Living on Top of the World
A Beauty to Behold
Written by MARY ROSS
Photography by STEVE GROER
The breathtaking views of the magnificent snow-covered Rocky Mountain Front Range is reason enough to savor high-rise living. It's no exaggeration to say that when you step onto the terrace and scan the horizon, you feel as though you are on top of the world. When this couple moved from a four-bedroom Boulder mountain house to a southeast Denver high-rise condominium, they wanted a more carefree lifestyle without all the chores a home requires. They didn't want to wait around for repairmen to show up, while also plowing through a long list of jobs from gardening and lawn maintenance, to roof repairs and snow removal.
"We lived in downtown Chicago first. We went from density to hundreds of acres of space. We loved Boulder, but we opened four stores with 50 employees in Denver, and everything was over an hour drive. We needed to simplify," the owner says.
In their three-year-old European-style high-rise penthouse, they soon discovered how much easier life could be, starting with a building manager who took care of anything that needed fixing, in addition to a concierge to bring up their cars and walk their Ridgeback Labrador and Boulder rescue dog. A personal wine cellar on the first floor for each condo owner, as well as a state-of-the-art workout facility, swimming pool with gardens and cabanas, and restaurants right across the street made life even easier for this busy couple.
"We are very active and on the go. Yesterday I got up at 6 a.m. and finished my day at 1 a.m. We are entrepreneurs. Working hard and focusing on our business is of paramount concern to us. With this lifestyle, everything is done for you," the owner says.
"It couldn't be more night and day," he adds, referring to the couple's move from the seclusion of Old Stage Road in Boulder to south Denver. But they didn't want to give up their view of the mountains when they left Boulder, so their penthouse western exposure with floor-to-ceiling windows offers the unobstructed magnificent scenery they love.
When the owners moved to the 12th floor of their new 2,000-square-foot penthouse with its luxurious two bedrooms and 16-foot ceilings, they had very little nostalgia for their former home.
"There's also a great guest bedroom in the building when friends come to visit. We can have dinner, and then they can go to their own suite. That's good living," he says.
