High Country Living - Silver Stage

IT’S NOT THE FIRST TIME that the high country of southwestern Colorado has been “discovered.” There were the Utes, who for eons followed the flush of

summer to the mountains in pursuit of game, and retreated with the coming of snow. Then, came the miners, railroaders, and ranchers who rassled the land from its original inhabitants, and invented the West as legend knows it today.

Now their successors have arrived.... They buy the old mining claims and ranching spreads. They populate the outskirts of towns large and small. It is a love affair, really. They have been wooed away from crowded, cranky places by the poetry of rock, sand, sky, water; vast space, deep chasms, steep slopes; heavy snow, summer lushness, even the drama of drought and the dance of fire. They reshape their lives in the West’s image. And the West, in turn, is being reshaped by these New Westerners.

Today’s high country homes, the best of them, are a symphony of the elements, inspired by and laid out in relation to the land and the light. These are contemporary buildings that belong in the 21st century, yet pay homage to the humble log cabins and grand mountain lodges built at the turn of the 20th century, when Colorado was rougher around the edges.

There is in these homes an honesty of materials—rock, wood, metal—that expresses pride of place. Immense picture windows bring the outdoors in, while generous decks and flagstone patios extend living space out into the open air. Large soaring spaces play host to massive beams overhead. There is always, always, a big stone fireplace, for what would be a mountain retreat if you couldn’t curl up in your robe with a cup of coffee in front of a roaring fire on a snowy morning?

New Westerners take their role as custodians of the land very seriously, and protect it with conservation easements, both to preserve its heritage and its habitat. They look for ways to incorporate the raw materials of the immediate land—utilizing timber cleared from the building site for beams or decking material. Taking native rock that was excavated from the foundation, and building the fireplace or dry-stack retaining walls with it.

“There is nothing standard in these homes. It’s all custom,” notes Kevin Quine of Building Specialties in Durango. He has seen business boom, as more and more newcomers are wooed by the charms of the area. Trends noted by Quine include custom-made low-E insulated windows that are metal-clad on the outside and wood-clad on the inside, and massive handmade wooden doors that are carved in an old-world, Mexican style.

Pam Howe, who works at the Apple Shed in Cedaredge, has also seen a large influx of newcomers to the Western Slope recently, coming from Texas, California, and “out east.” “They are going for a southwestern look, rather than the traditional western look that is more native to the area,” she observed. “The western look has a cowboy interest. The southwest look, to me, is more refined, with an Old Mexican influence.” Wood furniture, as well as furniture with leather and faux finishes, is all going out the door. Anything with the look of “lodge-wear.” Brands to look for include Burkline and Bench Craft.

What’s the appeal of leather and faux leather? “Let’s put it this way.... They’re husband-proof!” Howe laughed. “Besides which, they lend themselves to a lot of different decorating styles, and blend into any type of décor.”

Casa Décor in Durango has a vast collection of massive, rustic, old colonial Mexican furniture, much of it handmade by the Tarahumara—the indigenous Indians of northern Mexico. Accents to look for include horn and antler, goat-hide and leather, benches and tables with ox-yoke legs. Finishes are antique-y, crackled, weathered. You could outfit your whole home in this style, or just pick up a few pieces—a hide-on armoire with antler handles, a mesquite burl table lamp with a hand-tooled copper shade, or perhaps a nice “three-butt bench” with anatomically correct carved-out divots for you-know-what to sit down side by side.

Copper and hand-painted ceramic Talavera sinks create a stunning look in your bathroom. Candles are also a wonderful way to bring warmth and character into a high-country home—from sweet rows of sugar mold candles in a rustic wooden holder, to hurricane candles as big as a tall man’s leg.

Katherine Hampton, who works at the Tippy Canoe in Durango, stresses that mountain décor doesn’t have to be a single “look.” It can be anything made in the mountains, from all over the world. From hand-painted floral chests and dressers with an alpine storybook look, to massive antique Chinese armoires, to a bedstead made out of recycled barn wood...amazingly enough, it all compliments each other and works together. And, she insists, a lodge look can still have a refined and feminine touch. “Refined pieces like fine china or silver candlesticks make rougher pieces just ‘pop!’”

One of the pleasures of creating a spacious home in beautiful surroundings is having enough room for friends and family to come and stay for a while. “We wanted to create this feeling, where you can come out of your room, and the fire is going, the music is playing, candles are lit,” says Renee Covin, who with her husband recently relocated to southwest Colorado from Los Angeles. “There is space in our home to spread out, but it’s cozy.”

Unfortunately, as more and more people move into the western Colorado and the Four Corners area, open space, and the concept of the old west that goes along with it, is fast disappearing. Maintaining the look and feel of our western heritage in our homes becomes more of a challenge. Sometimes the sweeping view is of the neighbors’ garage or a four-lane highway snarling past the front door. You’ve seen the result: rows of squat stucco boxes with veneered exteriors, massive, California-style cookie-cutter houses stuffed onto too-small lots, with all residing in subdivided cow pastures now named something-or-other “ranch” when a better name might be Deerless Meadows or Vanished Vistas.

But the people will come, the area is growing, and the hunger to maintain some of our regional identity is strong. And, as with any growing area, how we answer the challenge will be a measure of our interest in the past as well as the present. (And the depth of our pockets, as well.) So we take bits and pieces of it all, and build a New West.

Special thanks to Connie Williams, John Ivory, Pam Stewart, Brahim Ilahiane and the Appleshed, Cedaredge, Ivory’s Trading Co. & Gallery, Ouray and Exotics Fine Imports, Ridgway, who provided furnishings and artwork for the homes photographed for this article.