Calling All Mountain Modern Lovers: This Book Is For You

Photo courtesy Monacelli

For many years, forward-thinking architects have been reimagining the Rocky Mountain vernacular, adapting its traditional forms and rustic, regional materials to the cleaner lines of modernist design. Yet surprisingly few books have captured the resulting private residences.

In Rocky Mountain Modern: Contemporary Alpine Homes, published this summer by Monacelli, veteran design journalist John Gendall does just that. The 18 modern residences highlighted here cover the remarkable expanse of the 3,000-mile-long Rocky Mountains—from a ridgetop home near Canmore, Alberta, to a ranch house at the foot of New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

By including seven homes across Colorado, Gendall shines a spotlight on the state’s booming design scene. From projects by powerhouse firms Rowland+Broughton, CCY Architects or even the one-woman studio of Renée del Gaudio Architecture, the houses featured in this tome demonstrate modernism’s affinity not just for dramatic landscapes, but for some of the harshest environmental conditions in the West.

Photo courtesy Monacelli