When it hit the market in 2011, this 1953 ranch house in Denver’s Crestmoor Park neighborhood was a time capsule. Its pine-paneled office, metallic-wallpaper-wrapped bathrooms, and green galley kitchen were 1960s originals. But to potential buyer Paul Wrona, an award-winning landscape architect with more than a decade on the Denver design scene, the house was the epitome of “good-bones” potential. (Back in its heyday, the charming ranch was featured in a magazine.)

Paul and Susan Wrona with their kids, Finn and Levi. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Living Room: A deep, linen sofa and oversize leather chair (both from Arhaus) and side table by Gus Modern (via Mod Livin’) set the stage for lounging in the Wrona family’s neutral living room. A Jaipur Rugs woven area rug and Crate & Barrel teak coffee table emphasize the organic feel. But it’s the property’s mature spruce trees, visible through the sliding glass doors, that make the best accessories. “The interior is filled with elevated elements that all seamlessly flow to the outside,” says designer Kelly Christensen. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Back Patio: The wraparound deck was added during the renovation and is constructed with Thermory board (thermal-treated ash wood). A pair of World Market chairs pulls up to the Notus fire pit by Nisho. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Front Exterior: “We live in a great neighborhood with outstanding neighbors, so I wanted to make sure we had a place to converse out front,” Paul says. “It’s a nice place to sit in the evenings and watch the boys play basketball or skateboard in the driveway. The fire pit is flanked by two modern Acapulco chairs in Tangerine. An uplit Pom Pom pine is Paul’s favorite new addition to the landscaping because of its “sculptural and Asian feel.” Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Courtyard: “This was the first area that I renovated,” says homeowner Paul Wrona of the rear courtyard. “I wanted a place to cook, dine, and lounge outside.” The grill and bar are made of a barnwood veneer and precast concrete countertop, and the patio is Belgard concrete pavers. Wrona designed the fire pit, which later served as inspiration for the Notus fireplace by Nisho (Wrona’s fire pit company). European hornbeam trees provide privacy. Photo by Kylie Fitts.

Even better for Wrona, co-owner and principal of landscape architecture firm Elevate by Design, was the home’s spacious, flat lot, which boasted enormous, mature trees that only a decades-old property could offer. “The lot was large, and the house was situated nicely to have both a beautiful front yard and a spacious backyard. It was the perfect blank canvas,” Wrona says. So, he and his wife, Susan, and their then-3-year-old son (and a baby boy on the way) bought the 2,300-square-foot house, inheriting two spruce trees, a large Patmore green ash, and a huge interior and exterior renovation project.

5280 Home April/May 2022
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When the young family moved in, a spit-shine pulled the house into the 21st century. Goodbye, 1960s chintz; hello, espresso-stained kitchen island. But as the boys grew—one is now in middle school—the dwelling’s one-and-a-half bathrooms and cramped, dark rooms lost their charm. When budget and bandwidth synchronized, Wrona says, “it was time to make the house look and function better for the modern-life experience.”

The long-awaited renovation began in 2018, and it was a neighborhood affair. The Wronas hired architect Luke Taylor-Brown of LTBA Architecture to re-envision the layout and facade. “Luke is an extremely talented architect—and he also happens to be our neighbor, so he had the advantage of studying our house from across the street,” Wrona says. Next, they hired builder Marty Harrison, owner of LifeHouse Construction, who plays tennis with Wrona on neighborhood courts. And although the Wronas’ interior designer, Kelly Christensen, principal of KC Studio, doesn’t live in Crestmoor Park, she did go to college with Wrona’s business partner, and Christensen and Wrona have been friends for a long time.

