Wellshire

Wellshire is a south Denver neighborhood bounded by Yale Avenue on the north, Hampden Avenue on the south, University Boulevard on the west and Colorado Boulevard on the east. University Park sits to the north and University Hills across Colorado to the east. Across University at the south end is Englewood, and Cherry Hills Village starts on the far side of Hampden.

A country club on the Skeel farm

In 1924 a group of golfers hired Donald Ross to lay out a course on the 137-acre Skeel farm, about four miles south of Denver at the time. Wellshire Country Club opened on August 28, 1926, and the Tudor clubhouse followed on October 16, 1927. Members could also boat and fish on Skeel Reservoir. The club went into foreclosure in 1936, the city bought the property for $60,000, and it has been a public course ever since. Ben Hogan won the Denver Open here in 1948.

Postwar ranches and a few new builds

Wellshire is almost all detached houses, and they come from a narrow window. Of the roughly 1,215 here, 83 percent were built between 1940 and 1959, another 12 percent between 1960 and 1999, and about 5 percent since 2000. Practically none predates 1940. The median house is about 1,940 square feet. Mid-century ranches are the main style, with newer construction mixed in.

What that means for a buyer: ranch plans are mostly single-level, and a new build is the exception. Only about one house in twenty dates from 2000 or later, so if you want new construction in Wellshire, expect a short list.

The course, the clubhouse and the reservoir

The course takes up the southeast corner, at 3333 S. Colorado Blvd. It has 18 holes, a putting green, a chipping green with practice bunkers and a junior course called Hogan's Alley. The driving range is closed for renovations until further notice. The Tudor clubhouse is now the Wellshire Event Center, which handles private events.

The High Line Canal and the underpasses

The High Line Canal runs about 66 miles northeast from the South Platte, and most of its old maintenance road has been turned into a trail. Where the canal crosses the golf course, the trail is not open to the public. Since June 2021, two underpasses take it beneath Colorado Boulevard and Hampden Avenue, joined by a 10-foot-wide path on the north side of Hampden, so nobody has to cross that busy intersection at street level. The canal edge by the course and Skeel Reservoir is also a good place to walk. If canal rides or runs are part of the plan, the blocks near Hampden and Colorado put you closest to the connection. Mamie D. Eisenhower Park and its recreation center are right next door in University Hills.

Dinner and getting around

Inside the neighborhood it's houses and the course, and not much else. For a sit-down dinner, Osteria Alberico at 3455 S. University Blvd., on the Englewood side of University, is on 5280's Wellshire page. Frasca Hospitality Group opened this Italian restaurant in July 2024, and it serves dinner Tuesday through Sunday, with an aperitivo hour from 4 to 5:30. For something casual, Pupusas Lover is about half a mile north of Yale at 2236 S. Colorado Blvd., with close to 20 kinds of pupusas, and Kiki's, at 2440 S. Colorado, does Japanese comfort food like ramen, katsudon and set lunches.

Bike lanes line three sides of the neighborhood. Transit inside Wellshire is limited, so most errands and restaurant trips take a car. Yale station, at 5315 E. Yale Ave. beside I-25, is on RTD's E and T Lines.