Red Rocks Park in Morrison, Colorado, one of the big three beautiful expressions of the red sandstone Fountain Formation in Colorado, along with the Flatirons in Boulder, and the mighty Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

John Brisben Walker championed park space in the foothills of Colorado, and his purchase of this land and vision of a natural ampitheatre ultimately lead to the incredible architectural masterpiece of Red Rocks Ampitheatre, CO.

Denver choose Burnham Hoyt, Denver’s most prominent International-style architect, to design the ampitheatre. His understated design was masterfully integrated into the natural rock formations.

Built by Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps, construction started in 1936 and completed in 1941. Over the years, there have been many attempts to ruin Hoyt’s design by adding booths or other items, but historical preservation has prevailed to this day.

Burnam Hoyt’s Sullivan House from 1940, completed a year before Red Rocks. Note Hoyt’s mix of rounded and rectangular volumes, consistent elements in his International-style designs.

Creation Rock at Red Rocks. Believe it or not, at one time, it even was suggested to project corporate logos onto the sandstone rock features during concerts.

The bench seats, the planters and trees, and the stairs running along
both Creation Rock and Ship Rock are some of the most important
design elements of Red Rocks Ampitheatre. These can be overlooked
due to the understated nature of the design. To most residents, they
simply have always been there.

The ampitheatre is just one part of this Denver-owned park. Hiking on the Trading Post Loop path will give you close up views of many remarkable sandstone formations.

Many of Burnham Hoyt’s more prominent commision’s are now lost, such as the Albany Hotel, the Boettcher School and the Denver Children’s Hospital. Lake Middle School is a prominent commision that survives to this day.

This is the International-style Hoyt House and studio, built 1947, located near the Bonnie Brae neighborhood.

Red Rocks Ampitheatre has some of the finest acoustics of any concert venue in the United States!

Hoyt’s final commision was for 1955’s Denver Public Library, now incorporated into Michael Grave’s larger design.

Creation Rock and Ship Rock at Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison CO.

Red Rocks Ampitheatre and Park, located in Morrison, CO, in the foothills just west of Denver.

This land was once part of a 4000 acre parcel owned by John Brisben Walker,
who envisioned the location as a natural ampitheatre.

After Walker sold the land to Denver in 1927, architect Burnham Hoyt
designed the restrained International-style design, perfectly delivering
John Brisben Walker’s vision, integrated masterfully into the sandstone
formations.

Remarkably, this historical postcard shows an early concert
taking place on the very top of the principal rock formation,
Creation Rock.

The Red Rocks stage, and it’s relation to Denver, viewed over Dinosaur Ridge with Green Mountain to the left.

Note how the sandstone formations are integrated directly into Hoyt’s award winning design. Denver can be see in this photo as well.

This breathtaking ramp leads you from from the southwest parking lot, to the grand staircase at the base of the ampitheatre.

John Brisben Walker purchased this land in Morrison upon his return to Colorado, after a stint in NY, where he built up and then sold Cosmopolitan Magazine.

At that time the magazine was of high literary importance. Walker featured writers such as Tolstoy, H.G. Wells, & Mark Twain!

Before moving to New York, Walker had developed and built many areas of Denver and the Highlands, including Riverside Park (which I think included a race track, this later became the railyards along the Platte), the Denver Castle of Commerce, & Berkeley Park (which also included a race track & a ball field).

Spot the moon in this shot of Ship Rock over the benchs of the ampitheatre.

Walker was quite the visionary. He was an early supporter of the Wright Brothers and the Stanley Brothers of Stanley Steamer Locomobile steam-car fame.

He told the Wright Brothers they could come to Colorado and use his land, free of charge (they didn’t), but he did convince one of the the Stanley Brothers that the Colorado climate would improve his health. Freelan Stanley went on to build the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

Sleek International-style lines from the design of Denver architect Burnham Hoyt.

