Getting your player ready...
Four years ago when the market was slow, Denver buyers got a look at some creative luxury-paired homes two minutes south of I-70 at the Evergreen exit — chic, contemporary designs in a mountain setting. Even in that market, builder Robert Reger sold six – but then called in LoDo architect David Berton to re-envision the plans to provide big main-floor master suites, making them a logical, mountain alternative for ranch-type buyers.
Those are now a reality, and today you can tour a nice model at The Vistas at Evergreen – with mountain views rendered from a 4,400 square foot plan that’s showing four bedrooms and four baths; big entertaining spaces; a deck structured for a hot tub; two-car garage; and requiring virtually no maintenance responsibilities. And, of course, a main-floor master, with designer bath and a huge, windowed walk-in closet. That’s an exact match to what ranch buyers, wanting out of their two-story homes with long walks and driveways to shovel, are looking for now in the suburbs. “This is not your dad’s mountain home,” says Jessica Noonan, managing broker for Olde Towne Golden Realty, exclusive agency for The Vistas. “The architect really looked at how people live. And Evergreen is a hidden treasure. Its historic downtown and lake and the mountain parks are all just five minutes away.” Yet, these are a quick drive from downtown Denver. (My trip back via Sixth Avenue was 20 minutes.) Prices start at $719,000, for over 4,000 square feet. “They’re a great cost-per-foot value,” says Noonan, who is used to prices in downtown Golden, at double or more the per-square-foot. Noonan sees buyers coming from older areas in Evergreen proper, with dated homes that have nothing of the low maintenance and new features these do. But their first sale is to a Lakewood couple, a little younger, giving up an old home, wanting not just the main-floor master, but a quieter setting closer to skiing and mountain recreation. Noonan says both kinds of buyers, younger and older, like these contemporary interiors; and both like the low maintenance – a landscape of native grasses to match the piney surroundings, along with a small area where a buyer can maintain a lawn or garden. You’ll see an option for quartz counters (instead of granite) in the kitchen, and some other upgrades. But these already come with high quality finishes: 6-burner cooktop and oak floors. Get involved now with any of four plans that are set for summer delivery and you could ask for custom changes to meet special preferences – things corporate-sized builders are reticent to do.Follow Mark Samuelson on Twitter:
@marksamuelson