After the team decided that a second-story addition would ruin the ranch’s charm, and that over-expanding the main level would gobble up too much of the yard, Taylor-Brown began the herculean task of squeezing must-have amenities into just 600 additional square feet. “The biggest issues the owners had with the house were that it didn’t have large enough bedrooms, enough room for storage, or direct access from the living room to the backyard,” Taylor-Brown says. The addition provided a main bedroom suite, making way elsewhere for bigger bedrooms and a full bathroom for the boys, plus a powder room, laundry room, and home office. La Cantina sliding doors in the living room were a “key addition, as they visually borrow space from the yard and make the room feel larger than it is,” Taylor-Brown says. A warm, walnut-paneled wall (with built-in bar) separates the kitchen and living and dining rooms.

Dining Room: An accent wall featuring Emma Hayes Textiles’ Sediment wallpaper (in the aptly named “Forest” colorway) echoes the views out the sliding glass doors and oversize window. Paul’s father made the farmhouse-inspired, white-oak table, which is surrounded by modern CB2 chairs. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Kitchen: The renovated kitchen’s espresso-stained island does double duty as a dining area; overhead, a pair of Tudo & Co. wooden pendants feels both modern and organic. Upgraded windows offer big views of Crestmoor Park’s tree-lined streets. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Office: “We thought it was a fun way to mix things up and add color without being ultra dramatic—since this room is off the main living area,” Christensen says of the blue office (with Benjamin Moore’s Glass Slipper paint on the walls and Blue Spruce on the ceiling). A trio of vintage seats from Mod Livin’, including a bright-yellow Panton chair by Vitra, provides a variety of chic perches. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Powder Room: The powder room’s Mr. Blow (in Great White) wallcovering by Abnormals Anonymous strikes just the right tone for this nature-inspired, family-friendly home. “How can you ever tire of pufferfish?” Christensen asks. The Unison black oval mirror, Lightology pendants, and custom white-oak vanity elevate the playfulness to high design. Photo by Kylie Fitts.
Bedroom: More natural-world inspiration comes courtesy of the mountain mural in one of the son’s bedrooms (a peel-and-stick wallcovering that Christensen and homeowner Susan found on Etsy). The bedding is from CB2; the bed and side table are from All Modern. Photo by Kylie Fitts.

Wrona describes the couple’s vision for the interiors as “a modern vibe with rustic accents, with every room [feeling] warm and comfortable.” Christensen delivered. “Kelly gave it a punch of color and texture that really captured our style,” he says. A few well-chosen, nature-inspired wallpapers, like the wispy, Emma Hayes Textiles’ pattern on the dining room’s accent wall, bring in an organic feel.

But it’s the four outdoor living areas, including three separate fire pits (Wrona also co-owns Denver-based fire pit company Nisho) that really bring together the home. “Our entire landscape needed to be renovated, and because I couldn’t tackle all of it at once, I took it one area at a time,” Wrona says of the decade-long build-out. “I would select a space, study it for as long as it took to get a vision, and then figure out a way to implement it.” There’s a backyard courtyard, good for “outdoor dining, watching a movie or game, and cooking s’mores on the fire pit,” he says. The back deck, he adds, is the perfect spot for “morning coffee or an evening drink, both better with a fire, of course.” The family often sits out front to chat with neighbors on summer nights or while waiting for trick-or-treaters on Halloween. And the large back lawn is where the family plays summer rounds of cornhole and the boys practice their favorite sports.

“This house doesn’t have a large footprint, so using our outdoor space as a connection to the house was so important,” Wrona says. “In the spring, summer, and fall, our slider doors are almost always open to welcome in nature.” Which feels, well, perfectly natural.

Design Pros
Architecture – Luke Taylor-Brown, LTBA Architecture

Interior Design – Kelly Christensen, KC Studio

Interior Styling – Kerri Cole

Construction – Marty Harrison, LifeHouse Construction

Landscape Architecture – Paul Wrona, Elevate by Design

This article was originally published in 5280 Home April/May 2022.
Cheryl Meyers
Cheryl Meyers
Cheryl Meyers is a contributing writer to 5280 Home, which means she gets to spend her days writing about Colorado’s most beautiful indoor spaces.