The Kunsmiller House is one step closer to becoming a historic landmark.
The Denver City Council’s Land Use, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee advanced the application to designate the house and surrounding grounds at 5086 Vrain St. as a city landmark during its meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Dorothea and Adolph Kunsmiller purchased 0.72 acres in the Regis neighborhood in 1922 and built a Spanish-eclectic family home on the land in 1924.
Dorothea Kunsmiller served on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education for 24 years, was re-elected four times and served as vice president for a significant portion of her term. DPS named Kunsmiller Junior High School in her honor when she retired, making it the first time the district named a school after a living person. Adolph Kunsmiller was a longtime banker and president of the American Bank and Trust Company.
Senior city planner Becca Dierschow of Denver told council members that the Kunsmillers were known as advocates for equality, fair wages and employment, especially for teachers and Jewish residents, even though they were not Jewish themselves.
“As a couple, the Kunsmillers illustrate the power that ordinary individuals have to make a difference in their spheres of influence,” Dierschow said. “Advocating for fair pay, equality and justice for people who are different from themselves. As immigrants to Denver, they settled there and rolled up their sleeves to make the city a better place.”
The property is adjacent to the Willis Case Golf Course, which Dierschow said adds to the home’s significance as it retains the rural appearance it had when it was built in the 1920s. The home’s Spanish Eclectic style, Dierschow said, is rare and distinctive in Denver.
District 1 Councilor Amanda Sandoval, who filed on behalf of the home’s owners, Jeff and Jeanne Laws, said they decided to include the home’s landscaping and surrounding property because the vegetation is important to the Spanish eclectic style of the house. It is believed that much of the trees and vegetation, as well as a nearby pond, were placed by the Kunsmillers.
“When you’re doing a historic designation, the boundary matters,” Sandoval said. “Through the house and the garden we all came to the conclusion that it was very important that the application included all vegetation.”
The application has been forwarded to the city council, which will vote on whether the property should be designated as a landmark. Designations requested by property owners are generally uncontroversial. Monument status effectively prevents the demolition of a structure. A city commission must approve changes to the structure’s exterior.
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