When our youngest son graduated from college, my wife, Barbara, and I decided to downsize from our home in Colorado Springs and move to Woodland Park. Because we were looking for a smaller but newer home we settled for a spec home that was under construction. Although we were able to select some of the finishes we did not have as much input as we would have liked. Over the next five years we made numerous upgrades in the home but also continued to look at other properties in the area. We made several offers to purchase others homes but were unsuccessful. During this time we became familiar with homes and buildings David Langley had designed. We subsequently began looking at lots and considered building a new home. We purchased a half acre lot with an unobscured view of Pikes Peak.

At this juncture we decided to consult with David. We had no experience in designing or constructing a home. David asked what we were looking for in terms of the design. Although we thought we liked adobe style architecture, we realized it was not practical living at 8500 feet above sea level in the Colorado mountains. Yet we wanted to retain some of the character and features of a southwestern design which my wife later described as “Santa Fe Mountain”.

David was instrumental in helping us reach our goal. He listened to our ideas and began to bring them to life in his drawings. We met with David on several occasions to review the concept drawings. Sometimes it took a couple of attempts by us to communicate what we wanted but David came up with the home the we wanted. It was somewhat more difficult because we did not want a large home but wanted the convenience and modern features sometimes reserved for larger custom homes.

In addition to listening to our ideas for the design, David undertook fitting the design on the lot.  He had the lot surveyed and determined the optimum view point and sight lines for the house. Likewise, we asked David for recommendations of builders. We interviewed the builders he recommended, all of whom were very competent, and selected the one with whom we were most comfortable. Our builder and David then worked closely to bring the design to fruition.

We have been very pleased with our home and its design. It has the feel of a mountain lodge or bed and breakfast but with some interior southwest features. After watching a fox playing in our yard, my wife named our house “Dancing Fox Lodge” and we were proud to display our home in the local Christmastime charitable benefit known as the Holiday Home Tour. We continue to comment to each other that it is hard to believe we live in the home that we do because it truly is what we wanted. David deserves a great deal of credit for the enjoyment we experience daily.

We wanted to take the time to let others know of our process with Langley Architects. We were recommended to Langley Architects by Steve Copp with Above Tree line construction. We started the process with David and we were extremely pleased with the start of the process as David listened to us and wanted our input from the start. We were very involved in the process and David listened and implemented our taste with his design throughout. We couldn’t have been more pleased with the process or the cost. We achieved a unique one of a kind Colorado Cabin with our taste and the touches of a professional that made it all come together.

 

David is a wonderful,  creative architect while looking to minimize Both initial cost  as well as ongoing maintenance and operating  expenses for the client. Some Architects forget those last two pieces, Instead trying to build a monument of posterity to themselves/work.. John Bushman, Chairman and  CEO, Investment Corporation of America et al and MCM Elegante and Malls