Modern Mountain Home in Estes Park, Colorado

A home in Windcliff should be of the mountain -- not on the mountain

Rich's View

To me, a home isn't about itself.  It's about the space it borrows and how it moves people to enjoy, use or appreciate that space (and the other people within that same space).

 

Our primary goal for Ascent was to honor the mountain.  We didn't set out to create art.  We set out to create a simple frame through which our guests could view and appreciate the real masterpiece of Windcliff: 360-degree views of the RMNP, Roosevelt National Forest and the Rockies.  Ascent honors both the mountains and the neighbors with whom it resides.

 

While rustic, Windcliff is also sophisticated and permanent.  Simple, clean, familiar, comfortable, warm and balanced elements echo the space it shares. Ascent fits both the mountain and it fits Windcliff.

 

Natural materials convey permanence, not self indulgence and were selected for practicality, not pedigree.  

 

Rusted CorTen steel siding wasn't chosen to be cute, it was selected because it fits the mountain, is firesmart, natural, durable and requires zero maintenance.   Rusted steel fits in the Rockies aesthetic as do the textures of Ascent's natural woods, stucco and standing seam steel surfaces.   

 

Yes, windows were key.   But not for their own glory.  It was our obligation to frame God's beautiful mountain art but also be sensitive to the reflections we might cast upon our western neighbors at the YMCA of the Rockies. 

 

I feel we achieved what we envisioned.  Ascent welcomes guests with clean, contemporary lines, but warm, familiar textures and materials.  

 

Guests will feel at home the moment they arrive.  Leaving will not be easy.

Are we inside or out?  Ascent blurs the lines between.

 

I love to be outdoors.  And in particular, there is something unique that stirs inside of me when I am in those Rocky Mountains.  It’s indescribable but it is definitely a combination of a close-ness to God and a connection to people and nature both past and present. 

 

Our family first experienced RMNP and Estes Park through a stay in Windcliff.  That visit was magical and touched a deep part of me.  I remember that I could not get over how vertical the terrain was!  And, the rugged yet beautiful setting called to my outside nature and kept tugging at me even when I was gone. 

 

The mountain was here first.  And it will still be here after we leave.  In the grand scheme, we are just temporary visitors on this Earth and the views God so generously shares with us will outlast our brief stays here.  Ascent fits.  It provides a comfortable spot from which we can take in but a fraction of the enormity.  And, nestled in Windcliff, it is part of a neighborhood that encourages that respectful and dignified play with the mountains.

 

Ascent offers natural light, natural colors.  Its themes reflect a reverent mountain style.  It offers cozy spaces with openness and creates art with windows.  

 

Ascent isn't large but it offers generous room to move about.  It intrigues guests to walk through to another space, usually leading to yet another, always with access to the outdoors, my favorite part.  I never want to feel 'trapped' from stepping or looking outside, and Ascent successfully encourages movement inside and out.   It is one with nature and its setting, yet it offers just a little polished mixed in with the rough.

 

Nature.  Comfort.  Beauty.  Rugged Earth.  Simplicity.  Close-ness to God.  Connection.  Lines blurred.