Walker’s ambition knew no bounds, he owned both Mt. Morrison and Mt. Falcon. He built an incline railroad to the top of Mt. Morrison. He built a stone mansion for himself atop Mt. Falcon, the ruins of which can be seen here.

Walker even held Stanley Steamer Locomobile races up on Mt. Falcon!

Walker’s biggest ambition was to build the Summer White House for the president of the United States, not far from his own mansion, on top of Mt. Falcon.

This would have been a Bavarian-style castle that would have had outstanding views of both Denver and the mountain range. He even got so far as to start the foundation and lay the cornerstone.

Sadly, multiple tragedies struck Walker, the Castle of Commerce burned down, his mansion on Mt. Falcon burned down, Walker’s wife died, and World War I took attention away from his Summer White House plans.

Long shot of Creation Rock at Red Rocks Park, Morrison, CO.

Red Rocks Park, Morrison, CO.

Appearing small in this long shot, maybe it’s hard to believe that John Brisben Walker named this feature on his ranch Garden of the Titans.

Walker was a strong believer in Colorado’s natural parks.

He sold Red Rocks to Denver in 1927. Red Rocks Trading Post was completed in the 1932 (designed by architect W. R. Rosche). This was followed by Red Rocks Ampitheatre in 1941, after 12 years of planning & construction.

John Brisben Walker named the two main sandstone monolithic rock features of Red Rocks. This is Ship Rock.

This is the mighty Creation Rock, a dizzying sight when viewed up close.

Creation Rock towers over the audience, sitting in architect Burnham Hoyt’s sleek-lined bench seats.

These bench lines are an important and fascinating feature of Burnham Hoyt’s plan for Red Rocks Ampitheatre, designed in the International-style.

Poured concrete forms sit underneath beautiful red brickwork. . .

Sleek International-style lines. . .

Incredible natural beauty. . .

Renown Denver architect Burnham Hoyt’s design masterfully
integrated the ampitheatre into the rock outcroppings of Red Rocks.

The sandstone tunnel leading to the upper parking lot, completed late 1930s

View from the stage at Red Rocks looking up at the peak of Mt Morrison.

This roof wouldn’t have been in place for the famous Beatles performance of 1964, but it was there for the huge MTV hit, U2’s Sunday Bloody Sunday video from 1983.

I believe my wife, modernist real-estate buyers-agent, Shannon Stanbro was at this U2 performance (getting rained on, no doubt)

And back again. . . to Creation Rock

Long shot of Creation Rock at Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, CO

Natural wonder, Red Rocks Park, west of Denver in the foothills of Morrison, CO.

The breathtaking rock outcroppings are part of the Fountain Formation, which also includes the Flatirons in Boulder, and the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

Red Rocks Ampitheatre was completed on the spot in 1941, after famed International-style Denver architect Burnham Hoyt completed the design in 1936.

I currently live on Hoyt street, named in his honor.

This spot was originally part of the John Brisben Walker ranch, which Walker purchased after moving back to Colorado, after selling his Cosmopolitan Magazine to William Randolph Hearst.

Burnham Hoyt’s design is a masterpiece of consideration of site and setting, perfectly integrated into the natural rock formations.

Walker was the one who first envisioned this area as a natural musical ampitheatre and started having concerts here at the turn of the century. It’s too bad he didn’t live long enough to see Hoyt’s design.

The roof here was added, otherwise the ampitheatre has remained remarkably intact, despite numerous attempts to ruin it by upgrading the benchs/seats.

A scan of a postcard showing the original design without the roof.

Of course, when Hoyt designed the ampitheatre, he couldn’t have predicted the amount of electronic equipment required for contemporary rock bands.

The visual line of the benchs, straddling the distance between “Creation Rock” and “Ship Rock”, flanked by the planters and trees, is one of the strongest elements of Hoyt’s design.

Suggestions for walkway locations were provided by CCC and WPA workers, and then beautifully integrated into the landscape by Hoyt.

Walker’s original name for the site was Garden of the Titans.

Creation Rock at Red Rocks, Colorado