A Denver landmark lost its claim to fame Tuesday as crews tore apart the large, bright red rose beds in front of the bright red and white house at Logan and Alameda.
The "rose house" has a new owner and lost its roses.
The property at 322 S. Logan St. has been on the market for some time. Denverite visited the home and its resident of 55 years, Fotini Demos, in September of 2016. At the time, Jimmy Treantos, a family acquaintance of the Fontonias, said Francis was ready to leave Denver and return to Greece. Francis doesn't speak much English, but she did say she'd only sell for $1 million. Nearby houses then were selling for around half that.
City records show that the title changed hands twice in the first week of December 2017 — first from Fotini E. Demos to United Colorado LLC at a sale price of $350,000 on Dec. 1, then from United Colorado LLC to Tristar Homebuyers LLC at a sale price of $345,000 on Dec. 5.
Denverite has so far been unable to contact anyone associated with the sale. Denver's Community Planning and Development Department found no recent permits for the property other than an electrical permit. We'll update this story when we learn more about the property's future.
The red and white house remains, but the rose beds that really made it stand out are gone. Kristen Aguirre with 9News reported that the flowers were removed before the bulldozing so anyone who wanted them could have them.
Treantos told Denverite last year that the gardens have “pretty much always been here” since he met Demos in the late 1950s, and that he hoped whoever bought the property would preserve them.
“As a memory to her,” he said. “I’d hope they would continue to (treasure) her memory.”
This story has been updated to use the name provided by Demos' tenant and property records.
