BACKYARD DREAMS Love your at-home alfresco experience with an outdoor kitchen.

Backyard Dreams

Ditch the indoors and go for the COMPLETE OUTDOOR LIVING EXPERIENCE by adding a kitchen to your backyard oasis.

By Heather Shoning

IMAGINE YOUR SUMMERTIME and autumn entertaining taking place 100 percent outside— no running back and forth to the kitchen for meal prep and drinks. You spend your “kitchen time” outdoors with your family and guests. You don’t miss a minute of the fun and memory-making. Sound too good to be true? It’s not when you add a complete outdoor kitchen to your backyard entertaining area. And, of course, any party leads to the group gathering in the kitchen, so why not keep the party outdoors to enjoy the beautiful Colorado weather every minute you can?

In addition to making mealtimes easier—and containing the cleanup to one area—your outdoor kitchen can look and function just as well as the one indoors. Today’s appliances and cabinetry options ensure lasting beauty and a second kitchen you’ll love. Depending on how you structure your space, Joseph Nguyen, president of Dream Makers Landscape, says when you’re able to use the entire outdoor area for entertaining, it might not even feel like you’re outdoors.

Your kitchen can be open-air or under the cover of a pergola or solid roof. When planning the kitchen layout, think about how you cook indoors and how you want to cook outdoors.

“The structure can take on different designs and variations based on the different appliances you choose,” Nguyen says. “It’s not just about a grill anymore—there are pizza ovens, smokers and Big Green eggs. You can add a sink, refrigerator, ice maker, beverage center— anything you want.” It will all contribute to the size and layout of the space, but Nguyen assures: If you can dream it, Dream Makers can build it.

Today’s cabinetry is rated for outdoor use, and with granite countertops, everything can tolerate the variety of weather conditions Colorado serves up. This enables you to use the outdoor kitchen fully. Use cabinetry to store pans, serve ware, dishes and more. And just like an indoor kitchen, countertops make excellent seating arrangements in addition to a dining table and chairs.

Whether you’re just embarking on a backyard redesign or have some elements in place, Dream Makers can help you design and build a dreamy outdoor kitchen for maximum entertaining. Many of Nguyen’s clients have an indoor entertaining area that overflows into an outdoor space. This is the perfect spot to add a kitchen and outdoor living area that leads guests outdoors. Beyond that, you might have a fire feature and a pool and/or spa. “The convenience of walking outside and having everything so close,” Nguyen says, “provides value and entertainment. It allows you to bring everything outside.”

PHOTOS: COURTESY DREAM MAKERS LANDSCAPE

History Helps Coloradans Understand

Colorado

Our Past ... and Our Future

FASCINATED WITH a snow globe she received for her birthday, Rebecca Gerald became an avid collector at the young age of five. Gerald’s home in Highlands Ranch is filled with dozens of the glass figures she’s passionately collected over the past four decades.

Why do humans collect? It’s an age-old question that psychologists and neuroscientists have tried to answer, with many arriving at the same conclusion: Collecting in is our DNA, tracing back to our hunter-and-gatherer days, though we don’t just gather tangible objects. Collections can also be of experiences— consider the music fan who follows a favorite band from city to city, or the traveler whose goal is visiting all 50 states.

The reasons people collect vary; it could be to learn more about the objects, for investment purposes, for the thrill of the hunt or just because it’s fun. For Gerald and her prized snow globes, it’s about curating a collection that tells her life story.

“My snow globe collection is like my own little history museum, since I can remember exactly where and when I acquired each one,” she says. “But the real joy, for me, is in sharing them with others, of sharing the stories behind them—the special celebrations, the places I’ve been and the people I’ve met.”

It’s sharing the stories behind the collections where museums come in. History Colorado (HC) was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, just three years after Colorado became a state. Today it operates in the History Colorado Center, a four-story space in downtown Denver. As a state-funded agency, HC knows that the artifacts in the collection—totaling more than 15 million— belong to the people of Colorado, with HC as the trusted caretakers. And like with Gerald and her snow globes, HC also knows that the real value in the vast collection is not in simply placing objects on display for the public to view, but in sharing the compelling stories behind the objects … the story of Colorado.

SkiCountryAntiques.com | 303-670-8726 114 Homestead Rd, Evergreen, CO 80439

“Our collection isn’t just ‘stuff,’” explains Alisa DiGiacomo, HC’s director of curatorial services and senior curator. “We are the stewards of the objects, but also of the important stories that go along with them.”

Case in point, History Colorado Center’s newest permanent exhibit, “Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects.” It includes 100 carefully selected artifacts from HC’s collection, representing the idea of “how Colorado became Colorado.” The 100 objects are compelling— in part, because it was surely a daunting task to choose just 100—but also in the way most of them seem like ordinary objects until you learn why they were chosen. The rustic mining pick is not just a pick, but a symbol of Joe Zanetell’s work to help improve the conditions for workers in Colorado’s coal mines in the early 1900s. The basic hammer isn’t just a tool you hit a nail with; it belonged to Charles Walden Rothwell, one of the residents of Dearfield, an African American colony in Weld County, established in 1910. And the small wooden ballot box is also much more than it appears to be; it’s a celebration of Colorado being the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1893.

HC’s priority is encouraging access, engagement and public interaction with the collection— a challenging and exciting task with a collection that includes artifacts ranging from trains to jewelry; books and art to manuscripts, letters and maps; sound recordings to photographs and moving images, among others. “The collection’s value is expressly tied to the public’s ability to use it in meaningful ways,” DiGiacomo explains. When adding artifacts to the collection (whether through donation or another avenue of acquisition) curators must weigh whether the objects “clarify, vitalize, humanize, personalize and symbolize Colorado’s history, and if they also function as a connector between the past and the present,” she adds.

