-
More Space, Without Losing the Home’s Character
The homeowners wanted more room for their family while keeping the mid-century character that made the original house worth building upon.
The new pop-top addition gave them two bedrooms and two bathrooms while opening the home to views of Colorado’s Front Range that weren’t visible before. Throughout the rest of the house, the renovation touched nearly every space.
A New Entry Made for the House
The team completely rethought the front elevation, including a custom entry door built by Cillessen Construction. The combination of clear cedar, original brick, dark trim, and the new covered entry gives the home a warmer, more defined approach while staying consistent with its mid-century architecture.
Rather than erase the original architecture, the design carries it forward. Existing brick was preserved and repaired where possible, while new materials, clean rooflines, black windows, warm wood tones, and a reworked entry give the home a distinctly modern identity.
-
Custom Millwork That Carries Across the Kitchen
Inside, one of the most detailed areas of the build is the kitchen.
Warm walnut tones contrast with the light surfaces and black detailing throughout the room. Along the back wall, Wood Veneer Hub tambour panels were incorporated into the custom millwork and carried across the appliance cabinetry.
Getting that pattern right took careful layout. The vertical detailing had to continue cleanly across multiple surfaces—including the refrigerator panels and glass-front wine columns—so the entire wall reads as one continuous composition rather than a collection of separate cabinets and appliances.
It’s a small alignment detail with a big effect on the finished room.
-
Mid-Century Materials, Used in a Modern Way
The material palette stays consistent inside and out: warm wood, simple profiles, dark window frames, natural light, and restrained finishes.
Exterior selections include:
- TruExterior siding
- Clear cedar siding
- LP SmartSide trim
- CertainTeed Landmark Pro shingles
- Black casement, fixed, and sliding windows
- JELD-WEN interior and exterior doors
- American Garage sectional and multi-slide door systems
- Wood Veneer Hub tambour panels in the kitchen
The home also received upgraded insulation, high-performance windows, and modern mechanical systems as part of the renovation.
-
Adding Square Footage and a View
The pop-top added two bedrooms and a bathroom, but it also gave them something priceless.
Large windows on the new second level were positioned to take advantage of views across the Front Range. From the primary bedroom and other upstairs spaces, the family now has a perspective that simply didn’t exist in the original one-story home. A second-story outdoor space extends that connection even further.
-
A Pop-Top With Some Structural Problem-Solving Behind It
Before the second story could go up, we had to address important work below it.
An existing addition had been built with a foundation different from the original home. Because the new pop-top depended on the structure beneath it, our team worked closely with the structural engineer to determine how the existing conditions needed to be reinforced and integrated into the new construction.
It’s work you don’t see in the finished photographs, but it was essential to building the addition correctly.
-
A Whole-Home Transformation in Applewood Village
This Applewood Village renovation brought together substantial structural work, a second-story addition, nearly whole-home remodeling, custom millwork, and detailed finish carpentry in one coordinated project. The result is a home with considerably more room for the family, but one that still feels connected to the mid-century ranch that was there before it.
For Cillessen Construction, it’s also a good example of the work we enjoy most: taking a detailed architectural plan, solving the construction challenges behind it, and carrying the craftsmanship all the way through the final details. If you're considering a whole-home renovation or pop-top addition in Wheat Ridge, Applewood, Denver, or the surrounding Front Range, talk to Cillessen Construction.