Denver’s Hilltop neighborhood — arguably the city’s chicest quarter — has a reputation for classically styled homes built in the 1920s and 1930s. But the popularity of the area over recent decades has seen some of the older houses scraped in favor of bigger, flashier, contemporary styles.

But there are plenty of buyers who still appreciate the sublime appeal of Georgians and Tudors; and Compass agent Coleen Sanders has one of the latter on the market that preserves the splendor, but with a totally new interior — up-to-date trappings and spaces that function for today.

Every room redone

“This is for someone who loves the tradition but wants the modern features,” Sanders said about 10 Cherry Street, built in 1939 a half block from Hilltop’s Cranmer Park. The sellers fit that exact profile when they began imagining some minor updates to this prominent home that had a street profile they loved, but few lifestyle features that any newer floorplan might show today.

“They wanted to tweak a few things, but it quickly snowballed,” said Boulder interior designer Emily Tucker, who ended up redoing most every room, with some finished space added on.

Tucker told The Denver Gazette this was a good home for that: already with a generous family room space.

“The flow was nicely designed; we were changing it up to feel like the people who lived there,” she said.

Tucker is a specialist on color, and while brightening and whitening the plan, she reached for a contrasting palette of jewel tones, making the colors pop against the less dramatic backdrop. With the project launched in 2021, the family moved out for the duration, returning to an interior that preserved some traditional elements, offset by creative built-ins, lots of color and custom lighting.

The price is $3.275 million. Sanders said that’s a fit for an area where some sales have reached into the sixes.

A-plus block

“The block is A-plus,” she adds, with Graland Country Day School around the corner, far enough that drop-offs and pick-ups aren’t issues. Hilltop home sites run upward to a quarter acre (this one is 9,000-plus square feet, with trees and a prominent build-up from the street), as compared to areas like Wash Park, where sites average 6,250 feet.

Sanders sees the Tudor front-facing gable with brick-and-timber framing as a selling point at a time when that style is rarer. Hilltop further south was built later with lots of mid-mod ranches. But moderns are popping up now in the older area, too; and reactions among neighbors, Sanders said, are mixed.

This is also the rare home with six bedrooms, with plenty of home office options. It’s move-in ready at a moment when Sanders said buyers have cash, but are sensitive about spending even more after purchase. It came on the market in June and quickly had an offer, but the contract fell through.That, Sanders said, was followed by a slow summer, and a drop in price.

Now she senses activity building (the home had five showings last week) coming into the Fed’s cut of the preferred rate.

“There’s more activity in the high end,” she adds, some of it coming from out of state.

ABOUT THIS HOME:

WHERE: 10 Cherry Street, Denver. From I-25, take Colorado Boulevard north 2.3 miles to East 1st Avenue, turn right (east) five blocks to Cherry Street, turn south.

SIZE: Six beds five baths, 5,085 sq. ft. 

PRICE: $3.275 million 

WEB: coleensanders.com

SHOWN BY APPOINTMENT:  Call Coleen Sanders, 303-921-2964.