Denver Neighborhoods - Historic Cheesman Park

Cheesman Park lies in the very heart of Denver. Surrounded by residential districts (Capitol Hill to the west, Congress Park to the east), close to downtown, and well situated for travel to the city's numerous attractions, one might never know that graves once dominated the landscape.

A gently sloping hill two miles from city center seemed the perfect place to lay out a burying ground: near enough for burials, far enough for comfort. So in 1859, William Larimer founded Mount Prospect Cemetery on this land. But he didn't own it. John J Walley, a cabinetmaker-turned-undertaker, thought he did, and indeed sold parts of it to others. And when yet another man, “Graveyard Johnny” Voight, filed a homestead claim in 1870, the US Land Office denied all claims, declaring it federal property.

Several owners, name changes, and controversies followed. But the most fundamental change lay in its use. Never the graceful 19th century rural cemetery that its founders had hoped, in 1890 the cemetery became a park. Even then, the transformation was slow, as money to fund the park could not be found. But when Mayor Speer put the naming rights up for sale to the most generous benefactor, William Cheesman’s widow secured the prize with a $100,000 donation. In 1912, the completed esplanade finalized Cheesman’s connection with the rest of the city park system.

In the early years, the most prestigious Denver neighborhood was downtown. By the 1880s, Capitol Hill held sway. But by the end of the century, prestige was conferred by the area around Cheesman Park – especially Humboldt Island and Morgan’s Addition.

Well known residents such as Harry H. Tammen and Frederick Bonfils, both founders of The Denver Post, lived here in Humboldt Island. The men were wealthy, though not well liked. In 1920, Bonfils kept private guards and machine guns on the balcony to ward off striking workers. And when a petition circulated in 1908 asking that Tammen not move in, he floated the idea of using the land to construct a barn for his circus elephants. Opposition vanished.

Wealth and controversy aside, Cheesman Park became a hub of social activity. In 1934, Denver Post owner Helen Bonfils began the sponsorship of free operas in the park for more than three decades. The nearby Denver Botanic Gardens, founded in 1958, has been similarly vibrant, attracting gardeners and tourists alike with their popular concerts and specialty gardens. Today the Denver Botanic Gardens is a popular spot for weddings and other social gatherings. And Cheesman Park itself has offered a treasured respite for many Denverites in the middle of the city – so much so that in the 1960s, the Cheesman Park Mountain View Ordinance was enacted to preserve the park’s spectacular vista.

Cheesman Park remains one of Denver’s truly central neighborhoods: in the middle of the action and often the controversy as well.

Cheesman Park Real Estate Prices for January 2008
(data from August 1, 2007 to January 31, 2008)

6 detached single family homes were sold with a median list price of $624,999. On average homes took 191 days to sell and sold for a median price of $605,705. Median price is a better measure of sold price than average, which is skewed by a few high-priced homes at the top end and low-priced homes at the bottom. Lowest sold price for detached single family homes was $532,250; highest sold price was $881,000. For condos and townhomes (attached family homes) the lowest sold price was $72,500 while the highest was $240,000. The median sold price was $133,250, and the average was $149,535.
 
The ratio of sold to list price was 97.11% for detached homes. The ratio of sold to original price was 89.71%, which means that sellers are still listing homes at too high a price. The net sold (after seller concessions such as down payment or closing cost assistance, and the like) to original list price was 89.21%. To simplify, if a seller originally listed their home at $600,000, they realized $535,260 from the sale.
 
By the time the seller finally reached a marketable price after having listing it too high, the sold to list ratio improved to 97.11%, still not high, and the net sold to list price was 96.57%. Sellers are not getting what they're hoping for in Cheesman Park.