Arch11 designed this modern, 3,400 square-foot residence for a couple and their four teenage children near Larkspur, Colorado. Anchored by a double-height glass and wood pavilion with “stop-in-your-tracks” views of distant mountains and adjacent rock formations, the home’s rugged setting is bounded by a forest of towering ponderosa pine and low scrub oak. To creatively address site opportunities and programmatic requirements, including an extensive art collection and family dynamics, Arch11 principal-in-charge a E.J. Meade and project manager Larry Sykes zoned the home so the kids’ rooms make up the entire second floor, while common areas and the master suite comprise the main floor. 

On the exterior, carefully proportioned overhangs and a rhythmic pattern of cedar columns modulate sun exposure throughout the seasons— creating comfortable, sun-infused interior spaces that both celebrate and protect the art from overexposure. The home’s strategic siting and floorplan, along with low-maintenance (and fire resistant) materials, including board-formed concrete, weathering steel, and polished concrete floors, not only give the home the air of a modern art gallery, it allows the family to spend their time enjoying the surrounding landscape and their vibrant collection of art.