75 Years Ago
The July 7, 1949 Colorado Transcript announced the start of a 53-home housing project by Orville Dennis, exclusively available to World War II Veterans. Foundations had been poured for the first 13 homes, which were located on 2nd Street, between Ford and Washington.
The article explained that other homes targeting veterans were being jointly financed by the VA and the FHA. Those homes were offered first to veterans, but if no veterans bought them within the first 30 days on the market, they were available to the general public. The Orville Dennis homes were financed solely by the Veterans Admistration and were available solely to veterans. As such, they were priced lower and required lower down payments than similar homes available in Denver.
The houses were going to be 24'x24', with 51'x130' lots. Each would have two bedrooms, a living/dinette room, kitchen, bath, water heater, gas heat, and laundry tubs.
The price for each home was $6,700. The required down payment was $548.60. The monthly payment was $42.10. Eligible veterans needed a monthly income of not less than $200.
In the current market, after 75 years of inflation, those homes are valued in the $500-600K range.
Thanks to the Golden History Museum for providing the online cache of historic Transcripts, and to the Golden Transcript for documenting our history since 1866!
