The week of the presidential inauguration is dramatic with departures and arrivals. I titled a past blog Dramatic Departures, and this cued me to remember that I promised to return with more photos of the exteriors of the home featured in the Dramatic blog. Not long ago I returned to the house located in a high part of Glenwild to photograph the outside of the home. The homeowner had the twin firepits roaring in the front for a great welcome.
I was thinking of the interiors (AMB Design; Anne-Marie Barton) when I tagged it a dramatic departure, and I will show more of these after the exterior views. Seeing the home again, I was struck by how naturally it settles into the land. Built by Steve Dubell Construction Group with architecture by Van Sickle Design, the concrete walls anchor it to the ground, and the roof canopies over the outdoor living with glass railings so the outdoors merge with the interiors.
The sharp contoured edges of the metal finish and the stacked light stone emphasize the modern lines, while the wood warms the patio space for the infusion of natural materials that we expect in modern mountain designs.
As I said, the interior is worthy of a second look, and I have some photos that I didn’t feature during the first blog. The living room shows the black and white palette. The white stone continues inside from the exterior. The black Venetian plaster sets one horizontal line in the space at the height of the doorways, and the fireplace and furnishings set a second low horizontal line. AMB Design introduced little color except from natural sources—wood and plants.
This view from the open plan family and kitchen looks past the bar to the left and into an office. A black metal wall treatment dramatically frames the view into the office.
The minimalist kitchen continues the black and white color theme with modern massing. The black island, cloud ceiling, back-bar and cabinets, and oven wall form a balanced composition. The kitchen has closely connected storage and a butler’s pantry that make it efficient while the space makes a sculptural statement.
Above is the open-planned family room with bar, kitchen and dining area. The glass doors connect to the outdoor living visible in an earlier exterior photo of the back of the home.
A black Venetian plaster wall is a strong backdrop to the padded headboard of the master bedroom. The fireplace sets a low horizontal line here as it did in the living room, and the stone wall continues from the outside in.
The wall behind the bedroom headboard is seen again here in the master bath; this time from the rear (with a painting). The circulation pattern allows for bathroom access from either side of this wall. The white oval tub, and black marble back to the glass shower combine with the other elements in the room to make it an ideal photograph.
Because of the low snow fall we are experiencing this drought year, the exterior photographs in the snow are simpler to make. I did use an apparatus that functions like snowshoes for my tripod, but I could easily traverse in just snow boots. Usually at this altitude in Glenwild, I would need my own snowshoes or short cross-country skis. Snow is predicted for the next few days. Let’s all do whatever we can to encourage it to snow, snow, and snow!