LITTLETON —Just north of Littleton Boulevard, 17 historic Craftsman homes form a neighborhood on South Louthan Street. Together the nearly 100-year-old stucco bungalows make up the , the city’s first and only such district, established in 2002 with support of many of the historic homes’ owners.
Now, nearly 14 years after the historic designation, city officials are seeing more interest in restoration, renovation and expansion projects. With that in mind, Littleton has hired a consultant to develop design standards and guidelines for future work on the homes in Louthan Heights.
Between the guidelines and an extensive planned for Littleton Boulevard later this year, historic preservation will be on the minds of many in the city in 2016.
The city’s will meet April 19 with representatives from an architecture firm hired to develop the Louthan Heights design guidelines.
Matt Wilson has owned his home in the 5600 block of South Louthan since 1995 and was a big supporter of the formation of the district. The Colorado native said Littleton has lagged behind other cities when it comes to protecting historic buildings and he is happy to see the guidelines coming to fruition.
“Unlike Denver, Littleton doesn’t have a lot of these Craftsman bungalows like this,” Wilson said. “The design guidelines will help homeowners understand the history of the Craftsman architectural style and … help them with preservation, restoration and maintenance on these historic homes.”
Thirteen of the 17 homes on Louthan Street were designed by master builder and former Littleton Mayor Charles Louthan between 1921 and 1929, according to the city. They stand out for features including pebble dash stucco with rock aggregate pressed into each home, gabled roofs, broad porches and, for those homes that haven’t been updated with gutters, uniquely carved exposed tail rafters, Wilson said.
He said residents of the tight-knit neighborhood have worked together to share tips for work on their homes, including patching the pebble dash stucco.
The city offers a 50 percent local property tax rebate to any Louthan homeowners who undertake projects that preserve the historic character and prevent the decay or deterioration of their homes.
Tom Smithwick bought his home on Louthan in 2011. It has a clapboard exterior and was not built by Louthan but moved to the block intact, Smithwick said. He built an addition off the back the year he bought the home. This year he is beginning another round of renovations, including painting and protecting his home’s tail rafters.
“It’s worked out real nice,” Smithwick said of getting the Littleton Historical Preservation Board’s approval for his expansion and renovation efforts, as well as qualifying for applicable tax credits.
Littleton senior planner Dennis Swain said provided a $12,000 grant toward the drafting of Louthan guidelines. He said they should be done by June and primarily will recommend restoration over replacement.
History Colorado also granted the city $35,000 toward a $48,100 project to survey and inventory all of the many mid-century office buildings and other structures along Littleton Boulevard between Broadway and the city’s downtown, Swain said. Some historical groups have viewed the strip among the most threatened historical resources in the state, Swain said. The survey should start later this year and could last into 2017, as 97 structures have been identified as part of it.
“The survey will help identify structures that should be designated for individual landmark status and assemblages of those buildings that might qualify as a district and could be made into districts,” Swain said, adding district formation would be voluntary on the part of property owners.
Jenny Hankinson, the assistant curator of collections at the , said she is very excited to see what the survey will yield.
“There’s definitely holes as far as research goes and the data” on historic structures in the city, Hankinson said. “It’s going to be a detective search.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953 or jrubino@denverpost.com
