Sited atop a promontory in Squaw Creek near Edwards, Il Podere commands 360-degree views of nearly every peak in ON the Vail Valley. BY KIRSTEN DOBROTH WALDEN POND

The most expensive home in the valley takes its inspiration from Henry Thoreau’s ascetic cabin in the woods.

PHOTOS BY RIC STOVALL

86 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 87 in doing without, in the mid-19th century, Henry David AS AN EXPERIMENT Thoreau erected a 10-by-15-foot cabin on the banks of Walden Pond in Massachusetts. Of his solitary time in the New England wilderness, Thoreau mused, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” In this valley, when it comes to living large, Thoreau- style, there’s no better—or more extreme—example than Walden House. The 12,000-square-foot, 7-bedroom, 9.5-bathroom home sits atop Whiskey Ridge off East Lake Creek Road in Edwards. Priced at $33 million, at press time Walden was also the most expensive listing in the county. Suffice it to say, Walden House is unlike any home in the valley. Douglas Elliman’s Joshua Saslove deems Walden “an Priced at $33 architectural piece of art.” A real estate agent might say the same of any property at the pinnacle of our luxury market. million, at But this is the only home in the valley designed by one of New York City’s hottest architects, Annabelle Selldorf. press time Never heard of Annabelle Selldorf? A Google search yields more than 10,000 results, the third being a 2015 Walden was Bloomberg profile that dubs the Cologne-born Selldorf “the darling of the design world” and “designer du jour to cul- the most tural institutions and the wealthy elite.” Defined by an aes- thetic she describes as modernism enhanced “by embracing the so-called austerity,” Annabelle Selldorf’s 55-architect expensive practice has created luxury residences (like a new SoHo condo with a $25 million penthouse and $1 million parking listing in spaces) and public spaces in big cities across the country and around the world, including Brown University’s John the county. Hay Library, San Diego’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the Neue Galerie in New York, Le Stanze del Vetro Museum in Venice, and most recently, the expansion of Manhattan’s Frick Collection.

With stainless steel and copper accents, the white- paneled kitchen resembles the galley of a starship.

88 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 89 Brightly upholstered furniture and a pod- like recliner add a touch of whimsy to the rec room. With articulated win- The Lake Creek commission? That hap- dows facing a man- made pond and peaks pened nearly a decade ago, after a longtime of the Lake Creek client with a Selldorf-designed pied-à-terre Valley, the dining room is the home’s primary in New York City bought 105 acres on gathering spot. Whiskey Ridge and asked Selldorf if she could imagine what a family home in rural A central glass-walled corridor wraps around Edwards might look like. By way of example, a Zen-like courtyard, accessing the primary Selldorf took her client to Dunton Hot volumes of the home. Springs, a “glamping” destination outside of Telluride where the only other home she designed in Colorado, the Pika House, oc- cupies a grove of pines like it grew up out of the surrounding forest. Struck by Selldorf’s visually stunning and unassuming tower of glass and wood, the client commissioned a full-time residence for Whiskey Ridge. Inspired by a favorite book and com- “My favorite part of working on the project A three-story tower pleted in 2009, Selldorf’s Walden House cel- houses bedrooms for was being on-site,” says Selldorf. “It’s so beau- ebrates minimalism and nature, departing parents and children, tiful, and I was always happy being there.” stacked one atop the Inspired by a from the log cabin/wilderness lodge vernac- other, all with com- As such, she took cues from the local envi- ular that characterizes most luxury homes manding views. favorite book and ronment to make Walden House blend with, in Vail Village and Beaver Creek: a series rather than stand out from, its surroundings, of single-story pavilions (and a three-story completed in 2009, sculpting an exterior clad in field rock, log tower) arranged around a central Zen-like Selldorf’s Walden pole pine, and pine beetle kill siding, and a garden. Walden is a Thoreau-esque tribute copper-sheathed roof. where every living space is oriented around House celebrates “It was terrific to have the opportunity the outside environment via exterior walls to use local materials for the house that of glass (shaded by automated blinds) offer- minimalism we wouldn’t have used on another,” she ing different—and expansive—views of the and nature. explains. “I love the beetle kill pine; I wasn’t mountainous landscape, east to the Gores, familiar with the material before, and I was west to Hardscrabble Mountain, south to delighted that we were able to give it new New York Mountain and Gold Dust Peak, life by stacking it horizontally in a façade of and north to Red and White Mountain. exacting detail.”

90 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 91 With walls lined with books and a bolt of hand-dyed wool im- ported from Holland, the study is the home’s coziest, and most intimate, space.

A soaring ceiling and clerestory windows make the sky and surrounding landscape the focal point of the airy living room.

