A Colorado Timber Home as Stunning as Its Mountain Setting

The spectacular slopes of Colorado ski country can’t hold a candle to this timber home’s impressive blend of wood and stone.

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The exterior melds a variety of materials into one cohesive facade, including stone, shake-shingles stained in an English walnut shade and reclaimed barn board that still shows some of the original structures’ paint.

Photos courtesy of Canadian Timberframes, Ltd.

For years the owners of this Steamboat Springs, Colorado, retreat played and skied in the snowy vacation destination that thousands of people flock to each season. But occasional visits just weren’t enough. The couple wanted a year-round hideaway to call their own, and, maybe one day, make their permanent address. That day has come, and the home they chose is a mountain-rustic beauty masterfully crafted by Canadian Timberframes, Ltd.

“They saw a design on our website that they liked and had a pretty good vision of what kind of home they were interested in,” shares Jeff Bowes, Canadian Timberframes’ owner and president. “Also, I had worked with their builders for years, so with them on board, I knew this house would be something special.”

The result of that collaboration is a 3,077-square-foot, three-level home constructed of Douglas fir timbers with an exterior gable truss. One of the items high on the clients’ must-have list was a garage to shield the cars from the freezing-cold winters, but their lot wasn’t huge, so Jeff’s design team had to get creative. “When you’re looking at the house from the front or the back, you don’t realize that there’s a two-car garage tucked under it. The driveway sweeps in from the side and goes down and around, so it’s not obvious from any side of the house,” explains Jeff.

The basement level of the home is much more than a place to park cars. It also contains a spare bedroom, the laundry/mudroom, a bathroom and an expansive workout room.

Head upstairs and you find yourself in the heart of the home. The main level has everything the owners need, from a huge kitchen and dining space to the wide-open great room to the master suite, which occupies the entire right side of the floor plan.

One unique feature of the master is the way the walk-in-closet is used as a pass-through to the en suite bath, making the space more of a glamorous dressing room than just a space to stash one’s wardrobe.

Head upstairs to the third floor and you’ll find a unique double office, divided by a sliding door, and two additional bedrooms. This level, in particular, was a deviation from the Canadian Timberframes’ existing design that inspired the home. “The catalyst plan was more of a recreational camp, with only a loft upstairs. We added the bedrooms to make it more livable,” Jeff says.

Because the couple loves being in nature, a variety of outdoor living options were incorporated into the plan, including an expansive screened-in porch, a sun deck and a terrace.

In fact the house, itself, evokes a natural feeling — like it’s been here for ages. This effect was achieved, in large part, through the antique finish Jeff and his crew gave the Doug fir timber frame, though the inspiration for the finish was a bit unusual.

“We were at the Log & Timber Home Show in Denver, and these clients were walking around the show with a piece of flooring they loved,” Jeff relays. “They saw our timber samples in our booth and were surprised that the circle-sawn look that they liked about the flooring could be done on timbers. That held us out as the frontrunners for the job.”

Indeed, inspiration can strike from anywhere and this home is a prime example that if you can dream it, there’s an innovative timber frame provider who can make that dream a reality.