Arapaho Hills Reconnaissance Survey, Littleton, Colorado

Tomasso, Diane

From introduction: "Based on the research results outlined above, any proposed Littleton, Colorado or National Register of Historic Places historic district should include the fifty-six houses, the original sales office/carpentry shop and neighborhood signage built by Clyde Mannon (see Map 5, page 11). Applicable landmark criteria would include Arapaho Hills’ association with the broad patterns of post-war history that gave rise to the period’s suburban residential development and its embodiment of post-war residential modernism and construction. Areas of significance would include architecture, construction, community planning and development and social history. The period of significant would correspond to the dates of the planning and construction of the subdivision. Survey photos of the buildings begin on page 15 in order by Block and Lot number, followed by signage. The photos are accompanied by brief narrative sketches. Since the descriptions provide only basic information as viewed from the street, it should be noted that visibility is limited by their distance from the public sidewalk, parked cars, dense plantings, dark masonry, dark paint colors, deeply recessed carports, angled entrances and roof details that are often obscured by applied gutters and flashing. Recommendations for Future Arapaho Hills Survey and Documentation Projects includes suggestions for more detailed survey and expanded descriptive narratives (see page 4). As a whole, the neighborhood appears to display a remarkable degree of integrity. Though minor alterations such as infilled carports and replacement doors or windows are not uncommon, only a handful of buildings appear to have extensive alterations visible from the street. All of the structures remain compatible with the historic neighborhood in terms of scale, massing and setbacks. Recommendations for the evaluation of the integrity of individual buildings appear on page 4. Additional research will also be necessary to confirm whether 5445 and 5485 Mohawk are altered Arapaho Hills houses or were designed and built by others after Mannon left the project. Architecturally, each building in Arapaho Hills can be seen as a point on a stylistic continuum with the International Style at one end and the Usonian Style at the other. The International Style, which most often utilized industrial materials, is softened, due to its residential setting, by the use of natural materials and earthtone colors more closely associated with the Usonian Style. The forms and decoration usually associated with the Usonian Style are often abstracted into a more austere aesthetic more closely associated with the International Style. For the history and characteristics of these styles, see Architectural Style in Arapaho Hills on page 85. The few houses that sometimes diverge from these characteristic styles are most often Better Homes & Gardens “idea” or “show” homes, designed by national firms. Still, each of these six homes share at least some architectural characteristics with those designed by Edward Hawkins, Bruce Sutherland and John Eatwell, and a number are indistinguishable from them. This is due to two factors. First, the homes in Arapaho Hills were designed in concert with then-current national architectural trends and second, as suggested by Better Homes & Gardens, Mannon adapted the plans and materials to regional concerns and conditions." This study was funded in part by a 2008 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 08-08-21710) and a subgrant to the City of Littleton, Colorado (project number CO-08-014). Littleton, Colorado is a Certified Local Government.

Arapaho Hills Reconnaissance Survey, Littleton, Colorado

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