Architecture & Historic Districts

If you want to see how Colorado has developed over the years, look no further than its architecture. The entrepreneurial spirit of its residents, combined with a quick and diverse rise in population, has created an eclectic mix of buildings with overlapping architectural time periods. The majority of the state’s structures were built beginning in the mid-1800s.. However, there are architectural styles that are outside this time period. Newcomers to the state had an opportunity to build homes, in addition to commercial and civic buildings in styles that reflected their communities. This has led to very eclectic styles that can be seen all across the state.

Rustic-style log cabins, such as the Hiwan Homestead Museum on Colorado’s Front Range or the wood slat frontier stagecoach stops along the Cherokee Trail, are great examples of early structures as well as the Italianate facades of commercial districts from Silverton to Burlington.

Today, notable 20^th and 21^st century architecture can be seen in the buildings on the rim of Denver Civic Center Park including Gio Ponti’s Brutlist-style Denver Art Museum, the new Daniel Liebskind designed wing of the Denver Art Museum and Michael Graves’ addition to Burnham Hoyt Denver Public Library, as well as the addition to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center designed by Colorado native, David Owen Tryba.