Nowhere else in Denver does the canopy of 100-year-old American elms spread quite so magnificently over tiled rooftops and broad parkways as it does in Country Club. One of city’s most cherished neighborhoods, Country Club – occasionally referred to as “Denver’s Spanish Suburb” – is also among the most scenic.Stately Spanish gateways and lush gardens stand sentry-like at the entrances to the elegant community, as if to protect the rural ambiance of its quiet streets. The gates, parkways, and many of the area’s homes were designed by architects William and Arthur Fisher, renowned for their refined Mediterranean designs, a sensibility that Arthur acquired during his sojourns through southern Europe.
During the late 1800s, area was given over to farms and sporting facilities. The Gentlemen’s Driving Association, whose illustrious membership included Horace Tabor and Walter Cheeseman, planted hundreds of trees near 4th Avenue and Corona and built a half-mile track, two-story clubhouse, and stables for sulky racing.
Gala parties were not uncommon with races frequently enlivened by a bass band. But as interest in racing waned, the Driving Association directors sold out, to be succeeded by a second group of sports-minded Denverites, the Overland Park (Golf) Club. Seeking a new venue, the members incorporated as the Denver Country Club in 1901 and acquired a 120-acre tract straddling Cherry Creek.
The first clubhouse opened on New Year’s Day 1905, and the lush new fairways, designed by noted golf-course architect James Foulis, Jr. quickly acquired a sterling reputation throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.
On Country Club’s eastern edge, Park Lane Square, reminiscent of the English countryside with charming curved streets and expansive lawns uninterrupted by alleys or sidewalks, is entered through picturesque English-style gates fashioned from brick.
Originally planned as a single country estate, this elegant enclave boasts some of the grandest estate homes in the city. Grandest of all is the Tudor Revival Castle (Reed Mansion), an area icon with a steeply pitched, multi-gabled, slate roof, soaring stone chimneys, bronze window frames, and elaborate Indiana limestone trim and brickwork.
The commanding edifice enjoys 2.5 acres landscaped by Saco DeBoer (architect of many Denver parkways) as a terraced formal garden highlighted by a lily pond and fountains. Shielded from busier districts by Speer Boulevard Parkway, Cherry Creek Bike Path, the Seventh Avenue, and Alamo Placitas historic districts, Country Club is nevertheless just blocks from the heart of the Cherry Creek Shopping district and only minutes from Downtown.
