Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: Sublime for Skiing in the Rocky Mountains
A luxurious Colorado vacation home maximizes views and comfort in high contemporary style
A Denver couple with four children hired interior designer Donna Grace McAlear before they began construction on this ski house. "This was a big job — while the architect designed the house and engineering, I chose all of the exterior and interior finishes and fixtures, designed the lighting schemes, laid out the kitchen and bathrooms as well as the furnishings and decor," says McAlear. She had these priorities:
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Breckenridge, Colorado
Who lives here: This is a second home for a Denver couple and their kids (3 sons, 1 daughter)
Size: 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
That's interesting: The house is arranged upside down, with the common areas at the top (so everyone can enjoy the best views), the bedrooms on the middle floor, and the guest suites and wine cave on the first.
- The mountain views were paramount, so the decor needed to enhance them, not compete with or distract from them.
- The house had to be functional for a family with young kids who loved to gather with and entertain extended family and friends from far-flung places.
- The home's interiors needed to have continuity and connect with the natural surroundings outside.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Breckenridge, Colorado
Who lives here: This is a second home for a Denver couple and their kids (3 sons, 1 daughter)
Size: 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
That's interesting: The house is arranged upside down, with the common areas at the top (so everyone can enjoy the best views), the bedrooms on the middle floor, and the guest suites and wine cave on the first.
The elevator shaft is shrouded in Mountain Ash stone from the first floor up to the third. On the first level, the entry foyer and wine cave floors are an Idaho silver quartzite flagstone, which is also used as an 18-inch border around the hardwood floors on the third level.
McAlear used the same stone on the fireplace and elevator shaft surround. This connects the inside and outside and provided a warm, rich palette to use throughout the home.
When selecting the furniture, versatility, flexibility and comfort were key. "Because my clients like to entertain, we made sure things were flexible and easily moved around," she says. "They love to host friends and family from far and wide, and wanted this space to work for 20 to 25 people."
These dining room chairs are comfortable and light, for example, and the clients move them over to the living room space when they have a party.
The Pascal Mourgue Calin dining chairs have slipcovers made of Alcantara fabric, which is similar to microsuede. "This fabric is very easy to clean, and the buttons in back make them easy to remove — a must for a family with children," McAlear says.
Dining table: Homme in koa wood with bronzed aluminum legs, Berman Rosetti
The Pascal Mourgue Calin dining chairs have slipcovers made of Alcantara fabric, which is similar to microsuede. "This fabric is very easy to clean, and the buttons in back make them easy to remove — a must for a family with children," McAlear says.
Dining table: Homme in koa wood with bronzed aluminum legs, Berman Rosetti
McAlear also gave the dining room a distinct presence by pulling the warmer earth tones from the stone's color palette. "I chose some of the warmer ocher tones because I wanted the dining room to stand out as its own space within the open plan."
She custom designed the onyx light fixture to pick up on these colors without blocking the views.
She custom designed the onyx light fixture to pick up on these colors without blocking the views.
Even the bar stools, covered in warm bronze leather, can be pulled into the living room and used as extra seating; they can adjust from bar height down to seat height. "These are the most comfortable bar stools I've ever sat in," claims McAlear.
Kitchen cabinets: Pedini Cucine Integra base and tall cabinets in gray stained European oak; counters: Quartz Reflections, Caesarstone; bar stools: designed by Karim Rashid for Bonaldo
Kitchen cabinets: Pedini Cucine Integra base and tall cabinets in gray stained European oak; counters: Quartz Reflections, Caesarstone; bar stools: designed by Karim Rashid for Bonaldo
"In such an open plan, I needed to ground the kitchen," says McAlear. "This backsplash anchored the kitchen into the space. It is also reflective and changes color depending on the time of day." The glass upper cabinets also reflect light.
Upper cabinets: taupe reflective glass, Pedini Cucine
Upper cabinets: taupe reflective glass, Pedini Cucine
The living area is comfortable, flexible and versatile, and also gets its color palette from the stone, this time in a range of warm grays.
"The Puzzle coffee table is another versatile piece; it’s composed of two coffee tables that can be joined as one, used separately or reconfigured," McAlear says.
"The Puzzle coffee table is another versatile piece; it’s composed of two coffee tables that can be joined as one, used separately or reconfigured," McAlear says.
