276 ACRES ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Potter Highlands
One of Denver’s best-preserved 19th-century neighborhoods: brick Victorians and Foursquares on the bluff above the South Platte.
Potter Highlands takes its name from Reverend Walter M. Potter, who owned the original land and left it to the Baptist Home Mission Society, which sold it off for residential development starting in the early 1870s. The independent town of Highlands incorporated in 1875 and was annexed into Denver in 1896. The neighborhood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and of roughly 700 buildings within its 276 acres, 571 are considered historically contributing.
Denver’s most architecturally intact 19th-century neighborhood
Homes built before 1893 are mostly Foursquares, Mission Revival and Victorian, while later construction added Prairie, Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles into the mix. Historic Denver runs a walking tour through the district, and the entrance markers and masonic buildings along the way point to a neighborhood that took its early civic identity seriously. Very little of that fabric has been lost, which is unusual this close to downtown.
Buyers here are typically looking specifically for historic architecture and are willing to take on the maintenance that comes with a home built well over a century ago. The neighborhood sits on a bluff above the South Platte River, with views toward downtown from some blocks, and it borders LoHi and the rest of the Highland neighborhood, so residents get the historic district’s character alongside LoHi’s restaurants without leaving walking distance.
Potter Highlands highlights
- National Register district
276 acres added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, one of Denver’s best-preserved 19th-century neighborhoods - Historic Denver walking tour
A self-guided tour through the district’s Victorian and Foursquare architecture - Entrance markers
Historic gateway markers that signaled the neighborhood’s civic identity when Highlands was its own town - The Highland bluff
Elevated terrain above the South Platte River with views toward downtown from some blocks - LoHi proximity
Walking distance to LoHi’s restaurant row and the rest of the Highland neighborhood
“Potter Highlands is one of the only places in Denver where you can buy a 130-year-old house and know the whole block looked like this a century ago.”
Northwest Denver
Discover Potter Highlands
Local spots worth knowing
A self-guided route through the district’s Victorian, Foursquare and Colonial Revival homes.
Historic masonry buildings that anchored the neighborhood’s early civic and social life.
Gateway markers from when Highlands was its own incorporated town, before annexation in 1896.
Walking distance to Denver’s most concentrated restaurant corridor along W. 32nd Avenue.
Elevated blocks on the Highland bluff with views toward downtown and the South Platte valley.
Potter Highlands real estate
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Who buys in Potter Highlands
Potter Highlands attracts buyers specifically looking for historic architecture, not a neighborhood that happens to have some.
Buyers who specifically want Victorian or Foursquare architecture and are prepared for the maintenance that comes with it.
Buyers who want the restaurant row’s walkability with a quieter, more historic residential street.
Buyers drawn to the neighborhood’s National Register status and the character of a largely intact historic district.
Interested in Potter Highlands?
Let’s talk about what’s available and what makes sense for your situation.
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