Home to “Denver’s Grandest Mansion”,
the Belcaro neighborhood is located just east of Bonnie
Brae, and the history of the area is closely linked
to the Phipps family.
Arriving in Denver in 1902 after making a fortune
in steel, Lawrence Phipps intended to make a mark
as a humanitarian. He sponsored the Agnes Memorial
Sanitarium on 40 acres East of Quebec on 6th Avenue.
This facility closed in 1928 and was later sold to
the city of Denver. Lowry Air Force Base opened on
the site in 1937.
Phipps was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Republican
in 1918 and served in that capacity until 1930. His
tenure was not without some controversy. In the 1924
elections the KKK agreed to support him if he would
underwrite the state election costs. The candidates
supported by the KKK had great victories that year
and even though Phipps disassociated himself with
them shortly after the election, he was widely blamed
for their political success that year.
After leaving the Senate in 1930, Phipps was ready
to build a mansion in which to retire. Fisher and
Fisher, along with New York architect Charles Platt,
designed Belcaro, which is Italian for “Dear
One”. The Georgian Mansion was built during
the depression at a cost of $310,000. The mansion
was completed in 1933 and boasted 54 rooms and over
27,000 square feet.
The neighborhood surrounding Belcaro was platted
by Phipp’s company, Belcaro Realty and Investment
Company in 1931. Development began shortly afterward.
Phipps philanthropic work can be seen throughout
the city. Just one example is his donation of $250,000
to the Museum of Natural History, which produced the
Phipps Auditorium. Today, this is the IMAX Theatre.
By the time of Phipps’ death in 1958, he had
sold much of the land surrounding the mansion as Belcaro
Park. A portion of the land was also used to create
the Belcaro Park Shopping Center which was developed
in 1953.
Phipps’ wife, Margaret donated Belcaro to DU
which rents it out for private events and renamed
it the Lawrence C. Phipps Memorial Conference Center.
Today, 5 ½ acres remains of the original Belcaro
property, but the influence of the Phipps family continues
to be felt and appreciated throughout Denver.
Today, the Belcaro neighborhood, encircling the Phipps
Mansion, is home to many elegant, expansive, mostly
ranch-style homes, with large, pristine, well-manicured
lawns. Very centrally located near Cherry Creek, between
Bonnie Brae and Colorado Boulevard, and next to Polo
Club, Belcaro is now one of Denver’s most sought-after
neighborhoods.
-Jennifer
Collins
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