If you’re looking to green your home from the ground up, here’s some advice an recommendations from a couple who did just that. Photos by Ruthanne Johnson The average American home is far from friendly when it comes to the environment. From the petroleum-based roof overhead to the chemically sealed foundation below, the conventional home […]
Many agaves, yuccas and other succulents perfectly partner with our semiarid climate and cold winters. They also add sculptural interest and thrive in the garden’s hottest spots. Here’s a brief guide to some of the more fascinating specimens. For Front Range residents, the word “succulent” most likely conjures up visions of prickly pears, which lurk […]
Mulches are like sure-fire aces that protect plants and improve soil conditions. In the game of gardening, it pays to play with mulches. Mulches are like aces in a poker hand. Given our region’s extreme temperatures and aridity, mulches keep plants in the game by protecting them and improving soil conditions. Mulches can be once-living […]
Up to your elbows in garden tomatoes? Here’s a step-by-step guide for canning your harvest. Hint: It’s easier than you think. At harvest time, your garden’s bounty covers kitchen counters in fresh produce, warm from the sun and filled with flavor from all the TLC you’ve given it. When it’s time to pluck the last […]
Makeovers don’t have to be costly. These design tips won’t break the bank, but they will spiff up your space. Fall is about new looks. When foliage turns fiery and people deck out in new fashions, why not take the autumnal spirit a step further and give your home a new look, too? We asked […]
How a handy Boulder couple bought a 100-year-old Pennsylvania barn and hauled it to Colorado to build their dream home themselves. Nothing exemplifies rural life like an old, wooden dairy barn. But Boulder builder Judy Knapp takes the country life a step further by living in one. Growing up in more formal surroundings, Judy wanted […]
Arguably Colorado’s most famous home, the Sculptured House has a history as unusual as its architecture. By Ruthanne Johnson If you’ve driven west on I-70, you’ve seen it. If you’ve watched Woody Allen’s movie Sleeper, you’ve seen it. And if you believe in UFOs, you can’t help but wonder what inspired Colorado’s most well recognized […]
This Louisville oasis overflows with verdant plants, sparkling fountains, tropical scents and the many paradisiacal elements of Eden. It’s hard to believe that Richard and Myriam Doerr started with zilch when you look at their luxuriant landscape. Greenery greets you at every turn, jasmine and lavender perfume the air, cascading water sparkles in sunlight, and […]
Tour a home in Fourmile Canyon that qualifies as one huge “Mother of Invention.” It all began on a foggy day in 1994, with a 42-second series of painstakingly planned blasts using 80,000 pounds of explosives. Just 60 feet from the excavation site, on a steep wooded hillside, a slightly eccentric inventor named Binx Selby […]
Toss out your old image of prefabricated buildings, because modern prefab “sheds” are sleek enough to be chic, but cheap enough to give you a spare room for minimal expense. Sarah wanted a serene space where she could meditate and practice yoga, but with a husband, three kids and two dogs in a three-bedroom home, […]
Nothing says summer more than freshly grilled meals. Today’s portable gas grills have enough frills to turn even an amateur griller into a master. Outdoor cooking has progressed since the days of dumping charcoal in a $20 hibachi, dousing it with lighter fluid and tossing in lit matches. Today’s portable gas grills sizzle with tasty […]
This grand mansion built by early Boulder Mayor James P. Maxwell is a tribute to a bygone era. In 1906 James P. Maxwell built a house worthy of his station in life. As a Boulder pioneer, engineer, statesman, cattle rancher, banker and one of the town’s earliest mayors, he chose a substantial brick foursquare with […]
Use these tips to enhance chile flavor and, if desired, reduce heat. If you prefer peppers with less heat, purchase large, heavy fruits that have more flesh to disperse the peppers’ heat-producing capsaicin compound. If you like it hot, purchase lighter, smaller fruits. Peppers have different flavors that the heat often masks. The flavor is […]
Alive Studios
