DENVER —
The real estate website Niche.com only has good things to say about southeast Denver’s Wellshire neighborhood.
This year it was ranked the second best Denver neighborhood to live in (South Park Hill took the top spot), and the third best to buy a house -- as well as to raise a family.
It makes sense. The neighborhood -- which is between East Hampden Avenue, South University Boulevard, East Yale Avenue and South Colorado Boulevard -- is basically full of 1950s-style houses and the families that live in them. Wellshire also has a low crime rate and wide-open streets.
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While it’s technically within the city of Denver (albeit on the southern boundary), this neighborhood feels more like a suburban subdivision. Nevertheless, it's only a short bike ride away from more lively parts of town like Washington Park or the University of Denver.
That's good news, since the Wellshire neighborhood (minus the golf course and events center) doesn't have a single restaurant within its boundaries -- something that's rare for a city where it feels like a new dining hall opens every day.
This story is part of our weekly 9Neighborhoods series. Join us on the 9NEWS Instagram starting at noon on Friday for a photo tour of Wellshire. Have an idea for where we should go next? Email us at webteam@9news.com.
A country club golf course (without country club prices)
Wellshire's claim to fame is its golf course. In fact, it's the only course west of the Mississippi that was built by Donald Ross, a famed builder who originally designed Wellshire in 1926.
At the time it was a country club, but it was purchased by Denver during the 1950s when it went through some rough times.
Now, anyone can golf on this once-exclusive course. Playing nine holes is $18 during the week, and $21 on the weekend.
Here are some early photos of the golf course's construction (and it's bathrooms, which were heavily featured on the Denver Public Library archives, for some reason).
The golf course is still open, and the famous Wellshire Inn (and its recognizable building) is now a private events venue that's gotten some national recognition as being one of the top spots for weddings.
Living in Wellshire
Back when Wellshire was built, it was in a much more sparsely populated area than it is now -- despite being less than 10 miles from downtown.
People didn't really start moving to the area until the 1950s, and you can see a lot of that influence in the architecture today.
In recent years, though, developers have started remodeling some of those homes -- and that means the neighborhood runs the gamut in terms of pricing.
According to Trulia.com, the median household income in Wellshire is $130,279 a year -- well above the city and national average. The median home value is $562,845.
With that being said, homes on the market in Wellshire as of this writing include everything from a $374,000 three-bedroom ranch to a $1.3 million renovated custom home.
Things to do
There might not be a restaurant within Wellshire's limits but step outside of them, and it's right back to city living.
Just across Colorado Boulevard from the neighborhood's borders is everything from a King Soopers to a Chipotle, and on the other side of the neighborhood is another (very fancy) King Soopers as well as a Modern Market.
The neighborhood is also only around a 15 minute drive (on a good day) from downtown, and another 15 minute drive to suburban enclaves like Streets of Southglenn and Park Meadows Mall.
Is this neighborhood a walkable hipster enclave? No, but Wellshire does give you a suburban feel while keeping you close to downtown Denver.
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