Boulder-based Melton Design Build is known for its team’s expertise in distinct home remodeling, gorgeous custom home construction and fostering meaningful partnerships with its clients. The team is also highly adept at navigating the various municipal requirements and permitting scenarios that often arise in Front Range builds. This collective expertise paid off especially well in one recent Denver project.
For this project, the team’s clients were relocating from Chicago and seeking a Front Range home to suit their taste and lifestyle. Having found the ideal lot, the clients began the process to renovate the 1927 brick bungalow. However, due to permitting restrictions, the project evolved into a new custom home build with elements of the original structure incorporated.
“The Melton team has extensive expertise at both complex remodeling and new custom home builds,” says Adrian Wisniewski, project developer with Melton Design Build. “Because of this experience, we were able to pivot with this project relatively smoothly.”
The clients and the Melton Design Build team collaborated to envision a home that would reflect the owners’ personal style and strike the right balance of respecting the area’s history and modernizing and improving upon it.
“The clients came to us with a specific set of goals and wanted to reuse the existing building’s footprint and extend vertically to modestly support their needs,” says Greg Ingalls, AIA, NCARB, and primary architect on the project. “They wanted to make sure that the second level blended with the historic first story in harmony.”
“The clients had a great eye for style and were very good decision-makers,” says Adrian. “We quickly got to know their unique aesthetic preferences, and then we were off to the races.”
The end result is a home that, as Adrian notes, walks the ideal line between timeless and contemporary. Described by Greg as a unique take on a modern urban home, it has a clean, simple style with pops of color and personality throughout. Upon entry, guests are greeted by an open staircase that’s flooded with natural light as well as an inviting entryway that offers a glimpse into the living space and backyard that follow. Greg notes that the open main floorplan is the highlight of the home, an area that connects the living, dining and kitchen areas and allows for open conversation between the spaces. It’s an area ideal for both entertaining and everyday living with lovely, spacious flow.
A warm color palette permeates throughout the home, which is filled with abundant sunlight spilling in from new oversized and uniquely shaped windows. Dark blues and rich wood add to the home’s comforting, contemporary nature. The kitchen is exemplary of this warmth and welcome and includes a custom bronze vent hood for added character.
Distinct tile details are also sprinkled throughout. In the mudroom, the porcelain wall tile gives the illusion of custom wood trim details. The primary bathroom is yet another sterling example.
“We found an amazing handmade tile for our dramatic herringbone feature wall,” says Emily Stewart, interior designer with Melton Design Build. “Every piece has its own unique character. These clients were a joy to work with and gave great design direction so that we could build their custom dream home together.”
Intention and purpose are themes throughout the home, including in the materials used both inside and out. The home’s exterior blends with the existing character of the neighborhood with its reclaimed ground-level brick masonry and dark framed window grilles, which Greg notes pay homage to the industrial buildings across Denver. Meanwhile, the wood balustrades and charcoal siding provide a comforting modern touch.
In all, it’s a home that comes together to celebrate simple modern style along with the history of the area. As Greg notes, it’s a home that reads like an old soul, but that includes all the amenities and comforts of contemporary living.
MeltonDesignBuild.com
