DTJ Design of Boulder, Colo., recently designed a series of award-winning, single-family detached homes for Brookfield Residential in Denver’s Midtown community.
“[Research] indicated a huge market for buyers who want to live in [the] downtown LoDo [neighborhood], but want something other than a condo,” says DTJ principal Steve James. “They definitely do not want the aesthetic to look like their parents’ home in the suburbs.”
So DTJ created two new elevation styles for Brookfield’s Signature Portfolio, dubbed “zesty” to evoke the fresh approach. After a lengthy product review, Brookfield decided that the homes needed to have recognizable roofs—not flat or wedge roofs—but could retain the bold window packages and exterior materials. The builder is offering two contemporary elevations: one with sloping rooflines and another, Prairie-style elevation with a hip roof. As James points out, “Prairie, in its day, was modern, with groupings of windows and cleaner lines.”
When it comes to interpretations of contemporary design, they may vary widely by region. For Denver’s Midtown community, DTJ Design created the Southwest and Pacific Northwest versions shown here (as well as the LoDo Denver and East Coast versions shown above in the opening image).
The Signature Portfolio has been a huge success, with Brookfield selling eight homes a month. Four of the eight homes have the new elevations; of those four, three are Prairie style. PB
DTJ Design created two contemporary elevations to add to Brookfield Residential’s Midtown portfolio. One is Prairie style (right); the other mixes flat and sloping rooflines.
