Capitalizing on Colorado's 300 days of sunshine a year, Denver architect Richard Crowther became one of the nation's first and most articulate champions of solar architecture. After starting his career developing neon signs for a New York advertising agency, he designed his first solar projects, the Ford Rotunda Building (1935) for the San Diego World's Fair and his own passive solar residence (1944) in San Diego. He moved to Denver in the 1940s to give Lakeside Amusement Park a facelift. He stayed to design solar homes at 180 South Dahlia
Crowther's own gray and white concrete house sits on an elevated northwest corner in a complex of solar homes he also designed. Its bermed landscaping softens and brings to earth unusual geometric shapes oriented toward the sun and mounted with solar collectors. Other nearby Crowther solars are the duplex at 300 Monroe Street (1967), 500 Cook Street (1972), 310 Steele Street (1975), 419 St. Paul Street (1974), 435 St. Paul (1975), and 2735 East 7th Avenue Parkway (1962).