This dramatic Colorado home is one of the coolest places to enjoy Durango’s snowy winters.
Perched on an overlook 200 feet above the Cliffs Nine course at the exclusive Durango, Colo., Glacier Club community, this four-bedroom abode offers long-range views into the San Juan Mountains of the southwestern Colorado Rockies. Just 18 miles north of Durango, and adjacent to the San Juan National Forest, the 750-acre club offers the home’s residents the finest in mountain lifestyle amenities, including proximity to the area’s diverse recreational offerings and fine restaurants, shops and cultural attractions. “People fall in love with the lifestyle here,” says Rick Carlton, who, along with his wife Andrea, is the developer of the Glacier Club. “It’s not fancy like Aspen or Vail. We’re a real town with regular folks.”
This 6,800-sq.-ft. residence, designed by Durango’s Joe Sebastyen, though, is in no way regular. “The dramatic location of this home is oriented [to provide] a perfect view over two beautiful golf holes, two greens and water directly across from the Hermosa Cliffs ridge—and all the way south down the valley,” says Doug Simonson, president of Durango-based Classique Development & Construction, which has been building custom homes in the area for almost a decade. The exterior of this spectacular residence blends with the landscape, incorporating Douglas fir on the exposed beams and plenty of stone. Inside, wide-planked hickory flooring and walnut parquet continues this theme. Interior designer Annabelle Goodman, principal of Premier Designs, calls the style “elegant Colorado,” as it joins the finest materials and amenities with a strong mountain character.
While the home’s interiors are very luxurious, they are also multi-functional, she explains. For small formal entertaining, the dining room provides an intimate environment, and the circular great room can easily accommodate larger crowds, with 180-degree views through eight-foot windows, a full bar and an Italian limestone fireplace. Just outside, a welcoming deck area offers a fireplace sitting area, as well as an expansive patio.
If the attention to both form and function individuate this home, so does the consideration the design and construction team has given to its details. Classic elements take the form of the arched doorways and glass tiles in the downstairs resistance swimming pool room. “The tile work is absolutely outstanding,” Goodman says.
Venetian plaster in the circular entertaining room and the dining room intensifies the handcrafted appearance. In the media room, handmade paper completes the walls and ceilings; and in the powder room, silk has been applied to two of the walls and the barrel ceiling, contrasting with the granite slabs on the two end walls.
