Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Report: Wondervu Historical and Architectural Survey, 2009-2010

Thomas, Adam; Standish, Sierra; HISTORITECTURE, LLC

From introduction: "Wondervu is, quite simply, spectacular. The collection of small cabins enjoys one of the most breathtaking mountain vistas in Colorado. Yet before the improvement of Coal Creek Canyon Drive (Colorado State Highway 72), the place was relatively inaccessible, especially when compared to nearby Pinecliffe and Miramonte, which enjoyed daily train service via the Denver & Salt Lake Railway. While the improved highway and automobiles opened Wondervu to development in the late 1920s, it also more closely connected this place with Denver. Its developers came from the city and the vast majority of its residents were Denverites. Yet what set Wondervu apart from its older and more exclusive neighbors was the market it served and the residents it attracted. Established by Denver attorney Otto Friedrichs, Wondervu was meant to be a mountain retreat for the working class. Its residents included laborers and farmers, salesman and secretaries, rather than bankers, doctors, and lawyers. As a result, most of the cabins in Wondervu were very small and unornamented. Yet they enjoyed truly wonderful views of the Continental Divide. Spearheaded by Carol Beam, Historic Preservation Planner, Boulder County Open Space pursued a Certified Local Government (CLG) grant to conduct an intensive-level survey of forty-five properties in Wondervu. Because the area is a geographical anomaly–an appendix of Boulder County accessible only by traveling through neighboring counties–the community was never previously surveyed. The county reviewed proposals from a variety of cultural resource contractors and selected Historitecture, an Estes Park-based architectural history consulting firm. Architectural Historian and Managing Principal Adam Thomas conducted the survey. The goals of the intensive-level survey were to: • Inventory forty-five of over sixty-two possible properties; • Determine the significance and eligibility of all properties surveyed; and • Develop a report summarizing the findings of the survey. Of the forty-five properties, four (or 8.9 percent of the total) were field determined eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places, five (or 11.1 percent) were field determined eligible for listing in the Colorado State Register of Historic Properties, and eight (or 17.8 percent) were field determined eligible as Boulder County Landmarks. One property, 51 Signal Rock Road (5BL.11046/5GL.2015), may be eligible for individual listing in the National Register, the State Register, or as a County Landmark but requires additional data beyond the scope of this survey to determine its significance. Because this was a selective rather than comprehensive survey, district eligibility was not considered." Project funding was provided in part by a 2009 Historic Preservation Fund grant to Boulder County (project number CO-09-013) administered by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 08-09-21811) administered by the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Boulder County, Colorado is a Certified Local Government.

Colorado Cultural Resource Survey Report: Wondervu Historical and Architectural Survey, 2009-2010

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