Denver Modern Homes

Here’s a few listings worth checking out

Arapahoe Acres – finished and affordable

Fantastic Mid-Century Modern straight from the pages of Dwell Magazine

This one is more of a Prairie Style home.

Two homes in Krisana Park

I grew up in North Lakewood, and acquired my love for modernism from some of these homes. This neighborhood is made up largely of fifties ranches, and prairie influenced homes. But every so often, a modern beauty can be found. All of these homes are located a stone’s throw from Wheat Ridge, just to the east of Applewood.

Modernism flourishes in a metro area’s urban core. The suburbs are usually a different story. To hear modernist across the net speak of the suburbs, you’d think there was nothing but quasi-colonial McMansions across the land. When it comes to retail, no businesses are linked more to the wasteland of suburbia then the venerable Big Box Store.

Walmart, and Home Depot being the kings of all that is Big Box, and are often blamed for the lack of architecture in the burbs. The thing is, Walmart and Home Depot just want to fit in. They can be convinced to build there stores in just about architectural style you can imagine. Here’s the proof.

No other suburb in the Denver metro area wants to promote modernism more than Lakewood. This is especially evident in the Belmar Shopping District and along the Colfax corridor. With a light rail station coming to the Colfax and Wadsworth area, construction of new retail, with modern influences abounds. And what two mega-stores are anchoring the area? That’s right. Walmart and Home Depot.

I snapped a few pics of them, along with the Whole Foods and Dick’s Sporting goods stores at Belmar to show how big box can actually look pretty cool. It’s not exactly FLW’s Fallingwater, but it’s a definite improvement. So the next time you’re lamenting big box architecture, remember that it’s not corporate America’s fault. Talk to your city planner.