Missy Ellis stood in the sun- drenched kitchen that Sandra Widener dreamed into reality and remembered the days before Widener and her husband, political powerbroker John Parr, died on a Wyoming highway.
“This was her dream kitchen. She designed the backyard and the kitchen herself. She really wanted to stay with the (architectural) theme” apparent in the home, an Arts and Crafts gem built in 1915.
Ellis was one of several friends and neighbors of the Parr family to visit the house on Franklin Street during an open house and sealed-bid auction for the property Sunday.
“This is hard; I came to say goodbye,” said Susan Clemens, who lives across the street.
Parr, 59, Widener, 53, and their daughter Chase, 19, died last year as they traveled to Idaho to visit family at Christmastime. A tractor-trailer slammed into their car during a multivehicle chain of collisions. A second daughter, Katy Parr, now 18, survived.
The 2,975-square-foot home in the East Seventh Avenue Historic District south of Cheesman Park was well-known to Denver’s movers and shakers.
Parr helped Gov. Richard Lamm win the governor’s office and later helped Federico Peña become mayor of Denver. Widener co-founded weekly newspaper Westword.
Real estate agent and family friend Sonja Leonard Leonard started bidding at $950,000. “That is not too high, and not too low.” Bids will be accepted until Wednesday.
She is donating her commission to several groups named by the couple’s family, including the Denver Foundation, which plans an annual Parr-Widener Civic Leadership Award.
Darren Maddux and Rod Dominguez happened across a sign for the open house and decided to stop by. They called the the dark-stained woodwork and windows beautiful.
But the house is more than beautiful to Clemens. “I swear, I still hear her laughing,” she said of Widener.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
