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This Home is for a VERY Select Few!This house has been my favorite toy for the past 15 years. It was, and still is, my dream house. It might be your dream of a house as well, but it also may not. We hired an architect about 20 years ago, and he worked on the plans for about a year. After that my wife and I traveled and worked in two other states before we could afford to start building. We lived with the plans for about five years, fine tuning some of the ideas. Shortly after the "Great Eclipse" of 1991 (in July), we retired and began to build the house. I acted as the general contractor, and designed the heating, lighting, and security aspects of the house myself. These are all tied into a home automation system that (incredibly) remains state of the art. So, why would we want to sell and move away? It's not without a bit of regret, but there are at least two reasons. First, we are people who like change. We've never lived this long in one place before. Second, we don't like having to have the house and plants looked after while we are away for extended periods of time. The house needs a couple who want to live in it full time. That brings me to another point. This is a huge house designed for two occupants who occasionally have another couple spend the night. It's great for parties, and can easily accommodate 10 tables for bridge, but at the end of the day it has very few beds. A final point is that the house is complex. Its heating, lighting, and security systems are all coordinated by a home automation system. It has secret rooms, passages, and tunnels with lots of mechanical stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's not a kludge. It's very well designed and constructed. In fact, the house looks and feels like it was built within the last few years. The garage was recently finished out, and the greenhouse rooms were added on just a few years ago. We picked the building site by looking within a small bull's eye that is the center of a 45 minute commute circle containing the most that Colorado has to offer. However, it's nearly two miles to the nearest restaurant and shopping, and most trips take at least 15 minutes to get there. If you like the peace and quiet of the country and taking long walks in solitude, you'll love it. Just walking the perimeter of the property is about a mile's hike. For a very few people, our house could be a dream home. Everyone who visits us loves our house, but not everyone would love living in it. |