’s own newspaper explained that lots along Montview Boulevard sit in the urban single unit H district, with a 10,000 square foot minimum lot, while nearby side streets are in the C district, with a 5,500 square foot minimum. That difference is why splitting a large Montview lot usually needs a rezoning. Check any address on Denver’s official zoning map.
Next, historic status. Montview Boulevard from Colorado Boulevard to Monaco Street Parkway, Forest Street Parkway, the East 17th Avenue Parkway and Monaco Street Parkway were all listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and a Park Hill historic district bounded by Colorado Boulevard, 26th Avenue, Dahlia Street and Montview was listed in 2004. Under federal law, National Register listing places no restrictions on what a private owner does with a property unless federal money or permits are involved. City design review applies to Denver landmarks and locally designated districts, such as St. Thomas Episcopal Church, designated in 1977, and Park Hill Elementary, designated in 1994. Ask whether any house you are considering is a Denver landmark before you plan exterior work, and read the city’s landmark design review page.
Finally, watch citywide policy. Denver’s Unlocking Housing Choices project is studying more duplexes and similar homes in residential districts. South Park Hill is also covered by the East Area Plan, which City Council approved on November 16, 2020.
Streets, parks and getting around
The parkways are the defining feature. Monaco Street Parkway, built in 1907 to a design by S.R. DeBoer, runs north from First Avenue to Montview Boulevard. The 17th Avenue Parkway runs east from Colorado Boulevard to Monaco, and Forest Street Parkway links 17th Avenue to Montview.
City Park, the largest park in Denver, lies just west across Colorado Boulevard. In northern Park Hill, the city is turning the former Park Hill Golf Course, a 155 acre site at 4141 East 35th Avenue, into Park Hill Park; the city’s project page has the current plans. For transit, the A Line, the commuter rail line to Denver International Airport, stops at the 40th and Colorado station, just west of Colorado Boulevard near Northeast Park Hill.
What should you check when buying in Park Hill?
The age of the house sets the inspection list. Houses from before 1930 can hide knob and tube wiring, so ask an electrician to look. Order a sewer line camera scope; Denver’s wastewater department says the city is responsible only for the public main, so the line from the house to the street is the owner’s to fix. Postwar houses deserve a careful look at foundations and at any additions. Test for radon in every case; Colorado State University Extension advises that all Colorado homes should be tested.
Pay attention to block by block differences: whether a street is a parkway with a median, whether the lot faces Montview with its deeper setback, and whether the block is near Colfax or Colorado Boulevard traffic.
How should you prepare to sell in Park Hill?
Buyers compare Park Hill homes by location within the neighborhood first, then by house type. A Tudor on Montview, a bungalow on a side street in South Park Hill and an expanded postwar ranch in North Park Hill are different products. We usually advise sellers to price against sales on the same kind of street and in the same part of Park Hill, to have permits for past additions ready, and to fix the sewer and electrical issues an inspector would flag. Nobody can promise where prices go, and the right comparisons matter more here than in most Denver neighborhoods.
How does Park Hill compare with nearby neighborhoods?
Southwest across Colfax and Colorado Boulevard, Congress Park has older houses, mostly built between 1890 and 1924, on smaller city lots. Directly south of South Park Hill, past Colfax between Eudora Street and Monaco Street Parkway, Mayfair took most of its shape during and after World War II. Monaco Street Parkway continues south toward Hilltop. See all of our guides on the neighborhoods page.
| At a glance | Park Hill |
|---|---|
| City and county | City and County of Denver |
| Boundaries | Colfax Avenue, Colorado Boulevard, 52nd Avenue, Quebec Street |
| Parts | South, North and Northeast Park Hill |
| Main building years | 1920s and 1930s, then 1940s and 1950s |
| Typical house styles | Tudor revival, foursquare, bungalow, Victorian, postwar brick |
| Parkways | Montview Boulevard, Forest Street, 17th Avenue, Monaco Street |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between South Park Hill and North Park Hill?
The line is 23rd Avenue. South Park Hill, between Colfax and 23rd, has most of the parkways and larger lots. North Park Hill, from 23rd to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, has more postwar brick homes built in the 1940s and 1950s.
Is Park Hill a historic district?
Part of South Park Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, and its parkways were listed in 1986. National Register listing does not by itself bring city design review; that applies to Denver landmarks and local districts.
Can I split a large lot on Montview Boulevard?
Usually not without a rezoning. Lots on Montview are zoned with a 10,000 square foot minimum, so a split needs at least 20,000 square feet or a change to the zone map approved by the city.
When was Park Hill founded?
Park Hill was first platted in 1887 and annexed by Denver in 1903. The Downington subdivision, between Forest Street Parkway and Monaco Street Parkway, was platted a year earlier, in 1886.
If you own in Park Hill and want to know what your home would sell for, request a home value, or book a private consultation before you start a search here.
