Driving Tour
Modern Neighborhoods of Denver's Virginia Village

The Virginia Village district is a large residential area in the southeastern portions of Denver. It is bounded by Cherry Creek on the north, Monaco Parkway on the east, Evans Avenue on the south, and Colorado Boulevard on the west. Within Virginia Village are two of Denver's largest mid-century modernist neighborhoods, Krisana Park and Lynwood, as well as numerous scattered modern style homes. The driving tour begins in the parking lot of the Virginia Village Public Library located at 1500 S. Dahlia Street at Florida Avenue.

We've include a map at the bottom of this page to aid in your tour.

START

Exit left from parking lot on to Dahlia
Right on Dexter Way 1 block to Florida

DEXTER WAY

A small enclave of about a dozen modern homes built between 1959 and 1960 by Fred Knipher and Lee Kinney. Homes are of brick construction and feature clerestory windows, garages, and are 1,400-1,900 square feet in size.

Left on Florida 1 block to Cherry
Right on Cherry 1 block to Idaho

CHERRY AND IDAHO STREETS

Approximately 20 small (1,000 to 1,200 square feet) modern style homes built in 1956 featuring frame construction, clerestory window and carports.

Right on Idaho 1 block to Dahlia
Left on Dahlia 1 block to Edison Way

KRISANA PARK

Neighborhood of 175 homes built by H.B. Wolff between 1954 and 1957. Known as the 3-D Contemporary, the homes came in four styles. Wolff promoted Krisana Park as Denver's first "properly planned" subdivision due to its builder/designer/landscape architect teamwork to achieve proper balance of exterior designs, colors, and materials. The model home was called the "X-Ray House" and included 1200 square feet of living space, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a semi-open kitchen, mahogany paneling, carports, and outdoor lanai.

Right on Edison Way 1 block to Louisiana
Right on Louisiana 2 blocks to Elm
Right on Elm 1 block to Florida
Left on Florida 6 blocks to Holly
Right on Holly 2 blocks to Jewell
Left on Jewell 2 blocks to Ivy
Left on Ivy 2 blocks to Mexico

LYNWOOD

80 homes built by H.B. Wolff between 1956 and 1959. Very similar to Krisana Park but with a few new styles - most notably A-frames.

Right on Mexico 4 blocks to Leyden
Left on Leyden 3 blocks to Florida

1500 BLOCK OF SOUTH LEYDEN AND KRAMERIA

Small enclave of brick modern homes built in 1956 and 1957. Note how many of the homes are angled at 45 degrees to the street for privacy.

Continue on Leyden across Florida 1 block to Minnesota
Left on Minnesota 2 blocks to Kearney
Left on Kearney 1 block to Florida - note unusual 2-story moderns
Right on Florida back to Virginia Village Library

End