Homes for sale in Montclair are in a historic neighborhood developed in 1885 as a small suburb of Denver. Montclair was designed to attract wealthy buyers who wanted a quiet and elite place to live. They were required to build stone or brick homes that were at least three stories high and sat on lots twice the size of the standard Denver lots.
One founder, Matthias P. Cochrane, named this community Montclair in honor of his hometown of Montclair, New Jersey. The other founder was a German nobleman, Baron Walter von Richthofen, who was also the uncle of ‘Red Baron’, the World War I flying ace.
The town was incorporated in 1888, the Panic of 1893 caused all development to halt, and by 1900 the US Census recorded only 88 families. In 1902, the City and County of Denver, newly created, began its battle to incorporate Montclair. The town fought Denver all the way to the State Supreme Court, but it lost, and annexation became final in 1903. The Denver mayor at that time tried to ease the transition by beautification projects such as trees, monuments and fountains.
In 1975, the central heart of Montclair became one of the first neighborhoods to seek landmark designation as a historic district and was able to begin featuring its grand old surroundings and nineteenth-century Victorian and Queen Anne style architecture along with Tudor revival, cottages, bungalows, and modern Ranch-style houses.
The “Castle”
This limestone castle was the residence of Baron Walter von Richthofen at 7012 East 12th Avenue with its tall arched gateway, towers, and windmill.
Cochrane House
The Italianate style brick house (built in 1886 at 1304 Olive Street) was originally called “Ardmore Place” by its original owner and town founder, Matthias Cochrane, who served as the first mayor and also built the first frame schoolhouse in 1887. The house also has a curved gable dormer, paired arched windows, and scrolled eve brackets.
1400 Monaco Parkway
This Spanish Colonial Revival style house was built in 1929 with one and two story wings, balconies, a tile roof, decorative iron on the windows, a recessed gabled entry, parapets, and the garden gates and entryway with decorative plaster work.
Van Sickle / Ball House
Located at 919 Newport Street, it is a two-story Queen Anne style red brick house built in 1890 with a columned front porch, bookend chimneys, a balcony on the second story, and a tower that has a shingled hexagonal roof.
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