Tucked away in the stunning Poudre Canyon outside Fort Collins, this custom home is a complete transformation of a home built by hand in the 1960s on land that once welcomed travelers to a popular early-1900s hotel and mountain resort.
The home’s builder and his wife were longtime canyon residents and entrepreneurs. They set their sights on building a home on the banks of the Poudre River next to a small RV park they established to house workers constructing the highway through the canyon. Once the road was complete, the RV park welcomed outdoor enthusiasts who flocked to the area for more than 50 years.
Our client, the latest owner of the property, had a vision to modernize the home as a mountain retreat while retaining its rustic character. He worked with an interior designer to draw up plans, and we worked closely with both to implement the owner’s ideas.
To start, everything about the house was out of level. We gutted it, then we worked closely with the engineer as we improved the structural integrity and releveled the floors before rebuilding the interior.
The home needed new wiring and a new roof to bring both up to code. The original roof was constructed using heavy timbers as a framework to support a vaulted milled lumber ceiling. As some of the ceiling boards were missing or no longer fit properly, we were able to replace them with wood from the old RV park bath house, which was built in the same manner as the home.
To keep the character of the ceiling intact, we ran all the wiring up and through the roof. We routed channels into foam SIPs panels for the conduit, then attached the panels to the old roof’s exterior. This brought the R-value from next to nothing to R60, which will keep the home snug during the cold mountain winters.
In the kitchen, cabinets were faced with a Shou Sugi Ban-type charred wood finish and accented by a white Carera marble top. This detail juxtaposes modern sophistication with the rustic character of the ceiling for a warm, elegant feel to the primary living space.
The design called for new materials, including custom metal railings, deck with wide sliding glass doors and waterproof storage underneath, custom marble and handmade tile, and energy-efficient aluminum windows. But we made recommendations to reuse materials as well, which included rehabilitating the stone fireplaces and the original stonework from the home’s exterior.
The homeowner had a strong vision for this project, but it took collaboration among everyone on the team to work within the budget while making the renovations work well for the historic home and its owner for years to come.
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Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Timnath, Northern Colorado
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