LARKSPUR • Meet the Flintstones.
Al and Karen Shain are the modern stone age family thanks to The Rock House, the property they bought in 2021 that earned them national attention and the throwback moniker.
Upon entering the cul-de-sac in the Perry Park community in Douglas County, the reason for the nickname is immediately clear — there’s a big rock in that thar house at 6619 Apache Place.
The 2,432-square-foot house is built around a giant, 35-foot tall sandstone rock. It’s the same sort of 200 million-year-old rocks found in Garden of the Gods, the Flatirons in Boulder, and up and down the Front Range.
“You get a piece of nature inside your home,” Al said. “If you paid by the pound, it’s a million-dollar rock. We’ve tried to give the house an open air architecture so you can always view the rock from any room you’re in, just as you would view an open piece of art work that was there. It’s like living in Garden of the Gods in a tent, but now we’ve actually got a house.”
The property sits on a 1-acre lot, but this is no regular lot, hemmed in on all sides by other buildings. To the west is a 1-acre open space lot that will never be built out. To the north is open space looking toward Castle Rock, though a ridge prevents you from seeing civilization. The house has three sides of open space, a dream for those who love the sound of silence only perforated by the squawk of blue jays and magpies.