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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Home Design -> Niwot
 WALKING TOURS OF NIWOT, LYONS AND DENVER'S ANTIQUE DISTRICT
By Niki Hayden
Nearly every city in Colorado has an antique district--shops nestled
together, or an entire city block that has attracted vintage clothing,
Victoriana, sturdy old oak furniture and early 20th century nostalgia
collectibles. A few towns, like Niwot and Lyons, encourage visitors to spend a
day, have lunch, chat with storeowners and customers, while learning about the
antiques world.
It all comes with a rich lesson in local history. Antique districts in Niwot
and Lyons are situated in historic districts, so there will be no tampering with
their original building facades, mirroring in time the items you’ll see in
shop windows. Niwot once was a railroad town, which also hosted an auction
pit. Lyons sprouted as a sandstone quarry that also banked on hospitality for
tourists on their way to Rocky Mountain National Park.
Denver’s Antiques Row is a small town in a big
city, where merchants have grouped themselves as a destination point for antique
lovers. Each is worth an afternoon for strolling.
NIWOT
Wander inside Niwot Antiques on the main street, Second Avenue, and you may
be taken aback by a life-sized porcelain Dalmatian. Or so he seems. It’s a
little jolting when Astro, named after the television show, "The Jetsons,"
begins to stretch. After learning to tread cautiously on pathways with glassware
on one aisle, fine china on the next, he’s a regular in a shop that sits
prominently in the middle of an historic district.
 Thanks to historic preservationists, not much has changed in a hundred
years except for a few upgrades.
The original firehouse is sandwiched between The Grange, a meeting hall for the
Masons, and a shop. A red caboose sits jauntily back from Second Avenue.
"This is not a high traffic area," says Bob Levkulic, one of the
owners of Elysian Fields, based in the Niwot Antiques building. "Most of
the shop owners are here because of lifestyle. A number of the business owners
get together regularly for coffee." Quiet, pedestrian-friendly, low-key.
Niwot, with its reliance on antique, Victoriana shops and a couple of top
restaurants, makes a perfect all-day stroll for easy-going antique lookers.
Amble across the street—you won’t see many cars.
The town sits along the major highway that runs between Longmont and Boulder.
It’s a bedroom community of commuters, with housing developments mushrooming
in the shadow of the foothills. Unlike many developing communities, you won’t
find shopping centers. It’s an old-fashioned main street lined with shops—not
the garish tourist traps that serious antique lovers avoid—but a
straightforward string of stores that beckon a serious collector to spend the
day.
Niwot began about 1875 as a place for the railroad to pick up farm goods.
Sugar beets and wheat were loaded onto the Colorado Central Railroad rail cars.
Today the Burlington North/ Rio Grande trains still rumble through. But people
flocked to Niwot for another reason, too.
EARLY AUCTIONS
"There was an antiques pit," Bob says, "and on Sundays, people
would auction things off. Sometime in the past that pit was boarded over and
the Niwot Emporium was built on top. What we call ‘pickers’ in the antique
business would travel throughout Nebraska and Kansas, buying from farm families.
They would go door to door with things tied to every square inch of their
vehicle. Then they would head here for the auction. Pickers have a bad name in the business because they would buy well
below the value. The farmers would be happy to get a hundred bucks for something
not knowing the value, although the pickers could get much more."
In those days, antiques simply were used goods. Since then, those same items
have soared in value and appreciation. And Niwot, in a community effort to keep its restored Second Avenue authentic in design and purpose, has
embraced serious collecting.
 Depression era glassware, dolls, early walnut furniture, late 19th
century silver, linens and jewelry--the styles range from Western rodeo prints
to shabby chic, elaborate silver goblets to peach-colored glasses. Tea sets,
trays, mirrors, chests and tables, carved chairs—these are one-of-a-kind,
most in excellent condition.
There’s no jostling or elbowing. You get a chance to talk to the owner. The stories unfold. An end table
made by a carpenter for his daughter reveals the original yellowed note from
father to daughter taped inside.
ANTIQUES LOVERS KNOWLEDGEABLE
Part of the pleasure of antique strolling is asking questions. Customers,
dealers say, are better informed than ever. "The internet and eBay have
forever changed the antique industry," Bob says, "and for the good.
They’re educating the public. I also credit the television program,
"Antiques Roadshow." Things are no longer going into landfills.
"I think it’s good for the customer because fewer are getting cheated.
Mass produced items, like baseball cards are being devalued because they are
coming out of closets, but it also escalates the values of earlier antiques. It’s
no harder to find things. We actually have more people bringing us things
because we are more established. We used to go back to Maine every three months
on buying trips. Now we go back for pleasure. We can find what we want to sell
right here."
Colorado is a young state and not one that counts many pioneer buildings
earlier than 1870. But in pockets here and there, you can catch the façade of
old Western streets. Niwot has chosen to protect and preserve rather than tear
down. The styles are homespun and humble, with a touch of a Colorado eastern
plains agricultural depot.
Not far away is Lyons, a town that also has preserved its Main Street, which
flaunts a Western style of red sandstone rocks.
 LYONS
The town of Lyons is dubbed "Gateway to the Rockies," poised on the
road heading to Rocky Mountain National Park. But the Gateway has rocks of its
own—red rocks that jut at sharp angles, gold, beige and sandy rocks—all
sandstone that has been quarried for a hundred years.
Colorado red sandstone is famous without being acknowledged. Red rocks are
the building materials for the University of Colorado as well as hundreds of
Colorado municipal offices, houses, pathways, patios and tables. In the town of
Lyons, red rocks form the fronts of a few old buildings as a reminder of what
once made the town famous.
