Set in the mountains of Snowmass, Colorado, Wood You is a 1995 log cabin reimagined into a contemporary family retreat.

Rowland+Broughton approached the remodel as an exercise in preservation, honoring the cabin’s natural logs and timber detailing while introducing modern functionality suited to multigenerational living. Tucked into an Aspen forest with mountain views on all sides, the home embraces its high alpine setting at every turn. 

The most consequential early decision was how to treat the logs themselves. After meticulous stripping, sanding, and multiple mockups, a custom bleached finish was applied to the interior logs, preserving the natural depth of the grain while creating a lighter, more neutral backdrop. On the exterior, a dark grey stain was selected for contrast, paired with new custom perforated metal guardrails that replaced the original heavy railings and introduced a quieter, more contemporary silhouette. 

Inside, the main living area was reorganized around an expanded kitchen that opens to the dining and lounge spaces, creating a layout suited to family gatherings at any scale. The stairway was repositioned to align with the main entry, establishing a clearer sense of arrival and flow. New wood flooring throughout matches the tone of the logs, while blackened steel elements carried consistently across the perforated stair rails, interior doors, cooking hood, center island, lighting, and hardware modernize the interior without disrupting its material warmth. Custom millwork was selected for its inherent wood graining, with paint colors chosen to add layering and subtle variety. Finely detailed linen window treatments offset the robustness of the logs, and a bespoke dining table with a 3-Form top and expandable leaves reflects the home’s attention to its wooded environment. 

In the primary suite, a custom bed with an integrated pop-up television and headboard exemplifies the cabin’s balance of innovation and comfort. The lower floor was fully reimagined to accommodate extended family and guests, with a bunk and media room featuring hidden Murphy trundle beds, two private guest suites, an exercise room, a ski room, and a dedicated laundry area that keeps the home manageable through active mountain living. 

Material selections were guided by both aesthetic and environmental intent. FSC-certified wood, zero to low VOC finishes, and natural renewable materials support a healthy indoor environment throughout. Gas appliances were replaced with high-efficiency electric alternatives, and the decision to renovate rather than rebuild reflects Rowland+Broughton’s broader view of preservation as both an ecological and architectural commitment. 

Outside, a new stone terrace anchors the outdoor living area, with a hot tub and firepit positioned to capture the Snowmass mountain views. Native plantings frame the perimeter, softening the transition between the built and natural environments while adding privacy and seasonal texture. 

The result is a home that demonstrates that modernizing does not mean replacing. The heritage of the original cabin remains legible throughout, while every intervention moves the space toward something more functional, more refined, and more fully suited to the family that now calls it home. 

R+B approached this downtown Aspen penthouse renovation as an exercise in uncovering the home beneath the heavy alder millwork and dark finishes typical of early-2000s mountain interiors. Designed for a pair of art collectors and avid skiers, the penthouse was reimagined as a bright, layered retreat — bold and eclectic, yet grounded by a clean architectural framework that allows the owners’ collection and lifestyle to take center stage.

The transformation began with a complete material reset. Dark flooring was replaced with light European white oak by Arrigoni, while existing millwork was refinished in rift-cut white oak with a custom stain, shifting the atmosphere from enclosed to open and contemporary. Strategic architectural interventions improved flow and functionality throughout: the mudroom was reconfigured to incorporate the powder room, and an underutilized indent near the kitchen was squared off to create a new sitting area lined with custom bookshelves.

In the living and dining spaces, the design balances warmth, restraint, and personality. Custom sofas, restored French club chairs, sculptural furnishings, and layered textiles create an environment that feels collected rather than decorated. A new fireplace wall with flanking shelving, integrated television, and marble hearth anchors the living room, adding architectural presence and warmth without competing with the art. Custom bath sconces designed specifically for the project extend the same level of detail into quieter moments throughout the home.

The kitchen continues the lighter palette with refinished white oak cabinetry, white-painted uppers, and handmade tile by Made a Mano that introduces texture and subtle color. Throughout the penthouse, simplified detailing, new lighting, and a restrained material palette create a cohesive environment rather than a series of renovated rooms.

