Boulder Historic Homes for the Holidays

The annual Boulder Historic Holiday Home Tour each year opens the holiday season in Boulder.
This last weekend seven homes in the Mapleton Historic District were open on Saturday and Sunday.

Different this year was that the homes on tour were all on just one block, Maxwell Avenue. Maxwell Avenue's homes represent a living style that is appealing today, the "Not So Big House" -- smaller residences, a mix of uses, and proximity to public transportation.

Most think of Boulder's Mapleton Hill as a neighborhood of grand homes and stately grounds. However, the homes on Maxwell Avenue, one block north of Mapleton, were more modest, on smaller lots and narrower streets.

Today, Maxwell Avenue is lined with charming, well-preserved, working class vernacular homes from the turn of the 20th Century. Reminders of Maxwell Avenue's mixed-use past, a former mom and pop grocery and another former grocery store/gas station are still standing. A streetcar, the tracks gone today, went up the Avenue.

The charm of these homes comes from their smaller size and what the owners have done with them. From an abundance of little nooks and crannys; to copper kitchen counter tops; to little balconies off master bedrooms; to lofts and beautiful kitchens and living areas-- each home had its own distinct personality.

The weather was beautiful for the first part of December. This tour attracted one of the largest crowds in years. Over 1000 people were able to walk up and down the street as they had in days gone by and see the creativity used in the renovation and restoration of these charming homes.

For more about Boulder, Colorado and its close-by surrounding area I invite you to go to my website: http://www.jancycampbell.com/ or email me: jancy@jancycampbell.com