The rocks are quarried today, but the small town of Lyons is more prominent
for providing hospitality to Park goers. You’ll see serious hikers dressed in
heavy sweaters having java at one of the several coffee bars around town.
There’s a reason to take hospitality seriously. Hikers know it’s a long drive
to Rocky Mountain National Park. The biggest lure of the town is public
restrooms adjoining the town’s information center. The merchants hope that you
may want to stretch your legs before getting back in the car. And if you’re
willing to spend a few hours walking around, you can take in the antique stores,
too.
The largest antique shop in town is cavernous. Tim Combs’ Left-Hand Trading
Company takes up the old bank building. Combs’ started his business in 1970
but moved to Lyons in 1980. He once served a stint as mayor. "I like small
towns," he says, "and it’s a good place for kids to grow up."
 Wander through the vast high-ceiling rooms; they’re filled with
turn-of-the-century furniture, jewelry and china. Tim says he’s one of the few
antique dealers who hasn’t specialized. But he does have favorites, as he
points to a mahogany bar straight from Wyoming. It ushers you into the Western
room, where Tim has collected books, furniture, saddles, stuffed elk heads, bear
skins, boots, rustic Western tables, chairs and lamps.
"The best people in the world come into antique shops. They have good
taste. And the world comes through here. Lyons is a little more Western than
other towns. You can still catch a fish in this town. You can go hiking at the
Hall Ranch and the Heil Ranch, have a great meal and go antiquing," he
says. Lyons attracts world-wide travelers. An Australian architect asks to see something in the
Western room. He’s in Colorado on a business trip, blissfully away from the
"unseasonably hot summer and terrible fires of Sydney," he says.
 Across the street is the original soda fountain, which continues as a small
restaurant. The Gateway Café down the street is a restaurant. On the corner is
a white Methodist Church, built in the prairie style of clapboard.
One block
behind on High Street is the red rocks church, now Congregationalist.
"PIE" signage in front of a red bungalow lures anyone with a sweet
craving. Next door, you’ll find Ralston Bros. Antiques Inc. in a small
bungalow filled with nostalgia. There’s an entire room of Depression glass and
another with radios and toys, costume jewelry and buttons.
And if you drive on the Ute Highway toward Longmont or Boulder, Lyons
Antiques is collection of dealers, a kind of co-op that has become popular. You
can wander the town before you catch a fish, or after, on your way to the
Park.
 DENVER'S ANTIQUES ROW
South Broadway is the generalized location of Denver's Antique Row, but it
pays to begin at North Broadway, closer to the heart of the city, and walk down
Broadway. There's no other district in Colorado with such a diverse and wide
selection--a store devoted entirely to Depression glass, a small cottage filled
with early American antiques, a lighting fixture shop filled with sconces and
chandeliers. From Asian to Western antiques, it takes an entire day, and more,
to see everything.
Begin with Eron Johnson Antiques, 451 Broadway. Eron collects from around the
world, most recently from India. He'll point out his antiques from the British
Colonial period in India when British furniture styles were made from exotic
woods. A cane-backed lounge is framed in rosewood.
Hanging lamps, no longer to be found in England, made their way to India,
where a lag in electrical wiring has preserved them. As much a museum as a
store, take out-of-town friends for a look--you may spend the entire day
inside. An added bonus is a collection of cards from antique restorers customers
can collect.
 Continue south on Broadway and you'll catch a number of antique shops along
the way. By the time you land in the Antique Row, you'll be ready for antique
shops back to back. In just 12 blocks, numbering from 400 to 1900, dealers have squeezed
together for co-ops and specialty shops.
The Antiques Guild, 1298 South Broadway, fills a block-long collection of
dealers. Chance upon one of the dealers, like Norma Ploog, and you'll get a
taste of the entire selection. Some specialize in European furniture, Norma
likes American style and recently has collected furniture from the
40s. Much of what you find isn't necessarily over 100 years old, but varies
widely from the beginning, to the middle of the 20th century.
A few shops specialize: head for them if they offer what you love. McDowell's
Antiques,1400 South Broadway, is the place for silver. Glass Roots Antiques, 27
East Dakota Avenue, or Hooked on Glass, 1407 South Broadway, are destinations for Depression glass. The Treasured Scarab, 25
East Dakota Avenue, carries vintage jewelry. Warner's Antiques, 1401 South
Broadway, has exquisite Asian screens and carvings as well as silver and
linens.
 Tucked among the wide store fronts is a
lavender cottage. Inside on
any ordinary day, a fragrant coffee aroma fills the rooms. John Boulware Antiques is strictly
early American, from about 1720 to 1820. The wood is simple, smooth and
lustrous. The rooms are tiny, but uncrowded--the look of a Connecticut country
home in Colonial times.
Strictly speaking, Antique Row is from 1100 to 1600 South Broadway. And
that's the area that easiest for walking. So if it's too much to cover in one
day, begin at one end and work your way to the middle. Two days is about perfect
to see it all.
Denver Antique Row is off I-25 at the Broadway exit. Information line to
Antique Row: 303-733-5251
Directions: Niwot is on Hwy 119 between Longmont and Boulder.
Lyons Chamber of Commerce: 303-823-5215. Lyons is located on Hwy 66 west of
Longmont and north of Boulder. The exit from I-25 onto 66 is #243.
Helpful websites:
www.antiques-colorado.com/antiquerow
www.antiques-colorado.com
www.niwotcolorado.com
www.niwotantiques.com
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