Denver Bungalow: All Grown Up

Denver’s neighborhoods are experiencing a major change right now with a larger than normal influx of people moving here along with long time residents experiencing a jump in their house value and deciding to renovate.  As a designer, I drive in and around Denver neighborhoods almost every day and it is interesting, and occasionally startling, for me to observe neighborhoods changing on a month to month basis.  I’ve never experienced change like this in a city before and it is a bit unsettling.  I think that’s why a project like this one is special to me.

This home is a 1920’s Craftsman Bungalow on a beautiful tree lined street in Denver’s Historic Congress Park.  My clients loved the location, the street and the home, but needed to expand its square footage to be more in tune with a 21st century lifestyle.  They did what many people do in this situation and raised the roof yet they did it in such a stylish and thoughtful way that respects the original Craftsman Bungalow and respects the neighborhood that I always leave their home thoroughly in love with its charm.  Here are some of the renovated and brand new bathrooms in the home – I can’t wait to share the rest of the home with you once we’ve finished with the final touches!

I have little nicknames for the homes that I work on that help me orient myself in terms of the design for each individual client. This house was always “Natural Beauty.”

I love that this little family home has retained it’s original bungalow charm and has expanded just enough to hold its 21st century family in style.

I think this home is a good lesson in loving where you live.  Most of the time, it’s a very good thing to live in a house for a while before you renovate.  You learn a lot about a home by living in it: where the sunlight falls, what your street is like, what your neighbors are like, which tree has the best shade and what part of the home you feel most comfortable in and where you feel most uncomfortable.  It’s really hard to get those things from a few walk-throughs and, while some of them don’t sound design related at all, they are.  Try letting your house tell you what it wants to be when it grows up.  You might be surprised at the good ideas that come from it!