Early in 2003, Greg and Ila Rosengarten embarked on a journey that began with the gutting of 2,300 square feet of obsolete space. They would add 1,100 square feet to accommodate a large gourmet kitchen, spacious living area, guest room, a kid's play area, four bedrooms, and three baths. They quickly discovered that their journey would not be an easy one.
Their remodeling story, diligently detailed by Ila in a diary, started back in February, 2003, but it actually began slightly earlier with a bit of disappointment as well as serendipity.
Greg Rosengarten, a Colorado native, met Ila at Boston
College, and the couple soon found themselves in love then
eventually living their married life in Highlands Ranch
with their three children, Maya, Kirin, and Anika, now 6,
4, and 2.
They owned two homes in that area before on Kirin came home
one day with a birdhouse he'd fashioned in preschool. Hunting
for a tree to hang it from, Ila became acutely aware of
just how little the neighborhood offered in terms of mature
landscaping.
This spurred a search for mature trees and a new phase of life that led them to Littleton, where on February 8, 2003, they found
a home that immediately had Ila daydreaming about the kids playing in the yard.
Yet it was not to be.
On March 12, after more than a month of design analysis,
they submitted an offer that was declined, repeatedly, until
on April 4 the heartbroken family decided to give up. Then,
just two days later, Greg happened past
an
obscure road called Davies Drive and a home with a tiny
handwritten "For Sale by Owner" sign out front. He called
Ila, and the rest, as they say is history.
Construction started June 1, but it was the beginning of
a long summer.
"There were heated moments," says interior designer Joyce
Clegg, of Daydream Designs, Denver.
Working with Clegg and Denver architect Gene Adams, the
Rosengartens jotted a list of their wants and needs, which
became indistinguishable, for the revised home. Their overall
goal remained "to live here until the children grow up and
we grow old," and to move in by Thanksgiving.
Tops on the list were - move kitchen to back of house, create larger family-room area, seating in the kitchen,
four bedrooms, a "power shower" for Greg., large walk-in master closet, play area for kids, place for Greg's 51-inch TV, French doors at patio, and a bathroom at office/ guest room.
Clegg had her work cut out for her. An experienced home owner who remodeled her own 1901 Victorian in Los Angeles, and interior design business owner for six years, she knows a few things about the remodeling process.
"It's like a big puzzle and you have to fit all the pieces together," she explains.
The design team met weekly to do it, usually at a plastic
patio table in the gutted house. With a carefully detailed
budget, she and Ila went shopping, a lot, and usually with
at least one child in tow. But gradually they executed their
marathon excursions for tile, fixtures, cabinetry, flooring,
counter granite, exterior paint, and more.
"I always thought a designer was a luxury, now I realize it's a necessary!" Ila admits, in her diary she wrote:
July: Spent choosing exterior paint.
August 21: Debate begins re: swamp cooler vs. air conditioning.
I want air!"
August 27: Feeling pressure to finalize TV/fireplace facade.
September: Exterior house painting begins. Wrong color!
Working with Clegg, architect Gene Adams, and Denver contractors GA Remodel LLC, with GA Remodel's Clay Adams as the project supervisor, the home came to life.
Stepping into the home today, one is greeted by stylish
neutral tiles highlighted with tiny gold-copper-shaded glass
pieces. What used to be a small front backed against
a garage has become a grand entryway into a generously open
living space with 8- to 9 foot ceilings, surround sound
included. A main dividing wall was removed, and the space
completed with rich alderwood floors. A wide stone-surround
gas fireplace and bookshelf that echoes the natural stone
used on the exterior of the house is perfect for Greg's
51-inch TV.
Behind is the kids' playroom, formerly the garage, complete with sliding six-panel glass doors that buffer the noise and give Greg and Ila a comfortable vantage point to monitor their activities.
One thing on the list that didn't quite turn out the way they had hoped is a fabulous guest bedroom, but minus the private bath they wanted to install. It turned out that putting in plumbing proved too complex for their tight budget.
Instead they opted for a bath just off the main living area that features a beautiful hutch made of reclaimed barn wood and finished with a hammered copper bowl from India as the basin. Cooper faucets jut out of the backsplash wall.
"Greg really wanted faucets coming out of the wall. They sounded strange to me at first, but I finally gave in. They look great!" marvels Ila.
Their personal coup d'etat is the kitchen, which was formerly two small bedrooms. Today the area is bordered on three sides with rich alderwood cabinets to complement the flooring and includes a huge Quartzite topped island with a deep sink and bi-level four person seating area.
Stainless steel appliances and modern light fixtures dropped
from the ceiling give the place a contemporary feel. To
one side is a desk
nook, which includes cubbies hidden behind cabinet doors
designed to hold kid things like crayons and glue as well
as mom things like recipes and aspirin.
Just to the east of the kitchen, through an entryway, is
a dining area, backed by a built-in
cabinet
system featuring horizontal wine shelves and tempered glass
cabinets.
"I really wanted a hutch," says Ila, "but Joyce recommended this system and I love it."
The color of the kitchen, dining, and living areas ties
everything all together — it's a soft, warm yellow
that, according to Ila, glows with the morning sun. "I get
30 seconds of heaven every morning when I see the sun coming
through the French doors." she says.
Greg is just as pleased, "Once, after the house was done, I was here alone and it didn't feel new. It felt like I had always lived here," he comments.
Back in the living quarters of the house, a magical kingdom of castles, dragonflies, and plenty of closet space beckons.
Kirin, the Rosengartens' only boy, has a tiled bathroom all his own and a room painted by muralist Kamla Presswalla, featuring doorways and windows framed with rendering of castle-like stonework.
"We say he's the lord of the manor, king of the castle," Ila says with a smile.
In Maya's room, Presswalla created a mural of big trees, little animals, and dragonflies that sparkle. When deciding where to place the bed, Maya opted to put it between two tall trees that state, "When I'm sleeping it will feel like I'm resting in the shade of these trees."
Toddler Anika's room quickly became her favorite place, "Once we showed her this room, she bonded immediately," explains Ila. "It's her comfort space."
At the end of the hall and off to the left is the
Rosengartens' master bedroom. It's spacious and quiet, with closet space galore and an oasis of a bathroom, complete with Greg's requested "power shower." He happily claims he can spread his arms full length and never touch a wall Ila's joy is the big, deep tub, also referred to as "the pool" by the kids.
More sand-colored tile, highlighted with eye-catching copper-toned glass tiles, enliven the whole space.
This is a place where the two can shut out the world, thanks to heavy, well-made doors, a luxury Ila had never experienced before.
But even the best laid plans can go astray, Ila writes:
Nov 3: Joyce indicates...move-in-date has been pushed
back two weeks! We never ok'd that. I go completely ballistic.
Nov 27: Thanksgiving - we are sick and don't feel like celebrating.
Nov 29: We move in! Hurray! The day is beautiful-we've waited
so long for this...move gores very smoothly, but we encountered
another major plumbing fiasco! Greg's dream shower doesn't
work. Kirin's shower doesn't work either. Valve breaks in
master bathtub. We are furious!
All the aggravation aside, the design team came within 10 percent of the original budget! Clegg offers some good advice to those contemplating a renovation: get your design team together early, spend time on the design well ahead of the first hammer blow, remain flexible, and communicated, communicate, communicate!
Once the ground thaws out, the Rosengartens will tackle landscaping, and may eventually pop the top over the garage. But for now they intend to shop a bit more, relax, and sink into their little slice of heaven, till death do they part.
Jennifer Petit is a Denver based freelance journalist who writes regularly for Colorado Expression Magazine, Life on Capital Hill, and various other local publications.
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