1720 Deer Valley Rd.

unknown architect/ Horizon Building Company/ A-Frame style/ built 1965

After WWII, the GI Bill and the institutionalization of a five-day work week grew the middle class. For the first time the middle class had disposable income, enough to own vacation homes in addition to their primary residences. With more time and resources many families were able to take vacations and even own vacation homes. The A-Frame vacation house epitomized the social and cultural changes of the time, which included a less formal lifestyle and outdoor recreation. Most were built without architects, by do-it-yourselfers from kits, or purchased from builders who designed and constructed them.

Unlike the more typical modern A-Frame cabin, Table Mesa's A-Frames were built as primary residences, larger and with finer finishes. Horizon Building Company was responsible for several of the remaining A-Frames in the West Highland Park subdivision of Table Mesa.

Colorado architects known to have designed A-Frames include Frenchie Gratts (of Gratts and Warner, Denver), J.W. Noacker, Hobart D. Wagener, John Thacker, Richard Brown (Brown Brokaw and Bowen), and Wallace Palmer. Architect-designed A-frames in Boulder were often churches or commercial buildings.

Learn more about Boulder County's A-Frame architecture.