Imagine if you will a pristine 30 acre neighborhood comprised entirely of 124 architect designed midcentury modern homes, where the homeowners love and covet them, where the neighborhood is a historic district and is on the National Register of Historic Places, and where no two houses are alike.  We found such a place – one of many epic and unexpected architourism adventures on our recent trip to Denver for a family bar mitzvah.  With little expectations and no plan going in, we just used our modern spidey sense to lead the way.

Our first day there took us toward the mountains to Boulder, CO for a glimpse at the iconic Boulder Dushanabe Teahouse and of course, a drive around this small town to find the Mork & Mindy house (nanu, nanu).  Our home away from home for the long weekend was at the Art Hotel in downtown Denver, with art installations everywhere you look including a wonderful William Wegman Weimaraner video in the elevator (this video never gets old, and the elevator trips were always too short!). 

I’d never been to Denver before this trip and was shocked at two things.  The amount of sunshine and blue sky, and the lack of just about anything green in the winter.   But just a few miles out of town and into the mountains the scenery improved dramatically.   Red Rocks was not only insanely beautiful, but quite educational as this “natural wonder” turned concert venue also houses the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and the Red Rocks concert museum.  Luckily we were wearing good footwear for the million steps we climbed.  It was so worth it.  Bucket list item: go back to Red Rocks in season for a concert!  

Our lunch stop that day in Golden, CO at the yummy Buffalo Rose saloon was a fun indoor/outdoor dining experience literally in the shadow of the Coors Brewing Co.  Yes, beer does taste better closer to the source!  And yes, a day can start out freezing cold and warm enough for an outdoor lunch!  Wandering around this chic ‘Old West’ college town full of shops and bistros was fun.  And while trying to find a buffalo preserve on the way back to town, we happened upon the Buffalo Bill Museum & Grave (no kidding) with the best kitschy gift shop I have seen since my childhood in Northern Michigan!  And the views.  Oh, the views! 

In between the various Bar Mitzvah related festivities we spent time exploring Denver’s notorious Midcentury Modern neighborhoods.  The aforementioned Arapahoe Acres Historic District did not disappoint.  How refreshing to see an intact MCM neighborhood where (just about) everyone knew what they had, and leaned into the vintage hard.  We parked the car to walk around and happened up on a *yard sale*, a chatty neighbor walking his dog, and an open house (at quite possibly the only house in the neighborhood where the owners had no idea what they had and how to care for it – a remuddled 1,300 sq tri level ft all for the unbelievable price of $1.2M).  

Our cousins live in another MCM neighborhood, the “executive” version of the more well known Krisana Park, and it was a thrill to finally get to see their home.  This particular subdivision is not an historic district like the others, and the lack of restrictions gave homeowners the freedom to be a bit more creative, although the overall MCM feel was respectful and intentional.  We got an education on original ‘swamp cooler’ air conditioning systems – something we have (thankfully?) never run across in Cincy.  The real estate prices throughout Denver and surrounding areas were sobering, and gave us renewed appreciation of Cincinnati’s varied MCM properties and neighborhoods.  

We had an afternoon to kill waiting for our ‘redeye’ flight home, which gave us time for one more mission.  While driving between Red Rocks and Golden a couple days earlier,  I just happened to look up while traveling on I-70 and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the iconic space ship “Sleeper House.”  We just had to go back and try to find it.  Thanks to a quick google search, the gps was set and we took off.  We climbed what felt like a very steep Mt. Crumpit, with the road narrowing the higher we went until it literally felt like we were on someone’s driveway.  Thank goodness no one was heading down the same road or we would both have been screwed.  All the way at the tippy top I swear I heard the angels sing as I jumped out of the car!  The Sculptured House (aka the Sleeper House since it was prominently featured in the 1973 Woody Allen hit Sleeper), was designed in 1963 by Charles Deaton as his own residence.  He ran out of money before he was able to complete it, and sadly was never able to occupy it.  It has changed hands several times, even being purchased out of foreclosure at one point.  CBS did a nice piece on it in 2018 touting the renovations and investment by the current owner.  But to our eyes it looked like it was slipping back into a bedraggled state – at least on the exterior. 

At any rate, it looked vacant – or at least like no one was home.  What were we going to do if it wasn’t?   The house is an amazing sight and the views go on forever.  Unfortunately we were not blessed with another one of those resplendent blue sky days.  I can only imagine how amazing it would look with the perfect blue backdrop.  We did the stalker/Realtor thing and respectfully walked around the exterior – within reason.  It was a sight to behold, and I’m so glad we backtracked to find it.

Dinner in the Hallmark-esque town of Evergreen, CO was the perfect end of our adventures.  The town lake/reservoir was so picturesque even on the cloudy/snowy day.  The verdict? If you are looking for a quick getaway on one of those low cost airlines with flights out of CVG, we highly recommend partaking in some Mile High Modern!   We just might see you on our way back to Red Rocks!  

P.s. – Thank you to our Lipp/Sirota family for a great weekend and mazel tov Isaac! 

we found it! nanu nanu!