Counties with the oldest homes in Colorado
Counties with the oldest homes in Colorado
There's an undeniable charm that comes with pre-World War II American architecture, characterized by high ceilings, crown molding, hardwood floors, and ornate details. In fact, 11.4% of all housing units in America were built in 1939 or before, showing the popularity of the preservation of these units. Owning a piece of history can sometimes come with a cost: Many old homes come with asbestos, lead piping, knob-and-tube wiring, and other outdated building styles that can rack up a hefty price tag to modernize. However, with more and more modernized pre-war homes on the market, generally located just outside bustling downtown metros, investing in property that has withstood the test of time is an attractive prospect.
Stacker compiled a list of the counties in Colorado with the oldest homes using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by median year the structure was built according to 2023 5-year estimates. Ties broken by the highest percentage of homes built before 1939.
The country's domestic architecture is perhaps best characterized by a rugged individualism as opposed to the hybridization of disparate architectural elements. As Maya Angelou once perceptively observed, "the ache for home lives in all of us," a phrase that has meant very different things to different people.
Modest or palatial, there is no shortage of noteworthy homes in the U.S. Log cabins constructed by industrious pioneers have dotted the landscape alongside traditional Native American dwellings ever since immigrant Swedes introduced them to the New World in 1638. The unprecedented personal fortunes amassed by the so-called "Robber Barons" at the close of the 19th century gave way to the construction of a staggering number of Gilded Age estates.
The ravages of time spared neither the sumptuous nor the humble. Stately mansions, often prohibitively costly to maintain in the modern era, were frequently neglected; simple structures were forgotten, discarded by their owners, and damaged by natural elements. However, the tireless efforts of architectural preservationists and local historical societies have saved many of these homes from demolition, leading to their inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thereby safeguarding them for future generations.
Keep reading to learn more about which counties in Colorado have the oldest homes.
#50. Adams County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.8% (3,374 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.2% (4,237 homes)
- Total homes built: 191,765
#49. Grand County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.1% (532 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.2% (207 homes)
- Total homes built: 17,037
#48. Custer County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 10.6% (459 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (43 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,349
#47. Summit County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.0% (331 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (343 homes)
- Total homes built: 31,849
#46. Park County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.2% (459 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.7% (98 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,362
#45. Teller County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.4% (869 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.6% (75 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,516
#44. El Paso County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 4.8% (14,369 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.0% (5,827 homes)
- Total homes built: 296,753
#43. Gunnison County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.5% (924 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (132 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,348
#42. Mesa County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.6% (5,260 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.6% (1,136 homes)
- Total homes built: 68,861
#41. Boulder County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 6.2% (8,784 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.5% (2,081 homes)
- Total homes built: 142,809
#40. Saguache County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 13.1% (502 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (5 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,838
#39. Costilla County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 16.0% (386 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (22 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,418
#38. Mineral County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 16.0% (200 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,251
#37. Arapahoe County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 1.7% (4,565 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.4% (3,695 homes)
- Total homes built: 265,980
#36. Pitkin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 2.3% (306 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (102 homes)
- Total homes built: 13,350
#35. Montezuma County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 7.3% (905 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.7% (209 homes)
- Total homes built: 12,314
#34. Alamosa County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.9% (711 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (33 homes)
- Total homes built: 7,148
#33. Hinsdale County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 11.8% (163 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (3 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,384
#32. Gilpin County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 12.0% (445 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,706
#31. Rio Grande County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.5% (1,216 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (30 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,574
#30. Jefferson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 3.0% (7,479 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (2,640 homes)
- Total homes built: 251,183
#29. Rio Blanco County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 9.3% (305 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (15 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,288
#28. Fremont County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 15.7% (3,216 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (166 homes)
- Total homes built: 20,449
#27. Delta County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 16.4% (2,443 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.6% (237 homes)
- Total homes built: 14,931
#26. Dolores County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 12.5% (205 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,640
#25. Conejos County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 21.7% (882 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.1% (6 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,058
#24. Moffat County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 8.6% (528 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (3 homes)
- Total homes built: 6,114
#23. Jackson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.8% (298 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,155
#22. Clear Creek County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 18.9% (1,089 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,768
#21. Huerfano County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 25.2% (1,196 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (22 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,750
#20. San Juan County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 36.8% (265 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 3.6% (26 homes)
- Total homes built: 720
#19. Morgan County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 15.9% (1,857 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.9% (105 homes)
- Total homes built: 11,670
#18. Pueblo County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 15.8% (11,570 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (576 homes)
- Total homes built: 73,031
#17. Denver County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 17.2% (60,708 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 2.3% (7,942 homes)
- Total homes built: 352,593
#16. Prowers County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.6% (1,126 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 5,466
#15. Lake County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.2% (1,219 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.1% (45 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,033
#14. Las Animas County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.0% (2,600 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (27 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,134
#13. Kit Carson County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 22.1% (758 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.4% (12 homes)
- Total homes built: 3,426
#12. Cheyenne County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 20.1% (194 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.3% (3 homes)
- Total homes built: 965
#11. Lincoln County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 31.1% (742 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (11 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,385
#10. Baca County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 14.3% (284 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,986
#9. Phillips County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.9% (603 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.5% (10 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,085
#8. Yuma County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 28.4% (1,229 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 4,324
#7. Crowley County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 34.3% (527 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.3% (20 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,535
#6. Logan County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 26.4% (2,298 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.8% (69 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,709
#5. Kiowa County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 27.0% (190 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 704
#4. Bent County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.4% (657 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (21 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,163
#3. Washington County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 30.7% (700 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 1.0% (22 homes)
- Total homes built: 2,280
#2. Otero County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 29.4% (2,567 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.2% (18 homes)
- Total homes built: 8,725
#1. Sedgwick County
- Homes built 1939 or earlier: 32.6% (386 homes)
- Homes built since 2000: 0.0% (0 homes)
- Total homes built: 1,184