Because clear views of nature through the windows were a priority, there isn't any artwork on the walls, and because this is a second home, the clients didn't want a bunch of accessories around. Thus, McAlear chose artful, sculptural light fixtures to serve as dramatic features throughout the house.
Light: Oh Mei Ma Kabir suspension light, Ingo Maurer; fireplace: LED gas, Heat & Glo LUX60; swivel chairs: Portofino, Minotti
Light: Oh Mei Ma Kabir suspension light, Ingo Maurer; fireplace: LED gas, Heat & Glo LUX60; swivel chairs: Portofino, Minotti
A versatile sectional sofa from Ligne Roset can be split in two, arranged in an L shape or pushed into one long sofa. "Pushing it into one long sofa can clear up room to make a dance floor," McAlear says. "It's also very sturdy; you can perch atop the back comfortably."
A pair of comfortable Pierre Paulin Pumpkin chairs can swivel around to take in the view at sunset.
McAlear custom designed this chandelier with C Lighting to work with the interior and exterior architecture. "It had to fit in a fairly horizontal space and extend down the staircase," McAlear says. "Each of its two tiers falls between the staircase and large windows on the second and third levels. It's minimalist but very dramatic at the same time."
Moving down to the family's private areas on the second level is the kids' lounge, which connects visually and physically to the landscape.
The room also picks up on the warmer colors of the stone's palette and tweaks them up a few shades. Ligne Roset's Togo series couch is great for flopping on after a long day of of skiing. The two doors on the left lead to a bathroom and a ski room for storing clothing and dressing for the slopes, and another door leads to a deck. As you can see through the window, this home is ski in, ski out.
The room also picks up on the warmer colors of the stone's palette and tweaks them up a few shades. Ligne Roset's Togo series couch is great for flopping on after a long day of of skiing. The two doors on the left lead to a bathroom and a ski room for storing clothing and dressing for the slopes, and another door leads to a deck. As you can see through the window, this home is ski in, ski out.
This bathroom connects to the family room and the ski room, so one can enter the house après ski, strip off snowy outerwear, then enter this bathroom and hop into a nice, hot shower.
The color palette continues into the master bedroom, where McAlear plucked a warm terra-cotta hue from the earthier colors in the stone. The cherry ceiling adds warmth.
The fireplace in the master bedroom is an abstraction of the large stone fireplace on the third floor; the same palette is used but rendered in glass tile here. Again, McAlear installed a dramatic, artistic light fixture — this one, the Aloe Bud Multi by Jeremy Cole, is made of porcelain.
Bed: Bloom by Bonaldo, table lamps: Coral, Swank
The fireplace in the master bedroom is an abstraction of the large stone fireplace on the third floor; the same palette is used but rendered in glass tile here. Again, McAlear installed a dramatic, artistic light fixture — this one, the Aloe Bud Multi by Jeremy Cole, is made of porcelain.
Bed: Bloom by Bonaldo, table lamps: Coral, Swank
In the master bath, a curved, high-gloss lacquer cherry vanity by Pedini Cucine echoes the master bedroom ceiling.
Before you go thinking these clients are aprés-ski exhibitionists, look very closely at the windows. There are up/down shades by Hunter Douglas Silhouette that blend right into the window casing.
The boys' bunk room has six beds total, so that the couple's three sons can bring friends on weekend ski trips. There is also a girls' bunk room for the daughter and her friends on this floor.
Down on the first level, the wine cave combines an old-world feeling with contemporary design. The ceiling and wine rack are both white oak.
The first level also has a mudroom, garage access and two guest suites.
The first level also has a mudroom, garage access and two guest suites.
The two guest suites give overnight visitors their own private domain, each with its own private bathroom suite and closet.
The entryway foreshadows much of what awaits inside. "The colors [of the stone] reminded me of the Colorado landscape — mining towns, earth, rock, mountains and sky," McAlear says. "Also it was the most clean-cut, flat and rectangular stone they had." All of these attributes made it the right choice for the warm, contemporary mood she was creating.
McAlear also chose the stainless steel door, which picks up on the silvery grays in the stone and lets visitors know they are not about to enter a rustic mountain home full of antlers and mooseheads.