James Ream’s 1966 Lipman House

Last year we highlighted the Sorensen House, another 60’s era home designed by James Ream. Happily, we convinced the family of the original owner not to “update” the home before putting it on the market. Subsequently, the new owners have under taken restoration of the home…even contacting the now 90+ James Ream for guidance.

The Lipman House was also all original when it last sold in 2008, but has since been updated. After reading about and seeing Ream’s work, I think he might be a little disappointed with the new, more sterile, contemporary look of the Lipman House. Ream utilized materials in their natural state to bring warmth and interest to his design.

Here are some before and after pics (click thumbnails for larger images):

The home has 3000+ square feet, 4bd/ 5ba, full walkout basement, 2 car garage and sits on nearly 2 acres. There are also historic Lookout Mountain Farm buildings, one is a guest cottage and the other is a studio. Under $900K.

I do like the more open catwalk and kitchen. Unfortunately, one of my favorite bathroom features has been removed…

Stanbro Real Estate llc, the new home of 5280mod, is a full service brokerage helping buyers AND NOW sellers. Contact us when you are ready to put our unique knowledge and experience to work for you!

720.279.4884

shannon@5280mod.com

 

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Listing Brokerage: Fuller Sotheby’s Int’l

Gorgeous Contemporary Modern

Created in 2007 by one of our favorite local architects, Chris Craver and built by Shelter Construction.

4,000+ square feet, 4bd/3ba, office, home theater, 20′ Nano wall, 3 outdoor living areas, mountain views. Great central Denver location, under $1.2M. Click thumbnails for larger pictures.

 

Contact us when you are ready to put our unique knowledge, relationships and experience to work for you!

720.279.4884

shannon@5280mod.com

 

 

Listing Brokerage: Brokers Guild

Eugene Sternberg’s Home

Sternberg designed this home for his family in the early 60’s and lived here until he retired and moved to Evergreen in 1980. It has 4500+ square feet with a full walkout basement, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 car garage, and lots of outdoor living space. Sternberg was also responsible for the site planning of the subdivision, so it’s no surprise the house sits on a large lot and backs to open space.

If you look under the white and beige paint, Laura Ashley fabrics, and traditional furniture, there is a gorgeous mid-century modern home. It could be yours for somewhere around $1.5M.

 

Contact us when you are ready to utilize our in-depth knowledge and unique experience!

720.279.4884
shannon@5280mod.com

 

Listing Brokerage: The Kentwood Company.

Architecture on Film

Last night we watched (and loved) Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman followed by a Q&A with director Eric Bricker. If you weren’t able to catch the film, keep an eye out for it at the Starz Filmcenter the first week in October.

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The Shulman documentary is the first in the Denver Film Society’s Film and Design series. There are three more films  and I’m looking forward to seeing Design Onscreen’s Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler on the big screen. More on all of the films in this series here.

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Design Onscreen will also be screening the Colorado premiere of  Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner at the Denver Art Museum on October 9th @ 6:00

A Denver based initiative, Design Onscreen is dedicated to documenting primarily post WWII architects, industrial designers and graphic designers who are still living but have not received significant attention to date.

We are very fortunate to have so many modernist events happening around Denver!

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Aaron Green Designed Home in Hilltop

While Realtors frequently and inaccurately tout their listings as “Frank Lloyd Wright inspired”…this home is probably the closest to a Frank Lloyd Wright designed residence you will find in Denver. Unfortunately, it is also another example of what NOT to do to a mid-century modern classic.

The architect, Aaron Green, was an apprentice in the Taliesin Fellowship and continued working with Wright as his West Coast Representative, participating in over 40 projects until Wright’s death in 1959.

Green designed this long, low brick home in Hilltop in 1955. The “L” shape is oriented to the South with walls of glass to let in light and frame what must have been amazing mountain views. The wide eaves were originally designed to allow the winter sun in for passive solar heating, but protect the house from the summer sun. Now there is a large aviary attached to the home and occupying most of the courtyard…blocking the light and obscuring the artful original roofline.

(click photo above for slideshow)

Brick walls and floors  flow from interior to exterior…minimally interrupted by glass.  Sadly, the leaded glass in the bedroom windows were replaced with beige vinyl windows. Portions of the masonry have been covered in a thick layer of dark purple paint and the mahogany doors covered in various laminates.

As with many historic modern homes, this home is need of a remuddle undo. The good news is much of the original materials are still in place and I believe the original blueprints are available. As many historic mid-century modern homes have been lost in the Hilltop neighborhood, the more valuable a restored gem like this one could become.

3bd/3ba/ 4400+ sq. ft.

Asking Price: $799,000

Listing Brokerage: Cygnus Real Estate

Here’s another slideshow I found on YouTube made when the home was still occupied.

Please contact me if you have an interest in this home, or are looking for an historic modern home in the Denver/Boulder area.

shannon@5280mod.com

720.279.4884

Architect Profiles: Richard Crowther (1910-2006)

The late Richard Crowther was a pioneer in green development, passive solar design, and energy efficiency. He gave lectures on solar energy at universities nationwide and wrote some of the most important books on the subject, including the famous Sun, Earth: Alternative Energy Design for Architecture in 1983.

Richard Crowther started as an Art Deco neon-light designer for a firm in San Diego, where he was commissioned to help design the spires of San Francisco’s Golden Gate International Exposition.

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In 1948, Crowther moved to Denver. Working for Lakeside Amusement Park owner Ben Krasner, Crowther gave the park an Art Deco neon-light makeover which we all know and enjoy to this day. Here are some incredible examples of that design effort:

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In the 1950s, Richard Crowther built homes in the Country Club , Hilltop and Cherry Creek North neighborhoods. At Historic Denver’s recent Modernism Tour , participants were allowed inside Crowther’s 1956 Neufeld House. While the interior of the house is now contemporary modern, painstaking restoration effort was undertaken on the exterior to remove paint from Crowther’s original 1956 ribbed terra cotta tiles revealing their original “burnt orange” color. (Original & current interior pics below)

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In the 1960s, Crowther designed 3 masterful film theaters, the famous Cooper Cineramas. These were the first specially designed theaters to screen films with the incredible widescreen Cinerama process, which required three synchronized film projectors projecting crisscross onto a deeply curved screen. After the demise of this elaborate process, all three theaters were unfortunately demolished. These theaters were also clad in “burnt orange”.

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The Cooper Theatre here in Denver on S. Colorado Blvd was the first to be constructed, followed by a sister Cooper Theatre in St. Louis Park, MN. Finally, Crowther’s crowning achievement in theater design was the Indian Hills Theater in Omaha, Nebraska, which sported a 105 foot screen! When they demolished the Indian Hills Theater, celebrity protestors included Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin.

Cherry Creek residents may be familiar with some of Richard Crowther’s unique office buildings, around Third & Steele St.

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This was once Crowther’s office.

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Here you can see the solar functionality of the unusual geometric shapes jutting out of his structures.

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Happily, two fantastic Crowther houses in Cherry Creek have so far evaded the raze craze. They can be found at 500 Cook Street (hard to get a picture of due to bountiful streetside landscaping) and the Crowther House and Studio at 401 Madison St., which is a masterpiece. It has been compared to Charles Deaton’s Sculptured House of Genesee by esteemed art and architecture critic Michael Paglia.

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Richard Crowther died at 96, but he continued to swim 100 laps a day in the indoor solar-heated pool (which was designed to help warm his house) until he was 94 years old!

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