Local Artist Revives Property in Florissant; Creates Fantasy Retreat
Trevor Phipps
Sometimes it takes a special eye to be able to see that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
One Teller County resident took this old adage to the extreme when he gave his Florissant property a new breath of life, using a slew of refurbished materials.
In fact, renowned artist Jeff River Law hand-picked everything he used to remodel his Florissant home that sports a perfect view of Crystal Peak. Moreover, Law was further inspired to morph an old shed into a second living space and fantasy retreat, coined the “Elf Haus.”
But now that the visionary has reached the age of retirement, his property is in need of a new owner. Law’s pride and joy, the Skye King Ranch located at 361 Crystal Peak Rd in Florissant, is now listed for sale by local real estate agents Tom and Deb Idleman with The Idleman Group.
A Beautiful Property That Needed Attention
When Law first fell in love with Colorado, he wanted to find the perfect property that encompassed the state’s mountain views and thick forests. He found the Florissant property on the internet and he eventually bought it.
However, when he initially saw the property, he realized that it needed some work. The house hadn’t been painted in years and the deck was in poor shape. Law instantly knew he wanted to refurbish the property in the way he had done in the past in Texas: using old, refurbished materials.
Before Law owned the property, the floor pan was basically a wide open space, besides the bedrooms and bathrooms. “So, I decided to start making it far more interesting,” Law said. “I started collecting old doors and windows and people started giving them to me. People who had old decks and were tearing them up, asked me if I wanted them. If they were too rotten I went and got it and reused all of that.”
Since he used to own an art gallery in Houston, Law decided to decorate his home with hand-made items imported from across the world. “It’s an eclectic mix that is extremely comfortable for all of the visitors that find their nooks,” Law explained. “I like to create a lot of nooks inside and out. And so, it’s now divided up with partial walls and curious little hallways and a lot of color.”
He then took an old tool shed on the property and decided to remodel it in a similar way. He found people remodeling old cabins and used the windows. Law also went to sawmills and handpicked pieces of wood.
Using his background in landscaping, Law also put his vision into the property’s yard. The exterior of the home sports a fully protected chicken coop, a fully enclosed pet or livestock area, and gated decks that help him respect the reality of having wildlife as neighbors. A well, rainwater system, Xeriscape yard, greenhouse, and solar energy work to maximize the efficiency of the use (and reuse) of the natural resources of the region.
“It’s very eclectic inside an outside,” Law said. “Even my little greenhouse has a 100-year-old English window on it with multi-paint. So, I hate to use commercial stuff if I don’t have to. So, if I stay, I would keep doing this, but I’m maxed out.”
An Artist Touch
Law, an artist by trade, has been refurbishing homes in a similar way for the last 40 years. In 1983, Law worked as a teacher, but he decided to quit working for someone to become self-employed as an artist.
He started selling art all over the country. Along the way, he ended up having to remodel studios. One day, he came across an old neighborhood that was being torn down for new homes to be built. He saw old flooring and windows sitting along the street.
“I thought they were a lot cooler than buying new stuff at Home Depot,” Law said. “So, I started rehabbing and re-purposing old buildings and homes. And things like that got me a lot of PR from TV, magazines and newspapers because this was long before people were flipping houses and that sort of things.”
Further in his career when Law would construct new homes, he would still try to use old materials to give the structures a unique identity. One time, Law turned an old Quonset hut into a lodge using the wooden floor from an old basketball court.
Overall, Law put much of his heart (and decades of experience) into his Florissant home that he is now choosing to leave. For more information on the property for sale visit https://homesmart.com/
