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Mountain Modern
The livability factor is key when building a new home. This Missouri Heights home has it, but also incorporates natural materials, an open feeling, and a modern touch that define quintessential mountain living. The only problem may be wanting to be spend more time indoors.
Just RightA home for the times, for the environment, and for a couple whose vision yields a light-filled, right-scaled home
- by Linda Hayes
- photos by Tim Murphy
THE LONG AXIS: Open living-kitchen-dining space shows a mix of key materials and architectural forms.
IT'S A LONG WAY FROM THE MIDWEST TO A MOUNTAINTOP IN THE ROCKIES, NOT JUST IN MILES BUT IN ATTITUDE. As they set out to create a new home high atop Missouri Heights, Kerstin Anderson and Gerd Klingenspor wanted to make the most of that distance.
“Coming from a townhouse in Minneapolis, we wanted something different that took advantage of the sun and was modern but still included natural materials,” Anderson explains. To turn their vision into reality, they chose Tim Hagman and his crew at Hagman Architects in Basalt. “Tim’s houses were like little European villages, with different sections that looked like they had grown organically from the earth.”
After siting the four-bedroom, 4,050-square-foot house to take advantage of the four-acre property’s stunning Mount Sopris views, the challenge was to create a design that would complement the couple’s lifestyle, both personal and professional. (She is with Homes Aspen Realty; he is an entrepreneur, an international-ski-tour operator, and a Snowmass ski instructor.)
The resulting design featured a long axis with what Hagman refers to as an adaptation of simple ranch buildings. The components are a two-story barnlike structure (in red, one of Anderson’s favorite colors) with what resembles a little red barn stretching off one end. “The design, with a simple, bold roofline, allowed for both a strong presence in the landscape and a residential scale,” Hagman says. The “barn” houses the master suite, the “shed” a combined living/dining/kitchen area, indoor/outdoor living space, an office, and a connecting four-car garage, which houses a tractor as well as cars.
THE TRADITIONAL RURAL RANCH FORM is typical of Colorado's Western Slope.
The project architect, Hagman associate partner Tony Major, worked with the owners on the selection of exterior materials, such as integral-color stucco, translucent polycarbonate panels, and energy-conserving SIPS panels, as well as on interior details like Glu-Lam beams and reclaimed-hardwood flooring. “For a house this size, every little detail is significant,” Major says. General contractor Joe Turner of Basalt partnered on the home’s construction.
Inside, a farm-style rock wall at the entry binds the house together and also serves to collect passive solar heat. “Like the rest of the house, the entry has a somewhat eclectic, contemporary feel,” Hagman says. “A minimal steel-cable stairway is juxtaposed against stone, and there’s a ton of light coming in.”
A few design decisions were made along the way. For instance, what was originally designated as a dining room became destined for another use. “We loved that space so much that we made it the living room,” Anderson says. “In the winter, we make cappuccino and sit there and work on our computers and watch the dogs play outside.” That the sleek kitchen’s red granite-topped cabinets match the exteriors was due to a serendipitous decision, via Thurston Kitchen & Bath in Aspen, to select Pedini Italian cabinetry.
In the end, the house is totally in sync with the owners, the environment, and the times. “For a smaller house with a modest budget, it has nice volumes, but it’s not over-the-top excessive,” Hagman says. “It’s where people will want to go in the future.
