When Diane Todd pulled her white Chevy pickup into the driveway of her new home in Ouray, she jumped out of the car and gave her next-door neighbor a hug.

It was the first time they had met, and both were near tears.

She opened her new front door, marveling at its height, and invited Michele England inside.

Todd had texted England that morning, asking her friend to join her.

“I need to make sure it’s real,” the text read.

England handed her a gift: a mug with “OMG” in big bold lettering.

“It’s for your ‘OMG’ day,” she said.

Over the last five years Todd has lived in five different homes, most of which were leased by the owner of Ouray Brewery, where Todd works part-time while juggling a second job as a special education paraprofessional at Ridgway Elementary School.

After separating from her husband, Damon, she’s struggled to find safe, affordable, long-term housing. She and their 8-year-old daughter Daisy shared spaces with roommates who worked with her at the brewery.

But when Damon, who works for Ouray County, learned about the Waterview Homes development, he got to work helping Diane with all of the paperwork necessary to secure one of the homes for her and their daughter.

Nonprofit developer Rural Homes began work building the city’s first large-scale affordable housing project in the summer of 2023. The development contains 21 deed-restricted homes for local workers who make between 80% and 120% of the area median income and partners with lenders to secure super-low interest rates.

Todd, who secured a 2.5% interest rate, is one of the hardworking community members who, for the first time, can put down roots in the community.

The morning she closed on the home, she messaged Daisy’s bus driver to drop her off at their new address instead.

Upstairs, Todd threw open one of the new windows in Daisy’s new room and shouted down to Rural Homes Construction Manager Trevor Croke: “Best day ever, Trevor!”

It’s the first time in four years she and Daisy will each have their own rooms.

After living in five different homes over the last five years, Diane Todd and her daughter, Daisy, have a permanent home. It’s the first time Daisy has had her own closet, stairs or her own room. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

That afternoon, when Daisy hopped off the school bus for a first look at the new house, she grinned as she skipped between the crisp white rooms.

Besides getting to stay in school at Ridgway, she’s most excited her bedroom has a ceiling fan and a closet. She showed off both features to her friend when he came over to celebrate. Both kids fit into the new closet with plenty of room to spare.

That evening Daisy and her mom decorated their Christmas tree and unpacked other holiday trimmings while Daisy clambered up and slid down the carpeted staircase — another first among all the places she’s lived.

Diane Todd and her 8-year-old daughter, Daisy, decorate their Christmas tree inside their new home in the Waterview Homes subdivision in Ouray. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

The view from the tall glass back door framing a view of the Uncompahgre River had darkened by then. But Todd stood out there for a while that morning, admiring the sound of the water and the view of the abandoned mine across the way.

“Finally, for a reasonable price, I get to own a slice of heaven,” she said.

***

“Can I have a bunk bed?”

Those were the first words out of 8-year-old Henson’s mouth when he heard the news about his new house, just three doors down from the Todds.

Colin Sullivan was going to wait to surprise his son but decided to tell him just a couple of weeks before moving in.

“We already got you one,” Sullivan responded.

Now Henson, who goes to school in Telluride where his mom lives, can have friends stay over.

Sullivan and his partner, Emily Scott Robinson, are excited about the same thing: having a space comfortable for hosting friends they’ve made all over the region. The centerpiece of their new entertainment area is a honey-colored piano, which doubles as a bar next to their dining room table.

Emily Scott Robinson and her partner, Collin Sullivan, enjoy a moment at the piano at their new home in Waterview. Robinson, a folk musician, and Sullivan, who works for a nonprofit that helps kids with career and technical opportunities, are thrilled about several aspects of the affordable housing development, including that they’re paying less for their mortgage than they were for rent. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

Robinson is a folk musician and Sullivan works for a nonprofit helping kids with career and technical opportunities.

They were lucky to not be scrambling for housing, but are thrilled that less than what they once paid for rent can instead go toward a mortgage on a permanent home.

Both said they’d looked at other housing developments, but this one stood out for a number of qualities, including neighborhood child care.

“We’re excited there’s child care in the community. We don’t have a kid at that age, but it’s wonderful to be in a neighborhood … where the community got together and figured out a way to make that possible,” Robinson said. “That to me, that speaks volumes about the values of the community. It makes me delighted.”

Sullivan also likes that the homes are factory-built by a company in Buena Vista that understands the needs of Colorado homes when it comes to energy. They’re well-insulated and energy efficient. At their previous rental in Ridgway, they spent around $400 a month on heating expenses alone.

He said they’re also thrilled about the long-term impact of the deed-restricted units. It means when they decide to sell it, another family will get the same opportunity.

Sullivan and Robinson were the first to hang Christmas lights up on their front porch, where Sullivan also placed a wind chime. His stepmom, who moved to Norwood and died right around when he moved to the area, gave it to him.