The primary suite and guest rooms follow the same philosophy: light oak floors, soft white walls, and custom furnishings layered with color and pattern. The primary suite was reconfigured to accommodate a new closet, while the bath was fully reimagined within the refreshed palette. One of the home’s most playful moments appears here as well, with Beverly Hills Hotel wallpaper introducing an unexpected note of warmth and character.

Throughout, the architecture intentionally steps back, creating a calm, luminous backdrop for the owners’ art collection and life in the mountains. The result is a home that feels both elevated and effortless — equally suited to entertaining, quiet retreat, or returning to after a day on the slopes.

Shadow Mountain House is located on a compact lot at the edge of downtown Aspen, Colorado, within close walking distance of skiing, shops and restaurants. The home is tucked up against the base of iconic Shadow Mountain, which provides unique forested views.

Inside, the furnishings palette was devised to help explore and embrace the owner’s love of bold colors. Each level was provided a central color on which an analogous color palette was developed.

Accordingly, the lower level is purple, the main floor is blue and the upper level is green. Green was chosen for the upper level to pull the rich greens of the surrounding forested views inside. Throughout the home, bold and expressive artwork was located in areas that allow them to be celebrated independently of the views.

Ensuring that the views were the primary focal points from the interior of the home was a singular challenge. In a compact footprint, essential programmatic elements vie for attention compositionally. So as not to divert attention from the views, a neutral palette of plaster, white oak and minimal detailing was chosen.

As the form is tucked into the mountainside, the upper level offers a gracious walk-out terrace for outdoor entertaining. A “form follows function” parti was created to incorporate large picture windows aimed directly at primary views. These picture windows informed ceiling slopes and the treatment of other focal features, such as keeping the fireplace volume low to allow the treetops to be viewed through a living room skylight. Another opening provides expansive Shadow Mountain views, and also provides for seamless indoor-outdoor entertainment opportunities in the privacy of the backyard.

Glass guardrails on the stairs were selected to allow for more natural light to filter uninhibited to the lower levels and for the transparency they provided. Another design challenge was the detailing required for the unique angles driven by the aperture windows. Rainscreen cladding techniques and internal gutters were employed so that the standing seam metal was siding used consistently around the openings.

For our design team, a primary goal was addressing the owners’ desire to capture the best views possible, including of the overhead treetops and the mountains across the valley. Combined with a compact lot size, the goal drove the architecture vertically, with main living spaces placed on the upper level and rooftop, and the bedrooms on the lower levels.

A second design goal was to unify the angular form, emphasizing predominant views within a singular volume. Standing seam metal siding was used as the building’s skin for its ability to be applied on both vertical and horizontal surfaces. The building skin was pulled and stretched, creating aperture-style picture windows that strongly emphasize each opening. Stucco was used on the exterior of the main level as a subdued, monolithic base that recedes from the expressive upper level.

Ridge House began life in the 1960s, as the Aspen residence of the Norwegian-born Olympic gold medalist Stein Eriksen, and was designed by Ellie Brickham, the town’s first practicing female architect; the house sits on some 35 unspoiled acres (one of a compound of R+B-designed buildings) and overlooks all four ski mountains. R+B, as committed preservationists, understood the significance of Brickham’s Aspen modern design, yet the structure was deteriorating and no longer conformed to local building codes. Consequently, R+B’s solutions preserved the spirit, if not the letter, of the original.

The entry façade, comprised of ‘found’ cut-stone walls, combines the region’s building traditions with a modernist sensibility. The obverse – the western, view-facing façade – does precisely the opposite: fully glazed with full-height doors and windows, it showcases the remarkable view in its entirety.

Within, R+B transformed what had been Brickham’s organizing hallway into a 126-foot-long, eight-foot-wide, end-to-end north-south axis that constitutes, for all of the architecture’s neo-Scandinavian modesty, a celebratory event that feels almost palatial. Entering through the front door, one is greeted by a sunken double-height living room, which conveys both a midcentury swank and the grandeur of the west; the primary suite occupies the entirety of the structure to the south; the living, dining, and media rooms, and the kitchen/breakfast area, sit in the center; and the children’s zone, with craft and game rooms, lies to the north.

Though utterly transformed, Ridge House retains the alternation between opacity and transparency that had been the original’s essence, remains nearly within the preexisting footprint, and maintains the former house’s four wood-burning fireplaces, which, as they predated the current code, were allowed to remain. Thus did R+B preserve the presiding spirit of the past within the pristine precincts of the new.

