Do you live in a Denver Square? If so, congratulations! Your home is a piece of Denver history. But, since it’s an older home, you might be looking for ways to remodel your Denver Square so that it fits the needs of a 21st century family. In this article we will learn about the typical characteristics of this building type and look at some ways to remodel your Denver Square.
First, what is a Denver Square? Around the turn of the 20th century, if you were a family in Denver the house you wanted was a Denver Square, a locally-specific version of the American Foursquare home.
Unlike the narrow Victorian homes that preceded them, where rooms were lined up front-to-back with a stair and hallway zone along one side, Denver Squares are, well, square. Taking advantage of larger lot sizes, they have four rooms on the ground floor—parlor, dining room, kitchen, and a family room—and four bedrooms upstairs, with the staircase either in the center or to one side between the front and back rooms.
Denver Squares line the streets of central Denver’s neighborhoods like Whittier, Capitol Hill, and City Park, and are still popular choices for families looking for homes large enough for today’s lifestyles within the walkable urban core.
However, people’s needs have changed since the early 20th century. If you live in one of these houses, you might be thinking about how to remodel your Denver Square. Here are some common pain points that today’s Denver Square owners want to address:
- The floor plans are broken up into multiple, smaller rooms separated by doors
- Kitchens at the time were utility spaces and are hidden in the back, as opposed to being the hubs of the home that they are today
- There is typically only one bathroom per floor
- Bedrooms are small and often lack closets
- Denver Squares often have two-story additions on the back that began life as porches and have poor insulation and air sealing, making them uncomfortable
Fortunately, it’s possible to remodel your Denver Square to address these. Here’s an example:
This Denver Square is owned by a couple with two young children. One of the adults works from home full-time, while the other is on a hybrid schedule. They have parents who come visit regularly, so along with 3 bedrooms for the family they would like a guest suite.
Many Denver Squares have a full-height basement under at least part of the house, and this one even already had a powder room in the basement. It gets expanded to become a three-quarter bath and the adjacent storage area is transformed into a guest bedroom/office. The three windows in the bedroom are enlarged to become egress windows, adding safety and natural light.
Upstairs on the main level, the walls between the existing dining room, powder room, and kitchen are removed to create an open plan kitchen with a small table for the children to eat their meals and work on potentially messy art projects.
An under-used sitting room with original decorative woodwork becomes a formal dining room which opens into the living room where the original fireplace remains the focus.
The drafty back wing is removed and replaced with a larger addition, built to modern construction standards. On the main level it contains a mud room and a space for storing athletic and outdoor gear.
On the upper level, the addition is home to a laundry closet adjacent to another office or sewing room. The remainder of the upper level is reconfigured to find space for proper closets in the children’s rooms, and to create a large primary bedroom suite for the parents.
If you’re the owner of one of these homes, hopefully this article has filled you with ideas for how you can remodel your Denver Square. I love helping homeowners give life to their Denver homes, so if you’d like discuss the possibilities for your own house book a free call with me using the button below.