Enjoying retirement with wine, tomatoes, knives and pans

Roger Rostvold is an HOA2 neighbor relishing retirement and visits with his family. A former real estate entrepreneur, Roger and his partner Janine are estate sale regulars; he is always on the hunt for high carbon steel knives and cast iron skillets with a sizable collection of each.
A real estate guru, a collector, a father, a grandfather and a philanthropist, Roger Rostvold has a story worth sharing. He and partner Janine Gibson are enjoying retirement in their townhome in HOA2.
Stemming from Norwegian heritage, Roger was born in Palo Alto, California, and grew up in Claremont, the oldest of five. He attended Purdue University, graduating with distinction with two degrees: general flight technology and professional pilot technology. He moved back to California in the late 1970s but this time to southern California, Irvine, where he married and had two children. His first job was building houses. He then went to a company where he researched real estate investments, wrote environmental impact studies and studied the economics of real estate.
“I realized I wanted to focus on the investment side of it and carved a niche in real estate research, which was not common then,” Roger said. He formed his own consulting firm, Real Property Consultants, and spent 40 years advising his clients on all aspects of real estate investment: property entitlements, environmental impact, finance, construction and fiscal impact analysis, to name a few.
On one of his real estate fact-finding trips, Roger visited Colorado Springs and fell for Colorado, especially Garden of the Gods, eventually moving to Monument in 1998.
Before relocating, Roger was involved in public service. He served as the finance commissioner as well as the community services commissioner for the City of Irvine.
Serving on the board of the Irvine Community YMCA, Roger saw a need for afterschool care for children whose parents worked and could not afford childcare. He worked with several organizations to put 16 portable classroom buildings on eight school sites and helped manage the affordable afterschool program.
“I’ve given back more than I’ve gotten,” Roger shared. Today, he donates to two nonprofits that help domestically abused women: TESSA of Colorado Springs and the In-N-Out Burger Foundation.
In 2006, Roger met Janine. She moved into the home in Monument but she had a challenging commute and her children lived further north.
“So, we started the odyssey of finding a home in Castle Pines,” said Roger. In 2017, they found a townhome that checked all the boxes: mainly, south-facing with sunlight pouring into the living room and enough sun on the patio to grow his tomatoes. The couple refinished the basement, added a sauna and a space for his wine collection.
Roger’s dad was a PhD graduate of Stanford University in Economics and said, “Roger, the most important lesson in economics is to maintain your liquidity.” Roger quipped, “I thought 36 cases of wine met that definition.”
Roger and Janine enjoy visiting estate sales. He is always on the hunt for high carbon steel knives and cast iron skillets. After doing research on both, Roger explained that these kitchen essentials are also heirlooms. The knives are what chefs prefer: they are the sharpest, keep an edge, do not have to be sharpened but every two years; but have to be properly maintained. They have to be handwashed and dried immediately. He found a Wüsthof knife (worth $170) for $5 at an estate sale.
Roger also collects cast iron skillets, realizing how much better cooking is for certain dishes. In 1969, when he was a young adult and stretched a bit thin, he went to a church thrift store and bought two skillets, a coveted Burlington Stove & Range and a “smaller companion skillet.”
“Seventy-five cents for the two pans and I use them on a daily basis,” Roger shared. Some pans he finds at estate sales need some work but he puts in the time to season and resurrect them. Today, he has 20 pans. He hopes to leave sets of knives and pans to his grandchildren, who are already showing an interest in cooking.
Daughter Anna-Karin Joachim lives in Monument with husband Mike and children Jacob (21) and Riley (19). Roger’s son Erik Rostvold and wife, Patty Rodriguez, live in St. Johns, Florida with daughters Raissa (13) and Thais (9).
When not perusing estate sales, Roger and Janine travel and are big fans of the English rock band, The Moody Blues.
“As long as I have a place to put my wine, grow my tomatoes and have my sauna, I guess I am okay,” concluded Roger with a laugh.

Roger Rostvold and Janine Gibson at The Moody Blues concert in Las Vegas in 2016. They have been to three of the band’s concerts and met them backstage.

From his large collection of cast iron skillets, Roger Rostvold put these two he refurbished up for sale in the recent Castle Pines garage sale. The Wagner Ware brand is vintage, dating before 1950. The other is a Burlington Stove and Range.

Roger Rostvold at his home during the recent Castle Pines garage sale, selling some of his large collection of cast iron skillets.
Article and photo by Hollen Wheeler; photos courtesy of Roger Rostvold