Every material and furniture selection was chosen as an extension of the architectural idea.

Amid old-growth spruce and aspen trees in the heart of Aspen’s West End neighborhood, this dual building residential project both reflects and contemporizes the classic pan abode construction that contributed to the development of Aspen’s international ski and tourism industries.

Upon the clients’ voluntarily landmark designation of the pan abode cabin through the Aspen Modern Inventory of historic structures and the Aspen Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), R+B undertook the challenge of renovating and restoring a circa 1956, historic structure, a rustic cabin, single-story premanufactured log kit home that once served as an idealized version of the western log cabin.

In addition to the non-historic wing being removed, the interior was reconfigured, and the cabin moved off its foundation to make way for a new below grade level to accomodate two bedrooms and flex space, all within the original footprint.

The integrity and architectural characteristics of the historic log cabin were retained. Exterior logs were sanded to the original Western Red Cedar finish, windows repaired and re-stained. Inside, a new primary bedroom suite and great room feature the original exposed logs and simple stone and steel metal finishes. A new connecting stair allows light to flow to the lower level.

In accordance with Aspen’s HPC requirements, the new residence’s design reflects the form, materials, and fenestration of the historic structure while distinguishing it as contemporary. The glass stair volume at the entry connects all four levels of the residence and is screened by new, overlapping pan abode logs to speak to the historic cabin.

Inside, the basement features a guest suite, bunkroom, media room and a gym that includes an infrared sauna. The upper level features the primary living spaces with kitchen, living, covered alfresco dining and the main bedroom suite. A rooftop deck with 360-degree mountain views encourages a physical and emotional connection to a singular place and time.

Every material and furniture selection was chosen as an extension of the architectural idea.

Set at the base of a dramatic mountain outcropping, this forward-thinking custom home balances beauty, wellness, sustainability, and innovation. Inspired by the natural environment of the heavily treed site, along with the organic architecture of John Lautner and artist James Turrell’s concept of framing light, it engages seamlessly with the surroundings in a contemporary manner.

Keeping progressive, sustainable design at the forefront and with manufacturing and assembly in mind, prefabricated glulam assembly was specified for speed and efficiency of mass timber construction. Parametric modeling, virtual reality rendering, and physical modeling were implemented to explore design iterations and advance the creative integrity of the architecture.

Primary challenges included a steep grade directly adjacent to the site at the base of the mountain and close proximity to a neighboring unit. In response, a dramatic sloping roof opens the volume toward the sky while editing views of the adjacent building.

Exterior materials and elements include vertically oriented wood rainscreen referencing the wooded site, aluminum cladding at windows, glass guardrails at decking, and an integrated solar shingle roof system.

Beyond the entry, an ample community room designed for purposes including intellectual gatherings features flagstone flooring and a high, intricately beamed wood ceiling with clustered skylights. An iconic architectural expression, a curved, glazed curtain wall wraps the area to highlight the mountain view. Through sliding glass doors, the interior opens to a patio and tiered amphitheater carved into the landscape.

Main level spaces include ample kitchen, bar, and dining areas as well as dual bedroom suites. The upper level accommodates a pair of guest bedroom suites, one with a roof top deck encouraging connection to nature. With an emphasis on relaxation, a virtual wellness retreat complete with a therapeutic thermal bath and spa, and access to an outdoor grotto garden, is located at the basement level, which also houses a theater/game room.

Perfectly sited to capture dramatic Aspen Mountain views, the interior renovation of this five–bedroom, 7,874 square foot Red Mountain home involved a close collaboration between the R+B team and the New York City based owners – a curator of modern and contemporary Asian art with a Guggenheim Museum affiliation and a financier-philanthropist, respectively.

Appreciating the scale and flow of the home, the project team worked to contemporize the older French Chateau-style structure and re-imagine aspects of the interior space.

The ample kitchen was modernized and reworked to accommodate the personal needs of the owners, as well as for catering and entertaining purposes. Ceiling beams were added to enhance to the formal dining room. The hall to the primary bedroom was dramatically opened and a new bedroom seating area specified to take advantage of mountain views. Furniture selection was in collaboration with Atelier AM.

