LONGMONT-The old yellow farm house on the corner of Pike Road and Main Street - sadly in need of repair - is about to become the cornerstone for a new type of urban development that is sweeping the country.

"Burlington Neighborhood is going to be an urban village," said Dale Bruns, owner of Bruns Construction and co-developer. Bruns, along with John "Kiki" Wallace, are developing an 80-acre parcel along Pike Road, into a new concept of housing.

Burlington Neighborhood is part of a new wave in planning designed to combat urban sprawl with the old-style classical village.

It requires cities to rewrite existing codes to allow for mixed use development. The villages include homes of all sizes, small offices with apartments, corner shops, alleys with apartments over garages, large front porches, big trees and a community center. Old and young, rich and poor all live together in a neighborhood setting.

The concept was developed by two prominent architects, Andres Duany and his wife Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, in Miami, Fla. Their firm, DPZ, developed a community called Seaside in Florida which gained national recognition among planners and architects. Duany and his team came to Longmont last January and conducted a "charette,' a week-long architectural forum, where the team created Burlington Village, their first community in Colorado.

"Longmont is poised between the village and urban sprawl," Duany said. "This is a place clearly going the wrong way, but clearly not lost.

"It is not too late. People who come to live in this community can be accommodated into a neighborhood, not into urban sprawl."

Duany is going to be featured in an October issue of Newsweek, Wallace said, and several of his developments around the country will be shown.

Wallace, who grew up in south Texas, recently submitted the planned urban development - mixed use, PUDMU, to the city for approval for annexation.

Ground breaking on the new village will begin in the early spring, about March, Bruns said, adding the development will include 176 detached houses, 77 attached units, 79 mixed-use units for living and working space and 17 lots for businesses.

"It will take about five or six years to complete this project," Burns said. Houses are expected to range from $140,000 to $35O,OOO.

Duany has been back to the project several times to check on its development.

"Andres comes up with the urban codes, showing how the streets will be laid out, what types of homes can be built, what types of building materials can be used," said Bruns.

Duany manages even the fine details of the project.

"We can't force people to design beautiful homes," said Duany, "but we can prevent ugly homes from being built."

Wallace said his company has had many inquiries from people who want to buy lots in the village, and it has even had architects try to steal the plans.

"They are trying to copy us," he said, "which is good; I hope more people will try these ideas, but I just don't want to see the same thing across the street.

Duany spent several days with his team looking over the area. He took notes on all the old-style homes, alleyways and shops.

"Andres is real excited about this project," said Wallace adding that Duany owns 7 1/2 percent of Burlington Neighborhood.

"This is the first time that he has part ownership of a project, and he is really jazzed. He likes working with Dale and me - I'm the dreamer and Dale is the pragmatist."