Perfecting indoor/outdoor living in Montana

Throughout our 42+ years designing luxury homes and legacy estates, a great deal of focus is placed on indoor/outdoor living. Our team studies the outdoor environment just as intently as we focus on the indoor spaces. From hardcape design, lighting, kitchens, screening, technology…. every detail is carefully designed. We pay particular attention to how each owner lives, who and how they entertain, climactic implications to the site, view orientations, etc. etc. etc. To that, our team is careful to ensure the spaces feel as one – with the material palette carrying itself in & out.

Mountain Living magazine recently published our project, ‘Whitefish‘ featuring the outdoor living emphasis that this lakeside home has. We’re happy to share it with you today….

Whitefish

A Dynamic exterior balanced by undulating forms and varying rooflines. Glass, metal and horizontal cedar rain screen siding and locally sourced stone wraps the exterior in a contemporary interpretation. The stone wall transcends the exterior through to the interior, and houses two individually designed fireplaces. 

Entering the 11’ tall fir and steel pivot door flanked by glass, the view is focused and projected through the existing trees and out to the lake. A 28’ tall wall of windows promotes ample natural daylight.

The intentionally restrained interior palette allows the architecture, art and views to take center stage. Several regional artists and craftsmen contributed to the interiors. Just steps from the water, the patio adorns a built-in pizza oven, barbecue, wood-burning fireplace and integrated screening for privacy and shade. Tucked away are the hot tub and outdoor shower, which reside off the window-filled gym and sauna.

The great room’s doors open completely to an outdoor fire pit. Just inside, a wrap-around bar opens to the home’s game-viewing & movie theatre. The large picture window into the theatre was designed for indoor/outdoor viewing– making this another popular spot for game-time.

Thank you to Tate Interiors and Denman Construction for joining our team, to complete a truly magnificent lakeside property in Montana!

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Aspen Park featured in the Wall Street Journal (again!)

We were thrilled to see our Aspen Park project featured in the Wall Street Journal today! We’re excited to welcome the new-to-be owners!

On a high rocky mountainside high above Aspen, our team along with the owners and DG&A Interiors designed an environmentally sensitive, 15,000 sf, art-deco inspired contemporary home incorporating 36-species of wood. Lavish entertaining spaces, two glass elevators, a fully outfitted theatre and performance stage, the latest in home automation and HVAC systems, make this home truly unique.

The challenge began on day one, when the Florida-based owners charged our team to responsibly deconstruct much of the existing house, and design a home that fused art-deco and contemporary mountain-modern design. The site provided a very narrow building envelope which necessitated the 15,000 sf of living area, be split between three floors. To access each floor, two steel and glass elevators with cascading wood staircases were seamlessly worked into the design.

The exterior design pays homage to the surrounding mountain vistas, with varying roof angles, and use of stone and wood. Massive floor to ceiling windows capture the unique views of famed Independence Pass and Aspen Mountain.

A glass pivot door opens the home, as views unfold through a window wall and clerestory windows in the great room and dining. A Jean DeMerry mosaic mural sits between two automatic doors with views captured above, with a juxtaposed art-deco fireplace.

Custom designed wood-inlay doors are seen throughout the home, to further infuse the design inspiration. The team was careful to subtly instill the inspiration in parts of the home without overdoing it. As the home cascades down the mountainside, its essence permeates the site and creates a wonderful entertaining home.

Team:

Charles Cunniffe Architects | Architects

DG&A Interiors | Interior Design

Hansen Construction | Contractor

David O. Marlow | Photographer

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Art + Architecture

Our team was honored to design and construct the new Aspen City Hall, linking the Rio Grande Park to the civic and downtown core. An all-hands-on-deck dedication by all, and quite the labor of love. This week, we’re excited to see artist Koko Bayer, granddaughter of the beloved Herbert Bayer adding a mural, “In Search of Times Past” to the grand staircase.

Featured in the Aspen Times today, the mural adds to City Hall’s curated exhibition of local artists, in an effort to infuse art in public spaces. “The art on display not only adds to the discourse, but it also visually represents the openness and encouragement to having a multitude of voices and experiences in the governmental process, according to Sarah Roy, director of the Red Brick Center for the Arts,” the article states.

Koko Bayer installs her mural on the staircase beside the new Aspen City Hall building on Thursday, May 19, 2022. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)

Seeing the art installations in public spaces around Aspen, makes us love our little town even more! Thank you to the artists who are filling our town with color and creativity! It inspires us every day!

