High-End Modernism in a Jet-Set Town

High-End Modernism in a Jet-Set Town

Aspen is a small town in western Colorado famous for skiing, actors — and prosperity. Four ski regions serve its 6,658 residents and the traffic to exactly what the Wall Street Journal called “an anointed halt on the global jet-set circuit” in 2011. The same WSJ post calls Aspen “the most expensive city in the usa,” with the median sale prices of homes at $4.6 million.

It’s no surprise that Charles Cunniffe Architects has a significant portfolio of high-end homes in the area. A number of the organization’s designs are a modern version of the local design traditions, heavily influenced by the Western style. Charles Cunniffe’s influences because of his household’s own residence are more varied and more contemporary, but the house, on Wright Road, shares some qualities with his larger residential portfolio, especially huge expanses of glass to take in the mountain views.

at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Charles Cunniffe, spouse Angela (proprietor of a model and talent agency) and their two kids
Location: Aspen, Colorado
Size: 10,000 square feet
That is intriguing: The home was created 20 decades before building — the architect employed lessons learned from previous commissions to his own house, incorporating his own fantasies and influences.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

A lot of the home is dictated by its location on a steep slope. Cunniffe developed a linear plan which runs from west to east to take advantage of sunlight and views around the south, and to open the home to views on the north west.

Here we’re looking toward the entrance on the west side. A terrace serving the guest suite can be seen over the entrance canopy, which is paralleled with a large roof overhang. A flat roof in Aspen, Colorado, might seem strange, but Cunniffe designed the structure to accommodate 8 feet of snow.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

This opinion from a patio on the east side of the home — serving the master bedroom suite — makes it clear that the roof isn’t totally flat. The overhangs are flat, but the rest of the roof is pitched like a shed roof to follow the slope of the hill.

The overhang and angled roof recall among Cunniffe’s consequences: Frank Lloyd Wright, particularly his Usonian homes. The design actually reminds me of the house I stayed in during Hurricane Irene, a home from Wright’s Usonian period. One advantage is that the home is sheltered on one side, starting itself up with larger glass areas on the other side.

The deck onto the left faces south and takes advantage of the sun and the opinion. The house’s hillside scenario is clearly visible in the slope that begins below the deck.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

One enters the home by taking a left on top of the steps visible in the first photo. In line with the front door is a large yet spacious stair which serves four floors. The majority of the spaces are housed on two floors — living spaces and master suite on the first floor, with children’s bedrooms, a family room and services downstairs — although the aforementioned guest suite is on the second floor, and an office is living in the third-floor tower.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

The design of the linear home is similar to a dumbell — that the center is a spacious living room, and smaller spaces are all on the ends; this applies to both first and lower degree. Here we’re looking into the open living area from next to the kitchen. The glass wall on the right faces south and the stunning view of the distant mountains.

A few intriguing architectural details are occurring in this space:
In the meeting of flat and sloped roof is a cove light.Stone facing the hearth and adjacent walls brings a number of the outside inside (a few stone is visible at the entrance in the first photo). A change in roof elevation between the living area and master package outside allows for several clerestory windows tucked beneath the roof.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

This photo is taken from a similar place as the previous one, but notice how the room varies with the doors into the master suite shut. Here we see Cunniffe with his kids (twin boy and girl) and also a small bit of the library that is up a few steps in the living room. The room contributes to a patio on the rear of the home, echoing the deck onto front.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

Looking south from next to the requisite Eames Lounge Chair (hey, I’ve got one also), we may see the clerestory lighting between both ceiling planes echoed in the ground light below the fireplace. The glass wall looks suited to sitting in the Eames — the roof overhang aligns with the top flat, along with the deck railing aligns with the bottom flat, leaving the big panes along with the mountain view. The 8-foot roof overhang on the south is sized to let in winter sunlight but block the summer sun, and the panes at the bottom function as operable vents.

Additional, the 12-foot-high tripartite windows are in fact separate units, along with the entire middle section slides into the side to connect the living room into the deck.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

Here’s a view of the kitchen, which is open into the living room. The vent over the stove opens opposite the living room hearth, providing some balance to the large space. The scale of the space actually comes across in the pendants over the island.

Cunniffe confirmed that, yes, his daughter is running across the countertop; the picture has not been Photoshopped.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

In addition to Wright, among Cunniffe’s influences on the home has been Richard Neutra. This house may be miles removed from Neutra’s California modernism, however, the big expanses of glass and corner windows owe something to its own architecture.

The equilibrium of Wright and Neutra can be found in, respectively, the fireplace and fireplace; the former parallels the living room’s fireplace, and the latter turns the corner into a door that contributes to the eastern patio we watched earlier from outside.

Charles Cunniffe Architects Aspen

This last view of the home is the bathroom in the master suite. It’s split into his-and-her sides — his-and-her toilets, his-and-her dressing table — with a glass-enclosed shower sitting between. A tub sits at the exterior wall, rightfully implanted in the lovely view.

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