Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein

Private Residence

Four Corners, Colorado

The clients, whose primary home was in Atlanta, purchased 100 acres in remote southwest Colorado in the region known as the Four Corners (where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah converge). In order to enjoy the distant spot while on vacation there they initially set up an Airstream trailer on the site. After a week of particularly cold weather they decided that in order to enjoy the rustic environment they needed better accommodations. The initial program was a one room vacation house containing a kitchen, dining, and living area, with a sleeping loft and bathroom. Within the first year of completion, however, they decided to retire from Atlanta and make the ranch land of southwest Colorado their primary home.

In order to convert the one-room vacation house into a primary home, they asked the Architect for an addition containing a more elaborate master bedroom area, as well as two guest bedrooms with bathrooms, a laundry room, and a two-car garage. After occupying the site for several seasons, they had learned that they enjoyed spending as much time as possible outdoors. In order to maximize that experience, they requested dedicated outdoor areas for living, dining and kitchen functions. Shortly after their purchase of the land the area was threatened by brush fires. In response to that threat, the clients requested that the exterior skin be as fireproof as was practical.

Design Approach:

The final plan takes the form of an H, with the living areas (the "barn") connected to the bedroom wing (the "shed") by a glazed corridor. The area between the wings becomes an entry courtyard with the front door located along its centerline. The high-ceiling space of the living area focuses on a tall window with views out across a pond and to the profile of Mesa Verde National Park in the distance. Outdoor living spaces are arrayed to the south of the main living room and include an outdoor kitchen and dining area. There are also two outdoor sitting areas: the western most area beneath a cube-like frame of heavy timber with a trellis overhead to provide some shade, and an additional area provides built-in concrete bench seating around a fire pit.

In approaching the task of form-making in this context, the Architect considered the surrounding vernacular architecture. The most distinct structures in the sparsely populated area are agricultural buildings -- barns and sheds. In the initial phase of the project, the living area was therefore conceived as an abstraction of the typical barn form. Alternately, the bedroom wing takes the form of the shed.

Images 1-4, 10-11, this page © James E. Choate
Images 5-9 © Jason Wyche