West + Main Agent Kevin Bolin
“I was showing property to clients who were looking for a brick ranch. I drove them through the Indian Hills neighborhood as, in my opinion, it’s one of the most desirable areas in Fort Collins”
“All of the homes were custom built in the 60’s and 70’s with large lots and now have mature landscaping. It’s a really special neighborhood. We happened upon an estate sale in progress and walked through. My clients had ZERO interest in the house, (really actually hated it) but I liked it and knew my wife would also. I called her and had her run to the estate sale and of course she loved it. We spent the next couple of weeks in negotiations and ended up with the house!”
The house was in really great condition but extremely dated and most of it not in a good way. The Bolins ended up living in the house for almost 6 years before starting the remodel and that was very helpful in informing the final design, as they thought about many different remodel plans…but they ended up keeping all the rooms where they were.
“Ultimately we bought the house because we loved it and it felt like home after living there for so long, so we kept the floorpan the same. We did open up some walls and moved nearly every doorway in the house (some just a few inches) to provide a better flow. That made all the difference in comfort, light and livability but still felt like our house.”
The couple really wanted to honor the midcentury quality + feel of the original home and wanted to have a finished space that was great for entertaining and had a bit of a sense of humor, as well as a good flow for parties and defined, intentional spaces that created some moments that they would feel comfortable enjoying, human scale and intimate.
“Lighting was a really important consideration and turned out to be one of the things that really makes the house have a soul,” said Kevin. “Midcentury homes weren’t known for their abundance of lighting and relied heavily on lamps. We wanted to make sure we had very layered and functional interesting lighting that maintained the original ambiance.”
The back of the house has large windows overlooking the yard and the landscape plan was designed to feel like a continuation of the interior. They modernized the yard and removed about 75% of the turf grass areas, but tried to keep some of the quirkiness and traditional elements of the original landscape.
“The blue painted birds on the back fence are really interesting to look at in the evening when they are illuminated by the globe light fixtures, and we have a neat rowed area of flowing perennials and a bed of lavender so we can have fresh flowers for the house all summer.”
The key words that we kept in mind as we were working on this project were restraint, quality, humor, and efficiency. We wanted the end product to not feel like new construction, but a super well maintained original house!
We worked with some amazing companies on this project.
This was the 3rd house remodel that we have done using Aspen Leaf Kitchens, 4338 Tennyson St, Denver, CO 80220. We can’t say enough good things about the collaborative process and quality of cabinets they provide. Absolutely the best installers on the planet!
Independent Plumbing Solutions (IPS), 1611 E Lincoln Ave UNIT A, Fort Collins, CO 80524
Benchmark Electrical Services, 621 Gyrfalcon Ct, Windsor, CO 80550
American Air Heating and Air Conditioning, 7350 Greendale Rd, Windsor, CO 80550
RLM Services, Hardy Window and Door, Colorado Quality Painting and NOCO Drywall were all spectacular partners on this project and really understood the quality of construction and finishes that we wanted.
Waterwise Land and Waterscapes, 1930 N Whitcomb St, Fort Collins, CO 80524 were our full service Landscape Company handling the design, install and maintenance of our yard.
We ended up spending around $650,000 on the remodel and landscaping.
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