Main-floor living for all ages and stages. (Photos: Boulder Creek Neighborhoods).
At Boulder Creek Neighborhoods, Main-Floor Living Meets Lower-Maintenance Lifestyles
Like most people contemplating a move after 20-plus years in the house where they raised their children, Barb and Carl Geppert weren’t certain what to expect when they decided it was time to downsize. “We’re in our mid-60s, our kids are grown, and we had this big house with a big yard and a long hilly driveway,” Barb recalled. Yet once they walked through a main-floor model by the Louisville-based lifestyle builder Boulder Creek Neighborhoods, “We realized we didn’t have to sacrifice to have the main-floor and lower-maintenance conveniences we wanted,” she said. Carl added, “We downsized but didn’t downgrade.”
Their new home, the Aspen floor plan in Littleton’s Silver Leaf neighborhood, boasts 10-foot ceilings, a plethora of natural light, plenty of storage, a finished basement, and the Gepperts’ top requirement in a new home, “everything on one floor,” Carl said. “At any time, we’re just steps away from the bedroom, laundry room, kitchen, front door, garage – you name it – and we’re not having to do stairs up to bed.” Barb is thrilled that the kitchen is as beautiful and well-appointed as her kitchen in her large former home. “Our three children and their families are local, so we still wanted space to host Christmas and Thanksgiving,” she explained.
“I understand not wanting to leave the memories you had in the family home, and packing up everything might seem insurmountable, but really, we found it’s not, and after we spent one night in the new home, it felt like we’d been here forever,” Barb said. “We’re excited to make new memories, meet our neighbors and expand our circle of friends.”
Margaret and Dave Bell plan to move into a Boulder Creek home in Erie’s West Edge at Colliers Hill neighborhood by the end of the year for many of the same reasons. Dave said, “We’re both 60, our three oldest are out of college, and our youngest recently joined the Navy. We suddenly found ourselves empty nesters, and though we always knew this day would come, it was a little shocking and made us realize we didn’t need this huge two-story house.” He continued, “We’re realistic. Our big home simply doesn’t have a bedroom on the main floor, and I’m a cyclist, Margaret is a runner – and one of these days one of us will need a hip or a knee replacement, so we decided to look for a home with main-floor living.”
Unparalleled quality
Erie residents for many years, the Bells began their home search in northern Colorado but were soon frustrated by the lack of quality. “The problem was that most of the main-floor homes are being built as starter homes,” Margaret said. The Bells nearly resigned to buying a lot and constructing a home themselves, a project they didn’t want to take on at this point in their lives, when Margaret came across Boulder Creek Neighborhoods: “They checked every box for what we wanted for our lifestyle,” she noted. “We wanted main-floor living, we wanted high-quality builders, and we wanted a single-family home with a yard.” Dave continued, “I’m working, we’re active, but we’re thinking ahead, and we chose this home because of the lifestyle it’ll create for us.” Of the construction, Margaret said, “The quality at Boulder Creek was just so much higher. It was like night and day in terms of the quality from the other builders we looked at.”
Dave said his favorite part of their new floor plan is the garage. “I got my three-car garage, and she got her beautiful cabinetry, flooring, all the upgrades she wanted in the kitchen, plus the fireplace.” Because Margaret and Dave gravitated to Boulder Creek based on the ranch-style floor plans and the overall craftsmanship, they didn’t realize until the day they signed that lower-maintenance amenities are a defining factor of a Boulder Creek neighborhood. Not only are ranch-style homes by Boulder Creek lower-maintenance by design, with raised electrical outlets to reduce bending down, zero-step thresholds, 36-inch-wide doorways, and spacious bathrooms for ease of maneuverability, at West Edge, front yard maintenance and snow removal are covered by the neighborhood lifestyle association (Boulder Creek’s take on the HOA). “We had picked out the house, the floor plan, the lot, everything, when I found out that they mow, edge, fertilize,” Dave said. “I thought, ‘This is about as good as it could get.’”
Margaret and Dave’s home includes an unfinished basement. “The basement gives us the option for more storage and a gym, but we’re not up and down the stairs every day,” Dave said. “I appreciate that they’ve designed it with a pre-plumbed bathroom for the day when we might want to finish it off.”
Main floor living for all ages and stages
A ‘right-sized’ floor plan and main-floor conveniences drew Carey True to Lanterns at Rock Creek by Boulder Creek Neighborhoods. Following years of weekends spent “scrubbing huge bathtubs we never used” and staying home to tackle chores while the rest of the family headed out for a day at the water park or to ski, True traded a sprawling three-story house for “an exceptional quality home” that provides “the same quality of life and more ability to actually live your life,” she said. True and her son moved into Lanterns at Rock Creek in May and are loving what they don’t have to do – from weeding to maintaining the sprinkler system – as well as the new opportunities to “live the way we want to,” True said. Plus, since True works from home, main-floor living enables her to effortlessly start a load of laundry or stick dinner in the oven between meetings.
Regardless of one’s age or season of life, Margaret said, “If you’re looking for a simpler lifestyle, for easier living, if you are wanting to enjoy more things outside on the weekend, these are great homes. If you want to travel, and when you’re home, enjoy the quality of the house without always working on the house, I would very much recommend (Boulder Creek Neighborhoods).”
Barb agreed: “For us, it was finding the floor plan that suited our lifestyle. And then if the house fits, do it.”
Final opportunities selling now
Boulder Creek offers a variety of main-floor options, from Silver Leaf in Littleton to West Edge at Colliers Hill and Lanterns at Rock Creek in Superior. Silver Leaf is at build-out, and Lanterns at Rock Creek has only a few select homes remaining for quick move-in this winter and early spring.
At Colliers-Hill, several models will be ready for a grand opening in early 2023, and sales are underway. “For home buyers seeking a lifestyle centered on what’s important to you, this is the perfect opportunity at the perfect time,” said Boulder Creek Neighborhoods’ chief revenue officer Jessica Champlin.
“We are helping buyers who want a lower-maintenance lifestyle to take advantage of the beauty, amenities and conveniences of Colliers Hill and of Erie as a whole,” she said. West Edge is a direct response to today’s heated market and Boulder County’s limited housing inventory and will count 53 homes at build-out, all of which feature Boulder Creek’s beloved easyHouse floor plans. These floor plans, organized into the Ridge and Peak series, include ranch-style, single-family patio homes built to the quality standards so desired by the Gepperts and Bells, with the builder consistently employing above-industry techniques to produce sturdy, energy-efficient homes.
To take advantage of one of the remaining opportunities at Lanterns at Rock Creek or learn about quick move-in opportunities at West Edge at Colliers Hill, visit livebouldercreek.com or call Boulder Creek’s online concierge at 303.309.0088.
By Sarah Huber, At Home Colorado.
