Design Reads: Aspen Through The Lens Of Rowland+Broughton

In the late 1800’s, when silver was discovered in the mountains around Aspen, Colorado, the town experienced a boom—followed by an equally spectacular bust when the market collapsed only a decade later. But in the intervening century, Aspen has used those mountains as a new source of prosperity, reinventing itself as one of the world’s foremost ski destinations. Local architecture and interior design firm Rowland+Broughton, founded in 2003, has had a hand in shaping the area’s distinct Rocky Mountain personality, and compiled in this book, Designing Aspen: The Houses of Rowland+Broughton (Architectural Press) by John Rowland and Sarah Broughton, are 10 houses emblematic of that style.

A through line of these structures is the way they work with the landscape, making the most of the area’s natural beauty with large picture windows that frame views. Case in point is the Ridge House, its minimalist dark cladding also avoiding competing with nature. Some seem fully immersed in the terrain, like the Barn Studio, which looks like a rocky outcropping but is in fact a newly built structure of irregularly shaped stones. And inside, these residences are worlds unto themselves, replete with blue-chip artworks and gems of contemporary furniture design. As Interior Design Hall of Fame member Tom Kundig notes in the book’s foreword, “R+B’s contextual approach is humble yet bold, continuously adding layers in the evolution of the firm’s built identity to carry forward and complement the Aspen Idea—a convergence of mind, body, and spirit.”