Right at the cusp of an alternative route to the Bar Trail, there is a large house nestled between a rock hill and a curtain of trees. Its Western property border ends at the fence of a neighboring house. The Southwestern corner of the property consists of a large, gravel parking lot, in which hikers’ cars are allowed temporary stay by the homeowners.
Two paths branch from the parking lot, heading eastward towards the house itself: a flight of stairs that cuts through a well kempt garden that bears various flowers and plants, and a gravel driveway that is preceded by a steep incline from the parking lot.
At either path’s end, the house’s front is clear to see. Its most predominant color is yellow, though the window frames and doorframes are all painted green. The house’s roof crests atop two sharp inclines. Affixed to the Western side on the house’s second floor, there is porch that looks more modern than any other part of the house. In one corner, there is a hot tub set inside a pit the structure was built around, so that the hot tub’s top is level with the porch.
Regardless of the path taken, both open up to a pinkish-red sidewalk. This sidewalk runs past the house’s front and offers three entrances: the front door, which is set inside a covered porch with several wicker chairs decorated in floral patterned cushions; another door in the front that comes first along the path, but opens up to a narrow hallway that leads to a small workroom; and a wooden staircase that ends at the Eastern porch on the second floor.
Through the front door, there is a spacious living room with an old-fashioned fireplace set nearly in the middle. In the right corner from the entrance, a nineties television set was placed on a wicker entertainment center. Two couches form a right angle around the television, leaving the space’s left side when facing the television opening up to the fireplace. In the sitting area’s center, there rests a glass coffee table on a green, copper frame, which sits atop a handmade rug featuring a symmetrical pattern of several abstract, flower-like designs.
The wooden floor is painted white. It is patterned with a number of parallel lines that each has a flower every few inches. All the flowers are separated by lengths of painted green veins.
Along the left wall of the living room, there is a white, wooden door. It opens up to what is known as, “The Lilac Room.” The walls are painted ivory with another floral pattern. There is a white carpet that stretches over nearly the entire space of the room. It ends towards the front of the house, where a second hot tub sits underneath a large window with nearly translucent curtains.
Near the entrance of The Lilac Room, a queen size bed sits a few feet from the door. Its bedspread with matching duster bears a similar pattern to the wall: white with floral designs. At either side of the bed, there is a pearl colored nightstand. On the one nearest the door, there is an old-fashioned, gold painted alarm clock with two bells and a tiny hammer to produce the vintage sound associated with such contraptions.
Back through the living room, there is another door along the room's far right corner. On the other side of the door, there lies a small, carpeted room that serves as storage space. Various knickknacks litter the floor or are stored away in boxes. Holiday decorations including plastic jack-o’-lanterns, a number of plastic bag ghosts stuffed with either newspaper or dead leaves, hand drawn Thanksgiving turkeys, and even a plastic Christmas tree are included in the numerous debris the room houses.
In one corner of the room, a short staircase with a low roof leads down to the basement. There, two beds are set parallel to each other along the left wall. Across the room from them, a television set sits atop a wooden dresser decorated with Power Ranger stickers. Below the staircase, several plastic crates store toys and other assorted items: action figures, water guns, misplaced socks and underwear, a dozen children’s books, and several Crayola crayon boxes.
Past the staircase, a heavy, dark brown wooden door opens up to large bathroom with a natural theme, especially in the design of the shower, which is a thing of beauty. It has a rock floor with a three foot high boulder cemented into the corner, making for a perfect place to sit or climb on for kids.
Beyond the bathroom, there is a wooden sauna, lit only by a tiny, bare light bulb hung from the ceiling’s center. The furnace beside the door and is filled with coals, which are then heated and splashed with water to produce the steam.
Once more through the living room, beyond the fireplace the space narrows into a short hallway. At its end, there is a doorway on the right and a staircase on the left. The door leads to an inner apartment, included with another living room, this one with less formal decorations. The coffee table is a simple, wooden design, while the couches are less ornate than their counterparts in the first living room. The television set, too, is much older, though bears a larger screen that must have been considered huge for its time.
Through this secondary living room, a kitchen with white tiled floors serves as the production center of foods and beverages. The center island has a black-and-white countertop, with a sort of vent hanging from the ceiling above that also has hooks for various pots and pans.
The counters along the walls bear the same black-and-white designs. The sink is large and deep with a long-necked faucet that provides plenty of room for dishes. A foot of counter space to the right of the sink, a large, yellow, two-door refrigerator hums in its secluded corner.
Just past the fridge, a door opens up to another bedroom. Two twin size beds were pushed together to make for a larger sleeping space. A very plain, white dresser sits along one wall near a closet filled to the brim with aged dresses.
A small hallway leads to another bathroom. The room is generally white, though with blue bath rugs beside the tub and around the toilet. A double-sided door on the room’s right opens up to the plateau of the hill. Down a slight decline, the remnants of an older, third porch can be seen.
The staircase beside the apartment’s entrance leads up to the older, larger porch. A cast iron table and grill serve as the main features for this area. The porch overlooks the backyard, a sprawling thirty-some yard field with a rusted, metal jungle gym and a concrete bomb shelter. Beyond all this, a massive expanse of hills, forests, and even Manitou Springs can be seen in a breathtaking color mixture, accented by the rays of lights cast down in varying locations as determined by cloud coverage.
That house, in its subtle and rustic warmth, with all the expansiveness a child could ask for, was my home, just as the vision beyond that porch was.
