Choosing The Best Single Family Home In Denver

The floorplan for House 3973 is not displayed correctly on the SpringLeaf website – the main level is not displayed and instead two upper level plans are shown…

Both of these projects are tremendous but my vote goes to House 3973. Potential net-zero enivronmental performance tips the scale here but other factors are consistent design across the entire project, detached vs. duplex and location.

I like House 3973 because it feels more like a home. (I haven’t voted yet). But several rooms are not slow. The kitchen is too spread out: the walk from sink to frig is over 10′; the frig to the stove is over 8′; and the stove to the sink is over 7′. No points there. The Master bedroom is supersized. No points there. The dining area is not 10X20 and the table floats with only a view from a side window (and the stairs). No points there. One other note: how far outside Denver do we look for homes…20 square mile radius…100 square mile radius? Yes, the home is in Boulder, but I too found homes in Boulder and declined to use them because they felt outside the scope of what I considered Denver.

John,
I’m curious about the sample size per residential category in each city. It can impact the analysis…how many apt/lofts were scored in Toronto versus apt/lofts scored in Dalls, versus Denver? Could you provide the actual numbers for us to review?

I’ve selected Washpark Green for its elegant simplicity. I particularly admired these plans for flexibilities inherent in the design–the potential for work / live spaces.

The buildings themselves might not be net zero, but do demonstrate dense living–which is another “slow” layer; homes can be slowified, but this is irrelevant if the communities they exist in are not.

Anyway, love European row houses and this plan is reminiscent of them.

My only concern is the entry’s proportion–seems a little understated.

I chose the Washpark Green! While the main floor of the Spring Leaf looks really good, I’m not convinced on the second. It seems a bit complicated and the bedrooms have a bit too much wasted space for me. The terrace would be very nice though.
The Washpark one I like best is the South unit since the North unit has a strange door location for bed 2 and a weird master bath. The South unit’s master bath looks cool with the shower tucked in behind the sinks. What I really like about the Washpark main floors is how the spaces are divided in plan AND in section with a few steps separating the kitchen, living and dining. It’s a small thing, but it makes the spaces just a bit more defined and cozy.

***FLOORPLAN of Spring leaf**** They have a bug – This is first floor plan – http://springleafboulder.com/pdf/D-Main.pdf and this is the second- http://springleafboulder.com/pdf/D-Upper.pdf
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BradW you stated that everyone had something negative to say about the plans. That alone does not make them not slow as our threshold is 17.

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Thoughts on yesterday to today design in a bit.

Mid America Mom

Terri,
Just to clarify the garage in Washpark…There is a back street entrance (can be seen from Google satellite). A detached garage sits beyond the outdoor living.
Oh, BTW, I was sorely disappointed in the laundry design as were you. And I struggled with a duplex being a single-family home. But, I secretly covet the Master bath shower in the South unit.:-)

Hi Molly and Terri- looks like a new thing?? townhomes but they are not… they give them some name. Makes me shrug.

Any architects out there that would like to explain what makes these not a townhome?

Mid America Mom

Murray,
Your comment about enormous bedrooms got me thinking about my own observations of room size while doing the Denver redesign this week. I struggled with extra space in the redesign. I pondered the following…if you follow the Slow Home criteria when creating a floorplan is it possible you will end up with more spacious areas…areas that may appear to be larger than necessary?

The 2 nominees may have larger rooms because there aren’t alot of “extras” and odd angles. That would fall in line with the Slow Home philosophy of design.

So if you’re using Slow Home to design a 2800 square foot house, you may actually have left over space. What do you do with it?

MAM,
I was wondering the same thing…what category does a duplex fall in? Who came up with that nomenclature anyway?

It seems to me that the designers of Spring Leaf are using advanced green technology in a more traditional house design (which would probably appeal to a larger portion of the general population). I wonder how they are going to integrate the PV panels on the homes. Some panels are rised which might turn off potential buyers simply because of the aesthetics…I’m curious.

MollyK you had me thinking about the kitchen design. I did look at the plan and the nkba guidelines. Recommendations is that the entire triangle should not exceed 26 and this is right there. They also have that one leg should not exceed 9 which the refrigerator to sink does.

In my past I had a 9 by 14 U and loved it. I called it my dream kitchen though not my dream cabinents or flooring (that was a future honey to do list item) :) The distance across the 14 never bothered me.

If I was to work with the space and wanted to make it a bit more tight I would have moved the refrigerator closer to the stove. BUT I do like where it is now, it keeps casual people, OUT of my kitchen! (I cannot wait to move out of this 9*7 non windowed closet they call a L shaped kitchen. No room for anything.)

Mid America Mom

Murray,
First, let’s stop the South shower bashing ;)
All those shower heads AND a bench…what is there not to like about a massage after a hard day. It’s got to be cheaper than a going to a spa for a massage. On a side note, I read somewhere that homeowners admittedly use the master tub significantly less than the shower which calls into question the expense and square footage needed for one.

Second, I actually like your built-in aquarium. How cool is that:) Let’s see…other options for extra space? How about a really nice wet bar (my personal favorite)? In Dallas the space seemed to be used for a “media room”…is that another word for home theater? I guess it would depend on which floor you had extra space. The first floor could have a cool inner court yard…I like the notion of bringing the outside in (in a manner of speaking).

