By Mark Samuelson

When Katie Henderson had looked all over Park Hill and Hilltop for a nicer home with a little lower maintenance than her place in Mayfair was demanding, her son and daughter-in-law in Stapleton gave her some advice: Why not buy a Wonderland home like we have in Stapleton, and get a ranch so you don’t have to deal with stairs?

Katie Henderson and Wonderland’s Jeff Heien show off her new home in the Courtyard Collection at Stapleton, with smaller yards that blend into maintained common area.

Wonderland will show you how that came out at its new Courtyard Traditions in Stapleton’s Central Park West neighborhood (Henderson took the kids’ first suggestion, but turned them down on the ranch idea – although Wonderland has a big ‘Emerson II’ ranch you can see today). more »

By Mark Samuelson

Two years ago, builder David Sinkey of Boulder Creek Builders was on the phone to the big Denver developers, trying to convince them to work some of his low-maintenance patio ranch designs into their large master-plans. Now a half dozen developers are talking with him, wanting to rub some of the same magic into their own communities that, just since November, attracted 18 sales in the $400s and $500s.

Boulder Creek Builders’ David Sinkey shows his fast-selling patio ranch models at Steel Ranch in Louisville, showcasing stone elevations with rich cedar and copper trim, from the $4s.

You can see those sharp, traditionally styled patio models (from the low $4s) today at Steel Ranch in Louisville (they were packed with visitors when I toured Wednesday). more »

Retired teacher Kathy Alfeld, who, right after Christmas moves into a roomy, low-maintenance patio ranch Village Homes is finishing in Castle Pines, has one thing she can’t wait for: “I’m looking forward to the first snow storm, so we can stand out on the porch with cups of cocoa and watch somebody else shovel the driveway.”

John and Kathy Alfeld and their cocker spaniels join Village’s Andrea Sederberg at The Crossings at Castle Pines, in front of a home like one the Alfelds will move into.

You can see a furnished model today of the same “Sagewood’ plan that she and husband John Alfeld picked at Village’s Crossings at Castle Pines, west of I-25 at Castle Pines Parkway – and you’ll get an idea why they’re making that move here, to Castle Pines, rather than into Denver. more »