2008 Nationals: Outdoor Living in the Cold

A waterside location inspired this plantation-style home. The kitchen opens to the dining, sitting and living areas, and the rooms open to the wrap-around porch/living area that has views of the water. 
Photos: AronPhoto.com GOLD WINNER: Tradewinds at Southshore, Aurora, Colo. When you think of outdoor home living spaces, you think of homes in California, Florida and Nevada. But Colorado?

Tradewinds in Southshore is built on a reservoir in Aurora, Colo., just outside of Denver. Facing the challenge of drawing people to an area that's been uninhabited for years, the goal was to coax buyers with beautiful views overlooking the water.

This plantation-style home has an understated front façade with a wide porch. With no wasted space, the focus of the home is the large kitchen that opens to the dining, sitting and living areas toward the back of the home. The open spaces lead to the outdoor living spaces that wrap around the side and rear of the house, all with views of the water.

"It does snow a fair amount in Denver," says Mike Woodley, principal of Woodley Architectural Group in Highlands Ranch, Colo., "but there's a saying that we have more sunshine here than they have in Hawaii, so we do get a lot of days where you can use that indoor/outdoor space. That's the whole idea of that house, that it blends the indoor with the outdoor."

Tradewinds was part of the Denver Parade of Homes when the theme was the not-so-big house, in the tradition of Sarah Susanka's philosophy and book of the same name. Not so big is relative; at 3,800 feet, the home has only one dining area, two bedrooms and a guest room on the main floor.