In 1863, when downtown along Larimer Street was a roughshod outpost that had a saloon for every five buildings, Baptist Rev. Walter Potter staked out a plat west across the river he envisioned as a Denver haven of sobriety and morality.

Potter Highlands, between by Zuni Street, West 32^nd Street, Federal Boulevard and West 38^th Street, later became one of the town’s first historic districts for its foursquares, mission revivals, Victorians and later styles.

You can take a close look Saturday, 11 a.m.-to-3 p.m., when four for-sale homes are on view.

Arts-and-crafts bungalow

Amy Berglund with MileHiModern, an expert on the 30-block district, helped stage a 160^th anniversary celebration for Potter two years ago that included a booklet issued with a map of the most significant homes. Visitors will get a free copy during the tour.

Four listings on Berglund’s tour run from an arts-and-crafts bungalow at 3655 Eliot Street, known to neighbors as the “White Lion House” on a near-quarter acre with gardens laid out in a Denver School of the Arts project ( $1.275 million), to a 2-bedroom condo at 3611 Zuni, redesigned into a 4-units from a 1908 building, at $475,000.

The walkable tour is arrayed so visitors can start near the northeast corner at the Elliot bungalow; move east to 3611 Bryant, an updated bungalow with new kitchen, baths and a primary ensuite ($1.050 million); then move on to 3659 Alcott, a lone Italianate design in Potter known as the Giesecke house, dated 1882 on a corner lot, totally updated ($1.1 million); and wrap up at the condo, 3611 Zuni.

Choices for lunch

If you go through in that direction, Berglund notes, you can finish off with lunch at any of the neighborhood favorites around 32^nd and Zuni, including Patzcuaro’s Mexican, Wooden Spoon bakery, Fox and Hen, or longtime Tony P’s Pizzeria, which moved recently two blocks further south on Zuni.

Or if you head the other way, you can see Leevers Locavore, Potter’s new organic grocery.

“It’s brought so much energy to the area,” Berglund said, adding that she  already sees some energy in the market here that is uncommon in a season that few agents are raving about.

“I’ve had one of my best years ever,” she said, adding that her open houses are busy, with lots of additional Zillow views, showings, and buyers who save listings to follow the availabilities. It’s not that easy to track “comps” in this part of Highlands, Berglund notes, because styles and sizes are so varied. But she says she’s seen a bump in price-per-square-foot from $601-per-foot to $770-per-foot over the year.

Walkable to downtown

“Markets are hyper local this year,” Berglund added. That said, she agrees with other agents — that pricing is absolutely critical to selling and that listings have to be spruced up and problem free, for a generation of buyers that wants move-in ready, no projects waiting.

Potter Highlands, uphill from LoHi, is around a 30 minute walk from either Coors Field or Union Station. Navigation is easy as the neighborhood marks the alphabetical western edge of Denver’s “Great American” series streets, Alcott, Bryant, Clay, Decatur and Eliot. In addition to Berglund’s houses, at least one other agent has a house open on Eliot Street.

POTTER HIGHLANDS TOUR SATURDAY:

WHERE: Open House 3655 Eliot Street, 3611 Bryant Street, 3659 Alcott, 3611 Zuni #102, all in Denver’s Potter Highlands neighborhood. From downtown take Speer Boulevard north across the freeway to a right on Zuni Street and proceed north five blocks to the neighborhood.

OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, Oct. 18, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  

PRICES: From $475,000 to $1.275 million  

WEB:  LoveWhereYouLiveDenver.com 

AGENT: Amy Berglund 720-560-6674