He’s hung the fixture at a number of the homes he’s lived in over the years.

But for the first time at their new place nestled next to the Uncompahgre River, it actually catches the wind and sings.

***

While hanging their Christmas lights, Robinson and Sullivan also helped Alex Boukis bring his things over from their garage just three doors down.

For Boukis, a world languages teacher at Ouray School, this is not only his first time owning a home, but the first place he’s decided to create one. He previously considered himself a globetrotter, never living in a place longer than two or three years.

“I just feel, gosh, I can’t find the word for it,” he said.

When he took the job in Ouray, housing was his first concern.

But owning one of the Waterview units finally means both security and building a life here.

Boukis has rented his entire adult life, often with roommates.

“Renting is a bit perilous. People can raise your rent, and also, you know, sell the home out from under you,” he said.

There’s also a lot of people who only find rentals seasonally, like him. His landlord’s family is moving back into his former rental this month and so he’s grateful he has another place to go.

Having a permanent home with others who are building their lives in Ouray, too, is meaningful for him.

“There’s a psychological shift that I feel occurring in myself at this moment, because, you know, I’m really putting down roots here and building relationships with my neighbors, and that’s really exciting,” he said.

He has big plans for his first home, which is one giant blank canvas right now. Upstairs in his guest room he plans to cover the walls and ceiling in chalkboard paint which he will use for the same language maps he uses in his classroom. Up first is Turkish, which he’s teaching himself on top of the four languages he already speaks. He’s also learning American Sign Language and Portuguese.

In the downstairs bathroom he wants to splatter the walls in glow-in-the-dark and rainbow colors with bouncy balls doused in paint.

Alex Boukis paints the word “strength” on his ceiling, using Gregg shorthand. He decided to use the stenographer’s language in tribute to his mother, who used it.
Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

But the most sentimental project he has planned is in the living room, where he will hand-paint a mandala. From that design, words in a special type of shorthand writing will spiral around the room. He learned about the style of writing after finding documents left by his mom, which she wrote in shorthand, after she died a few years ago.

He got started on that art, painting words like love and gratitude across the walls, the night he moved in.

Ouray School District world languages teacher Alex Books surveys his progress in painting the living room walls at his new Waterview home. Boukis has rented until now, and was able to put down roots in Ouray with help from the affordable housing project. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

“Somewhere in between a nexus of luck and opportunity and, just, (a) blessing that have all come to fruition together,” he said of his new home.

***

The first thing Hayden Powell did the day he closed on the home was go to Home Depot and buy multiple cans of paint.

“Being able to pick out wall colors cemented that this place is mine,” he said.

So far the main walls are moss green. Others are light purple, deep blue and salmon.

His mom, Ouray County Clerk Cristy Lynn, helped with the paint job that week. She’s buying one of the homes in the neighborhood, too, just a few doors down.

Both Lynn and her son work for the county, and their new affordable homes mean they can stay here, and in her case, keep her job.

Lynn’s position as the elected clerk legally requires her to live within the county. After she divorced, the struggle to find affordable housing made it a real possibility that she would have to resign and move — until opportunities started cropping up.

She had initially applied for a unit in the Home Trust of Ouray County’s duplex project in Ridgway but wasn’t selected. With all of the affordable housing paperwork together, she was able to close on one of the Waterview homes just a couple of days after hearing the news.

At first, Powell said filling the space seemed pretty intimidating. It had been years since he had a shower and kitchen in the same building he lived in. He had trained himself to use only one bowl and spoon. In his first week he had already thought he lost something, forgetting to look in his new dishwasher.

Powell, who works as an appraiser in the county assessor’s office, knows exactly how special this opportunity is.

It’s part of his job to keep track of the real estate market, and he’s well aware of how much prices have increased. He knows he’s fortunate to be able to become a homeowner in a place where the average home price has hovered above $900,000.

Before this opportunity opened up, he considered moving away from the county.

But now he’s home, with a large yard for his dog, Gwen. He split the cost of fencing the yard with his neighbor, Ashley Fellin, who works at the county clerk’s office. Because of their employment, Fellin and Powell scored spots in the development before a lottery opened up because the county helped fund it.

Gwen observes the Waterview neighborhood from her new perch near the front window at Hayden Powell’s home. Erin McIntyre – Ouray County Plaindealer

“It felt like both my kids were getting houses,” Lynn said of Fellin, who works in her office, and Powell.

“As a parent, to see your kids buy their first house is pretty amazing,” Lynn said. “And to be able to do it here is even more amazing.”

Lia Salvatierra is a journalist with Report for America, a nonprofit program that boosts reporting resources in underserved areas. Support her work here in Ouray County with a tax-deductible donation here.