Take a stroll through Boulder, Denver, or any mountain town in Colorado and you’re sure to find a multitude of home styles. One particular look that I think garners a lot of attention is warm Colorado modern. The perfect amalgam of modern and inviting. Where clean and simple design merges with rich, rustic textures and open spaces feel warm, comfortable, and welcoming. It’s one of my favorite design approaches.

One of the biggest draws to living in Denver is the balance between urban and mountain life. Whether you’re enjoying the 300+ days of sunshine, biking down one of the 850 miles of paved trails in the city, or heading to the slopes for a day of powder play, if you’re building a custom home in Denver, you need a residential architect who understands this mentality and designs homes that help people thrive in this vibrant environment. 

If you’ve never built a house before, you may not be aware of how complex the process can become. You’ll want to find a seasoned architect who can handle the job, of course, but if you are building locally or along the Front Range, you’ll want to make sure to hire a Boulder architect who understands the nuances of the area’s complicated and strict zoning codes.

As a Colorado residential architect, I specialize in creating modern custom homes for people who enjoy well-crafted environments. Now, if you are like me, you may think of “craft” as being something done by hand, and generally being more decorative in nature. When you think of craft in terms of architecture, you might imagine a Craftsman-style house, where there is a lot of attention to detail, where the house feels well planned and executed.

Everyone’s motivation for designing a house might be different. Some may want to have a say in every little detail, while others might desire to live in a space that is truly one-of-a-kind. As an architect, it’s always been a dream of mine to design my own home.

We’ve all heard it: “Bigger is better.” But when it comes to building a sustainable home, it’s anything but. Since the 1950s, single-family dwellings have more than doubled in size, while at the same time, the average family living inside has decreased. Although some improvements in home size have been beneficial, such as kitchen size, which has grown tremendously since the 1950s. What was once a small, closed-off space designed for only one cook is now oftentimes open and centrally located, a better reflection of how families use kitchens today.

Sustainable design in Colorado goes far beyond simply choosing earth-friendly materials. It’s also where the cosmos of good design and resilient design intertwine.

I got into architecture because I wanted to sculpt and shape the world around me. While I didn’t know it back then, I can now see this kernel of thought forming in the third grade when I was asked to write about what I wanted to be and why.