Al and Christine Pisano had good jobs in education on Long Island and had already built a house for their kids there when a trip to Denver for a conference left them wondering, “Why not just pack up and move out here?”
That was two years ago, and now the Pisanos are readying a Colorado Christmas in a new, four-bedroom Trail Ridge plan that Shea Homes matched them to — similar to another thatap ready for you to see Saturday, Dec. 15, at Colliers Hill.
“They loved the idea,” recalls Christine Pisano about how their 9-, 11- and 13-year-old kids reacted to the idea of a Colorado move.
Then the couple set to work exploring a subject they knew particularly well: What were schools like around the Denver area? After zeroing in on Erie and its St. Vrain Valley Schools, they made a trip west to get the lay of the land.
“This was the best builder we found,” says Al about Shea, noting that Christine and he did their homework, visiting lots of communities and models. “We had a different feeling from Shea; they weren’t pushy, just informative.”
Sales rep Andrew Griggs at master-planned Colliers Hill introduced the pair to potential neighbors — and then showed them a model of the Trail Ridge plan and set them to picking their finishes and options.
Now the Pisanos are settled in, their younger two kids at walkable Soaring Ridge PK-through-8 School a half-mile from their house, and their oldest son, Lucas, in the Robotics Club offered by the Innovation Center at nearby Erie High School, 9-out-of-10 stars at GreatSchools.org.
The Pisanos had Shea build them a home from scratch while living out of a rental in Lafayette, and made “Sunday-Fun Day” visits to Colliers Hill to check up on the home’s progress.
Shea Homes still has 20 or so sites where you could do that at prices from the $470s (a real price that will deliver a 401 ranch including a lot premium) — including sites on cul-de-sacs, others offering a walkout lower level backing to open space.
Or you could make your move the easy way — into a contemporary five-bedroom, 4-1/2-bath plan on the same block as the Pisanos thatap ready now, over 3,100 square feet of space, plus basement and three-car garage with a side-facing carriage bay for a show car, at $608,370. (There’s also a ranch at $563,215.)
Griggs and Ben Calder will show you the parks and bike trails, the Overlook community pool and clubhouse, and the way over to Erie’s historic Briggs Street, where the Pisanos and other residents find Cristos Coffee and brewpubs like Miner’s Tavern and The Old Mine.
Calder notes that buyers are already showing plenty of interest in year 2019 and suggests you see those near-ready homes now rather than waiting. Exit I-25 at Erie Parkway and head west 3 miles to Colliers Boulevard.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this postap preparation.