Real Estate archive at A Literary Life

Featured Home: Hidden treasure found

August 2nd, 2008

The romance of the Old West with modern luxury in Kings Deer
BY KATE JONUSKA - SPRINGSHOUSES.COM

It was 1891 in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, deep in the Gold Rush era of the American West, and Jacob Waltz lay dying. With his last indrawn breathe, the legend says, he told a friend about the location of a gold mine he’d found, drawing a map to the treasure trove of riches the mine contained. But she never tracked down the treasure, nor could the dozens of others who sought it.

So the fanciful and fascinating legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine began, and so it spins out to this day, perfectly encapsulating modern Americans’ idea of the Old West: rugged, romantic, epic and slightly whimsical.

But in this week’s spotlight home in Pine Creek, historical inspiration from tales of the Old West combine with modern style to create a different kind of gold mine: a home that tastefully mixes splashes of western style and high-end building materials. In short, a treasure for any family, listed by Mark Pledger of Prudential Professional REALTORS for $1.2 million.

“We call this whimsical rustic elegance,” says the seller, walking through the front yard with its wagon-wheel bench, scattered authentic ore carts and an artfully placed wagon, bleaching in the sun. The sellers spent a good six figures on the custom landscaping because, she explains, “There was the standard three trees over here, three trees over there and rocks and weeds. I wanted it to feel like Colorado.”

CLICK HERE to read this article, which printed in Springs Houses on August 2, 2008.

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Featured Home: An oasis of taste

July 5th, 2008

Upgrades, color choices lend newer home fabulous personality
BY KATE JONUSKA - SPRINGSHOUSES.COM
Photos courtesy of Wendy Crawford

When it comes to real estate, money can buy a lot of things, including acreage, views, corner lots and square feet. Having walked through a wide variety of homes in my line of work, I’ve seen some that are no more than a combination of those parts: four walls, location and XYZ square feet.
But one thing that money can’t buy, even in high-caliber real estate, is exquisite taste, something that this 2007-built home radiates. Located in the Northern Colorado Springs Cordera neighborhood, the six-bedroom, four-bath home is listed for $550,000 by Wendy Crawford of Keller Williams Real Estate.
Perhaps jadedly, I expected such a recently built house to still retain that sterile yet crisp new-home smell and lack of personality. But past the earthy yellow stucco and stacked stone columns of the exterior, I was pleasantly surprised by the home’s contemporary and tasteful — yet far-from-bland — style.
“They have very good taste,” admits Crawford, pointing out the warm mocha walls throughout most of the house, the striking highlight walls of red and green, and the sellers’ awe-inspiring art collection. “Very,” she repeats.

CLICK HERE to read this article, which printed in Springs Houses on July 5, 2008.

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Featured home: Through the looking glass

June 7th, 2008

Sweeping views, professional decor create a warm, relaxing home
By Kate Jonuska

People in glass houses, they say, shouldn’t throw stones. Of course, this idiom imagines a glass house as an exposed place, probably sharp and cold, where the world can look in and judge the occupants.

Obviously, that idiom never took into account this warm and comfortable home in Top of Skyway in Southwest Colorado Springs, where plentiful windows reveal a breathtaking view without exposing its occupants to prying eyes.

“I don’t see this much glass in a lot of the homes up here. You take all the trouble to be up here with the views, so that’s a huge selling point,” says Suzanne Holland of Platinum Group Realtors, who lists the five-bedroom, four-bath home for $785,000. Holland points out that the vista sweeps from Garden of the Gods over the city lights. “You feel like you’re outdoors with these views, and you’re almost at the top of the neighborhood, so it’s quiet and private.”

“It’s such a big view. She almost went crazy when she saw this,” says the seller of his wife’s reaction. But thanks to thoughtful planning and landscaping, the couple has never felt that the plentitude of glass infringed upon their privacy or cooled the home’s warm, cozy interior. “They’ve got the trees in the right places so you don’t feel people are looking at you.”

CLICK HERE to read a PDF of this article in its entirety, which was published in the June 7, 2008 Springs Houses.

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Featured Home: Room to relax

May 17th, 2008

BY KATE JONUSKA • SPRINGSHOUSES.COM

Sometimes small is good, like in the case of golf scores or jeans size. But those who claim that smaller is always good have never had a car weather the elements because it lacked a garage, seen family members bump elbows while preparing a meal or stumbled over clutter due to a lack of storage space.

In real estate, bigger is often simply better. And this University Park home in northern Colorado Springs, listed by Connie de Jong of RE/MAX Properties for $999,000, proves how luxurious it can feel when you have space to let down your hair, let down your guard and let a sigh of relaxation drift — through the open floor plan, up to the vaulted ceilings and out the sunny windows to dissipate in the pine trees.

“A lot of houses of this caliber are outside city limits,” says Rob de Jong, pointing out that few homes so close to the city center have .66 acres of trees, soaring views and such private quiet. “The location makes it stand out. The privacy is amazing, and it makes it really unique to border 250 acres of open space.”

To read more: CLICK HERE to see a PDF of this article, which ran May 17, 2008 in Springs Houses, a section of The Gazette.

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Featured Home: At one with the forest

April 19th, 2008

Unique Crystal Park home incorporates boulders, trees into design
BY KATE JONUSKA • SPRINGSHOUSES.COM

There are lots of homes that claim to “bring the outdoors in,” pointing to features such as log beams, slate tile or a few houseplants as proof. But when you can touch giant boulders — complete with flecks of pale green moss — as you walk down the stairs or listen to the gurgle of a fresh, mountain stream tumbling toward the family room, you know you’re in a unique home, one that takes the “outdoors in” philosophy to the next level.

“It’s very elemental,” says Michael Carnahan of McGinnis GMAC Real Estate, who lists the Crystal Park home in the hills above Manitou Springs for $575,000.

A visitor gets the feeling the builder staked out a pretty patch of forest and simply erected walls around the existing landscape, a feeling that’s actually not far off the mark. As Carnahan explains, “The boulders make up the foundation, and the concrete was just poured around that.”

The first visible boulders tower over your head as you approach the red front door, and you can see one of the large stones bisected on either side of the entry wall. Tiled with a mosaic of polished stones, the entryway’s main feature is the focal point of the entire house: A fountain that begins in a calm pond filled with koi fish, then cascades down a 20-foot slope to the lower level past driftwood and potted grasses.

According to the seller, the home “was built around a mountain stream, which they built out to make the center of attention (as a fountain). It was really built from the inside out in that way, which is really amazing.”

To read more: CLICK HERE to see a PDF of this article, which ran April 19, 2008 in Springs Houses, a section of The Gazette.

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