Upon completion, a tranquil, sophisticated setting reflects the sensibilities of the owners and embraces the serenity of the surrounding environment.

The remodel of this significant mountainside home in Aspen, CO, which featured a formal layout and traditional detailing, successfully blends elements of old and new in every aspect with a clean material palette. In addition to updating finishes, the R+B team improved flow and storage areas throughout and created opportunities to display the owners’ extensive modern art collection.

In the kitchen, spaces were rearranged to open up the floor plan by replacing a butler’s pantry with a wet bar and clever storage compartments. Saltillo tile flooring was replaced with white oak to match the existing public spaces, and the original cabinets were redone with updated white oak cabinets topped with Calacatta marble at the room’s perimeter. The kitchen island is equipped with warming drawers and outlets for catering larger gatherings and utilizes a Glassos slab top. In order to accommodate a large family, an adjoining mudroom was reorganized and outfitted with storage solutions for multiple family members. The media room features updated millwork, including a new bar area and storage for games and toys, as well as a new lighting system. Design elements in the master bedroom and bathroom include maximizing storage within the roof and dormer spaces of the upper floor, while incorporating clean detailing that update these spaces such as wool and silk carpet, white plaster walls, and black slate fireplace surround.

R+B also transformed an existing Old World style home wine cellar into a refined, functional space for storing and showcasing a significant wine collection. Uniform grids of white oak bins are recessed into the wall and framed in blackened steel. The centerpiece is a substantial display table made of honed black slate with a waterfall edge countertop and additional built-in storage. A white oak ceiling cloud centered over the display table and featuring hidden light coves provides additional depth to the space. New humidity and temperature control systems, and a fingerp­rint scanner linked to the home’s security system, are state-of-the-art.

Set in a prime location at the base of Aspen Mountain, this long-loved vacation townhome underwent a full upgrade to accommodate a multi-generational family.

At three stories and with a loftlike Soho Club vibe, the upper level features a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and skylights. Kitchen, dining, and multiple seating groups for gathering, lounging, reading, and working open onto a balcony overlooking town and the mountain views. An expanded open stair with a new glass guard rail allows natural light to filter down to levels below, which encompass a trio of primary suites and a bunk room. An elevator provides easy access between levels.

The remodel was completed in close collaboration with Bradley Stephens of New York-based Stephens Design Group. A complementary exterior remodel included updating and staining windows and refinishing wood soffits.

Located in a forest of aspen and fir, with stunning views of Maroon Creek, Roaring Fork, and Hunter Creek valleys, Mountain Retreat was designed for an Aspen neighborhood with strict architectural guidelines based on the design of 19th-century national park lodges. Both the client and R+B wanted a 21st-century house tailored to a contemporary family. Yet the architects recognized that the convivial character of a lodge was not incompatible with the social advantages of open-plan modernism. And not just in the public rooms, but the interstitial zones, which encourage the accidental and the unexpected.

To satisfy HOA guidelines, R+B deployed a traditional palette of stacked stone, rough-hewn wood siding, and standing-seam metal for the volumes visible from the street. The elevations not on public view, conversely, feature floor-to-ceiling pocketing glass walls, facilitating an indoor/outdoor experience in which exterior spaces, including a covered entertaining terrace and pool, welcome the family and embrace the incomparable surroundings. The site itself offered an even greater challenge, as the land was steeply sloped: 6-months were consumed constructing a monumental shoring effort to create a level building lot and the massive retaining wall on the property’s north side.

Within, R+B eschewed the usual primary bedroom, opting instead for a program of four ‘equal’ suites and a bunkroom. The self-contained character of these spaces – their well-equipped privacy, augmented by private terraces – makes for an appealing contrast with the communal areas. Regarding the latter, the architects placed unusual focus on the hallways and the grand stair: the halls are wide enough to be comfortably inhabited via seating nooks, and the stair remains an experience unto itself, floating between the three levels, affording views across a realm of changing moods and perspectives. These stand as zones of opportunity: of the unexpected sociability emblematic of the park lodges in their golden age, reinterpreted for a family in the present day.

Every material, furniture selection, and art placement was chosen as an extension of the architectural idea.