Pops of color throughout the house temper sleek lines with warmth.

Such nature-enhanced attention to detail isn’t limited to the exterior, either; Selldorf used hand-dyed lamb’s wool (imported from Holland) on the walls of the study to create a cozy nook that’s complemented by a hearty fireplace, then used the mate- rial again in the master bedroom, where it adorns the floating wall that separates the sleeping area from the closet, and again on the floor, carpeted in a bright blue hue. Pops of color throughout the house temper sleek lines with warmth; reds accent the living area, bathrooms are tiled in teal, and copper connects the interior to the exterior. Each volume (white-walled with hardwood floors and soaring wood-paneled ceilings), segregated by function, is accessible by a glass-walled central corridor that spirals around the courtyard starting, counterclock- wise, with the kitchen. The white-paneled P. FURNITURE IS NOW THE utilitarian space resembles the gleaming galley of a starship with concealed appli- PROUD OWNER OF VAIL LIGHTS LOCATED IN AVON | 142 BEAVERCREEK PLACE pfurnitureanddesign.com | 970.949.0153

92 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 vaillights.net | 970.949.1508 The home may draw its minimalist aesthetic from Thoreau, but its spa, workout room, and heated lap pool evoke Kubla Khan’s Xanadu. ances, stainless steel screen television flanked by moose and ante- countertops, and a lope trophies. And last, a home office with his hardwood-capped and hers computers where the commercial island with stools sculpted from wire and center of Edwards bustles in the distance. metal tubing—purposely uncomfortable to Outside, in addition to an infinity encourage guests to circulate into the next pool, spa, and gym, Walden fronts onto a volume, the dining room, where 4 of the Thoreau-worthy manmade pond by New 10 seats around an oval banquet table face York celebrity landscape architect Edwina floor-to-ceiling glass patio doors that open von Gal (who has designed outdoor spaces onto a pond overlooking New York Mountain. in the Hamptons for Calvin Klein, Martha That room shares a wall and fireplace with Stewart, and Larry Gagosian). Without the neighboring living area, a gallery-like hall river stones, waterfalls, fountains, or any furnished with a baby grand piano, sculp- other embellishment (save a rowboat in the tures, four chairs around a coffee table, and summer and ice-skaters in the winter), the an overstuffed plaid-upholstered couch for pond is more sculpture than water feature, lounging in conversation. Next is the study, a a mirror to the sky inviting contemplation book-lined sanctuary with a cushy sofa facing from within. a roaring hearth, followed by the three-story As Thoreau famously concluded in residential volume of the home, where a Walden, “The setting sun is reflected from staircase ascends to bedrooms stacked one the windows of the almshouse as brightly as NEST FURNISHINGS atop another to a master bedroom garret, an from the rich man’s abode.” CONSIGNMENT UNCOMPROMISED aerie with a bank of windows overlooking the Yet somehow through the panes of a $33 distant horizon like the bridge of an ocean million home designed by Annabelle Sell- Open 7 Days A Week liner. Then the game room, a whimsical space dorf, that same sunlight, refracted off the 303.670.8726 appointed with a vintage popcorn maker, a surface of an Edwina von Gal pond, seems Chapel Square • 222 Chapel Square Place • Avon, CO billiards table, a pod-like chair facing a wide- more brilliant. SkiCountryAntiques.com 970.949.0989 • NESTVAIL.COM 114 Homestead Rd (I-70, Floyd Hill Exit) Evergreen, CO

94 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 VAIL-BEAVER CREEK MAGAZINE MIDWINTER/SPRING 2017 95 A wrap-around window seat with built-in storage space is a practical amenity in a fanciful bedroom. RESOURCE GUIDE

Architect Landscape Designer Annabelle Selldorf, Edwina von Gal, New York, NY East Hampton, NY 212-219-9571, 631-907-9040, selldorf.com perfectearthproject.org

General Contractor Listing Agents Shaeffer Hyde Liza Hogan and Joshua Construction, Avon Saslove, Douglas Elliman 970-845-5656, Real Estate, Aspen shaefferhyde.com 970-925-8810, elliman.com Hardwood Floors All City Floor Company, Millwork Denver Heartwood Custom 303-371-0400, Woodworks, Eagle allcityfloors.com 970-328-9663, heartwood1.com Landscape Architect Richard Herbert Landscape Artful minimalism Rest il in estionecae extends to the parum consequo Architect, Brooklyn, NY bathroom, with a glass berchilique 718-388-8039, shower and a tub doluptatem. Soluptat. that’s more functional Giae dolor se voloriore richardherbertla.com sculpture than fixture. nimi, aut ut quidi

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