Design Firm Maximizes Unique Market Niche

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FRASER, CO— It is said that it’s better to be lucky than good. But when you’re both, it’s a sure-fire formula for success.
When Jim Barna designed an upscale kitchen for a spec home last year, he never thought it would bring his eight-member Black Diamond Kitchens into the national spotlight.

Then, HGTV, the network that’s been giving away houses to lucky people for the last decade, decided to buy the spec house. The decision, based in part on the various design elements and artistry evident in the home, means big things for Black Diamond Kitchens, a firm that is already seeing tremendous growth in its market niche. When the giveaway segment airs soon, Barna’s firm and its artistry will get nationwide exposure.

This comes at a time when his business is already booming due to a recently discovered resort destination in the Rocky Mountains. Barna’s Fraser, CO showroom is just a few miles outside Winter Park, a growing ski resort community that some people find somewhat more affordable than the better known and pricier Vail and Aspen.

As a result, many of Barna’s customers are renovating their homes as seasonal getaways, not just vacation homes. The second-home market in Winter Park has become a place where people stay for half a year at a time, and those people need style as well as function.

It was a perfect fit for Barna, a second-generation kitchen guy from New Jersey whose father still operates a kitchen design firm in the Garden State.

Organic Contempory

Of the HGTV project, Barna notes, “We weren’t trying to do a traditional mountain home, with bear-skin rugs, or a log cabin feel or shiny red cabinets. Rather, we wanted something a little more elegant and sleek, and the term I coined for this is ‘organic contemporary.’” He defines this style as one that is clean and simple, with organic elements such as natural woods and an absence of synthetics.

“Here, people want to commune with nature, get away from their hectic lives and all the stress,” Barna says. “They don’t want a lot of clutter and fuss. This is about clean lines, and the organic side is a way to celebrate nature.”

It’s not surprising people want to get back to nature in this ski and mountain hideaway just over an hour’s drive from Denver, and Barna sees this as key to his recent growth. Indeed, he has seen the community grow along with his business, driving the more upscale trend that has been increasingly evident in the last decade.

“Winter Park was an undiscovered place, voted one of the best of Colorado’s ski areas and one of the places locals love,” he says. “But now people from around the country are coming here and finding out about it. We have Baby Boomers approaching retirement, some of whom want to build a new house here or renovate an existing home, and they plan to spend a lot of time here.

“They come to the mountains to be part of nature but need to have a contemporary design,” he adds. “That’s the spirit of our work.”

But there’s a big difference in this type of second home compared to many typical vacation homes. And this is the niche that Barna has identified and exploited: Some people who choose to purchase “trophy vacation homes,” as he calls them, really don’t need the most functional kitchens available in modern kitchen design.

“A home that is very much a vacation home doesn’t need an eight-burner range and a big pantry because, most of the time, they’re going out to dinner,” says Barna. “They stay a week and head home.

“By contrast, a lot of our clientele are using these houses very regularly and spending a lot of time here. They want a home that can function as a home, a place where they can entertain friends and family.”