Boulder board recommends landmark status for two homes
City Council must make the final decisions. Individual designation would add exterior-change protections to one home and recognize another already covered by historic-district review.
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Boulder’s Landmarks Board unanimously recommended individual landmark designation for the Moment House and the Swisher House on Oct. 7, leaving final decisions to City Council, according to the board’s meeting recording.
Designation would newly require city review of exterior changes to the Moment House at 2385 Panorama Avenue. The Swisher House, at 1512 Mariposa Avenue, is already in the Floral Park historic district, where exterior work requires review; individual designation would recognize it as a landmark in its own right without adding that requirement for the first time.
Designed by Boulder architect Charles Hartlein and built in 1966 for Roger and Joan Moment, the Moment House has a cantilevered form, distinctive glazing and a design shaped by its hillside site. City staff cited those features as significant to Boulder’s postwar modernist architecture. Board members discussed a support post and changes to siding details but concluded they did not undermine the home’s overall integrity.
Under the city’s review rules, exterior projects such as re-roofing, repainting, additions, fences and solar panels require a Landmark Alteration Certificate. Applications may be approved, modified or denied. The Moment House is already subject to historic-preservation review before demolition because it is more than 50 years old; individual designation would add the landmark-certificate process for exterior work.
Built around 1939-40, the Swisher House is one of eight homes developed with a shared garage in Floral Park, which Boulder designated as its first historic district in 1977. Staff highlighted the house’s Monterey-style design and its connection to original owners Earl and Lois Swisher, whose work contributed to Asian studies and cultural exchange. The board’s recommendation cited the home’s individual history and its contribution to the planned community.
Staff tentatively identified Nov. 19 and Dec. 17, 2026, as City Council dates for the applications. Under the city’s designation process, staff prepares an ordinance after a board recommendation, typically followed by a Council first reading and a designation hearing and vote within 100 days of the board hearing.