Bonnie Brae

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The Bonnie Brae neighborhood is bordered by University Blvd to the west, Steele St. to the east, Exposition to the north and Arizona Ave to the south. Bonnie Brae is centrally located within five minute access to the Cherry Creek shopping, restaurants, art festival and is uniquely close to the new light rail system Denver opened in November of 2006. Bonnie Brae is close to everything with easy access to six grocery stores, local restaurants to include the historic Bonnie Brae Tavern, Bonnie Brae Ice Cream, and even has its own branch of the Denver Public library.

Originally designed to look like a Scottish village, Bonnie Brae (meaning ‘ Pleasant Hill’ in Gaelic) was started along University Blvd. Bonnie Brae was one of the first neighborhoods to break away from the strict grid system of neighborhood streets, and incorporate twisting lanes and curvilinear streets. The first homes, starting in the 1920’s, were bungalows, tudors, and cottages of the era. The homes in Bonnie Brae vary widely in style as the neighborhood sat dormant for a period of time in its early development. Between the poor business practices of the developer, Associated Industries who went bankrupt, and the Great Depression; Bonnie Brae all but halted its development until after World War II. After the development of Ellipse Park (aka Bonnie Brae Park) in 1936, homes east of the park did not get built until the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. These portions of Bonnie Brae have homes with Art Deco and Contemporary architecture to mix in with the bungalows and tudors in a block. This creates an eclectic mix of architectures and makes Bonnie Brae the unique neighborhood it is today.