Mapleton Hill is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Boulder, with wide, leafy avenues lined with a handsome mix of late 19th- and early 20th-century architecture. Not all is as it seems, however. Behind the traditional facade of one recently renovated home, known as the Nut House, lies a thoroughly contemporary family home, which architect Nicholas Fiore, founder of FLOWER, describes as “business in the front, party in the back.”

“The clients had a strong instinct to create a home that conveyed a humbleness in its form, size, and expression, and also a home that would be respectful toward the historic context of the neighborhood,” says Fiore. “We all love the charm and architectural character of the district—and we wanted the home to function as a modern home and be modern in its language, details, and construction.”

So, while the front is inspired by the historic neighborhood, the details signal what is to come at the rear—think a trellis balcony with a steel framed-window, slimline roof fascia that accentuate the folded roof plane, and the use of trellises to screen and add texture.

It’s rare for new homes to be built in Mapleton Hill, and it required almost a year of negotiations with the Landmarks Board. “They fight to preserve existing homes, and seek to shape any new construction efforts, so there’s a thick packet of rules to abide,” says Fiore. “However, this also allowed us to consider the house 100 years from now, since the board was likely to fight to maintain it ‘as-is’ long after we’re all dead and buried. So, we felt as if we were designing for the owners as much as for the district—and for the next family, and the next after that. It was an opportunity to build a Mapleton home with the strange knowledge that it will be protected and preserved for generations to come.”

As the local Landmarks Board guidelines are primarily concerned with the public face of the home, the natural solution was to create a “secretly modern” home, with a traditional frontage that opens up to a contemporary construction of exposed steel and expanses of glass at the rear.

“Time was spent early on walking around the district,” says Fiore. “It’s not a homogenous historic neighborhood—it has a variety of styles and details that provided a rich context and an enormous kit of parts that served as inspiration.”

The home was inspired by the simple form and pure geometry of an archetypal gable house, and it’s a contemporary riff on the neighborhood’s classic one-and-a-half story designs. Like Nut House, these homes often incorporate balconies under the front gables over the porch, delicate custom wood filigree below the gable, and dormers as a means to expand the upper-level living spaces.

From the street, a wide, welcoming porch leads to a formal entry space that turns directly into a parlor in another nod to bygone eras. The parlor shares the same volume as the dining room, which features a large table anchored by a fireplace and a built-in buffet crafted from walnut timber.

“We set up this initial spatial series at the front of the house, as it is partially open to the kitchen and living rooms in the rear,” says Fiore. “We wanted a break between the public greeting and gathering spaces and the informal family living spaces.”

Beyond the kitchen is the living room, which has two glazed walls—operable sliders to the north, and fixed units to the east. These walls are visible from the kitchen, and they open up to the backyard patios and garden. The dramatically contrasting Colorado weather means that the relationship between interior and exterior is, as Fiore describes it, “more The Odd Couple than we’d like to admit.”

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“We have that 10' x 14' glass wall that melts away, and we protect it with a 10' cantilever steel balcony roof,” he explains. “The ‘party in the back’ scheme—wherein we peel away the solid skin and visually and physically engage the backyard landscape—is made possible by these huge slider doors. And, where we want sun over access—on the east side of the rear corner, in this case—we decided on fixed glass windows instead of doors.”

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms—a master suite and two children’s bedrooms, including one with a gable trellis balcony. “The main intention here was to set the main bedroom on the northern, quiet side of the home, open to the northern balcony,” says Fiore.

Like many Boulderites, the clients are passionate about the outdoors and enjoy cycling, mountain biking, and rock climbing. With this in mind, part of the brief was for a “ninja room” fitted with climbing walls, swings, rings, and hanging platforms. This is located in the basement level, alongside other quirky and fun details like a slide that runs from a coat closet to the family room, and a hidden “Hans Solo in carbonite” door that leads to the gym. This level also features a small guest bedroom suite.

Throughout the home, white oak keeps the interiors light and bright. “White oak, with its strong, open grain, plain sawn cathedrals, and—when used in a wider-plank character grade as per the floors—contrasting tones, can be employed in modern ways and strike more traditional notes as well,” says Fiore. “The beauty and warmth inherent in natural materials like wood are important for our souls, our inner lives.”

“The clients were a dream,” says Fiore. “They measure success in terms of integrity and realness, and hopefully the home reflects that. We have yet to really celebrate this house, and the time and effort it required to make it real. I cannot wait until this hell storm of a time is over and we can drink a whiskey or three on the porch swing—together, not distant, not masked, not afraid, just grateful!”

Related Reading:

Top 10 Mullet Homes of 2020

10 Mullet Homes That Are Traditional in the Front, Modern in the Back

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: FLOWER / @flowerarchitecture

Builder: Treeline Homes

Structural Engineer: Anthem Structural Engineers

Landscape Design: MARPA

Lighting Design: FLOWER & Innovate Lighting Consultants

Interior Design: Westward Foundry

Cabinetry Design: FLOWER

Cabinetry Fabrication & Installation: BKI Woodworks

Lighting Controls: Listen Up

Trim Carpenters & Millwork: ICS

Photography: Joni Schrantz & Ryan Hughes

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