Thoughtfully crafted designs. Value engineered throughout.
Custom homes and accessory buildings, designed, engineered and built by one team, from first sketch to final inspection.
Engineer-led custom home construction in Evergreen
Rose James Homes is a design-build general contractor led by a licensed Professional Engineer. Architecture, structural engineering and construction come from one team under one contract, with one point of contact. Fewer handoffs mean less design time, fewer revisions and a house built the way it was drawn.
What we buildCustom homes and accessory buildings in the Evergreen foothills
Projects range from a detached garage to a full custom home, typically $200,000 to $2,000,000. Every one is designed, engineered and built under the same roof.
- Custom homes
- New homes designed around your lot's topography, views and sun, with building science and value engineering at the forefront, to create a cost-effective, high-performance home.
- Accessory buildings
- Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), detached garages, barns and more. They get the same approach as our custom homes and are designed to match and integrate seamlessly with your existing buildings.
- Design & engineering
- Architectural design and structural engineering through ENGenious LLC, drawn together so the plans are buildable and priced as they develop.
- Feasibility & site planning
- Zoning, setbacks, well, septic and access reviewed before design starts. The feasibility fee is credited toward design.
Evergreen and the surrounding foothills
We work on mountain lots across western Jefferson County: sloped sites, well water, onsite wastewater treatment, wildfire hardening, 13D sprinkler systems and more.
- Evergreen
- Conifer
- Pine
- Kittredge
- Indian Hills
- Genesee
- Morrison
Sunchaser: a ridge-top home and garage in Pine
Our first custom home as general contractor. A two-story house on concrete piers and a detached garage, sited for the views on a sloped 1.62-acre lot. Here is the build so far.
Renovations, additions and outdoor living
Renovation · Deck & cover · Detached studio
1950 cabin, fully renovated
A fully renovated 1950 mountain cabin, with new siding and finishes, a covered deck looking out to the hills, and a new detached studio.
View project · 72 photos
Walkout basement · Deck & cover · Multi-slide door
Walkout basement, deck and cover
An excavated walkout basement, a new deck under a timber-framed cover, and a 16-foot multi-slide door that opens the great room to the outdoors.
View project · 30 photos
Basement addition · Remodel · Deck
Basement addition and whole-home remodel
Our first major permitted addition and remodel, started in 2018.
View project · 57 photosHow a custom build works
You work with the same team from the first site visit to the final inspection, so nothing gets lost between designer and builder.
- Rose James + ENGenious
Feasibility & concept
We walk the site, check zoning, setbacks, well and septic, then sketch a concept with a budget range. The fee is credited toward design if you continue.
- ENGenious
Design & engineering
Construction drawings, structural engineering and site plans, priced as they develop so the design stays inside your budget.
- Rose James
Permits & pricing
Jurisdictional submittal, review responses, subcontractor bids and a fixed construction budget and schedule.
- Rose James
Build
Site work through final cleanup, with regular updates, lender draw coordination and lien waivers handled for you.
A general contractor who speaks engineering
Most custom homes start the same way. The owner hires a general contractor, and the general contractor hires a structural engineering firm and an architect or design firm. The general contractor coordinates with the owner and the architect, and afterward the architect and the structural engineer have to coordinate with each other.
In practice, the architect draws the floor plan and hands it to the engineer, who finds structural elements that don't work with the architectural intent. The plans go back for revisions, the owner approves them again, and the contractor re-prices the job. Once construction starts, questions from the job site travel from the builder to the architect to the engineer and back while the crew waits. Every handoff adds design time and another round of revisions, and sometimes details get lost in translation between firms.
Design-build removes those handoffs. Architecture, structural engineering and construction come from one team under one contract. As the architectural intent develops, structural support and building science are considered alongside it. The budget is checked while the design develops, and questions in the field are answered on site by the person who designed the house. The result is less design time, fewer revisions and a house built the way it was drawn.
Rose James Homes was created to give clients that option: a general contractor with a background in engineering, design and building science. The person running your job understands why every detail is on the drawings, because they put it there.
Rose James Homes is new to building custom homes, and Sunchaser in Pine is our first as general contractor. The experience behind it is not new. For more than a decade, through ENGenious LLC and before it, Eric Crowley, PE has designed homes, engineered their structures and guided general contractors through building them. Rose James Homes brings that experience from the drawings to the job site.
| Topic | The usual way | With Rose James Homes |
|---|---|---|
| Design time | Architect and engineer trade revisions back and forth | Architecture and structure designed together |
| Reading the drawings | A builder interprets two other firms' details | Built by the team that designed them |
| Building science | Air sealing, insulation and moisture details left to the field | Planned in design and checked on site |
| Questions mid-build | Requests passed between builder, architect and engineer | Answered on site by the same team |
| Accountability | Three firms to hire and coordinate | One contract, one point of contact |
Eric Crowley, PE
I've always loved designing useful buildings, and I've always wanted to build them myself. I studied architectural and civil engineering at Arizona State University and graduated with a B.S. in Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering.
My career started in heavy civil construction, building roadways and bridges, culverts and drainage facilities. I served as the onsite engineering project manager for the construction of a desalination plant, seeing firsthand how drawings become a finished project. From there I moved into design, working on water and wastewater treatment plants, fly ash disposal facilities, clean-closure impoundments, intercept trenches, evapotranspiration covers and mining piping facilities.
I then worked as a designer for a structural engineering firm that provided design for about 30% of the Phoenix tract-home market, which grounded me in residential framing and foundations. In 2016 I founded ENGenious LLC, and as a licensed Professional Engineer I have provided engineering and design in Colorado ever since.
Rose James Homes is the next step: design, engineering and construction from one team. It's a small business, and I keep it that way on purpose. I take on one project at a time, so when you call, you talk to the person who drew your plans, priced your job and is on your site that week.
Eric Crowley, PEOwner, Rose James Homes LLC
Building in the foothills: common questions
Do I need to hire my own architect and engineer?
No. Design and structural engineering are part of our design-build process through ENGenious LLC, so you hire one team under one contract instead of coordinating three firms.
What happens at the first meeting?
We walk your property and review zoning, setbacks, slope, access, well and septic. You get a concept and a realistic budget range. If you continue into design, the feasibility fee is credited toward it.
Can I add an ADU to my property?
Often, yes. In unincorporated Jefferson County, attached ADUs can be up to 1,200 sq ft or 40% of the main home, whichever is less, and any ADU may be at least 500 sq ft. One ADU is allowed per property, with up to two bedrooms and three occupants, and the owner must live on site. On a well, the permit must allow two or more dwellings. ADUs that meet the county criteria need no public hearing. See the Jefferson County ADU guide; we confirm the current rules for every project.
How many projects do you take on?
One at a time. When you call, you talk to the person who drew your plans, priced your job and is on your site that week.
Are you licensed?
Eric Crowley is a licensed Professional Engineer, and Rose James Homes holds Jefferson County Class C Contractor license #1031060.
Ready to talk about your lot? Call (720) 893-0533 or start a conversation.
Tell us about your lot and your plans
We reply within one business day. Winter is the best time to design and permit for a spring start.
- Service area
- Evergreen, Conifer, Pine, Kittredge, Indian Hills, Genesee and Morrison