Getting your player ready...
Three years ago, Ken and Jo Martucci had their retirement all figured out – staying right where they were in Douglas County, far from the hustle-bustle. But those plans tipped upside down when a cute baby granddaughter named Morgan arrived, with a Stapleton address. Now she’s two-and-a-half, and the Martuccis have their own place in Stapleton six blocks from Morgan’s house, and are heading into LoDo for entertainment, riding their cruiser bikes around city trails and parks, and hanging with an entirely new crowd of Stapleton friends.
“And here we are,” said Jo Martucci. When the baby arrived, she added, the kids told them they were living too far out. “It’s great when you have grown kids that want to share their lives with you; to have them walk over and say, ‘What do you have to eat?'” One day Jo was on the front porch of her New England-styled home by Parkwood Homes when she struck up a conversation with some other new arrivals, Pam and Lou Winston from Ohio. They were from 1,500 miles east, but had exactly the same narrative: Three grandkids, ages 8, 6, and 4, had sprouted up in Stapleton; so the couple had packed and left their lifelong surroundings for a Parkwood home out in Colorado. “Who has an adventure like that?” quipped Lou Winston, sipping a margarita in the Martuccis’ patio. But, he added, “We had no idea that (Stapleton) was such a friendly place.” Now the Winstons and Martuccis do everything together – the boys explore different golf courses, while Jo takes Pam on expeditions to little shopping districts around town. All of them have cruiser bikes – save for Lou, who has more serious gear (he’s ridden a 68-mile loop from Stapleton on the Sand Creek and Highline trails, and ran in last year’s Bolder Boulder). Part of what makes this come together are Parkwood’s homes: great options for bonus space (Parkwood finished a “man cave” for Lou in the basement, with media area, workout room and bar; and a craft room for Pam on the gabled 3rd floor. “When we found the house, it all came together,” recalled Jo Martucci – who with the others complimented Parkwood reps Heather Barben and Dede Jeffery, who were here from the moment Maryland-based Parkwood transplanted its Eastern Seaboard styling to Stapleton 11 years ago. The pair will serve lemonade and popsicles today at their model; and show you four final sites on a ‘mews’ tree-lawn in Central Park West; plus new sites from the mid-$4s near Bluff Lake Nature Center, and a 4-bedroom ‘Chestertown’ that’ll deliver now — $670,000. Take Quebec north past Town Center to E. 35th Avenue, then east three blocks. If you go… WHERE: Parkwood Homes in Stapleton, 3-&-4-bedroom traditional American designs near Central Park, 3-5 bedrooms plus options for bonus spaces, 3-car garage; cookies, lemonade, popsicles today. 8176 E. 35th Ave., Denver; take Quebec Street north from Martin Luther King Blvd. to E. 35th Avenue, turn east 0.7 mi. on greenbelt between Ulster & Uinta PRICE: From mid-$400s, 4-bed for quick delivery $670,000