Despite the millions of historic artifacts, though, it isn’t just about the past, says DiGiacomo: “History is happening today, too.” HC is now focusing on more current topics like Colorado’s COVID-19 experience, community activism and protests, wildfires, LGBTQ+

culture and “Colorado’s Entrepreneurial Spirit, 1940 to the Present.” Significant materials from research in these areas are currently being added to the collection.

“The permanent collection is the keeper of our cultural heritage,” DiGiacomo says. “It’s a rich resource containing multiple voices and perspectives. It tells stories of innovation, the land, resilience and community, but also challenges, hardship and division. Stories that show that history is complex, messy and sometimes ugly.” DiGiacomo says these stories represent the diverse voices and experiences of all Coloradans, past and present, whether their families have resided here for generations, or have recently made the Centennial State home. “That said, we acknowledge that there are missing voices, and we are continuously working to add additional voices and stories to the collection.”

HISTORY COLORADO CENTER, Denver 303.447.8679; historycolorado.org

MORE TO EXPLORE

While it would be impossible to display every artifact in the permanent collection, History Colorado is intent on making as many of them accessible as they can. In addition to the History Colorado Center downtown, HC maintains dozens of other historic sites and smaller museums throughout the state.

CENTER FOR COLORADO WOMEN’S HISTORY, Denver TRINIDAD HISTORY MUSEUM, Trinidad UTE INDIAN MUSEUM, Montrose FORT VASQUEZ (Platteville) GEORGETOWN LOOP RAILROAD, Georgetown PIKE STOCKADE, Conejos County “[Pike Stockade] is located along the north bank of the Conejos River,” explains DiGiacomo, “and it marks the site where, in 1807, Zebulon Pike raised the American flag over what was then Spanish territory.”

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Curvesand Carburetors

A woman’s affinity for cars inspires an impressive collection.

By Kim D. McHugh

BARBIE DOLLS. PEZ dispensers. Coca-Cola memorabilia. Star Wars figurines. The categories for collectibles are vast. In the case of Erin Hutchinson, it’s cars. Hutchinson, the founder and CEO of Vehicle Vault, recalls her affinity for automobiles beginning as a tween growing up in Texas.

“My parents love to tell a story that when I was about twelve, I started talking about cars. At that age, I remember dreaming about being able to drive and what my first car might be. It’s funny because I have two girls, nine and twelve, and I’m starting to look forward to what they’ll be driving when they are sixteen,” says the automotive enthusiast.

In 2012, her interest in starting a car collection accelerated to the point where her parents, Lou and Tanis, and she began talking about procuring a small collection the three could enjoy. That idea evolved into owning a more extensive, permanent collection and construction of their facility in Parker began in earnest with the museum opening in 2014.

To start their collection, the family decided on a trio of cars—a 1969 Z-28 Chevy Camaro, a 1960 Bentley S2 and a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge.

“The Fathom Green with white stripes Camaro was always my favorite, so it was the very first car we purchased to kick off the collection. The Bentley is one that my mother really loves, and then we bought the GTO Judge, which we named Judge Judy,” Hutchinson adds.

Of the nearly 60 vehicles in the collection now, many are named, with most having feminine monikers, a practice thought to have begun centuries ago with sailing ships. Hutchinson believes the origin is associated with the beauty, the curves and the sexiness of the cars, referencing Barbie the Bentley, Molly the Maserati, Ethel the Edsel, Lola the Pink Cadillac and Doris the McLaren 720S as examples in the Vehicle Vault.

Erin and her parents have acquired more than 90 percent of their cars from the January Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. Lou and Tanis have decided to take a backseat in the decisionmaking, and at the 2023 auction, Erin and her husband Nate will take over the keys to the carbuying castle. Hutchinson is not alone in her enthusiasm for cars, as evidenced by the traffic the museum has enjoyed since its opening in 2014. Comprised of permanent and rotating exhibits of cars from every decade since the turn of the 20th century, the vehicles appeal to aficionados and nonchalant visitors alike.

“We’ve made decisions on what cars to get as a family for over a decade. But my parents said, ‘It’s time to pass the baton to you,’” Hutchinson says. “So now, Nate and I will go to the Barrett-Jackson in January.” She describes the experience as like nothing else, with its excitement, buzz and fastpaced structure. She’s hopeful of finding something in the staging lanes to add to the collection, like a 1958 Edsel Pacer. The exhibits illustrate the historical significance of each decade, the progression of the automobile, the engineering feats achieved at that time, and how America and the world now have the technological advancements seen in today’s vehicles. A great example is the front-wheel drive capability in the 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton, a breakthrough introduced in 1929 by the then Indiana-based company in its Cord L-29.

A self-guided tour, where visitors quickly lose track of time studying the backstory of each vehicle, also reveals cars rarely seen, such as the 1954 Mercedes-Benz Gullwing 300SL and four notable convertibles—the custom “Orange Crush” 1969 Chevy Camaro, the 1954 Kaiser Fraiser 161, the custom 1962 Corvette and the 1968 Shelby GT500. On Hutchinson’s wish list for additions to the collection are a 1928 Bugatti Boattail, a 1937-39 Delahaye 135 and a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS.

“One of my favorite things is sharing automotive history with visitors. We get so many people saying, ‘I’m not really a car person, I’m just here with a friend or with my dad,’” says Hutchinson. “But those are the people I love seeing on the way out because everyone has their favorite car memories, even if they don’t realize it.”

VEHICLE VAULT, Parker 303.626.8920; vehiclevaultco.com