Escape To This Modern Mountain Retreat In Aspen

Homes are purchased for a plethora of reasons—practicality, pride, community, access. And then there’s that heady, intuitive, gut-driven feeling of “this is my place.” Such was the reaction of one homeowner, a self-professed fanatical skier and fly-fisherman, when he spotted a hillside getaway in an enclave that enjoys private ski-in access to Aspen Highlands. “The design was jaw-dropping: It was perfectly done for a mountain home and just fun ,” he describes. “I fell in love. Buying it was completely emotional.”

Envisioned by architect Sarah Broughton in collaboration with general contractor Matt Lamm and landscape architect Darla Callaway, the trilevel residence was conceived as a flexible multigenerational family gathering hub. But what the owner fell for first was the home’s crucial combination of ambience and privacy. “In the summer, when the aspen trees are green, it becomes a sanctuary in which you feel totally encapsulated; when the leaves fall off in winter, you get beautiful valley views,” he muses.

That atmospheric, away-from-it-all effect is by design—and it wasn’t easy to achieve. The property, though bordered by roads and other homes, nests into a steep lot encompassing over 30 feet of grade change. Broughton and Callaway utilized the surrounding mature aspen and spruce trees to act as visual buffers, clearing key sight lines out to Hunter Creek, Maroon Creek and Roaring Fork Valley. “Our early landscape studies looked critically at the orientation of the home so that it would feel as if it’s connected to nature and meant to be there, as opposed to wiping out the character of the cliffside and leaving it more exposed,” Callaway recalls. Achieving this meant intensive shoring and lots of vertical construction, notes Lamm, but the results were worth it: “Siting the home was challenging, but the opportunities for opening up the views were quite fantastic,” Broughton says. The team also managed, amid stringent land use regulations, to integrate a large pool onto the property—an element that “feels pretty unique for Aspen,” comments the owner.

Tucking the home tightly against the hill came with another benefit: It allowed Broughton to skirt some of the area’s strict design parameters. “This particular enclave has rigid guidelines that harken back to the more rustic architecture seen in iconic National Park lodges,” she notes, explaining that the restrictions defined the exterior aesthetic elements, such as natural stone mixed with heavy timber rafter tails. “But we were able to get away with more modern detailing—like the glass walls and green roof of the living room—as the home is so hidden from view.”

Inside, the gracious, open common spaces definitely lean more contemporary than traditional, thanks to sliding doors that allow for flexibility within the layout. To wit, the aforementioned glass-walled living room, arranged with two seating areas, opens out to the terrace, covered entertaining space and pool via a series of sliders. Adjoining the living area is the dining room designed with pocketing doors that can close off the kitchen beyond. And the kitchen backs up to a retaining wall. “It could only have windows on the east side,” explains Broughton, “so we created a huge 14-foot-by-16-foot skylight to flood it with sun.” A casual breakfast nook and informal family-cum-media room lie off the kitchen, plus a home office and a sitting room. An elevator is incorporated to access the home’s other stories but, instead of hiding the shaft, the architect encased it in the same pale oak as the ceilings and floors. Oak is also used for the risers of a floating staircase that wraps around it, creating a sculptural architectural moment.

Broughton laid out the bedroom suites diplomatically, without a dedicated primary. Instead, each sleeping space is devised in a similar fashion with a built-in banquette that pulls out into an extra bed, a custom desk, deck access and views. An additional bunk room accommodates kids and overflow while serving as a hangout. “There’s no lesser-than bedroom here,” the architect comments. “They’re all equal.”

The furnishing plan—also conceived by Broughton—received as much attention as the layout. Custom pieces and high-end finds mix in a controlled palette of whites, grays and blues, referencing the sky with a few judicious pops of red in a nod to the area’s famous fall foliage. The effect is inviting and unfussy with notes of textural sheepskin, cashmere and wool peppered in. Altogether, the palette and materials enhance the home’s modern mountain lodge vibe, punctuated by the owner’s eye-catching collection of contemporary art—of which each piece is precisely placed to enhance the architecture.

It’s a combination so alluring that the homeowner, whose primary residence is in Los Angeles, feels the siren call of this sanctum constantly. “I sneak away to it as often as I can,” he confesses. “This house has changed the trajectory of my life.”