Chaffee Park

Chaffee Park is the northwest Denver neighborhood above I-70, with Federal Boulevard on the west, 52nd Avenue on the north and the railroad tracks along Kalamath Street on the east. Sunnyside is across the interstate to the south, Regis is across Federal, and north of 52nd you're in Adams County. The city park named Chaffee Park is down in Sunnyside, not here. Both carry the name of Jerome B. Chaffee, one of Denver's founders and a U.S. senator from 1876 to 1879.

A veterans' subdivision from 1946

In April 1946, with the city short on housing for people coming home from the war, the City Council approved the Chaffee Park Heights subdivision from Garrett-Bromfield & Co. It ran from 48th to 52nd Avenue and from Tejon to Pecos Street, the first 412 houses were held for veterans, and most of it was finished by 1949. The same developer built the Chaffee Park Shopping Center at 48th and Pecos, which opened with a Safeway and a J.C. Penney and is described as Denver's first.

Small one-story houses, and room for an ADU

Because the subdivision went up in a few years, the streets have a consistent look. Most houses are one-story Minimal Traditional: boxy, with plain fronts, a front-facing gable or gabled entry and a low to medium roof pitch, a stripped-down cousin of the Tudor Revival houses from the 1920s and '30s.

The bigger news for owners came in November 2020, when the City Council voted unanimously to allow accessory dwelling units on every single-unit lot of at least 4,500 square feet here. It covered about 1,400 parcels and was the first time Denver rezoned a whole neighborhood for ADUs in one move. If a backyard cottage or a rental unit is part of your plan, you can skip asking the city to rezone your lot first. You'll still need permits.

The east edge is different. An industrial mixed-use zone runs from Osage Street to the tracks at Kalamath, so if you're looking at houses east of Pecos, drive those blocks on a weekday too.

Zuni Park and the Wellness Loop

The neighborhood's main park sits at the north end between Zuni and Vallejo Streets, just south of 52nd. The city lists it as 51st and Zuni Park, though it's officially unnamed. There's a bike and walking path, picnic areas with a shelter, restrooms, a basketball court, a playground and a ball field. An outdoor fitness area, built with Regis University and the Trust for Public Land, went in in 2016. A walking and biking route of about 3.5 miles links Chaffee Park with Regis, passing the Clear Creek Trail, Rocky Mountain Park and the farm at Aria.

Aria, on the old convent grounds

At 52nd and Federal, the Sisters of St. Francis lived on 17.5 acres, a former fruit orchard, from the late 1930s. The Marycrest convent was sold in 2012 and redeveloped as Aria. It has townhomes, affordable rental apartments and a cohousing section with shared dining and kitchen space, plus a production garden of more than an acre. Shared buildings mean shared costs, so read the association's budget and rules before you write an offer there.

Coffee on Pecos

Huckleberry Roasters, Westword's pick for best coffee roaster in 2017, runs a cafe at 4301 Pecos Street, just south of I-70 and a short walk from the neighborhood's southern edge.

Getting around

Federal and Pecos are the main streets, and I-70 runs along the south edge. RTD buses run on Pecos (the 19), Federal (the 31) and 52nd Avenue (the 52). The city's D-3 bike route follows Zuni Street from 52nd south into Sunnyside and meets the D-5 route at 46th Avenue.