A Modernist Aspen Home Pays Tribute To Its Terrain
For an ample terrace, the designers arranged weathered-teak two-seat Sutherland sofas with cushions wearing Holly Hunt Great Outdoors Fresh Canvas fabric in deep violet. The grounds were designed by landscape architect Gyles Thornely of Connect One Design, who selected a quartzite sandstone to pave the terrace and a boulder fire pit by Roger Hopkins Stone Sculptor. Native grasses surround the area.
The house that architects Rich Carr and Matthew Smith recently designed for the Aspen landscape looks a lot like a modernist hilltop castle. The arrangement of minimalist forms–perched among towering trees and the Elk Mountains–serves as a multi-generational retreat for a couple, their son and his husband. “Our focus was for the design to embrace the site and the views,” says Carr.
The architects tied the house to its mountain topography using form and texture. “The gabled roofs and the dry-stacked quartzite ledgestone siding are a nod to the building tradition and heritage of the region,” says Smith. The main house is sided with dry-stacked limestone that offsets horizontal cedar siding. Glass walls and a glass rail that defines a large terrace on the front facade lend a contemporary note. “We also added very thin plate steel awnings that cantilever at some of the main outdoor spaces, adding sun protection and depth and shadow,” Smith says.
Designers Noelle Hernandez and Nicole Stewart outfitted the rooms with a bold palette, simple silhouettes and layers of rich texture. “The clients like fine things and they love Christian Liaigre,” Hernandez says. “Liaigre’s designs were the foundation for our scheme. These clients were drawn to refined furniture, but they’re unpretentious–comfort was as important to them.”