In a metro Denver area market that few agents are saying much good about, the exception may be at the very high end where custom homes are priced — some of them designed for one-of-a-kind home sites that line the very edge of the foothills.

“We’re actually seeing the high end of the market move pretty well; it’s a different conversation in this price range,” said broker Jenny Usaj with Usaj Realty, who has that kind of home to show you, by appointment, at 15480 Dinosaur Ridge Road, just south of Morrison.

Seller Tom Cardella and his wife were living in the Solterra master-planned area a few miles north near Lakewood’s Green Mountain and were looking to move up, when a neighbor told them about the enclave called Montane, west into the hills on West Belleview Avenue, close to Red Rocks Country Club.

“You need to go look at it,” the neighbor told them.

“We lucked out,” Cardella recalls now. “We have amazing views of Red Rocks and the foothills. You feel like you’re so secluded, but you’re really five or 10 minutes to King Soopers or Safeway.”

University had owned site

“If I had 20 more lots in that place I could retire,” said custom builder Jordan Kahn, now owner of J. Kahn Custom Homes, who did the primary work on the design by architect Terry Winegard, while building for another custom builder.

That was in 2019, just before the market headed into the 2020 pandemic. The house is eye-catching, but the lot is even more so. The site had been owned by Colorado Christian University, intending to build a campus there — but ultimately got a zoning change to resell the parcel for custom building.

Cardella and Kahn said its origins with the university gave the neighborhood some special trail access, including some directly from this site, that accounts for the outdoorsy interests of neighbors in the area. Cardella, who has stayed in touch with Hahn, adds that you’re really not supposed to drive your golf cart directly from the house the mile or so to the country club, but said that happens all the time.

Perfect distance

He also sees the site as being the perfect distance from Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater. It’s three miles as the crow flies — close enough that residents can actually see the amphitheater lit up on concert nights, but can’t hear the performance, save for a few by certain European bands.

The price is $5 million. The house has been on the market for three weeks, but despite the price reductions that are common in other segments of the market, Usaj said she has no intention of dropping the figure. She adds that the buyer could be local (more likely to be familiar with this close-in but very secluded Jefferson County site). Or it could be someone arriving from California, Texas or Chicago — areas from where she is seeing buyer traffic now.

Visitors who arrange a showing will see 7,900 square feet of finished area, architecture that is well matched to its surroundings with mountain-modern styling, walls of windows particularly facing the best views, two fireplaces, a chef’s kitchen with Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances, custom cabinetry, wet bar, a landscaped exterior with a waterfall and fire pit, a smart home automation system, multiple flat screens, and a 4-car garage.