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If location is everything when it comes to building a house, then a setting that’s, well, everything is like hitting the jackpot. Take, for example, a heart-stopping, ski-in, ski-out patch in Aspen tucked in an alpine meadow between Shadow and Red Mountains—the definition of sky-high majesty. Scored by a Florida-based couple looking for a getaway for their family of six as well as frequent visitors, the spot was imagined as a homestead that could accommodate a gaggle of snow bunnies while maintaining a sense of intimacy—and channel all that grandeur year-round without competing with its magic. The owners turned to practical magicians to get it done: Ted Flato and Dan Carter of Lake Flato architects in San Antonio and Miami-based designer Constanza Collarte of Collarte Interiors, who together conjured up a contemporary aerie that accomplishes all of the above with comfort, poetry, and an avalanche of style.
In the living room, a monolithic marble cocktail table anchors a seating area, delineating it within the open-plan space and counterbalancing the custom rolled-steel fireplace surround. The vintage sheepskin chairs are from Ponce Berga; the sofas are by Oliver Gustav with pillows in Holland & Sherry fabrics.
Joe FletcherThe meadow itself became the soul of the house. “We leveraged the landscape so that it became part of the experience indoors,” says Flato. The residence is composed of three structures: a primary suite on one end and a bedroom wing modeled on a barn for kids and guests on the other, connected by a porch-lined pavilion with living, dining, and kitchen areas. The pavilion is sliced open to a flood of sunlight with a surfeit of windows that steep the living space in the surrounding vistas: blanketed with snow in the winter; swooshing with tall green grasses and wildflowers in the spring and summer; and dappled with aspens glinting golden in the fall. “We wanted the pavilion to float into the meadow like a pier on a body of water,” says Flato. The windows can be fully opened to get even more up-close-and-personal with Mother Nature in good weather, while the house also embraces a courtyard for open-air barbecues and get-togethers protected from prairie winds.
In the dining area, a richly grained and burnished Arno Declercq table and vintage Silvio Coppola chairs from 1stDibs reference a rural Western aesthetic with sophistication. The chandelier is a classic design from Kalmar Werkstätten.
Joe Fletcher
Boasting a pool table and built-in sofas for lounging, the family room is the heart of the gabled barn. A blackened steel bridge affords access to five bedrooms on two levels. Cushions and pillows in Anne Kirk Textiles, Holland & Sherry, and Misia fabrics; the cowhide rug is from DWR.
Joe FletcherTo keep the residence from feeling overly exposed no matter the season, the team calibrated its scale to human proportions. “The pavilion space didn’t want to be too lofty,” says Flato. “It could easily have been another foot or two taller, but it wouldn’t have been as successful.” Tectonic interior architecture heightens the feeling of being cocooned. “The mass of columns was important to give you some sense of shelter and big, heavy wood overhangs amp that up,” says Flato. And while the central pavilion joyfully welcomes in the great outdoors, private spaces curl inward. “There’s this balance of introversion and extroversion that threads through the house,” notes Carter. Cosseting, cozy-sized bedrooms feature reined-in windows that frame compositions. “You watch this little sliver of aspens change throughout the year,” he says.
The powder room combines a raw materiality—a hand-chiseled, rusticated stone vanity and tadelakt plaster walls—with refined details like a repoussé framed mirror from Blackman Cruz, a 1950s vase from Den Los Angeles, and Watermark fittings with a polished industrial edge.
Joe Fletcher
Shou sugi ban paneling, echoing the exterior of the barn structure, and appliances clad in blackened steel make a strong gesture in the kitchen. Cabinetry and stainless steel counters by Boffi; pendant lights from Allied Maker.
Joe Fletcher
The breakfast nook affords a glimpse of one of the property’s aspen stands. The residence was carefully sited to preserve and frame them, and Flato, Carter, and Collarte considered them extensions of the house’s decoration. Custom banquette with cushions and pillows in Larsen, Zinc, and Cowtan & Tout fabrics. The table is from Gregorius Pineo and the armchair is from De Padova.
Joe FletcherExposed materials selected with an eye for lushness—emphasizing what Flato calls the “honesty of modernism”—keeps the whole from ever feeling remotely chilly: Douglas fir beams and paneling, cold-rolled steel burnished to toasty bronze tones, chalky silver quartzite, heated polished concrete floors. For some of the interior and exterior cladding, Flato and Carter turned to shou sugi ban, cedar that’s been charred in a traditional Japanese technique that makes it resistant to rot, moisture, and wildfires, with an evocative tactile effect. “We celebrate rather than hide structural elements,” says Carter.
Exposed Douglas fir beams carry the architectural language of the larger spaces into private environs like the primary bath, modulated on a smaller scale for intimacy; highly figured marble adds quiet punch.
Joe Fletcher
To gently juxtapose all that angularity, a curvaceous, sculptural bathtub from Agape is positioned take in the stunning views. A vintage Swedish stool from 1stDibs sits beside the marble-clad shower. Fittings, Watermark.
Joe Fletcher
Windows in the primary bedroom are thoughtfully placed and sized to turn the landscape into living artwork. A wood-burning stove adds a homespun pioneer touch to an otherwise sleek space. The custom bed is dressed in Matteo LA bedding with pillows in Holland & Sherry fabric.
Joe FletcherCollarte leaned into the sensuous vibe with furnishings and design choices that augment its effect. “I tried to smooth any remaining sharp edges by incorporating softer elements drawn from the native tones of the landscape,” she says. “The aspens were particularly influential—their movement, their changing colors as the wind moves through them.”
In the living room, she balanced the weight of the steel-paneled fireplace with slipcovered sofas and curvaceous, sheepskin-covered armchairs. A table by Arno Declercq in the nearby dining area has a rubbed finish that makes it look like it could have been pulled from a centuries-old monastery; around it Collarte arranged a weathered vintage collection of leather-and-wood armchairs by Silvio Coppola. “You lose something with a fresh batch of furniture that has never seen a water spill or finger oils. Older pieces with history are key to adding a human touch,” she observes. In fact, Collarte drew on more than 100 vendors and unpacked containers from Europe, California, and the East Coast to provide a characterful, quiet backdrop that includes everything from artworks by Peter Doig to patinaed farmhouse consoles and 1950s studio ceramics to help Flato and Carter deliver on their brief.
The end result? A refuge that embodies the spirit of an extraordinary locale in a way that’s perfectly attuned to a family’s dreams. Now that’s what you call a winning hand.
The porch, protected by a cantilevered overhang that keeps off snow in winter and provides shade in warmer seasons, frames a view across the meadow to Aspen Mountain. The Adirondack chair and sofa are from Sutherland.
Joe Fletcher
