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Click on photos below to take a photo tour of each winning home
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Home&Garden feature article fall 06
Tour three homes that readers voted “Best New Home” and “Best Remodel” in our online Architectural Showcase Contest. After tallying the votes, it turns out there was a tie for the remodel category, so you get to see two homes for your vote. by Michelle Gilles Best New Home - Lawerence & Gomez Architects Steeply pitched roofs, fiery colors and a bold contemporary design mark the winner of Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine’s online Architectural Showcase Contest for “Best New Home.” Perched in central Boulder, where it commands city and Flatirons views, the house was designed by architect Juana Gomez for homeowners Ann Scarritt and Samantha Messier. It all began when Scarritt’s parents, who subdivided their lot, gave their daughter the plot next to them, so she could be close by in their golden years. After a mutual friend referred Scarritt and Messier to Gomez, principal partner at Lawrence and Gomez Architects in Boulder, the three worked together to formulate a design. “We didn’t have a huge budget,” Messier says, and they preferred to build a home that “wasn’t a mansion.” Instead, they opted for a “reasonable design that fit with the neighborhood.” After analyzing the steep lot and her clients’ needs, Gomez created a “straightforward floor plan...simple, with a variety of spaces.” Because both residents have a modern bent, Gomez’s design called for tall ceilings that lend the home a loft-like feel, bold walls splashed in bright greens, yellows, reds, and purples, and spacious windows to make the home airy and bright. The design’s broad strokes also incorporated smaller details, such as creative shelving to showcase the residents’ art and artifacts, and a wooden staircase railing with a contemporary geometric design that Gomez created and Mark Ascthwanden of Boulder’s Classic Work Construction built. In addition to modern flair, the home has a few “green building” features, including clerestory windows that open to let the heat out. “In Boulder, the views and the sun are in the same spot,” Gomez notes, “so it’s a challenge to open windows to the views and control the hot summer sun.” Gomez’s use of awnings and deep eaves mitigated the problem. Being mindful of energy efficiency, the home also has radiant floor heating and an evaporative cooler, and the homeowners purchased only highly energy-efficient appliances. “At one point I said, ‘I can’t go to Home Depot or look at appliances one more time,’” Messier says with a sigh. Now that they’re able to enjoy their new home, one of the pair’s favorite details is the staircase railing. “It really captures the home’s lines and style,” says Messier, who also takes pride in the upstairs bath “because Ann and I tiled it.” All in all, the homeowners couldn’t be happier. “We ended up getting exactly what we originally hoped for,” Messier says. And who could ask for more, other than to be voted “Best New Home”? Take a photo tour of the "Best New Home" winner
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One glimpse at Karen Simmons’ home before and after her remodel is enough to convince anyone why online readers voted her north Boulder home “Best Remodel” in Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine’s online Architectural Showcase Contest. Nestled in the Newlands neighborhood, her 2,476-square-foot Prairie-style home was designed by architect Doug Baumgartner of Baumgartner Enterprises in Lafayette. Without going overboard, the tiny ranch home was transformed into a livable, breathable, tasteful space that features an open floor plan, long banks of windows and a low-lying roofline—all signature Prairie-house design elements. A longtime Boulder resident, Simmons was hunting for the perfect home when she discovered an early 20th-century, 981-square-foot ranch house. She purchased it and began “drawing on napkins” when dining out to help envision the right remodel. After a friend referred her to Baumgartner, she signed with him and the real work began. Baumgartner and Simmons both appreciate Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie architectural style, so the design process was a melding of like minds. From there, it was a matter of demolition and rebuilding. The first challenge came when they popped the top. “As soon as the roof came off, it snowed, and it snowed, and it snowed,” Simmons says with a laugh. The Brazilian granite she chose for the kitchen island was the next hiccup. After delivery, Simmons saw it was incorrectly cut. Baumgartner made it work, however, by mounting a half-circle slab for the kitchen breakfast bar, and changing the original island’s design from one to two planes. “I just didn’t want to give up that piece of granite,” says Simmons of the stone that features rich gold, white and black veins throughout. “My background is geology, and this [stone] is the epitome of a geologist’s dream.” Baumgartner welcomed Simmons’ help throughout the design and construction phases. Simmons even enrolled in an architectural design course during the remodel, and did all the interior trim work on the home’s 78 windows and 24 doors. She also helped with demolition, during which she noticed the garage roof was made of pine—a wood she admires because the knots “symbolize things that go wrong in our lives.” But the knots fell out while she was preparing the slats for re-milling into the kitchen floor. Simmons saved them, with the intention of placing them back into their holes. While she was away, however, the framer had the house cleaned and the knots were accidentally thrown out. In true “can do” fashion, Simmons filled the empty holes with resin and inserted keepsakes, including a pair of dice from when her late husband worked at a Reno casino, and a commemorative pin she received for managing work on the ultraviolet spectrometer system for the Jupiter spacecraft “Galileo.” Nine short months after work began on her three-bedroom home, it was finished—mostly on time and on budget. “It’s my dream house,” Simmons says, standing in the kitchen next to the dramatic Brazilian granite island. And the fact that her house won “Best Remodel” is just another bright spot in a happy home. Take a photo tour of this "Best Remodel" winner |
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Turning a tiny 1890s homesteader’s house into a breathtakingly contemporary abode is no easy feat. That’s probably why Laura Greenfield’s University Hill home won “Best Remodel” in Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine’s online Architectural Showcase Contest. The project began when Greenfield, an architect and owner of Boulder’s Greenfield Architects Inc., showed the small, 700-square-foot house to a prospective client. Although the client declined to buy the place, she suggested Greenfield purchase it instead. With a growing family pushing the boundaries of their Newlands-area home, the Greenfields decided to go for it. The property had a fairly sloped front entry, “which was through the alley down below,” Greenfield notes, but her architect’s eye saw past the home’s perceived flaws. And, although it was a historic property, it flew through the permit process 10 weeks after purchase. While many historic properties must adhere to the Boulder Historic Preservation Ordinance, Greenfield’s was exempt because it was not visually oriented to the street. “It’s at a dead end [and therefore] not subject to the rigorous requirements,” she explains. Still, she wanted to preserve the stone foundation and the surrounding landscape, which includes an old apple orchard and a lilac field. Greenfield hired Harrington Homes to do the rough framing, but she managed the entire project herself. Not without a few surprises, however. The first was a mountain lion living in the structure. “A really big one; the size of one you would see in a zoo,” Greenfield says of the animal she estimates weighed 200 pounds. “He was here first, so we waited for him to leave.” After the lion trotted off to open space, she and her team removed the “tenant’s” discards, then remodeled the first floor, which now houses three bedrooms and a family room. As for the sloped entry, Greenfield brought the front door to grade level and built the second story over the original building, keeping the integrity of the old home’s rectangle. This level now has a new front entry, living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom suite. Greenfield’s favorite aspect of her new home is the site. “It’s just beautifully oriented,” she says. “It’s a delight to be in the house, because you feel you’re part of the outdoors.” Indeed, the home’s two outdoor spaces are enhanced by her architectural skill. One faces north, with a view of the city and evening lights, so even in winter “it feels like an outdoor room.” The other, sunnier space has a garden and trees, and is “a completely different outdoor experience,” she says. The 2,150-square-foot home exemplifies how two buildings—one old, one new—can come together with a nod to the past and a look toward the future. “It’s contemporary, but subdued,” Greenfield says of her home. “Not sleek or ultramodern, but with simple forms and an environmentally sensitive design.” Take a photo tour of this "Best Remodel" winner
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