In Denver's historic Cherry Hills Village, where mature cottonwoods and horse-country acreage are steadily giving way to oversized new construction, this 1936 cottage tells a different story: one of preservation over replacement. For longtime clients determined never to let a builder tear it down, Susan Weiss returned nearly the entire original footprint to life, adding only a covered back porch and a modest bump-out for a Dutch door and oval window.
The renovation introduced natural light throughout: an open stairway, a loft, clerestory windows pulling daylight into the great room, without ever losing the home's original character. Inside, Susan's philosophy of choosing materials that improve with age plays out in large-plank European oak, Belgian bluestone, and hand-applied plaster, layered with 18th-century Swedish Gustavian antiques and one-of-a-kind pieces from the Emerson Bailey Collection.
The result is a home that feels historically inevitable rather than restored, proof that protecting architectural legacy can be as compelling as building anew.

Interior Design: Susan Weiss, Emerson Bailey Interiors. Architecture: Justin Bell, Ruggles Lindemann Bell. Landscape: Edward J. Hogan IV.