We look forward to sharing more photos of Aspen City Hall with you….until then…a sneak peak:

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PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Chatfield

Colorado Homes & Lifestyles recently featured a really fun project that we completed last year. The project was a culmination of a terrific client, their history in Aspen and wish to transform a heavy and dark home, into a fresh art-filled home.

We wanted to show you the “Before” and “After” shots, not shared in the article, because you have got to see the transormation!

The living area before the renovation, and after. A minimalist palette was utilized to accentuate the views and set the stage for the Owner’s art and furnishings.
The kitchen transformation is out of this world!

To read the entire article, click here. Enjoy!

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Happy Earth Day!

A day we should celebrate every day! We are proud to have designed numerous earth-loving structures over our 4 decades in the Rocky Mountains.

Several projects have followed the USGBC’s LEED program and earned full LEED credits, including the award-winning Elk Peak Ranch and Aspen Police Department. Others have quietly weaved sustainable design methodologies and features within them, just by nature of client desires and given site opportunities.

Elk Peak Ranch | LEED Silver

In every project we discuss where the opportunities are to balance budget, sustainability and exceptional design. By designing structures with the environmentally friendly building materials accessible in today’s market, green building is not only essential to our environment but is easily attainable. The result is an optimal balance of cost, environmental and societal benefits, while meeting the mission and function of the intended facility. Building design through environmental response, functionalism, cost effectiveness and a commitment to LEED have remained critical issues in developing sustainable buildings.

Aspen Police Department | LEED Gold
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies Treehouse

To read more about our commitment to sustainability, click here.

Happy Earth Day!

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Welcome Home!

Do you follow us on Instagram? If you don’t, you should! We highlight our studio happenings, latest work, historic projects, and team wins. This week we study entry designs.

Every home starts with the arrival experience. Each entry is unique to the style of the home, and ideally evokes a feeling that reflects its owners. To hone in on that feeling, our team studies various styles, heights, widths, door options, surrounding windows, materials, angles, views, functionality, weather considerations, etc. etc. etc.

We always look forward to seeing our clients open those doors to their first guests; hearing them say “welcome!”. Another reason we love what we do!

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Annual Aspen Ski Day

Each winter we gather the troops for our annual ski day on Aspen Mountain. Its a guaranteed day of fun, laughter, and camaraderie! Lunch at the Aspen Mountain Club, fast laps, blue skies and hilarious chairlift rides, made for a fantastic team outing!

Team lunch at the Aspen Mountain Club
The CCA ladies-only chair

Our remote-employee gang also got together via video conference with paid-lunch and the afternoon off for recreating-where-you-are. This continues our tradition for quarterly outings, to take advantage of where we live and the great outdoors! Cheers to that!

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Bloomberg Features Aspen Park on Homes over $50million

To say the real estate market is hot, is quite the understatement. Homes from coast to coast are commanding huge numbers and Aspen might be at the top of that list.

Recently Bloomberg report on a list of homes that exceed $50million, and included our Aspen Park project. Aspen Park has received some incredible press lately and we look forward to meeting the future new owners!

Click here to read the Bloomberg article

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Stanley Tucci’s favorite Italian village for architecture

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy on CNN, its definitely worth a watch. In a time where we’ve been limited in travel, Stanley effortlessly transports you to the tastes, smells and scenery of some of our favorite Italian destinations.

His latest venture, Stanley travels to the gorgeous San Pellegrino Terme, to film a commercial for the ever-famous green glass bottled beverage. A town for architecture lovers, Architectural Digest recently highlighted the upcoming San Pellegrino Factory of the Future, designed by architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), known for projects like the 8 House in Copenhagen and VIA 57 West in New York City. We are long admirers of BIG’s architecture, and cannot wait to visit.

Photo: Architectural Digest

“Shaped by the serpentine run of the Brembo river and the sloping Alpine mountainsides, our proposal for the new S. Pellegrino Campus inherits its narrative structure from the landscape of the Brembana valley. Like an aquatic equivalent of a wine cellar, the repeating archways expand and contract to create the narrative framework for the purity and clarity of the mineral water, in an environment characterized by lightness, openness, and transparency,” Ingels previously said in a statement

To read more click here.

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You’re Getting Warmer…

Whether it’s a modern sculptural focal point in a great room, a locally sourced stone architectural piece , or a statement-making room divider, the fireplace is an essential element in any home. With winter in full-swing, we’re sharing a few of our favorites – from sleek and minimalist to highly-textured.

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