MAM,
I’m sorry about your current kitchen situation. I wouldn’t wish that on you. And I hear what you’re saying about the 3973 kitchen…still, I find that amount of openness brings out the agoraphobic in me ;)

Scored both units …. hard to decide. For me personally I like to look at the living level as that is where we spend most time.

I like the entry and stair better in Springleaf- I think we all can agree on the Wash park entry not being ideal.

The kitchen – I like U and it is spread out but I feel the triangle in the Wash one is too tight (less than 4 from refrigerator to stove). Large open live/dine space in Spring (I would not use the back for a family room- look at all the windows. This screams dining to me) or segmented in Wash? That one is hard. I am starting to really like segmented living like Wash offers as long as we have space. OH but who can resist that fireplace ;)

But it came down to this – Wash has great outdoor entertaining but no grass. Spring has this patio (yes noting that great but passable) and there is green out there and across from the front. Spring in not infill but a small community. Spring gets my vote.

Mid America Mom

Ok-I have little time to back this up but maybe someone else does.

Observations of Denver single family.

1. In Denver I saw more environment concerns. They seem to be at a code for at least energy star guidelines and I think a Colorado green build standard is it called?

2. Here we see master planned communities in the city and outside with green or urbanism in mide. Off the top of my head- Lowry, Stapleton, Bradburn, Geos.. The Congress of New Urbanism I am sure has an active Denver chapter!

3. Death to the living room :) I am coming away feeling we see less replication of living space in Denver. Little game/theatre/media/loft rooms. Toronto loves their formal living and family room, Dallas loves game or loft rooms on the second floor. LA I do not recall, anyone do?

Mid America Mom

This was difficult as I do not really like either plan and I think I would rather buy any of yesterday’s town homes to these (but perhaps that is a general bias of mine coming out). Generally I think that they are both excessively large, even if they do have more environmental features. Here are my thoughts:
Washpark Green:
-There are way to may stairs, this creates a very segmented feel. If holding any type of party it would be very segmented and force groups to form.
-As previously mentioned, it is too bad that the laundry is only a closet given the size of the homes
-Unit 225 Bedroom 2 has a very weird closet, seem very wasteful
House 3973d:
-No need for a living room and a family room, especially that close together and connected. It is really just one big room that the dining room table is dividing.
-Do not like the location of the powder room in any sense, right by the door.
-Both the pantry and the kitchen are too large to be an effective work area.
-The master bedroom is excessively large at 300 sq.ft.
-Master bathroom feels awkward, though is not really that bad.
-I like the laundry area as it is also a great storage room for things like puzzles and games.
-The upper deck would never be used.

I just feel that given the care of the environmental considerations that were implemented that more care could have been taken with the sizing of the spaces, it seems very wasteful.

What is clear to me is that despite having the Slow Home Test attempting to add some objectivity to the discussion, choosing between a set of homes is largely a very personal choice. I like grass, I need a den, I don’t like the powder room by the front door, I don’t like looking at the powder room toilet when I am in the kitchen, I don’t like listening to someone pee while I am watching the hockey game, the kitchen is too big, the kitchen is too small, the kitchen should be U-shaped and, the all time classic, that see-thru fireplace is to die for. And before anybody goes and gets their nose bent out of shape, I am just as guilty.

BradW,
In all fairness, some of these seemingly personal biases have a basis in the Slow Home philosophy. For example, today while reading the Slow Home “bible,” What’s Wrong With This House?,I found the powder room off the living room was circled out as a big no-no. Also, an entry that goes straight into a living room.
And a lot of discussion is given to “redundant” spaces (think living room and family room at opposite ends of a great big room) as well as oversized fixtures. So neither of these homes today really manage to be completely free of fast features.

At any rate, even if we all sound like we’re griping at times, we’re trying to hone in on those details which make the day-to-day living a problem. This is prime material in the Slow Home “bible.”

I saw see through fireplace!!!

I am from a 4 season place that includes snow and always loved fireplaces. The ability to see fire in your home – sit at a chair near by and read- roaring when it is snowing or cold windy rainy day like today in Toronto- great for the mood when hosting people – instant focal SIGH!!! As an adult I know like what 95%? of them are inefficient but nothing gets me as excited as a fireplace (not even a U kitchen).

Anyone ever design their ideal space?

I think that a better question to ask ourselves perhaps, is “what is my essential space?” As in, based on the fact that so few of us are lucky enough even to get to renovate our houses, let alone design an “ideal” space, and have to choose from what’s available (what the market makes available), we should ask what at the bottom of it resonates in our ability to live happily. This is livability. We have to look at it from the perspective of a home buyer – the reality is that when choosing a home we don’t at this moment always have our cake and get to choose from a swath of great options. In the future, through our efforts, I think that the hope is to switch from choosing which one is ‘more livable’ to livable being a standard given that addresses our essential needs of home (like bathrooms not opening onto dining rooms) and everything else can from there be our personal preferences. We’re not there yet – but the Slow Home Awards I think seem to point out that there really are better options out there, even if they aren’t presently universally attainable.