We’re kicking off the New Year with a new blog series – a custom home in the foothills west of Loveland inspired by mid-century modern design. Today’s post features a video with aerial footage from groundbreaking day. But first, meet Graham and Julie, our clients who agreed to share their home-building journey over the next nine months.
THE HOMEOWNERS
Husband and wife Graham and Julie have been waiting a long time for this day. More than twenty years in fact.
It’s groundbreaking day on their raw parcel of land where the HighCraft team is building their 3,343-s.f. forever home. The couple took a circuitous route to get to this exact place, and moment in time, on a ridgeline in Northern Colorado.
“We’re both from the Mid-Atlantic,” says Julie, who grew up in Maryland while Graham hails from Virginia. After the couple were married, they moved around quite a bit, living in different parts of the country.
“We always knew we wanted to move west,” she says.
Her brother, who lives in Denver, suggested that the couple come to Colorado while they were figuring out their next move.
“We’ve been out here now for just over two years,” Julie says. When asked how they like it so far, Graham half-jokes, “Enough to build a custom house.”
He says that Northern Colorado is special. “It’s a place to really put down roots, age in place, and call our forever home.”
THE PERFECT LOT
“Here’s the deal,” says Graham. “You gotta start with the lot. You can’t really plan your house until you find your home site.”
The couple looked for a parcel of land up and down the Front Range.
“What we really wanted was some type of view and feeling like you’re away, but also really close to the amenities that you can find in town,” Julie explains.
Graham agrees. “We wanted a view. We’ve always wanted a view. And Julie’s always wanted a water view. We got the best of both worlds. We have views to the west looking at Longs Peak, and views looking east to Loveland. The lights at night twinkle,” he says. “It’s pitch, pitch dark here. And the sunrises are astounding. It’s near trails. You can hike, you can bike.”
WHY BUILD NEW VS. REMODEL A PRE-OWNED HOME?
“Graham has always wanted to build a custom home,” Julie says.
“Picture every home you’ve ever owned or lived in,” Graham says. “You’re dealing with a previous owner’s tastes and choices. You’re having to fix cobbled together DIY improvements, and electrical or plumbing gremlins.”
“We’ve bought a couple of historic homes,” Julie adds. “We had a 1920s home for a while. We had a 1950s home. And there are many things we liked about both of those houses, but there are a lot of challenges that you find when you’re trying to renovate a historic home. And so we asked ourselves, ‘What are the things we like from the older styles that we can create in a new build?’”
What they liked were the simple, clean lines of mid-century modern design.
MID-CENTURY MODERN INSPIRATION
Mid-century modern is a design movement that became popular in the United States in the middle of the twentieth century. Hallmarks of this style include sleek lines, the fusion of indoor and outdoor spaces, muted natural tones with pops of vibrant color, and the combination of natural and manmade materials in furniture and décor.
Asked to describe the architectural style of their home, Graham says, “I would call it ‘prairie mid-century modern.’ It’s different than the typical Colorado new home you see. We like that. We wanted it to be different.”
“The clerestory windows are common in mid-century … they let the natural light in without being overbearing. Every single window was perfectly placed, planned around that lot, around every view.”
“It’s not pure mid-century,” Julie says, “but heavily influenced.”
GROUNDBREAKING DAY VIDEO
Check out this bird’s-eye view video of Graham and Julie’s home site on groundbreaking day.
MORE PHOTOS FROM GROUNDBREAKING DAY
Graham takes the driver’s seat of the excavator …
… and prepares to make the ceremonial first dig of their foundation.
And with that, their project is officially underway.
Graham takes in the view as he spins the bucket around …
… and dumps it. Well done, Graham!
Stay tuned to this blog series as we follow the home’s transformation and hear from the homeowners, interior designer and project manager throughout the process.
Whether you build new construction, or remodel what you have, HighCraft’s experienced design-build team can navigate every detail of the planning and construction process so you don’t have to. Contact HighCraft with questions or to schedule a free consultation.
