Belcaro

Belcaro is a beautiful neighborhood, with amazing homes and tree-lined streets. It's one of Denver's great old neighborhoods. There are a few ways to subdivide this neighborhood to talk about it. Actually, this can be confusing.
If you are looking into real-estate here, you need to be aware that many realtors and other sites will consider the north border of Belcaro to be E. Exposition Ave. Obviously this is less than half of the area covered by other sites, like this one. Most of the area north of Exposition is actually referred to as "Polo Club", because of the dizzyingly moneyed Polo Club North residential neighborhood. This area is surrounded by a high brick wall. I have visited it a few times, being lucky enough to have done some pet-sitting here, and it is a wonderful place. It's not just a rich neighborhood, but a truly beautiful one. Instead of the grossly-ugly, beige-siding-stamped-out-cookie-cutter-McMansion-rich-family neighborhoods that you see now, where the houses look just like every other "community project" neighborhood houses, except bigger, most of these homes are truly stately brick mansions. It's frankly amazing. If you can afford to raise your family there, then go for it.
South of Exposition is another beautiful and wealthy neighborhood. It's expensive too, and the only reason it doesn't stand out at the most exclusive place in the area is because it borders even more posh neighborhoods.
I used to live on Mississippi and Bellaire, just a stone's throw from the little southwest leg of Belcaro shown on the map. I did my grocery shopping and other errands at Belcaro shopping center which lies on the Colorado Boulevard stretch. The businesses here are long-established and have low turnover. You can get groceries, home supplies, and there are also cosmetic spas along both the Colorado stretch and the Cherry Creek Drive.
The northern point is mostly offices--many medical or cosmetic, as I mentioned, because this is getting into the posh Cherry Creek business area. Colorado Blvd is all commercial, mostly retail of various kinds.
The southwest corner is referred to by locals not as Belcaro, but as Bonnie Brae. Visit and you'll know why. This was settled by wealthy and pioneering Scots in the late 19th century. Practically everyone in Denver loves to head to Bonnie Brae for dinner and/or ice cream sometimes. Bonnie Brae Ice Cream and Bonnie Brae Tavern are long-established local favorites, but you can find every kind of food here whether you're in the mood for ice cream or sushi. It's a great place for residents who can afford to live here, but the local restaurants are also good for those of us who can't.

As you enter the Belcaro neighborhood, the streets lose their normal grid pattern, winding about confusingly. This is the first clue that you’re leaving the more ordinary Denver neighborhoods behind. Belcaro is posh. Parts of it are hidden to prying eyes by high brick walls, leaving only the towering tops of venerable evergreens and willows to hint at the luxury that lies within. Half a million dollars for a home is a bargain basement price, and many of these homes may leave you musing over where exactly one draws the line between “house” and “mansion.”

There’s no commercial development within Belcaro itself, and hence little reason to visit unless you live here. Cherry Creek is directly to the north, however, and there is an inviting strip of a few eateries, boutiques, and bars around University and Exposition. This includes one of Denver’s most well-established and popular ice cream shops, Bonnie Brae ice cream.

The name seems anomalous at first, until you look closer at the area and realize that half the businesses are Bonnie Brae this or Bonnie Brae that. There is even a church called “The Kirk of Bonnie Brae.” Bonnie Brae is the name for the southern half of Belcaro, which was the first area in the neighborhood to be developed. In the 1920s, the area’s developer, George Olinger, strove to recreate the ambience of a Scottish Village on the outskirts of the growing city. That explains the use of gray stone in the older homes, the winding streets, and the name everywhere. Residents of Bonnie Brae and of Belcaro as a whole are, understandably, proud of their neighborhood. There are many neighborhoods in Denver where homes routinely top the million-dollar mark, and this is one of them – but for the money, residents live in an area that’s close (but not too close) to the center, with gorgeous architecture, and a unique identity and history.