Chautaqua Design Guidelines, Boulder, Colorado, 1989

From "Architecture and Environment": "The simple cottage architecture in the park setting of Chautauqua combine to create a unique rural enclave on the edge of a dense urban grid. Since the year of its establishment in 1898, Chautauqua has overlooked the Boulder Valley from its vantage point on a mesa at the southwest edge of the community. Chautauqua's site is generally triangular in shape. The Chautauqua Green sets the frame cottages and lodges apart from the more typical city neighborhoods beyond the base of the triangle created by Baseline Road to the north. The apex of the site is at the mouth of Bluebell Canyon to the south, and the two remaining sides of the triangle are formed by Bluebell Canyon Creek on the east and Bluebell Road on the west. The landscape of the open green of the park and the City Mountain Parks to the south and west is largely grassland, while the cottages them selves are screened by the lush landscape of many varieties of trees and shrubs. The cottages and Chautauqua community buildings all face the interior of the site, while the two most important public buildings, the Dining Hall and the Auditorium, face outward to the vista of the city below, acting as highly-visible community landmarks on the hillside... Chautauqua is zoned as Low Density Residential - Established (LR-E); however at 3500 square feet, the average lot size is only one half that normally required by this zoning category. Originally platted for tents in 1898, the average lot size was increased somewhat with the shift in emphasis to more permanent cottages. The buildings are set back 15 feet from the street and five feet from the side property lines. There are no fences that delineate individual properties, and in the same way, the densely planted landscape material is unrelated to property lines. This creates the effect of a summer camp with small closely-spaced buildings placed along narrow pedestrian lanes. The original buildings have been little altered over the years, with the exceptions of paint, maintenance and recent winterization of cottages. The Dining Hall and Auditorium have been restored to their original appearance, and other Chautauqua community buildings are in the process of being renovated. In 1988 Chautauqua is still much as it was near the turn of the century. Location: Starting near the Shelter House on Baseline Road at a point on the northwest corner of the Benson Addition; then south approximately 300 feet; then east along the south property line of the Benson and Holmes Additions approximately 700 feet; then south 400 feet to Bluebell Canyon Creek following the creek past the intersection of 12th Street for 1900 feet; then continuing northwesterly to Bluebell Road for 275 feet; then north to Baseline Road 1750 feet; then east 800 feet to the point of beginning, and encompassing 40 acres." Funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant administered by the Colorado State Historic Preservation Office and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Chautaqua Design Guidelines, Boulder, Colorado, 1989

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