Sleeping Porches & Millionaires Row: The Untold Story of the Old North End

When you walk down Wood Avenue in Colorado Springs' Old North End for the first time, something slows you down. It's not the wide, tree-lined street — though that's part of it. It's the feeling that the houses are telling you something, if you know how to listen. The good news is: you don't need a history degree. You just need to know what you're looking at.

A Neighborhood Born from Gold Rush Money

Colorado Springs was founded in 1871, but the Old North End didn't really come alive until the 1890s — and the reason why is one of the most dramatic chapters in Colorado history. The gold mines in nearby Cripple Creek and Victor hit their peak, and the money flooded into Colorado Springs almost overnight. The city's population literally doubled between 1890 and 1900.

The people who built their fortunes on gold — mine managers, stock brokers, engineers, and attorneys — needed somewhere to live that matched their ambitions. They chose the northern edge of the city, where the lots were wide, the streets were broad enough for horse and buggy, and an architect named Thomas MacLaren was designing homes that could hold their own against anything being built in Denver or back East.

The 1200 and 1300 blocks of Wood Avenue became known as "Millionaires Row." Mine owner James Ferguson Burns had a mansion there. So did Alice Bemis Taylor, whose family later funded Bemis Hall and Taylor Dining Hall at Colorado College. The second president of Colorado College lived on Wood Avenue too. These weren't just wealthy families — they were the people shaping what Colorado Springs would become.

What the Sleeping Porches Are Really About

Here's where the story takes a turn most first-time buyers don't expect. While the gold rush was filling the north end with mansion-builders, another group was arriving in Colorado Springs for a very different reason: their health.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, tuberculosis was one of the most feared diseases in the country, and Colorado Springs had developed a reputation as one of the best places to recover from it. The dry mountain air, the altitude, the clean climate — physicians were sending patients here from all over the country. At one point, there were more than a dozen large-scale tuberculosis facilities operating in the city.

This shaped the architecture in ways you can still see today. Homes in the Old North End were often built with "sleeping porches" — partially enclosed outdoor spaces where residents could sleep and rest in the fresh air. These weren't luxury features. They were medical prescriptions built into the structure of the house itself.

If you're touring a home in the Old North End and you notice a second-floor porch that seems oddly deep, or a screened-in room that doesn't quite make sense, there's a good chance you're looking at a sleeping porch. It's one of those quiet architectural details that connects a house directly to its era in a way no modern build ever could.

The Architecture: A Timeline You Can Walk Through

One of the most remarkable things about the Old North End is that it didn't all get built at once. Spend an afternoon walking its blocks and you're essentially walking through eighty years of American architectural history in a single neighborhood.

The Victorian-era homes from the 1880s and 1890s are the most dramatic — Queen Anne styles with elaborate porch detailing, steep gabled rooflines, and decorative woodwork that carpenters today would struggle to replicate. Then the Craftsman bungalows arrive in the early 1900s, lower to the ground, with their signature wide overhangs and exposed rafter tails. By the 1920s you start seeing Spanish Colonial Revival — terra-cotta tile rooflines, arched windows, smooth stucco — the style that MacLaren used on some of his finest commissions. Then the neighborhood settles into the mid-century, and the architecture quiets into International Style and post-war bungalows.

What makes the Old North End so rare is that most of these buildings are still here, largely unchanged from the outside, because the neighborhood fought hard to keep them that way.

What This Means If You're Buying Here

The Old North End is a designated historic district, which means exterior changes require city approval. For some buyers, that feels like a limitation. But for most who end up here, it's exactly the point — it's the reason the neighborhood looks the way it does, and why the character hasn't been eroded by vinyl siding and garage additions.

As of early 2026, homes in the Old North End range roughly from the mid-$400,000s to well over $1,000,000, depending on the block, the condition, and the home's history. Average list prices have been hovering around $700,000, with around 2,500 square feet on average. These homes typically sit on the market longer than new construction — because the right buyer takes their time — but when a well-cared-for property hits the market, it moves.

What first-time buyers in historic homes often don't anticipate are the quirks: original plumbing and electrical that may need updating, windows that require specialist care, and the kinds of charming imperfections that come with 100-year-old construction. None of these are dealbreakers — but they're worth walking into with your eyes open and a good inspector at your side.

The flip side is that you get something no new construction can offer: a home with a story. A sleeping porch where someone once slept under Pikes Peak skies to heal their lungs. A stained-glass window cut by hand in 1908. A fireplace surround by Van Briggle, the Colorado Springs pottery maker whose work now sells at auction. These details don't depreciate.