I really love this place. I had spent several months researching my relocation from the mountains to Denver, and had amassed a long list of possible places to live. I really wanted a place that felt beautiful, had great style, but that also had some of the more modern features that make a home livable.

I had reconciled myself after my search that if I wanted to live in a vintage style home, I would sacrific space, specifically in storage and closets, and also in the kitchen. Every other place that I looked at offered a tiny galley kitchen with undersized and in some cases decrepit appliances.

I was delighted after stumping around Denver for the better part of two days, to walk into the Belmont Buckingham and feel like I wanted to live there, even before the leasing agent showed me an apartment. The energy and feeling in the building was wonderful and stayed that way, after seeing several different floorplans. The amenities are brand new - fitness room, theater room, conference room, pilates/yoga room (NO building I looked at offered a Pilates Reformer), billiards table, professional style kitchen, dining room and great common area with flat screen TVs.

The apartments are light and bright, featuring these great huge windows that go from knee high to near the ceilings. All the ceilings are 9' tall, which makes for a great feel. The paint is not "apartment white", it's a nice khaki color that's very neutral, but feels warm. I was AMAZED at the closets, I've just never seen anything like them - my two bedroom has FOUR and all of them are large walk-ins. I used one to create a huge walk-in pantry with bookshelves just off the kitchen.

I used to be a chef, so my kitchen was very important to me, but I had accepted that I couldn't find full size appliances, and if so, they'd be older and definitely would not include a dishwasher. I felt like I hit the jackpot, with full size, brand new appliances, including a self cleaning gas range, full size dishwasher and new fridge. The kitchen has new maple cabinets, and while they don't have "vintage style", I think they are a wonderful choice, blending the modern basics (for easier and better use) with the older checkerboard kitchen floor. There are plenty of electrical outlets and it's a very friendly floorplan, with plenty of space for a stand up freezer (not a single place I looked at could begin to accommodate my freezer) and a sunny eat-in area, large enough easily for 4, 6 in a pinch. That area opens through a huge opening onto the living room and is so much more comfortable than being completely sealed off in the kitchen, like so many other places.

The bathroom is smallish, and the pedestal sink doesn't offer any storage, but it works very well with the deep cabinet behind the mirror, and the HUGE built-in armoire with shelves and drawers just outside in the hallway. The tub is older and very deep, oversized in fact.

The second bedroom steals the show in so many ways - it may be smaller than mine, but it has two walls of these huge windows and has a closet that's about 4 1/2 feet deep by almost 8 feet wide. It's actually large enough to drop a small home office inside - which was a huge asset to me, since I work from home. Master bedroom is more than large enough to fit a king bed, a separate desk workstation and some additional storage, on top of another walk-in closet with more storage than my two closets in my last 3000 square foot single family home.

Here are the drawbacks that I can honestly say are detractions, but still workable - *laundry rooms in the building, would have preferred washer/dryer in my unit
*if you don't pay for parking (my deal included a spot at only $45 per month), the street parking can be tough
*older bathtub needs to be resurfaced, but not objectionable at this point, and I'm big on soaking in a bubble bath
*some of the small details, like paint splatters, texture of some of the doors aren't perfect, but I actually prefer to live in a place with a little wear, so that I don't destroy it
*I wasn't crazy about paying pet rent - it seems crazy to pay that on top of a pet deposit, when the pet lives with me
*trash is a building over and I have to walk outside to drop in the dumpster - I'm definitely going to be less fond of that in the winter - but it wasn't a deal breaker for me
*and they structure their leases a little differently. While the special I got on a two bedroom was $975, the regular rate is $1300. Instead of signing my lease at the discount rate, they make you sign a lease at the regular rate, then give you a "Concession Addendum" showing the discount. It's smart on their side, because if you are late on your rent, you'll have to pay the "regular rate", on top of a late fee. Makes for a nasty surprise if you're not careful, but since I haven't been late on rent in years, I figured I would run the chance.

No, it's not perfect, but I have to say that in comparison to everywhere else I looked, I got much more square footage, it's a great floorplan with very usable features - the closets are amazing and the modern kitchen is almost too good to be true. I can imagine that from some of the other reviews that the changes in the building may have been tough for people who were here before, but if it's brand new to you - I'd really suggest you come see for yourself. It just has a great feel, nice energy and I'm loving it even more, after being here for a few months.

And every single person who has been to visit me thinks that I won the "apartment lottery" and they are shocked at what I pay and what I get for the money. Coming from a huge group of people that have lived in the area for years, I've taken that as my final validation that I did very well. I hope you give this place a chance if you're looking in Capitol Hill. I think that if you don't love living here, maybe you just shouldn't - there are plenty of other options.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/07/2009
hi, just wondering with all the negative responses, do you still love living there as much. it seems like an awesome place. THANK YOU!

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