The new owner of this home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. in Denver would like to demolish it and build a new one. (BusinessDen file)
An effort to mandate preservation of a home in South Park Hill against the wishes of its owner has encountered a lot of resistance.
As of Jan. 15, 68 individuals or couples had emailed city officials, asking that they deny a landmark designation application submitted in November for the home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. Many indicated they live in Park Hill.
In contrast, outside the applicants themselves, one individual had written to the city in support of preservation as of the same date. Two registered neighborhood organizations — Greater Park Hill Community and Historic Berkeley Regis — also sent letters requesting landmark status.
“We’re grateful for the strong support from over 70 community members who voiced their opposition to the applicants’ stance on hostile designation,” said Mark Rinehart, who bought the home with his wife Marianne in late 2022.
Mark Rinehart and family (Courtesy Mark Rinehart)
Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission will consider the application on Tuesday. That body will vote on whether to deny the application or forward it to the City Council. In this case, city staff are recommending the commission deny it, saying in part that the applicants didn’t do enough research to prove their arguments.
Denver generally sees one or two owner-opposed landmark applications. The council last year approved one for the second time ever.
The two-story, 3,200-square-foot home on a corner lot along one of Park Hill’s main corridors dates to the mid-1930s. The Rineharts, who have two children and currently live elsewhere in the neighborhood, say they were about $120,000 into the process of planning to demolish the home and build a larger one when three nearby residents — Margaret McRoberts, Trish Leary and Bernadette Kelly — submitted the application asking the city to name the structure a Denver landmark.
That status would effectively prevent the home from being demolished. The applicants pointed to the home’s previous occupants, prominent location, architectural style and original homebuilder as reasons to preserve it. The home’s original occupant was movie theater owner Harry Eugene Huffman, who later built the “Shangri-La” mansion at 150 S. Bellaire St. in Hilltop. The applicants describe the home’s style as Italian Renaissance Revival.
Kelly didn’t respond to a request for comment last week. The CEO of Historic Denver, a nonprofit that supported the application, also didn’t return a call.
Mark Rinehart said the couple have spent at least $20,000 so far related to the application, including hiring attorney Sarah Kellner of Denver’s Davis Graham & Stubbs. The couple put the property on the market last month, saying they were willing to sell at cost to a buyer planning to renovate the existing structure. He said he’s given three tours — to a builder and to two agents viewing on behalf of clients — and received no offers.
The Rineharts and their attorney argue that the home shouldn’t be preserved based on its association with Huffman, noting that his Hilltop mansion is far more well-known yet is not itself a Denver landmark. They say only the Montview home’s roof is consistent with the Italian Renaissance Revival — and describe it as “crumbling.”
It’s not the only issue with the house.
“Mold, cracks, and other issues render the property uninhabitable, and a contractor has quoted a price of at least $2-3 million (equal to or greater than the cost of the Property) to remediate the issues without making any further improvements or modern upgrades,” the couple’s attorney wrote.
A photo inside the home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. in Denver. (Courtesy Mark Rinehart)
Among those supporting the Rineharts in their bid to demolish the home is Murray McCarty, whose parents owned the home for more than 60 years. The Rineharts bought it after their deaths.
“It is now time for Mark and Marianne to build their forever home on this beautiful property,” McCarty wrote.
Others who wrote in support of the Rineharts include Gensler architect Jon Gambrill, John Lanphier of Spectrum General Contractors and the neighboring property owner to the east.
The area’s main neighborhood organization, Park Hill Greater Community, said in a letter that its board voted 11-0 in support of landmark status. The sole individual who wrote in with that position, Elaine Granata, said that “the character of Park Hill is exemplified” by homes such as 5013 E. Montview.
“There are far too many of the new McMansions with their ‘lick and stick’ exteriors being built in Park Hill destroying the uniqueness of the neighborhood,” Granata wrote.
Another resident who said she’s renovating her own Park Hill home, however, wrote that “there is not an HOA in this neighborhood for good reason.”
“Each property is unique and homeowners can make it whatever they want,” said Kelly Ahmeti. “We have A frame houses, original brick bungalows, pop tops, ranches and scrapes galore.”
