The homes of Orofino Place have a distinguished architectural heritage and also a unique history in Castle Pines Village. The planners and founders of Castle Pines Village had sought to develop and create a cluster of cottages that would possess the old-world charm you might find walking through a European village. Specifically, an enclave of cottages that would be defined by their undulating “thatched” roofs.
In order to make this vision a reality, the nationally renowned architect C. Steven Goerges was chosen to design an intimate grouping of cottage homes to be nestled on a slope within a forest in Castle Pines Village. The Orofino Place homes remained the favorite creation of Mr. Goerges throughout his life and, in particular, he was most proud of the hand-shaped, wooden shingle roofs.
According to Goerges, "they considered using the actual water reed material prevalent in European thatched roofs for centuries. But per American innovation it was decided to use a technique of hand-shaping wavy roof lines of natural cedar shingle." Calling this unique technique "an art form", Goerges stated, "each roof is as different as a fingerprint".
Shortly after the initial construction of the first eight (8) homes in 1985, the homes and the distinctive “thatched” roofs received critical acclaim and were featured in Architectural Digest. Since that time, the homes have been featured on the Better Homes and Gardens TV Show "Modern Masters", Colorado Homes and Lifestyles and featured in numerous newspaper articles.
In the spring of 2012 a massive, slow moving hail storm battered the Orofino Place neighborhood, severely damaging the historic roofs. Undaunted by this challenge, the community worked with Douglas County to obtain a historical variance, located the original craftsmen who created the roofs almost 30 years ago and set about restoring the beauty that was lost.
In addition, with advancements in technology over the intervening years, the new roofs of Orofino Place make use of a cedar shingle system that achieves a "Class A" fire resistant rating, the highest rating available for roofing (wooden or otherwise).