The new owner of this home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. in Denver would like to demolish it and build a new one. (BusinessDen file)
An effort to mandate preservation of a home in South Park Hill against the wishes of its owner has encountered a lot of resistance.
As of Jan. 15, 68 individuals or couples had emailed city officials, asking that they deny a landmark designation application submitted in November for the home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. Many indicated they live in Park Hill.
In contrast, outside the applicants themselves, one individual had written to the city in support of preservation as of the same date. Two registered neighborhood organizations — Greater Park Hill Community and Historic Berkeley Regis — also sent letters requesting landmark status.
“We’re grateful for the strong support from over 70 community members who voiced their opposition to the applicants’ stance on hostile designation,” said Mark Rinehart, who bought the home with his wife Marianne in late 2022.
Mark Rinehart and family (Courtesy Mark Rinehart)
Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission will consider the application on Tuesday. That body will vote on whether to deny the application or forward it to the City Council. In this case, city staff are recommending the commission deny it, saying in part that the applicants didn’t do enough research to prove their arguments.
Denver generally sees one or two owner-opposed landmark applications. The council last year approved one for the second time ever.
The two-story, 3,200-square-foot home on a corner lot along one of Park Hill’s main corridors dates to the mid-1930s. The Rineharts, who have two children and currently live elsewhere in the neighborhood, say they were about $120,000 into the process of planning to demolish the home and build a larger one when three nearby residents — Margaret McRoberts, Trish Leary and Bernadette Kelly — submitted the application asking the city to name the structure a Denver landmark.
That status would effectively prevent the home from being demolished. The applicants pointed to the home’s previous occupants, prominent location, architectural style and original homebuilder as reasons to preserve it. The home’s original occupant was movie theater owner Harry Eugene Huffman, who later built the “Shangri-La” mansion at 150 S. Bellaire St. in Hilltop. The applicants describe the home’s style as Italian Renaissance Revival.
Kelly didn’t respond to a request for comment last week. The CEO of Historic Denver, a nonprofit that supported the application, also didn’t return a call.
Mark Rinehart said the couple have spent at least $20,000 so far related to the application, including hiring attorney Sarah Kellner of Denver’s Davis Graham & Stubbs. The couple put the property on the market last month, saying they were willing to sell at cost to a buyer planning to renovate the existing structure. He said he’s given three tours — to a builder and to two agents viewing on behalf of clients — and received no offers.
The Rineharts and their attorney argue that the home shouldn’t be preserved based on its association with Huffman, noting that his Hilltop mansion is far more well-known yet is not itself a Denver landmark. They say only the Montview home’s roof is consistent with the Italian Renaissance Revival — and describe it as “crumbling.”
It’s not the only issue with the house.
“Mold, cracks, and other issues render the property uninhabitable, and a contractor has quoted a price of at least $2-3 million (equal to or greater than the cost of the Property) to remediate the issues without making any further improvements or modern upgrades,” the couple’s attorney wrote.
A photo inside the home at 5013 E. Montview Blvd. in Denver. (Courtesy Mark Rinehart)
Among those supporting the Rineharts in their bid to demolish the home is Murray McCarty, whose parents owned the home for more than 60 years. The Rineharts bought it after their deaths.
“It is now time for Mark and Marianne to build their forever home on this beautiful property,” McCarty wrote.
Others who wrote in support of the Rineharts include Gensler architect Jon Gambrill, John Lanphier of Spectrum General Contractors and the neighboring property owner to the east.
The area’s main neighborhood organization, Park Hill Greater Community, said in a letter that its board voted 11-0 in support of landmark status. The sole individual who wrote in with that position, Elaine Granata, said that “the character of Park Hill is exemplified” by homes such as 5013 E. Montview.
“There are far too many of the new McMansions with their ‘lick and stick’ exteriors being built in Park Hill destroying the uniqueness of the neighborhood,” Granata wrote.
Another resident who said she’s renovating her own Park Hill home, however, wrote that “there is not an HOA in this neighborhood for good reason.”
“Each property is unique and homeowners can make it whatever they want,” said Kelly Ahmeti. “We have A frame houses, original brick bungalows, pop tops, ranches and scrapes galore.”
